Episode 064:  Loyalty is a skill that can be taught and practiced, just like shooting and dribbling a basketball.  The only difference is that improving an athlete’s loyalty will help them way beyond their playing days.

Are you spending time every week to help your players become better leaders?  Are you looking for new content to share with your team?  Check out this week’s podcast episode and learn how I teach players the skill of Loyalty.

Using the Think, Say, Do model, I’ve created 3 concrete ways athletes can be more loyal to the team.  My hope is that you’re able to take a couple ideas from this talk and adapt them to fit the needs of your program.

Here’s how we define Loyalty in our program:

Think: We need each other
Say: “I got you”
Do: Stand up for teammates

We spend two weeks letting our players practice standing up for their teammates, sharing inspiring stories about loyalty, and saying “I got you.”

At the completion of the module, we have players take a self-assessment so they can find out if they’re a loyal teammate.

If you want to learn more about leadership and get access to my FREE 5 day program, go to hoopcommitment.com

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Episode 063: Building your team culture is just as important as building your athletes in the weight room or building your team's offensive playbook.  Individual players don't win championships, great teams do.

Dan Horwitz is a basketball coach turned leadership consultant who just published his first book: Help Them Up. 14 Principles To Educate, Energize & Empower Your Team To Build A Championship Culture.  The book was written specifically for basketball players and coaches and so I had to have him on the podcast to find out how we can start implementing these principles today.

You can find Dan Horwitz @danhorwitz1

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Episode 062: Basketball ankle sprains can sideline even the strongest and most athletic players.  Are you doing everything you can in your training to reduce the chance of rolling an ankle?

Andre Mattson is a strength & conditioning coach for the NBA's Charlotte Hornets and is the inventor of The Ankle Saver.  The Ankle Saver is a revolutionary training device that strengthens the foot and lower leg to decrease the risk of injury and optimize performance. With The Ankle Saver, you can make significant improvements in your athleticism and finally make ankle injuries a thing of the past.

Before joining the Hornets, Andre was an assistant strength coach with the New York Knicks and also spent time as an adjunct professor of exercise science at San Diego Community College District.  His experience working with elite athletes in college and the NBA has given him the knowledge and insight to truly understand human performance.

Andre joined me on the podcast and let me pick his brain on how he's keeping his player's healthy and minimizing basketball ankle sprains. Listen to this week's show and learn:

• How to reduce the chance of basketball ankle sprains
• Why the intrinsic muscles of your feet matter
• When you should train barefoot
• How the Ankle Saver can strengthen your feet
• What to do after your sprain an ankle

You can find Andre Mattson on social media @andremattsonperformance

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Episode 061: Are you having trouble eating healthy for basketball?  Is it a struggle to eat your fruits and vegetables and still get enough calories in throughout the day?  Well, Ryan Carter can help!

Ryan is a certified Health Coach, Personal trainer, breathwork coach and registered nutritional therapist with many more specialized qualifications.

He is the founder of Live Vitae, an optimal health coaching platform, that works by educating, supporting and mentoring clients from illness to wellness or sub-par to optimal.

The approach he takes is very different from the ‘norm” nutritionists model. He incorporates the best from:

 - Nutritional therapy using a functional medicine model
 - Ancestral wisdom utilizing evolution understanding coupled with mother nature
 - modern technology and biohacking interventions
 - quantifiable fitness and dietary strategies. 

Ryan works across the board and is a functional generalist, not believing in a reductionist model to health coaching and beyond. He works with anyone and everyone who wants to achieve optimization and more.

Listen to this week's episode on Eating Healthy for Hoops and learn how you can eat to be your best on and off the court.  

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Episode 060: Mindfulness and basketball aren't typically two words that go together.  But, author and keynote speaker, Mike Lee, joined me on the podcast today to share how mindfulness can improve your game.

Bridging his background in basketball leadership and performance — training some of basketball’s 1% — with mindfulness and emotional intelligence, Mike helps high-performing leaders master the psychology needed to lead and perform in a 2020 world.

Through his experience building an international basketball brand from his college apartment, and growing it while beating the heroin-like withdrawal symptoms of pharmaceutical medication, Mike understands the challenges leaders face.

In the basketball world, it’s crucial that players have the fundamental skills to execute the team’s strategy. In the business world, it’s no different.  People need the foundational skills like self-awareness, presence and resilience to constantly adapt, perform and create in this time of unprecedented change.

Drawing on the latest research from neuroscience, basketball and personal experience, he’s shared stories and practical exercises — across the United States, Indonesia and Spain — to help people find their own inner power and poise to thrive in business and life.

He is the founder of Thrive3, a basketball training company that “creates game-changing experiences that crossover from the court to life”. At Thrive3 he’s worked at Academies or individual development sessions with players like NBA MVP Stephen Curry, All-Star Joel Embiid and Rookie of the Year Malcolm Brogdon. Mike is also the author of the internationally sold book, UN/TRAIN.

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Episode 059: If you’ve listened to my previous episodes, you know that I was a college basketball walk on.  It was one of the hardest and most rewarding things I’ve ever done.  I didn’t know what to expect when I showed up on campus and I wasn’t ready for how physically & mentally challenging every practice would be. 

For anyone out there who is thinking about playing Division 1 basketball, I brought on Gonzaga Men’s Basketball Coach, Brian Michaelson, to explain the walk-on process and share how to maximize your chance of having a successful college basketball career. 

Brian and I have a special bond for a few reasons…

First off, he’s part of the Gonzaga basketball brotherhood.  It’s amazing how close our alumni is and how many guys from around the world end up making Spokane their permanent home.  Guys like Robert Sacre, Dan Dickau, Winston Brooks and even JP Batista from Brazil bought a home here. 

2nd, I was his strength coach when he was in college.  We spent a lot of time in the weight room together during his redshirt year and so I get to take partial credit for his arms of steel. 

And the 3rd bond that ties us together is that we were both college basketball walk ons at GU before earning scholarships.   He knows first hand how difficult it can be to make it.

Today I asked him about the common thread between walk ons like David Stockton, Mike Hart, Jeremy Jones and Kyle Bankhead, that not only earned a scholarship, but broke into the starting lineup.  I asked him about how to get a walk on try out and how to catch the coaches eye.  If you or a loved one is thinking about walking on, you won’t want to miss this episode.

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Episode 058: Inventor, entrepreneur and the trainer of basketball trainers, Micah Lancaster, joins us on the podcast to share his system for basketball skill training.

Known as a basketball scientist, he invented the rip cone, weighted tennis ball, was the originator of the medicine basketball training methodology and created the first & only basketball footwork training system. Athletes from around the world travel to his skills lab to add moves to their toolbox.

He’s worked with NBA greats like Kyrie Irving, Victor Oladipo, and Karl Anthony towns and today I picked his brain on how high school players can maximize their practice time and become the best version of themselves.  If you want to improve the way you workout, check out this episode and learn:

• The difference between a basketball skill training coach and a game situation coach
• Why it's important to progress & regress basketball movements
• How to use tools for accountability
• The mental skill that pros have that the average player doesn't

Here's where you can find out more about Micah @micah_lancaster

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Episode 057: Basketball training should mirror the demands of the game.  Since players jab step in the sagittal plane, shuffle in the frontal plane and pivot in the transverse plane, the movements you do in the weight room should also be in 3D.

3D Athletes was founded in 2009 by Nate Schafer and continues its quest to elevate the way athletes train and prepare for competition.  Nate and his training facility are sought out by professional athletes and teams all over the world to level up their game.

The 3D system, based on the Gray Institute's principles of Applied Functional Science, is designed to progressively challenge and enhance movement as it relates to sport and competition.

In today's episode, Nate shares his thought process on 3D basketball training.  Listen and learn...

• Why you need to combine mobility and stability training
• How to program traditional movements with 3D movements
• Nate's favorite tools to train basketball players
• The 3D vertical jump progression

You can find Nate on social media @3dathletes

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Episode 056: Do you want to make the most out of your playing career?  While everyone will eventually hang their shoes up at some point, quality basketball relationships will last a lifetime.

I brought Jake Kelfer on the show to talk about how to build basketball relationships and strengthen networks to help players be successful on and off the court.  Jake is a fellow hooper, motivational speaker, and the bestselling author of Elevate Beyond and Elevate Your Network. 

Jake is also the founder of the Professional Basketball Combine which helps NBA draft prospects turn their dreams of playing pro ball into their reality.  He’s worked with the NBA Summer League, LA Lakers and Adidas.

Today we spoke about the power of basketball relationships and how athletes can make the most out of their playing careers and set themselves up for success after basketball. He shares the principles that helped him land his first job with the LA Lakers and what the greatest coaches have in common.

You can find Jake on social media @jakekelfer

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Episode 055: Learn how to get quicker on the basketball court from the LA Clippers’ Head Strength & Conditioning Coach, Daniel Shapiro.

Daniel is in his 3rd year as Head of Strength & Conditioning for the LA Clippers.  Before joining the Clippers, he spent 4 seasons at the University of Washington where he was Director of Basketball Athletic Performance for the Men’s Basketball team.

No stranger to the NBA, Shapiro served as the Head Strength & Conditioning Coach for the Sacramento Kings from 2005-2013.  Prior to working with the Kings, Shapiro spent two seasons at the University of Dayton as the head strength and conditioning coach for the men’s and women’s basketball teams.

His previous work experience includes a seven-year stint with the Seattle Supersonics (1996-2003) as the assistant strength and conditioning coach under Dwight Daub. During his stay with the Sonics, Shapiro doubled his duties with the organization and worked as the head strength and conditioning coach for the Seattle Storm of the WNBA (2000-03).

Shapiro is co-founder of the NBSCA (National Basketball Strength and Conditioning Association) and served as its inaugural president from 2009 to 2011. In May 2010, Shapiro was awarded the NBSCA Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Year. Along with his NBA team responsibilities, Shapiro also continues to oversee all operations of the athletic performance testing at the annual NBA Pre-Draft Combine since 2010.

A native of Renton, Washington, Shapiro earned a bachelor’s degree in exercise science (2000) and master’s degree in physical education (2005), both from Seattle Pacific University. He has his CSCS (Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist) from the National Strength and Conditioning Association and is a Certified Performance Enhancement Specialist from the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM).  Currently, Shapiro is working towards completing his fellowship with the Gray Institute of Functional Transformation (GIFT).

Shapiro enjoys working out, playing basketball and ran and completed his first marathon in the summer of 2009 in Seattle. When he isn’t working, traveling or getting a sweat he loves spending time with his friends and family, watching movies and getting out on the water as much as he can. He and his wife, Sina, reside in Los Angeles with their daughter Eliana (born in September 2016).

Daniel was kind enough to take time during the playoffs to chat about how to get quicker on the basketball court.  We discussed:

• Why players need to be shifty on the court
• How to use RARe Training
• Daniel’s favorite quickness exercises
• The importance of ball handling in speed & agility
• When to use low-level plyometrics in a program

You can find Daniel on social media @kingshapiro21

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