Be The Best

Remember John Wooden's definition of winning?

Do your best.

And if you do your best most of the time you will
BE the best.

Why?

Because hardly anybody else out there will be doing
their best. They'll be focused on winning and losing.

Sad but true, if you are focused on winning you can't
be focused on the task at hand. And that's a
disastrous recipe for shooting, by the way.

It's like doing an exercise on one of those big core-
training stability balls. If you don't concentrate and
focus on the movement you're doing you'll be falling
flat on one of your precious body parts before you
know it.

It's OK to focus on the result you want before a game,
or a practice. In fact, it's highly recommended. You
can even do it during a time out or before free throws.
Use your creative imagination to visualize and feel
exactly what you want to see happen.

But during the action just stay relaxed and let your
training and your practice flow out of you. Go with
the flow.

Good coaches understand the concept of flow, and
Stan Kellner fits firmly in that mold. He is so
confident in his mental methods his "Prime-Time
Shooting Machine" talks very little about the
mechanics of shooting.

He says he's seen umpteen hundreds of shooters
with picture-perfect form when nothing's on the
line, but who can't hit a shot to save their soul
when the pressure's on.

Ideally you want both. Great form and a steel trap
mind that reeks with confidence, but if you could
only have one I'd take the guy with the mental
toughness every time.

Get your mental edge sharpened today at:

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

Shoot For the Stars,

Dean - The Dean of Shooting Hoops

P.S. Another way to get a mental edge is to listen to
enpowering music. I grew up on rock and blues and
folk and have played in bands off and on since I was
14. It has brought me wonderful relationships and
experiences. It is something I was created to do.

I'm sure you've got your favorite music too, but I've
recently discovered to be a true artist on the
hardwood it helps immensely to listen to positive
inspiring music.

I've got a friend, Tania Gabrielle French who plays
and composes like an angel herself, and who is also
a world class authority on effects of music on people.
If you want to take your shooting and overall play
to a whole new level, let her show you the power of
her kind of music.

You can find her at:

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

Go Lateral Young Man

As Coach Tim Kauppinen pointed out to me the other
day, in basketball you don't run in a straight line very
often. To set yourself up for the best looks at the
basket you really need lightning quick lateral speed.

Tim says the key to sideways quickness and speed is
to lift the foot in the direction you want to go and
always be pushing off the opposite foot. If you're
trying to plant your lead foot and pull, you're slowing
yourself down.

Here are a 3 simple ways to train to be a bolt of
lightning on the hardwood.

1. Run laterally through agility ladders. If you're
doing it wrong you'll be dragging that ladder
behind you before you get very far.

2. Run laterally up steps. If you do this one wrong
you'd better be on carpeted stairs 'cause you're
probably going down.

3. Run laterally up hills. Much harder if you've got
the technique wrong.

Don't forget Coach Tim has a killer hill and step sprinting
program that will get you superior conditioning results in
far less time than traditional methods. With the time you
save, you can probably shoot 100 extra shots a day. If
you're ready to add uphill training to your bag of tricks
now's the time to zip right over to:

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

Shoot For the Stars,

Dean - The Dean of Shooting Hoops

P.S. After a super-strenuous hill routine or regular
practice there's nothing quite as refreshing as the
energizing vibrations of enpowering music.
Find out how to recharge your energy field today at:

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

Make Every Shot Count