You Made the Team – Now What?

You just made a team, now how do you have the best experience and gain the most from the team? I’m going to outline your steps to success – both personal success and team success. The first step is to know what your primary goal is for this team and understand the primary goal of the team you’re on. Knowing your goals and the team’s goals will help you keep perspective throughout your experience with the team. If your goal is just to have fun, but you’ve made a team that is only about winning – your goals and the team’s goals may not align and you may not be in for the best experience. If your goals are to get better, but your team just plays games and you are never taught the game and pushed in drills to expand your skills then you’re not going to get a lot better. You may have fun playing games, but as other players grow past your skill set, you may miss out on opportunities to make other teams as you get older. So, know what you want and embrace your goals.

Next are the steps that will allow you to thrive and to grow as an individual player on your new team. Be positive and embrace new opportunities to learn and grow as a player, get to know your teammates, communicate openly with your coach, understand your role on the team, actively participate in practices and training, and consistently put in your best effort both mentally and physically into every practice, training session, scrimmage, and game. If you can follow these steps for success, you will have a great experience and grow as a player in every situation.
Being positive and embracing new opportunities to learn is the cornerstone of success in every phase of life. Enthusiasm is both a reward for the individual and infectious for teammates. Your attitude will be the single biggest factor to every situation you face in life and in basketball. A positive attitude breeds enthusiasm, enthusiasm breeds joy, joy breeds enjoyment, enjoyment breeds happiness, happiness breeds excitement, and excitement provides the fuel to attack every situation as an opportunity. Being positive in the face of any situation or adversity in sports and in life will bring success.

Getting to know your teammates is about communication. Communication is the fuel for great teams. Take every opportunity to be bold and to be the best communicator you can be. Be a great non-verbal communicator with your body language and by looking coaches and teammates in the eyes when they talk. Great non-verbal communication skills will help you learn more, be in tune with your teammates and coaches, and help you gain confidence. Verbal communication is the other key. You must be able to communicate with teammates on and off the court. Not everyone feels comfortable being loud and vocal, but learning to communicate is a skill – it is not something you are born with. You need to be able to communicate quickly and loudly on the court, so learning this skill is essential to your success. Take the opportunity in every drill and in every practice to work on it so that it becomes natural during games. Openly communicating with your coach is also extremely important for your success as a player. Communicate with your coach as much as possible. Never argue, but good communication is key. As questions, let coaches know if you are going to miss practices or games, let them know if you are sick, hurt, or injured, and talk about what you need to do to grow as a player.

Understand your role on the team. Learning to adapt and to become a great teammate by doing whatever is needed of you as a player is a valuable asset for players. Everyone can hustle, rebound, pass, communicate, play defense, and have a great attitude. Always do those things. Then, based upon the team needs and your skills other roles like being a scorer, shooter, point guard, etc. can be earned through your hard work.

Be an active participant in all practices, drills, and skill development opportunities. Never hold back, even if you are unsure or unconfident in the skills needed. You will never improve if you do not attempt the things you can’t do or are not good at. Additionally, giving your best effort at all times will make you more confident in your attempting to learn the skill. Everyone that has ever played the game of basketball was bad or not good at things when they first learned them. But, the best players attack their weaknesses and try to make them a strength. If you are not good at your “off-hand” then work at it. If you’re right handed, start eating with your left hand, brush your teeth with your left hand, play games with your left hand, and anything else you can think of to work on that weakness. Your attitude and effort towards every weakness you have in your game will determine your growth and overall success as a player.

You made the Team, now what? Attack the opportunity to become the best player and teammate you can become.

Enjoy the PROCESS!!!