Get It Out Of Reverse

Have you ever put your car in reverse, backed
up, and gotten interrupted with a question or a
cell phone call?

What usually happens next? You put your
foot on the brake and shift your attention to
whatever's going on, right?

Then what?

If you're anything like me whenever you're
finished and ready to take off again you might
have forgotten the car was still in reverse.

Oops.

Hopefully you haven't ever floored it and
crashed into something before you figured
it out, but if you have, it really helps to
remember never to do that again.

Have you noticed we do the same thing in
our daily lives too?

We stay in reverse. We live in the past. We
dwell on what happened to us, or what the
president did or didn't do, or what somebody
said. I don't care if you were in the right or
not, any time you're focused on something
that's already happened you are driving in
reverse.

And it's hard to make any progress when
you're going backwards.

You're always missing the present moment
because you're rehashing what happened
minutes, hours, days,or even years before.
Sure there are things to be learned from the
past, but absorb the lesson and get back to
living in the present. That's where the
action is.

As a shooter you know where I'm going with
this. It's necessary to pay attention and be
able to correct your shooting flaws. That's
what feedback and learning are all about.

But you can't dwell on your misses and your
failures. If you do for too long I promise
you'll find yourself sitting on the bench.

Shoot For The Stars,

Coach Dean

P.S. The best teacher of the mental side of
shooting I know is Coach Stan Kellner.
I confess I don't know what percentage of
shooting is mental. I've heard as much as
90% and I believe it is high, but even if it's
only 50% you probably want to find out
what Stan can do for you today at:

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

Copyright, Delker Enterprises, Inc. 2006,2007

This blog is protected by copyright with all rights
reserved, but you do have permission to copy and
use any complete entry as long as all links are intact.

Coach Dean Delker
8413 SW 4th Place
Gainesville, FL 32607 USA
352-333-0374 Phone

http://www.deandelker.com/
dean@deandelker.com

Video Killed The Radio Star

I like a good story on TV, DVD, or at the movies
as much as anybody, but we do pay a price for
media like that which does almost all the work
for us.

And worst of all I believe it speeds up the
process of our kids abandoning their own
precious imaginations.

In college I was program director of our
campus radio station for a couple of years.
While my first love and passion was
programming music we also ran classic radio
shows on Sunday night.

Now that's one place you can really grow an
imagination, following a good story on the
radio. And the same with reading books, of
course especially good fiction.

Unless you're a total newbie to this site you
know how much I believe in mental rehearsal,
visualization, and purposely using your
imagination to enpower yourself.

Most of the great players do it in practice,
game prep, warmups and even during games.

During games, you say Coach?

Yes. Where do you think creativity in a
dribble drive or in passing comes from?

Imagination. It can work split-seconds
ahead of the actual action you take.

Most coaches rely heavily on drills, and it's
great to do that, but I think coaches do a
disservice when they try to overprogram
their players.

Yes, you want them reacting instinctively.
That's the whole purpose of the drills, but
remember you don't want them pigeon-
holed, mechanical, and lacking creativity.
It is a delicate balance.

The answer is to use drills have options,
decision making, and flexibility built in.
Look for those. Even with simple rote drills
though you can encourage players to
imagine defenders coming at them, and how
they would react and adapt.

There's a big difference between a static
shooting drill, and full speed drills where
imaginarydefenders can come flying at
you trying to steal the ball, deflect passes,
etc.

Learn to use your imagination fluently, and
it will become a powerful tool for you.
Remember not to let it dwell on the dark
side though through worries and fears like
missing shots at the free throw line.

That can become self-fulfilling prophecy, and
you will end up rehearsing and planning how
you will fail instead of how you can succeed.

Coach Dean - Shoot For the Stars

P.S. There's an art to putting up big scoring
numbers, and Patrick Chylinski can teach you
the inside scoop on increasing your scoring
average.

What would it be worth to you to add 4, 6, or
even 10 points a game to your scoring stats?

Get your copy of his best-selling e-book any
time of day or night at:

http://www.deandelker.com/20ppg.html

Note: This email is protected by copyright,
but I encourage you copy and share it freely.
Please just include the whole message
including links and my contact information.
Thanks a ton.

Copyright 2006,2007 Delker Enterprises, Inc.

Coach Dean Delker
8413 SW 4th Place
Gainesville, FL 32607
352-494-6572

dean@deandelker.com
www.deandelker.com

When Does Your Practice Start

Something my violinist friend Clayton said
recently sparked a question for you.

When does your practice start?

Before you go thinking I'm weird, just
remember I prefer the term eccentric.

I'm serious though. The vast majority
would say practice begins when they step
out on the court. Duh.

Makes perfect sense.

But if that's your answer you're missing
something.

Before organized practice your coaching
staff leads you through warmups, right?
And if your body needs that, do you think
your mind might too?

Of course it does.

You can prime your mind to be more
alert and focused, and one of the best
ways to do that is through visualizing
what you expect to get out of your
practice (or out of a game, for that
matter.)

So before you go out and practice
shooting take a few minutes of deep,
controlled breathing, relax your body,
relax your mind, and decide what you
want to accomplish.

Then see yourself doing every bit of
that with ease. Don't be discouraged if
your visualizing isn't so well developed.
You may not see clearly at all at first,
or be able to hold it long. I couldn't, but
it got better. Like most things in life do
your best and just aim to improve
every day.

Don't forget to include as much detail
and emotion in your projection as you
can. Then when you step on the court
you'll be primed to get more out of your
practice time, and get better faster.

Shoot For The Stars,

Coach Dean - The Dean of Shooting Hoops

P.S. You can use this method to do anything
better. Mental warmup and planting the flag
of your expectation like this will help you do
better in class, on tests, in interviews, in
making a speech, and even on a big date.

P.S.S. I learned from Patrick Chylinski one
of the things you want to do to become a
dominant scorer is to start off your game
with a bang. Try to take the opening tip and
score or get a big assist. Let your defender
know he's in for a rough night.

You can spend time visualizing a start like
that before every game, and you'll find
yourself acting it out in your games.

I don't know how that works. Maybe the
neurons that create the imagination burn
some kind of a 'groove' in your brain.
Then when a similar situation arises you'll
play like it's old hat to you.

First though get Patrick's report so you'll
know what to aim for in your mental
warmups.

And you're in luck. You can have it in
minutes today at:

http://www.deandelker.com/20ppg.html

Note: This blog entry is protected by
copyright but you do have permission to
copy and use it in its entirety as long as
the links are intact and the contact
information is included.

Copyright 2006,2007 Delker Enterprises, Inc.

Coach Dean Delker
8413 SW 4th Place
Gainesville, FL 32607
352-494-6572

dean@deandelker.com
www.deandelker.com

Lethal Weapon 3

With the new Rocky movie that came out recently
I'm reminded how much Hollywood loves it's
sequels. Sometimes they are duds, but there are
also some good ones. I like my sequels too.

There was one more thing I told the proud parent
of the freshman girl hoopster. One more wrinkle,
beyond the Swish method and the Wissel method.

Coach Stan Kellner doesn't much worry about
shooting mechanics. He teaches the basics in his
camps, but he concerns himself mostly with what
I talked about last week.

Mental mechanics:

Confidence, visualization, feel, toughness,
consistency, etc.

He sees shooters all the time with perfect form who
can't make a basket to save their life when the
pressure's on. But it doesn't have to be that way,
and Stan wants to rescue those people and make
the good shooters that much better. His shooting
DVD is in a class by itself. There's nothing else on
the market remotely like it.

So after my daughter got Swish 2, and had time to
absorb it and make it her own, I'd want to get her
Stan's 'Ultimate Shooting Method' DVD to give her
a huge unfair advantage over all her opponents in
the mental game.

So if you want your daughter (or son) to keep up
with mine you'd better buckle down and order
Stan's shooting mental magic today at:

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

Shoot For The Stars,

Coach Dean - The Dean of Shooting Hoops

P.S. I was just speaking in the abstract about my
daughter. Truth is none of our three daughters
have really been that much into sports. They
played basketball and volleyball in middle school,
and now work out to keep fit and looking fine, but
competitive sports wasn't really their thing.

So you don't really have to worry about beating
out my daughters on the hardwood, but there are
plenty of other parents out there with kids who
ARE trying to get the drop on yours at this very
moment.

Give yours the tools they need to excel.

This blog is protected by copyright with all rights
reserved, but you do have permission to copy and
use entries in their entirety as long as the links are
intact and this footer is included.

Copyright 2006, 2007 Delker Enterprises, Inc.

Dean Delker
8413 SW 4th Place
Gainesville, FL 32607
352-494-6572

dean@deandelker.com
www.deandelker.com

Metamechanics For Dummies

Oh wait. Did I just call you a dummy?

Jokingly sure, but we're all dummies in certain
areas till we learn about them. There's no
shame in not knowing something. The shame
is in being too proud to learn when you have the
means, the opportunity, and it will benefit you.

I just doubt if you know what metamechanics
means because as far as I know, I made the
word up a couple of minutes ago.

We all understand what I mean by the
mechanics of something. The nuts and bolts.
The fundamentals. The way you do a certain
job right. Such as in the mechanics of your
profession.

In our case we talk about the mechanics of
shooting, of the jumpshot, of the freethrow,
etc. We're talking about the physical actions
that make for the most reliable, consistent
shooting. Those are readily available, and
they can be developed through repetition in
practice.

Meta is a Greek prefix used in words like
metaphysics. It means beyond, above, or
underlying. Metamechanics is what underlies
or goes beyond the mechanics of something.

One of my mentors, Matt Furey said it this
way recently:

'...you can only succeed when you understand
that knowing the mechanics of something is
not enough. You must also know the mechanics
of your own mind.'

You and I both know people who know their
fields inside and out, but in many ways have
just never hit the level of success they want.
Something inside of them may not let it
happen. Maybe they don't feel they deserve
it. Maybe they have limiting beliefs, etc.

I've been there myself more than once, and I'm
now learning how to consistently grow out of it.

That's why I'm so fascinated by the mental
aspects of shooting. Because the same thing is
involved in any success you have in anything.
If, for instance, you know a business inside
and out, that's not enough. You also have to do
things like expand your self-image to see
yourself being a success.

That can happen one step at time by paying
attention to the little successes you have and
building on them while also forgiving yourself
and learning from your failures.

It can also happen by learning to use your
ultra-powerful imagination positively. Too
many of us are better at using our imaginations
to create worry, criticism, frustration, and fear,
but there is good news. We know how to use the
mechanism. We just have to work at pointing
it in the right direction.

Shooting For The Stars,

Coach Dean - The Dean of Shooting Hoops

P.S. The metamechanics of shooting is exactly
what Coach Stan Kellner teaches in his
revolutionary new 'How To Be A Prime-Time
Shooting Machine' DVD.

See how basketball cybernetics can release the
champion shooter locked in your mind today at:

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

P.P.S. You can learn tons about fitness, health,
and success from best-selling author, entrepreneur,
and national/world-champion martial artist Matt
Furey at http://www.mattfurey.com/ and
http://www.psycho-cybernetics.com/. I would
recommend everyone who wants to win get on both
Matt's daily email lists ASAP.

Copyright, Delker Enterprises, Inc. 2006,2007

This blog is protected by copyright with all rights
reserved, except you can copy and use any
complete entry as long as the links are intact and
this message is included.

Coach Dean Delker
8413 SW 4th Place Gainesville, FL 32607 USA
352-494-6572 Phone

http://www.deandelker.com/
dean@deandelker.com

A Tale of Two Brains - Continued

I play bass guitar and can do most of what I need
to now without thinking. It has become automatic.
What was once hard has now become easy. If not
I'd have trouble expressing the music that's in my
heart. Having to think about it too much would
defeat the process.

The same with typing, riding a bicycle, driving a
car, walking as a toddler. We've all done enough
repetitions of those acts to master the skills.

Your number one goal in learning anything is to
convert conscious thought and actions to automatic,
subconscious thoughts and actions. Shooting the
basketball is no exception.

But is there another way to convert knowledge
from the conscious to the subconscious mind
besides repetition?

Yes, there is. A very good way.

There is one activity we all do that acts as a bridge
between the two brains I talked about last time.
Believe it or not, that bridge is breathing.

Breathing is automatic most of the time. And that's
a good thing, right? We can sleep or even get
knocked out and we keep breathing.

But breathing can also be conscious. You can hold
your breath or slow your breathing at will. It's
under the control of your conscious mind. And
when you consciously control your breathing while
practicing a skill you tend to integrate the two
thinking systems much better and faster.

You probably think you know how to breathe, but
that's not necessarily the case. Many of us breathe
too shallowly. That won't get the job done when
you're trying to learn or improve a skill though.

But hey, I'm just a newbie at all this stuff myself.
Fortunately I do know an expert though. Karen
Van Ness. Karen is a Certified Fitness Trainer
who played high school and college basketball. She
also holds Black Belts in Tae Kwon Do and Karate.

Let Karen show you how you can supercharge your
breathing and you'll be equipped to lock in automatic
shooting faster than by just using repetitions today
at:

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

Shoot For The Stars,

Dean - The Dean of Shooting Hoops

P.S. The Zen Master of the Internet Matt Furey also
features breathing prominently in his "Combat
Conditioning" course. See how he uses it do build
strength, flexibility, and endurance by flying over
to":

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

Copyright 2006 Delker Enterprises, Inc.

The Hidden Benefits of Shooting Hoops

I wonder if you realize what you've gotten yourself
into wanting to be a great shooter? It's actually
possible to set yourself up for life.

When you visualize yourself putting the ball in the
hole you are expanding your self-image to new
levels. You are focusing on what you want, and
letting the inner image change. Then the doing
becomes easier.

When you see yourself as a shooter your life can
change.

You will have learned a ton about desire, belief,
confidence, your mind, goals, perserverance, and
I could go on and on. What you learn on the court
you can apply to most anything you do in life, and
come out a winner. That is priceless.

The processes you learn can also make you more
successful in love, relationships, money, career,
spirituality, education, research, business - every
good thing you want.

For instance I'm sure you've heard the phrase 'time
is money'. And that's true up to a point, but really
isn't it ideas that make money. Creativity is a mental
skill, and as you sharpen your mind on the court, and
apply those same skills to the money game you will
have a much brighter future.

The best, most comprehensive mental program I've
ever seen for basketball comes from Coach Stan
Kellner. I was raving about the book yesterday, and
there is a wealth of information there.

It may be the best buy I've ever seen. It sells for $15,
and there are hundreds of powerful ideas to act on.

The same holds for his 'How To Be a Prime-Time
Shooting Machine' DVD. There's nothing else like it
so I've made it easy for you to order it today at:

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

Shoot For The Stars,

Dean - The Dean of Shooting Hoops

P.S. My business and life coach Matt Furey has
the ultimate winners attitude, and he teaches it
through exercise, conditioning, and mental power
programs.

He's also the head honcho at the Psycho-Cybernetics
Foundation where he carries on Dr. Maxwell Maltz'
vision for self-image building. You would do well to
visit Matt's sites and absorb as much as possible from
him. His daily emails are an education in themselves.
Now is the time. Here are the places:

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

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

God Bless.