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.

http://www.visitgrahamcounty.com/Images/hiking-logo.png

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.

https://www.yoyoevents.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Decision-Making-Image-2-YoYo.png

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.

http://insider.ticketmaster.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/countdown-clock.png

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