How To Survive A Nailbiter

Even though college basketball is my great passion,
living here in Gainesville it's hard not to get caught
up in football frenzy too sometimes. I'd been too
busy this fall to get to any home games, but Matthew
my 14-yr old had wanted to go all season and
yesterday was the last regular season conference
home game against South Carolina so we went.

That meant the Steve Spurrier who had made the
Florida Gators champions and then abandoned
them for the NFL was coming back to his alma
mater as the evil genius who was trying to beat the
Rowdy Reptiles like a drum. Even though South
Carolina had not won in the Swamp since joining the
SEC 20 odd years ago the presence of 'the ole ball
coach' made this an instant rivalry game. One worth
seeing for sure.

The game turned out to be about as statistically
even as you can get. If you didn't see the game,
with 8 seconds left we were up 17 - 16, but the
Gamecocks were close enough for 48 yard field
goal. That sound's long, but their kicker had
already hit a 47 yarder. He'd also drilled one from
55 yards earlier that had been nullified by a penalty.

Now I love my Gator fans, but I really got tired
yesterday of hearing the fear, worry, bitching,
grumbling and complaining that was going on in
the stands. They would not be satisfied. No matter
what happened they felt it was their duty to pick
things apart. Fortunately I was still able to enjoy
myself and celebrate the good that was happening.

When it finally came down to the potential game-
winning field goal all I could think about was the
quote from General Chesty Puller in the Korean
War when he said "All right, they're on our left,
they're on our right, they're in front of us, they're
behind us...they can't get away this time."

I turned to a couple of people and said, "Hey,
we've got them right where we want them."

I got a lot of quizzical stares, but I kept smiling.

Of course everybody in the stands was hoping
the Gators would win, but how many believed
they would. It makes a big difference.

If you're a sports fan you probably know what
happened.

They snapped the ball, the kicker kicked it well,
but Jarvis Moss a 6' 6" defensive lineman who
played a lot of basketball in high school has a 35"
vertical. The other lineman made penetration
and gave him room to flex for a good jump. He
timed his jump perfectly and got just enough of
his hand on the football to knock it off course.

Gators won, and I've never heard such a
spontaneous eruption of exhilaration. It was
magical. Nobody wanted to leave the stadium.
Hope is a good thing and the stands might have
been full of it, but I'm glad the players actually
believed and did something about it. As a shooter
you want to get to the point where you don't just
hope in your ablilities, but you believe in them.

It really helps your belief level when you've
putting in the practice time and know what you're
doing. It wouldn't have worked for Jarvis Moss to
just run out on the field and say, "I'm going to block
that kick".
No, he had trained for it. He had the vertical leap.
He knew his teammates could create space for him
to penetrate and leap. He and the team believed
they would get the job done.

Help yourself believe in you by following in the
footsteps of a shooting coaches who knows their
stuff. A great place to start is Coach Tom
Nordland's Swish Method of shooting. You can now
get Tom's new Swish 2 DVD and have 2 hours of
solid instruction and drills to build on. Start laying
your foundation today at:

http://www.deandelker.com/swish2.html

Shoot For The Stars,

Dean - The Dean of Shooting Hoops

P.S. Coach Hal Wissel can also get you believing in
yourself. See how simple he can make it for you by
running without delay over to:

http://www.deandelker.com/wissel_order.html

Make Every Shot Count

Copyright 2006 Delker Enterprises, Inc.

Why Coach Locked His Locker Room

Coach Kenny Sacht from Boise, Idaho recently sent
the following question:

"What is an alternative to running to "get their
attention" (as I state it). If my kids aren't paying
attention or they don't run to the next drill, I let
them know this is not punishment but a simple
way to help them learn it is important to do what
I say when I say it. It gets their attention! What
is a good alternative?"

How DO you maintain discipline if you can't hold a
big negative stick over their heads? And how do
you take what's usually the hardest part of
practice and turn it into a positive experience the
kids will aspire to.

Coach Bruce Brown teaches proactive coaching and
team building through positive conditioning. He
uses drills that condition but are positive, fun, and
emphasize team building. He also presents
conditioning as a source of pride. If you want to be
in the "inner circle", or the "champions club" here
is what you'll need to do.

According to newspaper reports Florida's new
football coach Urban Meyer thinks much the
same. He has presented conditioning from the
beginning as a prerequisite for entering into full
status as a Florida Gator. If you don't have the
right attitude about staying in shape, you aren't
even part of the team.

I remember his first summer here when players
were doing voluntary workouts he kept the locker
room locked. Players had to work out in their own
clothes, get their own showers, etc. They had to
earn the right to even wear the school's colors in
a practice uniform by showing they took pride in
their conditioning.

It's a year later now though, and this group of
Gators has bonded together as a truly well
conditioned team. Maybe that's why they are
undefeated and rising in the polls as I write.

I've ordered some materials from Coach Brown,
and I'll have a more complete answer for Kenny
down the road, but I did think of one factor that
will help a lot.

The way Coach Kauppinen teaches sprinting and
especially uphill sprinting you can get great results
without killing yourself in conditioning.

You don't have to run, and run, and run to build up
endurance. I know that goes against conventional
wisdom, and it's hard to believe but you owe it to
yourself to get up to speed on the latest research
on the benefits of sprinting. One of them is saving
time, and wear and tear on your body.

Coach Tim will get you up to speed in short order
if you sprint right over to:

http://www.deandelker.com/hill_sprints.html

Shoot For The Stars,

Dean - The Dean of Shooting Hoops

P.S. Danish scientists at the University of
Copenhagen saw runners who performed high
intensity sprints increase their V02 max by 7%,
even though they ran half the mileage of a
control group.

Find out how to maximize your training today
by speeding over to:

http://www.deandelker.com/hill_sprints.html

Seeing Through The Dark Clouds

The student-run Florida Alligator newspaper in
Gainesville ran a cover today that was a huge
menacing black cloud with stylized skyscrapers
peaking through in places.

It's hard not to get caught up in the darkness of
the 9/11 anniversary like we're remembering
today. But this morning after honoring and
remembering the innocents slain in the World
Trade Center massacre, I decided they wouldn't
want me to wallow in fear or sadness. They'd
want me to get on with my own unique brand of
living and overcoming darkness with light.

Still though I was wondering how I was going to
talk about the game of basketball when so many
people were thinking about much more serious
matters.

Then I found a piece in Tom Hughes' monthly
newsletter about a book by Brian Kilmeade called
"The Games Do Count".

In his introduction Brian writes how he was
inspired to finish his book about how sports prepare
people for success in life when he learned four of the
heroes of Flight 93 had an extensive background in
organized sports.

I believe Tom Burnett, Todd Beamer, Jeremy Glick,
and Mark Bingham, four average Americans
mustered up the courage to formulate a plan and
execute it even while staring death in the face, in
part, because of their athletic training.

If you want to be negative you can always find
something wrong with sports today, but this story
magnifies everything that's right about it.

So don't let anybody tell you "it's just a game"
anymore when you have the burning desire to be
an outstanding shooter, or to excel at anything else
in life. You were created that way, and you'd be
abnormal not to want to experience it. It's time to
celebrate that, put everything you can into it, and
see what you can become as a result.

The world needs you to.

Shoot For The Stars,

Dean Delker - The Dean of Shooting Hoops

http://www.deandelker.com/products.html