Being a pro athlete isn’t easy. Speaking from personal experience as a basketball shooting guard, those five first words that you just read are literally true. People think that being a basketball athlete gets you all the attention, the power to do anything as you may, or even the best time of your life. Just listen to what I’m about to say.
That’s not the case.
Athletes work on their craft everyday. Especially basketball players. Training is part of the deal. There’s no excuse for not showing up to practice. Playing on a professional level I remember we had six days a week practices, followed by intense gym sessions. I would count that as two practices per day. It was harsh and difficult. Our coaches were always yelling at our faces, pushing us to perform. Meanwhile, at the time of my arrival I was considered a rookie which made situation many times worse. My teammates didn’t talk to me, I wasn’t anywhere near leading the team, competition was always high and I wasn’t even in the official roster for the team’s games. Suffice to say, most of the time I was the one expected to make the most mistakes. Which made me even more miserable being on the team.
As I overhead one of my coaches say one time behind my back :
That kid’s not adjusting. What’s should we do with him?
— Coach
Now you can interpret this quote all you like, but from what I remember they were considering kicking me out of the team because of my potential lack of abilities and/or commitment. And frankly speaking to this day, I still don’t know how I made the team roster. Sure I mean I was a pretty lethal shooter from the free throw line and above but — I can’t fathom the fact that I managed to get into one of the most elite professional junior basketball teams in Europe. A popular euroleague basketball team with a great history behind it. In my case I played for the teen’s club of course. The men’s club has won 6 titles over the years. And it has a crazy strong support from its fans.
So here are a few of daily tasks that basketball athletes go through day to day to prepare for games based on my personal knowledge.
1. Daily Harsh Practices
Right — where were we? Oh right. Practice. As Allen Iverson once said. Practice.
Practices are fundamental to athletes. Without them improvement wouldn’t happen. Each and every day athletes are given the responsibility to show up to court with a couple of towels, big plastic water bottles to stay hydrated and a sports uniform to practice. Once everyone has arrived coaches yell for everyone to gather around in a circle. They explain the day’s exercises, and what we’re about to do. If you didn’t understand what the coach said you would be punished by doing push ups continuously until you understood. At least that’s what used to happen in our case. A bit like joining the Army …
So we start. Running up and down the court. Countless hours. Sweat dripping off our body. We settle down for a minute to rest. We get up, and do everything all over again for another half hour. The time passes — we finish practice. But guess what —
It’s not over.
Turns out we’ve still got gym strength training. We head to the gym. Lift weights. Do calisthenics. And what’s that? 3 more hours of training? Yeah that’s the competitive spirit. Welcome to the club.
So we finish for the day. We’re all exhausted. Barely able to walk at this point. We all go our separate ways for the day. I arrive at my house. Immediately jump to bed without saying a word. Next thing you know, it’s the next day. Back to reality. Time to do this all over again for the next 5 days. While also trying to perform at school …
2. Diet
This is the most obvious one. Diet is important for managing and improving a player’s physical capabilities. In fact, if we didn’t follow the diet plant it was an automatic kick out of the team. I remember they made us sign a contract stating that whatever diet was given by our nutrition coaches must be followed or else. I’m pretty sure you can guess what the penalty was. We were given weekly plans to follow for after practices. Specific foods had to be consumed on specific days, depending on the level of difficulty of practice we had that day.
Diet is something that almost every athlete follows whether they’re under instructions or not. It’s more like a necessity rather than an option. If you want to see results, you’ve got to have a good diet.
3. Stress
Stress was always a constant even when I least expected it. It is the constant reminder the athlete’s inner demons. Of his thoughts basically.
It was and still is to this day the most difficult process a professional athlete has to go through. The pressure that exists on a daily routine drove me to one point almost crazy. Having to play your best every single day with no excuses was something that didn’t sit well with me. I even remember going to school in the morning and constantly thinking about today’s afternoon practice — of what I was gonna do or how things were gonna go with my teammates and coaches or how I would perform on a game if I played and etc…
Honestly, this isn not the case with every athlete. But for most basketball players the constant stress is present everywhere. Whether it’s visible to outside observers or not, it’s always gonna be there regardless.
4. Therapy… Of sorts
This may sound a bit cliche. In reality it’s true. Yes athletes go everyday to therapy to express their opinions about the team in general and discuss if they have any problems. In my case therapy was an automatic visit after practice — me being the first one, of course.
And it wasn’t pleasant. But I had to get some things out my system. That’s what therapy is all about basketball players. To freely express their problems and what bothers them the most. This is very common amongst basketball teams. Therapy is very recommended for players going through personal problems. In some case scenarios coaches will strongly urge therapy to problematic players to avoid any more complications. Such as influencing the team as a whole. And it makes sense.
5. Pre — game routine
Game’s today. We’ve been training all week like animals. It’s showtime. We have a schedule ready and we’ve all arrived in the arena. This is how we prepare three hours before the game.
This included :
Conditional workouts :
- Shooting drills. When getting up shots before the game, we would always start in close and around the basket. Get a feel for the rim, the glass, our touch; get comfortable being close. The point is, don’t do everything you see others do. It was to know your own areas of weakness and the types of shots you would take in a game and practice those.
2. Ball handling drills. Getting a feel for the basketball is key. The more comfortable you are with the ball, the less turnovers you’ll have and the more your teammates and coach will trust you with the ball. Whether you are a post player, guard or shooter, warming up with ball handling is an essential part of your pre-game routine.
3. Stretching. An essential part of an athletes body or specifically a basketball’s players — is to be elastic enough for the game later. Stretching allows players to play at their best before a game, additionally it decreases muscle soreness from yesterday’s tense practice.
4. Watching footage for the upcoming game. By watching film of high-level players — and not just watching for highlights; you must actually study every second — so you can understand how these players have gotten successful. Looking at their footwork, body positioning, decision making, how they set up moves, defensive positioning, what tricks they use to get steals, and so much more. It’s essential for improvement but also for stealing some tricks and applying them to your style. It’s always worth it in the end as you’ll be facing bigger and better opponents weekly.
Some Personal Advice
If you like basketball — and your passion for the game cannot be measured I would say — go for it. Seriously go for it. I mean, what do you have to lose? Life is too short not to take risks, especially when you are young.
I had that same mindset back when I was a rookie. I’m probably sure you’re in that situation right now. Overthinking about everything and everyone. So what’s my advice to you? Stop.
Stop overthinking everything. Stop caring about the hypothetcal problems or consequences. When I started playing basketball I would always find that old — scratched ball I had, and shoot at a wall for hours. By the way, I didn’t have a basket to practice.
Anyhow, I would practise and practice my shooting for weeks — to months during summer time. After some time had passed, I started seeing some results. I volunteered for my local basketball team, and started playing for the team.
As I started to play on the team, I became better and better. A few months later I applied for the elite basketball tryouts that was mentioned above. One month later I found out that I was accepted into the team. So there’s that. That’s my journey of how I became a basketball athlete. With the right mindset and good work ethic everything will turn out be worth it in the end.
The decision : This is a decision that you have to make for yourself, and for those around you as it going to affect your journey of becoming an athlete along the way. Do you love basketball? Will you sacrifice your friends, family time, relationship, social life to become the best at your craft? Will you practice endless nights? Will you practice with a personal coach on your free time?
This is your choice. And this —
Is your decision. So I ask again — are you really willing to play the game ?
