A prospective client reached out to me the other day and asked 'could he train with me?' Sounds simple enough-a lot of up and coming players contact me on my website www.trainwithericharris.com and ask to train or get mentoring from me. After asking him a few questions, I had one more very important inquiry for player X. "What parts of your game have you been working on during the summer", I asked. His response was, 'I haven't really been doing anything. That's why I'm reaching out to you, so that I can get my game right for the upcoming season.' I immediately had to tell him that he had it all wrong. The summer months are when great players take their game to the next level. Not in the fall and during the season. At that point, it's too late! During the season, you can get a little better individually-but for the most part it's about your team getting consistently better to accomplish the ultimate goal of winning a championship. I could tell that my responses threw him off guard, but I had to tell him the real deal from experience. If I didn't, I would be doing him a disservice.
I will never forget the summer of 96'-when Coach Bill Brown (assistant coach at the University of Minnesota) challenged me to become a better player. I had two subpar seasons as a Freshman & Sophomore, and I needed to make a drastic improvement in order for our team to take that next step. Coach Brown being the no nonsense type of guy that he is-kept it straight with me. He told me that 'I need to improve my jump shot' and he gave me a plan to get it done. Coach B made a commitment to me that day-he said he would help me accomplish my goal. I knew he was serious. However, I also knew he was serious when he said, 'If you don't show up one time, you're on your own.' I made every workout, and the rest is history. Coach Clem Haskins was asked about my game after the 96'-97' season and he said, 'Eric Harris has had the biggest turnaround from one season to the next than any player I have ever coached.'
That takes me back to player X and the fact that he didn't realize how crucial those summer months were. Once that time is gone, you can't get it back. Here is what an NBA player's summer agenda usually looks like. If they are fortunate to make the playoffs or win that ring, as soon as their season is over-they take 2 or 3 weeks to recover physically and mentally and then they get back to work. The great ones (Michael Jordan for example) add 3 or 4 skill-sets to their game over the summer and comes back as an even better player that next season. That doesn't even include the weight training and the nutritional aspects. The all-star caliber player may add 1 or 2 skill-sets. That 3rd tier player will remain that 3rd tier player because they stayed the same and didn't improve one bit. They didn't commit to the process. These are the guys that you hear about that get waived and wind up spending the rest of their career overseas. This isn't always the case. There are players that work their butts off and commit to the process, but still can't get a break.
So the moral of the story is that you have to be on your grind during the summer. That is when you really put the work in to become a better individual player. It is cool to play in tournaments if you are in high school or younger, but that doesn't take the place of those hours in the gym. You build character, discipline, work-ethic, but most of all-you get those repetitions in. Constantly working on a move so that it becomes second nature. Seeing the ball go thru the net over and over again and developing that confidence. There is no replacement for that!!!
trainwithericharris.com
trainwithericharris@gmail.com
Bill Brown
Facebook/@billybrown
Springfield, Missouri
