Are You Better Than The Pros?

“Get the fundamentals down and the level of everything you do will rise." Michael Jordan

This past weekend my son and I showed up about 30 minutes early to his basketball game. We had a hoop to ourselves, so I told him we would go through our shooting progressions. 

Shooting progressions are a series of form shots where you progressively move away from the basket. What we typically do is if you miss three shots in a row, you move back up to the closer spot. 

As we were moving through the progressions, he was getting frustrated because he would work himself back to the three-point line but then miss enough shots to move back to the front of the rim. 

He didn't want to move up. He wanted to get to his favorite spot, the three-point line, and stay there. 

I asked him, "Are you better than the pros? Because they come out here two hours before the game, do form shooting, and work on their fundamentals until they get it right. They earn their way to every spot." 

He didn't say anything. He just looked at me, took a deep breath, picked up the ball, moved closer, and kept shooting. 

Basketball performance coach Alan Stein tells a story about when Kobe Bryant invited him to one of his workouts at 4 AM before a Nike Camp. 

Stein said when he arrived at 330AM, Kobe was already going through an intense warm-up. Then he said, "For the first 45 minutes, I watched the best player in the world do the most basic footwork and offensive moves. Kobe was doing stuff that I had routinely taught to middle schoolers. And he was doing everything at an unparalleled level of effort and focus. He was doing everything with surgical precision. But the actual stuff he was doing was very basic."

Later that day, Stein asked him, "Kobe, you're the best player in the world; why are you doing such basic drills?"

Kobe said, "Why do you think I'm the best player in the world? I never get bored with the basics."

It doesn't matter if you are an eleven-year-old or a professional athlete. The basics should never bore you.

In fact, your obsession with the basics, as Kobe said, will be the only reason you will be the best at what you do.