Improvement: The Key to Success

Adding to a number of changes the site has seen this summer, I’m excited to introduce the latest addition to the Hoopsfix team, James Dugdale, our strength and conditioning expert! James is one of the UK’s biggest up and coming S & C coaches and will be giving you tips and workouts to get you bigger, faster and stronger – helping your game on the court. Without further ado, over to James:

So many times I’ve seen good, even great players coast along on talent alone, doing just enough to get the job done and not achieving their potential… Sometimes this is due to laziness, arrogance or upsettingly, even a lack of desire.

These are the guys that don’t make it.

These are the guys who look back on ‘what could have been’.

The players I am always most impressed by, and usually the ones that go on to play at a higher level are the guys that are the first through the door, and the last ones out.

The guys who go and do that extra session, take those extra few shots and work out on their own, when no one else is watching.

The guys who ask questions on how to be better, how to get the most out of every session, out of every lift.

The guys who WANT to work hard and WANT to improve.

Think about your game, your attitude, how you look at each training session or game…

I can’t tell you about what kind of player you are, whether you feel that you are guilty of slacking off once in a while, if you sometimes coast in the gym or on the court, or if you are hard working and dedicated to your own improvement and are just in need of that extra push from time to time.

What I can tell you though is that YOU are in control.

YOU can make changes.

YOU can be better.

So what now?

Well, luckily for you, the season has just begun, giving you a new canvas, a fresh start.

You can work out more, get more shots up, run more sprints, lift more weights.

Last season is history.

So now, ask yourself this…

How can I get the most out of this season? What do I need to get better at? How can I improve?

Simply write a list of everything you SHOULD have done last season – but didn’t.

Things that you did last season that could have been better, or something that you really wish you should have done… This is your motivation for THIS season.

Set yourself goals and targets to hit, like a deadline for an assignment.

Reward yourself for meeting these targets, and make consequences for if you don’t.

Improvement and progression starts with little changes. The smaller things.

I mean, if you look at everything that you aren’t quite happy with or want to make better, you WILL get overwhelmed, and likelihood is, you won’t get as much done as you should.

Start with something small and easy to do… Then take it from there.

Make these changes.

BE better.

Another cool thing;

I’m here to help, and I want to see you succeed!

My next article is going to include 5 exercises that you can add into your workout, or, if you don’t have a current workout prescribed to you, simply begin doing in a workout of their own, that will have a positive effect on your basketball performance. Exercises I have used with my guys over the past few seasons that have provided great results, time after time.

However, I don’t want to just prescribe what I think you want to hear, I want to hear from you!

What do you want to improve or change? What area of your game is holding you back?

Post a comment below and if there is a common trend, then I’ll do my best to answer your questions over the next few weeks.

That’s all for now guys, speak to you all very soon.

JD

James has worked as a Personal Trainer/Strength and Conditioning coach for over 3 years and has worked with clients including England Basketball, GB Boxing, GB Triathlon, GB Volleyball, TASS, Leeds Carnegie Basketball and Yorkshire Jets Superleague Netball amongst many other teams and individual athletes.

James is currently based in Leeds where he works as a Strength and Conditioning Coach assisting Head of Strength and Conditioning, Brendan Chaplin at Leeds Met Carnegie and also as a Strength and Conditioning Intern at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield under Senior Strength and Conditioning Coaches Ian Pyper and Mark Campbell.

Find more information about James on his website, JD Strength, and on Twitter: @JamesDugdale