Spring Fever

Hello again!

It is April and as many basketball fans know, March Madness has just ended. It was a thrilling finish in the Championship and a disappointment to all North Carolina fans. 

But, on a different note, it's the time of year to begin getting better! There are thousands of AAU (Amateur Athletic Union) teams where players can develop their skills and play high level teams. Also, any player can just stay local and play outside and improve on their own. Just picking up a ball once a day is going to make a change in your game.

Personally, I couldn't be happier to be playing right now. It has been a LONG wait for me to get back to playing the sport I love and I finally was cleared to begin playing just 2 weeks ago! As a symbol of motivation, I bought myself a brand new basketball for indoors only!

Ever since I got my cast off (mentioned in a previous blog), I have been playing, training, and shooting non-stop. As any athlete would know, being taken away from the sport you love causes a build up of desire to play deep inside. And as I said earlier, the spring and all through summer is the absolute perfect time to be getting better at basketball. Developing new skills and tweaking old skills and then getting to see them roll over into season, that starts in roughly 8 months (!!!!!), is the greatest feeling. Yes, putting in the time and effort can be a drag sometimes but, seeing it pay off in the end is the most rewarding experience. 

Recently, I have been looking back on pre-season photos from this last year that were taken of my team and me in Arizona. Just looking back on where I was pushes me even harder to be stronger, and greater next year.

One little bit of advice I can offer is always remember where you started and where you are. Remind yourself there is always room to grow! Set goals, and strive to be a LEADER on your team. When I say leader that may mean different things to different people but the meaning I am trying to convey can only be explained by a quote my coach tells me and that is,

"In order to be a leader, you should always be progressing and helping your teammates improve. When you look behind you, there should not only be a few following and the rest left behind. Your entire team should be standing behind you and following your lead"

In other words, being a leader does not necessarily mean you have to be the best. As long as you are guiding your team in the right direction and motivating each player, you are a leader.  

(Side Note)

I found this page on Facebook and thought it was pretty interesting and anyone who has grown up playing basketball will surely relate.

44 Things You'll Only Understand If You Grew Up Playing Basketball

Post Injury: Motivation

In my last blog, I mentioned that I broke my finger and since then, I have gotten my pins removed from surgery and am cast free!

(Me just after getting the cast on)

Although, my finger is stiff as can be and cannot work as it should... I am in the recovery stage and I am starting to attend physical therapy twice a week! Also, for the 6 weeks I was casted, I was prohibited from any activities that increased my heart rate because of the swelling around the surgery area. Now of course going from being an athlete who trained about 3 hours a day to absolutely nothing was an extremely drastic change. Just two days ago I started exercising again and the first thing I thought to myself was, "where do I start?". After a facing an injury that is that great of a setback, how do you begin again? It is hard to find the motivation to come back after sitting around for so long but the main thing pushing me is knowing I want to be even better than I was before. I have started hiking and did my first workout yesterday. Although it was about a 5 minute exercise, I am definitely feeling it today.

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While I am slowly getting back into the routine of moving and being active, I have also been practicing shooting a basketball with my right hand. Just the little I have been getting to do one handed has improved my shot greatly! So my message to any athlete who has faced an injury and is trying to find their way back to normal just remember to do whatever you can while recovering and look forward to returning to what you love!

http://bit.ly/1Qmjx93

        Gabby

Reviewing A Second Source

Hi guys!

This week I will be reviewing and responding to an alternative source for the game of basketball. I decided to focus specifically on preparing for the new season. The article I am reading from is linked here: Basketball HQ Training Videos.

So, I would like to first begin with an explanation as to why I have chosen this topic. At this time of the year, the world of basketball is in full bloom and teams around the world are battling for wins in their seasons. This year I was particularly excited for the season to come and had a bundle of expectations and desires for myself to perform on the court. Sadly, I was stopped in my tracks due to my finger being broken just as season was beginning. So now, I must move forward and wait for next season to come around and I want to be more prepared than ever before.

In reading the first several paragraphs in the "Preparing for the New Basketball Season" article, there is a lot of mentioning of mindset. I would pay particular attention to this article because I find that in any sport, the game starts in your head. Any distraction like lack of confidence, worrying about past and potential mistakes all affect the results of a players performance in the game. It is all mental.

"How can you expect your coaches or teammates to have confidence in you, if you don’t even have confidence in yourself? Confidence is not arrogance and a lot of people confuse the two. Have confidence in your ability, but don’t be a show boat or try to be a selfish player"

I cannot stress this quote enough! Being confident in yourself and knowing what you are capable of plays a gigantic role in performance. Although, I know too many players who tend to believe confidence is cockiness. In being cocky, it is common that these players believe they are "good enough" and have no more need to improve. Any true player knows that there is no such thing as being the best and there is always room to improve. There will ALWAYS be someone better than you. So keep getting better.

A second quote I love in this article is,

"Don’t let fighting over the same position make you a bad teammate. You should work as hard as you possible can for your position, but do this in a team building way. If every player is working their hardest then that is going to make practice competitive and make every player that much better"

Instead of hating a teammate who is better than you, compete with them. By doing so, you benefit your own game, your teams performance, and continue to challenge the opposing teammate. The game of basketball is a team sport and though it seems a single player or two can rule the court themselves, nothing looks better than entire team who plays together and believes in the ability of one another.

Thank you for reading along!

Gabby

Looking Into The Future, Changing The Present

With the final semester of my sophomore year beginning and junior year approaching fast, I have been taking plenty of time to consider MY future and what I wish to focus on. I have always been told "high school goes by in a blur" and I acknowledge this as fact. I know that my time in the safety of high school is limited and soon I will have to decide what I want to do with my life. For all of my 16 years being alive, I have never had any particular subjects that interest me more than others. With the concept of my high school time limited, I am fully aware it is time that I make changes and find the areas I would like to focus on for a possible career and just discovering what truly makes me happy.

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I recently made the decision to drop swim and possibly volleyball so that I am able to put all of my energy and focus into basketball, the sport I admire most, and into school. I have found that many multi-sport athletes typically know what sport they enjoy most yet for some reason, wait so long to drop the others and do not dedicate enough time to the ones they wish to proceed in. As an athlete with a particularly large following of fans, I know that it can feel like a lot of pressure to walk away from certain sports due to the constant worry of the response of others. But, in the long wrong, it is so important to remember my life belongs to me and only me. It took me a long time to process that and accept it. I still struggle in making these decisions in fear of disappointing others. But, after high school is over, no one cares about the choices I made or which sports I did or didn't play.

So, I have made the conscious choice to eliminate what I no long have a passion for and continue with what I love. In this process, I have learned so much about myself which I believe in the end, will give me such strength and huge advantages in life. I continuously find myself falling back to music and basketball but not always having enough time to pursue those dreams for my time was limited. Now with my changes, I get the opportunity to practice basketball more, allowing me to improve. I also am able to play piano more as I used to and develop my singing voice which I have always kept to myself.

I know this is a lot about me, me, me but, I want to get the message out to athletes all over and just students in general, that you should always listen to your own heart and follow your desires. Do NOT let anyone else tell you what is "best" for you and don't worry about what other people think. Be your own you and get a head start on your future! Don't waste time not thinking about what you want because you only have so much time before the adult world is before you and you can either be ready to go or fall behind.

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All decisions will come with struggle but, if you are happy in the end, that is what truly matters.

Thank you for reading!

Gabby Giddings

How To: Recover From An Injury

As an extremely active athlete myself, I have been faced with many injuries that prevent me from participating in sports. I have had many sports induced injuries including, throwing my vertebrae and hips out of alignment, dislocating a bone in my foot, over using my knees, and rolling my ankles repeatedly. In this last week, I have been struggling with my left knee. It had been bothering me for a couple days but I started noticing that it was popping and swelling around my meniscus.

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It is extremely common for athletes (especially females) to have pain in the ligaments and tendons that hold their knee together. The meniscus is a cushion like part of the knee and is very painful when severely torn. As far as my knowledge goes, I do not think I have done any damage to my meniscus but it is a possibility that I have strained it or cause minor damage to it.

From my experience, I am going to advise what to be aware of when you believe you may be an injured athlete and what to do when you find yourself in the situation.

Step 1: Listen to your body. You know better than anyone else if you are hurt. Nobody else can feel your pain! If you do not inform a coach or another person nearby about it, they may not notice and continuing to play may increase the amount of pain and damage that is done to whatever body part. 

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Step 2: Don't be afraid to sit out! So many athletes think that playing while being injured makes them look "tough" but they aren't thinking about their future. They may or may not finish whatever activity they are doing in the moment but, for all they know, they could be making their injury worse. For all they know, the strenuous activity could hurt them more and cause them to sit out from playing longer than if they had taken the one day off. 

Step 3: If you find yourself having done something that causes minor damage that does not require professional attention then go home and RICE. RICE is an acronym meaning Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevate. The first thing anyone who is injured should do it take a break. Lay down on a couch or just sit down for a little while. Then, it is very important to ice the bothered area for 20 minutes on 20 minutes off. NEVER PUT ICE DIRECTLY ON SKIN. The ice will reduce swelling around the area and allow the body to do its job in healing. Next, compress the area as best you can. It is important to keep the area tight and steady so no other damage can occur. Finally, elevate the area to above heart level if possible. This also reduces swelling by making it harder for blood to flow to the area in vast amounts.

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Step 4: Do not rush your recovery! I have known plenty of people who were so eager to recover from their injuries and ended up playing too soon. This resulted in them no longer being physically able to participate in the sport because too much damage had been done. It is sad when these situations happen because the person will most likely feel that pain for the rest of their life. Make sure you listen to a physician and to your own body. As I said, you know better than anyone else if you are ready to be active again. 

Year 2

I am on to my second year of high school and sports have already begun! I am currently playing on the varsity volleyball team and we play 6 days a week which is incredibly time consuming. I have returned to the same honor core classes as last year and my other classes are challenging as well. Last year, I would say that I definitely struggled with managing my time. I had a hard time knowing when it was an appropriate time to do my homework and how I would manage to get it all complete in time for me to get enough sleep throughout the night. Looking back on my freshman year, I now know what works for my schedule and what does not. I try my best to get more homework finished as soon as I get home or at least get a head start on it so I don't have as much when I go back to finish. That way, I am less stressed and I am able to focus more on the one subject and put in my best effort. I have already observed that I feel more confident with the work that I am turning into my classes and my grades reflect the schedule adjustment I have made. As a result of all I have learned from freshman year, I feel I have more time to do the things I would like to in my free time and I am preforming at a higher level in whatever sport I am playing in. This last week we played in a game against Ukiah and I was put into the Windsor Times newspaper article. I thought it was a pretty exciting moment so I have included a picture of the article below!

Thanks for reading! :-)

Coming To An End

First Year Nearly Complete

As my first year of high school is coming to an end, I would like to look back and remember all that I have achieved and the struggles I have faced. I began my freshman year playing varsity volleyball. I must admit I had no idea what I was doing. I am in a high difficulty honors class that has many requirements and piles of homework I was not prepared for. I remember it was about my second week of being in school and managing volleyball. I did not know how to manage my time at all so I would come to school and try to cheat on the homework I did not complete the night before. Of course, I got caught and it really opened my eyes. I realized I would have to figure out how to manage everything by myself. Otherwise, I would be failing my classes or have to drop the sport. Neither sounded like a good option to me. I took my work to games with me and did my homework in the bleachers before games and on the bus ride home. Before I knew it, volleyball was over. At this time, basketball had already begun so the next day, I jumped in and joined the varsity basketball team. This was an even bigger change because basketball required a different kind of energy from me. There was tons of training and running that I was not in shape for so, by the time I got home I was exhausted. I told myself I had a small break to eat and rest. Then, it was time to do my homework. I usually went to bed about 12:30 a.m. then woke up around 6 to finish homework that I had not completed. I grew used to the lack of sleep and activities I had signed up for. In basketball, I excelled and had tons of fun.

I recieved the honorable mention award from the nbl.

My team was seeded 3rd in the league, we went on to playoffs. Once we lost our last game in San Jose, I text my swim coach to let her know I would be attending practice the next day. Since then, I have been swimming and competing on the JV swim team. Throughout this first year, I have learned how to adjust to the circumstances given and I am great at planning ahead for my immensely busy schedule. I am already preparing for the sports I will be playing over the summer. I can not wait for my sophomore year because I will have the experience I did not have my freshman year.