11 Ways to find your Basketball Passion again

Posted by Eitel in For Coaches, For Players, Motivation & Health | 0 comments

For a basketball player, one of the worst things to happen, aside from unwanted injuries, is losing the passion for the sport itself. I guess everyone witnessed how Michael Jordan lost his passion for basketball. Who could ever forget that? The basketball world mourned over his decision to retire from basketball. However, it was not the greatest highlight of his career. It was his decision to return to his passion – Basketball.

The question here now is how to bring your passion for basketball back. I will share some of my ideas on how to relight the fire in you:

The Reason why Basketball is so popular

Posted by Eitel in For Parents, For Players | 2 comments

Basketball has enjoyed a meteoric rise in popularity over the last decade. While a lot of people fail to see how this could happen, it is very easy to track down a few key points that could be helping and stoking the flames of growth for basketball. Some people even go so far as to say that basketball is no more popular than it was back in the prime days of Michael Jordan. If this were the case, than the games wouldn’t be popular, and they wouldn’t constantly have packed arenas and high ratings.

The internet has become a huge publicity tool for basketball. Not only can league players go online and obtain advice from people in all walks of life, but local players can always go online to certain social sites or certain web services and find other players online that are in their area to play.

The internet allows for fans new and old to watch old basketball material, be able to access new basketball material, and has the ability to follow today’s current basketball. Before the internet, you had to read the newspaper, or sit in front of the television to get the scores and highlights from that day. Now that technology and the internet have taken it so far that you can get all of that material even on your cell phone.

As well as the internet, people are just getting outside more to parks and away from their video games and busy lives. Basketball is a great way to enjoy some physical activity in a fun setting that allows you to be competitive, but also allows you to have a lot of fun while doing it. Basketball is a sport that can be played in and outside, and is a year round sport.

Today’s age of professional basketball player tends to draw a little more attention than players of the past. That is due to the many changes in how the game is played, delivered, and enjoyed by fans. The internet allows an unprecedented amount of access that previous to the internet age couldn’t have been achieved. The amount of information available at any one time to anyone looking for it brings the sport into a whole new light.

Not only has the internet become a publicity tool, and a research tool, but also has become a solid training aid. Players of all levels have access via many sites, blogs, forums, etc to various kinds of information that can help every aspect of their game. Things like workout routine, eating habits, playing styles and more can be found simply by typing some very basic terms into a search engine and rolling with what comes up.

Players now have the ability to network with other players in various locations worldwide and of differing skill levels, which in itself promote different levels of the game, and is in itself an ambassador for the game. Potential players will be able to view a large amount of information without having to ask questions that sometimes will make people shy away because they hate to look “weak”.

Today’s fans, players, and coaches all will agree that basketball has become far more popular at all levels in the past decade, and the internet, as well as the evolution of the game is at the forefront of that trend!

Photo credit: MorZar

Instill Passion in your Players

Posted by Eitel in For Coaches | 0 comments

Passion and purpose goes hand in hand with each other. When a person is very passionate towards a purpose, he will be willing to always go the extra mile just to see that the purpose is fulfilled. When passion lives within oneself, his work, commitment and love becomes one. At this point, he will see that no obstacle is too big to overcome.

Passion is what separates losers and winners. It is passion that drives players to keep getting up no matter how many times they fall flat on their face. A team that consists of passionate players can go a long way towards achieving success. But then, how do you develop passion in the players?

The passion that we mean in this context is the undying love for the game of basketball, the team and other teammates. The question that we asked ourselves is actually a very difficult question to answer. There is no black and white answer to it. When dealing with developing passion, we are actually trying to make someone love something; remember, love cannot be forced.

All this while, experts have only provided us with suggestions and case studies of successful “passion-building” programs. However, we should never forget that what works for some may not work for others. The key essential that you should look into as a coach is the attitude of your team as a whole and also the attitude of your individual players.

Developing passion is synonymous with motivating players. Coaches usually have a narrow view towards motivating the team. They usually view motivation as a means to simply improve the teams’ performance. Instead, as coaches, we should try to see motivation as a way to make our players better people.

Motivation and passion is directly related to the self image. The self image is how players see themselves. The way they see themselves depends on many internal and external factors. Internal factors towards self image include childhood experience, previous success, personal conflicts and also physical appearance. External influence on the other hand includes comments by teammates and the coach, reaction of the crowd towards them and the way other people treat them.

As a coach, there are five major things that you can do to improve your players’ self image and subsequently develop passion within them. First of all, you have to always expect the best from your players. Show your players that you believe in them and are confident that they can overcome any obstacle.

You should also tell your players to see themselves beyond their actual physical being. Inspire them to imagine themselves not as the way they are now. Instead, tell them to imagine them being as the way they want to become. This will motivate them to act to achieve their dream.

Next, you should protect your team from negative talk; especially from yourself. If you show to your players that you are passionate about the team and about them, chances are, you passion will infect them as well.

Also, you should discuss with your players about the goals that they want to achieve. Always remind them of these goals during training, before matches and even after that. When one is constantly reminded of the goal that he wants to achieve, passion will naturally flow in his veins.

Lastly, develop a sense of belonging among your players. Make them feel as if the team is their second family. Having deep affection towards something will make a person as passionate as he can be.
Essentially, developing passion in the players is not an easy thing to achieve. However, if you successfully develop passion among your players, you will have a fully committed team that will always take the initiative to go the extra mile. Also, you will see that your players will turn into better persons.

Photo credit: Tulane Public Relations