This summer you will have a chance to grow your game.  You have many choices.  Most players will choose the following route:

• Go the courts a few times per week
• Spend 15 minutes “warming up”
• Jack up alot of NBA Three Pointers at half speed
• Take a few trick shots from behind the backboard
• Shoot from out of bounds abut 5 times
• Dribble around with alot of East to West movement
• Play a game of pick up with whatever other guys come in the gym
• Avoid a defensive stance at all costs
• Have a lot of laughs and giggles as your alley oop pass flies out of bounds
• Take a whole bunch of shots your coach won’t let you take during the year
• Mimic the “And One” move you just saw on youtube.com
• Get off the court and sit down and guzzle down a few Gatorades
• Go to your AAU or Select Team Game (if you are indeed affiliated with one) and squeeze off a few shots and try and turn it on
• Go out for pizza and stay up late playing Xbox

Approximately one percent of YOU wll go another route.  It will look something like this:

• You will hit the weight room before the court.  You will follow a program specifically designed for basketball and work toward gains in explosive strength, flexibility, and injury prevention success
• You will warm up in a methodical way designed to introduce your muscles to the court movements you wil execute
• You will execute a pre-designed workout focusing on game shots at game speed
• You will take at least 500 shots
• Dribble to attack practicing explosive pivots and rip thrus
• Finish as if your life depended on it
• You will incorporate defensive sliding into your offensive workouts so you can make the transiton in the games
• You will meet someone at the gym as focused as you to facilitate your workout and avoid clowning around
• You will practice at an intensity level higher than the game itself, so the game will be easy
• You will recognize your strengths and magnify them until you are the best at that skill
• You will admit your weaknesses and address them in a fashion that will facilitate steady improvement
• You will remember the feedback of your coach
• You will not fear making mistakes or how you look to the other 99% in the gym
• You will find the best pickup and AAU games possible,  and guard the opposing team’s best player
• Commit to being the first player baseline to baseline each play despite the fact you may be too tired to shoot threes
• You will measure your success and failures in your workout so you can chart.  You can’t improve what you can’t measure.
• You will cool down properly, consider modalities like ice and Jacuzzis, and rest to recover
• You will eat a salad with unprocessed foods and eat lean meats and poultry
• You won’t drink 400 calories of sugar in your after workout drink.  If you are trying to gain weight then the drink can be a smoothie.
• You will enjoy your workout but not at the expense of intensity
• You will watch Youtube.com videos of Ganon Baker, Hubie Brown, and Alan Stein to figure out your workout tomorrow
• You will dream of success in making the team, making the big shot, and getting the scholarship you took one step closer to in your workout

Many dream about playing college basketball.  Only about 5% of high school players get there.  What are YOU doing this summer?  If you are ready to go to the Next Level… I am ready to help.

I recently thought to myself how lucky a young man I was coaching was to have such a supportive family.  It made me think of a few people I wanted to thank for their support of my early years as a player. 

My grandmother Nora Efferen (Nono to us) who always encouraged my basketball and introduced me to the park where I honed my game. 

To the “wrong element” who harassed pretty much everyone else who entered “their” park but for some reason chose to give me a free pass. 

To the NYPD Bomb Squad detective I only knew as Brian who always made time to encourage and praise me when everyone else criticized the “kid.”  He also made time to teach at the end of our games despite his commitment to his job and his two young daughters suffering from childhood cataracts. 

To the Syracuse University  guy who always used to drop by the playground and teach me things like the jab step.  I never knew how important footwork was at that moment, but your lessons are still fresh in my head. 

To everyone in the Queensbridge projects who saw my  love for the playground game.  Your harassment made me tougher, your bullying steeled my will and eventually you accepted me as one of your own when my playing did my talking. 

To my Uncle Jack who always wanted to hear about my game.  He would watch me play on the Stuyvesant Town Courts until half an hour after dark.  No matter how poorly I played, Uncle Jack only saw the moments of brilliance.  Uncle Jack taught me by example.  Forgiveness, family, leadership, and humility. 

 To my Grandfather Pop who taught me integrity was not about who is watching- it is inside. 

To John Wooden- who wrote Practical Modern Basketball.  It was my bible for many years and the dog eared copy still holds a dear place in my heart and home.  I have read that book over 100 times. 

To my college roommate and teammate Jim McCloskey who showed me kindness and friendship. 

To everyone who told me I would never, never  become a player.  I don’t want to sound harsh, but the truth  is I thought of you while I was practicing on the courts alone.  You actually did make me better.  At the risk of sounding like a bad sport- I enjoyed beating most of you.  For those of you I never did beat… are you still playing?  As we get older we come to realize the value of rivals.  Thank you.

 To the NYC Subway.  While others from my neighborhood remained trapped by their minds…you took me away to the finest competition in the world, Rucker, West Fourth, Flatbush, Lost Battalion, Rockaway, Stuyvesant Town. Cunningham Park, and Central Park.  No internet back then, a lot of trips would yield no game but just info on when the next game might be. 

 To my little brother who was always there for me and now is raising a little athlete of his own.  You always had the athleticism, I had the love… your son has both. 

To the old guys who let me play with them on Sunday mornings at Bush Park.   Most of your games aged relatively gracefully.  I wish you were around to tell me how you did it…I am struggling.

To All Of  You – THANK YOU!

Chris Corbett