The Ant Philosophy

I think everybody should study ants. They have an amazing four-part philosophy. Here is the first part: ants never quit. That's a good philosophy. If you're headed somewhere and you try to stop them, they'll look for another way. They'll climb over, they'll climb under, they'll climb around. They keep looking for another way. What a neat philosophy, to never quit looking for a way to get where you're supposed to go.

Second, ants think winter all summer. That's an important perspective. You can't be so naive as to think summer will last forever. So ants are gathering their winter food in the middle of summer.

The third part of the ant philosophy is that ants think summer all winter. That is so important. During the winter, ants remind themselves, "This won't last long -- we'll soon be out of here." And the first warm day, the ants are out. If it turns cold again, they'll dive back down, but then they come out the first warm day. They can't wait to get out.

And here's the last part of the ant philosophy. How much will an ant gather during the summer to prepare for the winter? All he possibly can. what an incredible philosophy, the "all-you-possibly-can" philosophy.

"Your game is as good as your practice."

Originally written by Jim Rohn

The Inventory of Success

The following list has some great information on what it takes to be a successful athlete. I found this list on coachingtoolbox.net.

Successful athletes earnestly want to succeed, and they do something about it.

They set goals for themselves.

Successful athletes realize that everything worth having in athletics has a price-tag in terms of training and competitive effort. They understand that success has its cost, but they pay their way knowingly, keeping their eyes on their goals.

They realize their future success in the final analysis will depend upon their own personal efforts.

Successful athletes consider work a privilege, not a chore.

They accept personal responsibility for their own success.

Successful athletes don't depend upon luck, They KNOW that success goes only where it's invited.

They know that willpower, not magic, turns dreams, into reality.

Successful athletes have a high frustration tolerance. They don't become discouraged at temporary setbacks. They learn from these setbacks and look ahead to the next competition with optimism.

They don't waste time thinking the grass is greener on the other side of the fence. They don't complain about what they haven't got. They develop to the maximum what they have.


Though willing to change for the better, successful athletes do not flit from one training method or technique to the other from day to day. They determine a long-range course of action and follow through on it with faith in its effectiveness.

Successful athletes profit by their own mistakes, and they profit by the mistakes of others.

They avoid negative thoughts and defeatist thinking.

Successful athletes don't have head-trouble, but they do have guts.

They are totally reliable and responsible in training matters.

They don't alibi. They know the best excuse is the one you never make.

Successful athletes set examples for others.

They are cooperative with both coaches and teammates.

Successful athletes are by far the easiest to coach.

They are not injury prone. They have far fewer injuries than the less successful.

Successful athletes are enthusiastic. They generate their own enthusiasm. They don't grumble, moan, groan, and complain.

Athletes who fail tend to be cynical. They believe their coaches are not leading them properly.

They are unwilling to be impressed or inspired. This is expected of the phony, the snobbish, the pseudo-intellectual, ... but it dooms an athlete when the coach tries to inspire him and he just sits there saying this is a lot of nonsense. The good athlete does not ridicule the capacities and the ideas of the coach ... HE RESPONDS!

What it takes to be a Good Guard.

The following article was taken from www.coachingbetterbball.blogspot.com. It was taken from Dave Bollwinkel, a scout for the Boston Celtics.

Far too often, high school guards believe that what college coaches are looking for is someone to light up the scoreboard. While scoring is certainly an advantage, you can make it as a college guard if you understand and master all nine points listed below, even if you are not a great scorer.

Good guards...

1. Get their team into offense by:
- Developing a good handle
- Including the retreat dribble

2. Know how to attack pressure.
- Always looking up the floor
- Looping the lag guard to create an open side of the floor (reverse the ball early in the offense)
- Using the retreat dribble to back out of traps, stay out of trouble, and to space the floor
- Avoid dead man's corner (at half court)

3. Know when and how to feed the post.

4. Creating through dribble penetration.
- Both for the post and the perimeter
- Deliver the pass into the shooting pocket
- Make use of on ball screens to assist in penetration and to create your own scoring opportunities

5. Make good decisions
- Know their teammates
- Take reasonable risks, think running the break
- Know game situations (clock, score, possession arrow, etc.)

6. Knock down the open jump shot

7. Doing their homework early when it comes to foot organization.
- By "one-twoing" into all 3 point shots (step into their shots)

8. Defend the dribble
- Can pick up full court and work the dribbler
- Can flatten out dribble penetration in the half court

9. Run the show
- Recognize the importance of good guard leadership
- Are "self-authorized leaders" (They take Ownership of the team)

Dribbling/Ball Handling

Every basketball player, no matter your position, should be able to dribble and handle the basketball to some degree. Before I get into tips on dribbling and ball handling lets first discuss the difference between the two. Dribbling is performing a cross over, between the legs, behind the back, in and out, hesitation, or any other dribble move you can think of. One form of ball handling is what you do with those dribble moves. Speed dribbling down the court and then changing direction with a cross over dribble is ball handling.


4 Reasons to Dribble

• To take ball to basket
• To improve passing angle
• To balance the floor and maintain proper spacing
• To escape trouble (trapping situations, etc)

Proper Stance

• Drop your hips to get in low stance - Don't bend at the waist. This may cause you to lean over your toes and get you off balance.
• Back straight with head up
• Dribble ball at knee level or no higher than mid thigh

Dribbling/Ball Handling Tips

• Use a hard pound dribble - quicker the dribble the more the ball is in your hands. This allows for quicker shots and/or passes.
• Be strong with the ball - This is especially true when you are trying to beat someone off the dribble. Basketball is a contact sport and you must be able to play through contact.
• Dribble with your head up - Use the 4 reasons listed above to dribble the basketball. Dribbling for no reason or purpose can kill the flow of the offense and frustrate teammates.

This is a small sample of the many topics covered in the Guard Play Skill Development Booklet. The pdf file includes 7 components with information on individual offense, defense, skill developement, skill development nuggets, drills, sample workouts, and final thoughts by Coach TJ. CLICK HERE to visit the shop page to purchase the Nothing But Net Basketball Guard Play Skill Development Booklet or to download the free sample.

Guard Play Skill Development Booklet

Coach TJ has written a 78 page Guard Play Skill Development Booklet that is available for purchase on the Nothing But Net Basketball website. This pdf file has tons of information and tips on skill development, individual offense, defense, drills, and sample workouts. This is the perfect read for all perimeter players. For more information on the Guard Play Skill Development Booklet contact Coach TJ at tj@nothingbutnetbball.com. For a free download sample of the booklet please visit our new product page at http://nothingbutnetbball.com/Shop.aspx.

4 Tips for Finishing Around the Basket

As players begin playing against better opponents, getting to the basket and finishing with a score becomes more difficult. Because defenders are bigger, quicker and more athletic, the risk of steals and blocked shots becomes much higher.

Offensive players must develop a variety of ways to counter these potential problems around the basket and score as they get to the rim. Players must have the ability to avoid the steal and the blocked shot if they want to be consistent finishers at the basket.

Avoid the Steal
Players must be aware of the hands of their defender as well as the hands of any help defenders. To avoid being stripped on your drive, here are some general rules:

• Lock It:After the last dribble, keep the ball away from the hands of your defender by keeping the ball on your outside hip. We tell our players to “lock it in your pocket.” This way, if the defender tries to steal or strip, he will wave at air, or will foul you on your inside arm as he reaches across your body. This must be practiced and perfected so that it is not a reaction to the defenders move, but preparation for it.
• Cover It: When driving through traffic with your defender and helpside defenders reaching for the ball, cover the ball up with both arms – just like a running back in football. This gets you through the hole of reaching hands and arms, and allows you to finish the play without being stripped. Again, this must be practiced and perfected in preparation for this situation.

Avoiding Blocked Shots

It is important to prepare for different scenarios based on where the shot blocker is positioned. Here are two basic situations to prepare for.

• Reverse Lay Up: When the shot blocker is coming from the foul line area down toward the baseline to block your shot, he is usually timing your move to block the shot on your side of the basket. He’s lining it up to pin it on the glass. As you see him coming, stretch out your move out by lengthening your steps to finish underneath on the opposite side of the basket. Most shot blockers will have a difficult time adjusting to this move. Once again, this is not a reaction to his attempted block. It is prepared for in advance and anticipated based on where the help is coming from.
• Overhand Floater:When the shot blocker is coming across the lane, waiting on you or coming out to meet you, you now shorten your move and float the layup overhand. Your footwork is the same as a regular layup, just shorten the steps. The overhand shot rhythm should be smooth and unhurried, and the ball be released high and hit softly on the rim or backboard.

At higher levels of basketball, players often make good moves to get by their defender, only to encounter trouble when they get near the basket. Finishing plays becomes more difficult as the athletic ability of your opponents increases. By developing the above techniques, players can to avoid steals and blocked shots and become more proficient at finishing the play at the rim.

Article written by Mike Moreau, IMG Basketball Academy. Originally posted on www.ihoops.com.

Accepting Responsibility—a Story of Bill Russell

Most people dread accepting responsibility. That’s just a fact of life, and we can see it in operation every day. Yes, we can see avoidance of responsibility all the time in both our personal and professional lives. And here’s something else we can see just as often: we can see that most people aren’t as successful as they wish they were. Do you see there is a connection between these two very common phenomena?

It’s in your best interest to take responsibility for everything you do. But that’s only the beginning. Many times it’s even best to take responsibility for the mistakes of others, especially when you’re in a managerial or leadership role.

During the years when professional basketball was just beginning to become really popular, Bill Russell, who played center for the Boston Celtics, was one of the greatest players in the pro league. He was especially known for his rebounding and his defensive skills.

But like a lot of very tall centers, Russell was never much of a free throw shooter. His free throw percentage was quite a bit below average in fact. But this low percentage didn’t really give a clear picture of Russell’s ability as an athlete. And in one game he gave a very convincing demonstration of this.

It was the final game of a championship series between Boston and the Los Angeles Lakers. With about 12 seconds left to play, the Lakers were behind by one point and Boston had the ball. It was obvious that the Lakers would have to foul one of Boston’s players in order to get the ball back, and they chose to foul Bill Russell.

This was a perfectly logical choice since statistically Russell was the worst free throw shooter on the court at that moment. If he missed the shot, the Lakers would probably get the ball back and they’d still have enough time to try to win the game. But if Russell made his first free throw, the Lakers’ chances would be seriously diminished. And if he made both shots, the game would essentially be over.

Bill Russell had a very peculiar style of shooting free throws. Today, no self-respecting basketball player anywhere in America would attempt it. Aside from the question of whether it’s an effective way to shoot a basket, it just looked too ridiculous. Whenever he had to shoot a free throw, the six-foot-eleven Russell would start off holding the ball in both hands about waist high, then he’d squat down and as he straightened up he’d let go of the ball. It looked like he was trying to throw a bucket of dirt over a wall.

But regardless of how he looked, as soon as Bill Russell was fouled, he knew the Celtics were going to win the game. He was absolutely certain of it because, in a situation like this, statistics and percentages mean nothing. There was a much more important factor at work, something that no one has found a way to express in numbers and decimal points.

Simply put, Bill Russell was a player who wanted to take responsibility for the success or failure of his team. He wanted the weight on his shoulders in a situation like this. No possibility for excuses. No possibility of blaming anyone else if the game was lost. No second guessing. Bill Russell wanted the ball in his own hands and nobody else’s. And, like magic, even if he’d missed every free throw he’d ever shot in his life before this, he knew he was going to make this one. And that is exactly what happened.

That is what virtually always happens when a man or woman accepts responsibility eagerly and with confidence. I’ve always felt that accepting responsibility is one of the highest forms of human maturity. A willingness to be accountable, to put yourself on the line, is really the defining characteristic of adulthood.

Article was written by Jim Rohn and curtosy of Your Achievement Newsletter. To read more inspiration articles by Jim Rohn's please visit www.yoursuccessstore.com.