I spent the last two days in a small town in north central Minnesota called Menahga, population 1,296 – yes that’s population – not school enrollment.
You never know what to expect going into a camp where you don’t know any of the kids, but usually there are some kids who can play and some who can’t. Kids who go hard and kids who don’t. This camp we definitely had something different.
First day of camp I was taking the players through our Dribbling is Footwork series and kid dribbled the ball off his foot – not because he wasn’t skilled, but because he was getting out of his comfort zone. After he ran after his ball and made he was way back in to line all 5 teammates from Pelican Rapids, MN gave him a high five. I was floored. I told them if they kept that up the rest of the camp I’d write an article on them, so here it is.
For you players out there, FYI, this stuff IS “cool” to do. It’s not easy and it’s a choice, but it is “cool”. Listed below are a few things any player can do to provide value for their team.
Continuous Communication
We were working on our floater form shooting series, competing to 10 makes in a row. As soon as I explained the instructions the first person in line turned to the rest and said,”Hey everyone’s gotta count out the score.” This cycled back to the last person in line, which is a communication concept they learned from Point Guard College. You might not be able to get everyone on your team to do this right away, but you can definitely start with yourself.
Be Proactive – Not Reactive
After a new drill or move was introduced the older players would turn to the younger ones, asking them if they understood the what we were working on next. This is a great example of being a proactive leader instead of waiting for someone to make a mistake and correcting them after the fact. There is a huge difference.
Choose to Bring Energy
By the end of 10 hours in the gym I know the players were exhausted, as they should have been, but they made a conscious choice to bring positive energy and enthusiasm the entire time. Even when I was demonstrating a couple drills, I heard “Good work, Mike!”.
Why are these things important? They significantly increase your ability to stay focused through fatigue and continue to get in quality reps.
The only time I ever remember being around a group of more positive and supportive teammates was Marquette Men’s program last year, doing NBA Predraft workouts for Darius Johnson-Odom. Pretty high praise for a small school in Minnesota.
Big thanks to Steve Schrieber and the Menahga Girls Basketball program for organizing the event!
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Mike Lee Basketball Services trains thousands of middle school through NBA players each year in their skill development training, camps and coaches clinics. The owner, Mike Lee, is also a former Nike Girls Skills Academy instructor and the former assistant director for the Stephen Curry Skills Academy. Recently the company has authored 7 skill development DVDs and created miSkillz Online Basketball training.
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