How to make your high school basketball team

Robert Griffee How to Make the Varsity Basketball Team at Your High...

Getting on the varsity basketball team can lead to many opportunities for your young career as a player. You get to compete against other high school teams, work on your game, experience high-level team play, learn from a coach and play in front of a crowd. If you’re really good and stand out by your senior year, you can get recruited by top colleges and receive a scholarship.

But everyone has to start from somewhere. Making the team alone takes a good bit of dedication and tenacity, and that work ethic then carries over to the rest of your life.

Here are eight key tips for becoming good enough to make it to your varsity basketball team.

What are you good at? Are you a good ball-handler, an accurate shooter, a strong rebounder, a tenacious defender, or so on? Your strengths are what make you stand out, so make the most of them and find a good way to use them to help your team win.

What are you not good at? While it may be tempting to just do what you do and ignore what you don’t do, you should put time into working on your weaknesses. That’s what practice and off-season are for. The more well-rounded you are as a player, the more useful you are as a teammate.

Of course, you should maximize your strengths. If those strengths help shore up your weaknesses, that’s a good thing as well. Working on your game is all about making your strengths even stronger and turning weaknesses into strengths.

For instance, your jump shot may not be that good. Improving it will surely make you a better scorer and a more valuable player, so you’ll have to look into what you’re doing wrong that may make your shot wonky. A lot of times, it’s using your guide hand wrong. You can correct it by using the Shoot Natural glove during practice to keep it straight. Your shot will improve and become a strength.

But there’s only so much you can do by yourself. When in doubt, ask yourself what will make you a better teammate. At the end of the day, that’s what separates mediocre players from good players. What matters most is what helps the team win.

While athleticism, skill, and size are major factors for becoming a good basketball player, what sets apart good players from great players is focus. The one quality that the all-time greats share is the ability to be in the moment throughout each game.

Everyone gets nervous, even those who would go on to become hall-of-famers. But those great players are able to set their anxieties aside once the game starts. They’re able to be in the zone and focus entirely on the game, which lets them perform with the best of their abilities.

When you’re in a game, you may be distracted by many things, like the crowd, your personal problems, and so on. But when you’re there, nothing else matters other than helping your team win. Being present isn’t just about being physically there, but also being mentally focused on the game you’re playing in.

This is especially important during your tryouts. Once you’re in the game, focus entirely on the game itself. Don’t worry too much about messing up and just power through. Make the most of every opportunity, make opportunities for your teammates, and play your best. The coaches will notice whether you’re focused or not.

Hustle on both ends of the floor and play at a good pace. When you make a mistake, make a mental note of that mistake right there and do your best not to repeat it. If you ponder on that mistake, you will slow down and get anxious. That will make your performance suffer and result in even more mistakes.

Coaches do their best to instill discipline into their players in various ways. Showing up in practice is the most important thing you can do to show that you have discipline. Every practice is an opportunity to improve your game, so you should relish every chance you have to get better.

Your attendance plays a big part in creating a good impression on your teammates and coaches. You can get there on time every time, which is good. But if you really want to go above and beyond, show up early and get work done before everyone else does. You can also stick around after practice and get more work done while everyone else is gone.

If you’re able to do that while you’re still young, it becomes much easier to do so when you get older. Discipline is a skill, just like everything else in basketball. You can practice being disciplined, and it’s a skill that will take you far both in basketball and in life.

This may sound contradictory, being a good player isn’t just about making amazing plays and seemingly impossible shots. No one likes to play with a ball hog, and it can be detrimental to your prospects if you’re seen as someone who plays for oneself and not for the team.

When you play just to look amazing, coaches catch onto those habits as selfish and grandstanding. You may be a good player, but you may be labeled as a bad team-player, which can get you passed up for the team. When it comes down to it, coaches aren’t just looking for potential talents, but winners as well.

Playing to win means playing for the team, and that means getting everyone involved. Let your teammates have a reason to pass the ball to you, and pass the ball to your teammates if you have a reason to. It may be players that score baskets, but it’s teams that win games.

You’re still growing, so you want to make sure that you eat food that will make you grow. You’re still young, so you find it easy to eat junk and be fine for practice the next day. But if all you’re eating is junk, then the body doesn’t get anything that lets it grow and be strong.

Take your nutrition seriously early on. After all, you are what you eat. If you want to be the best, you’ll have to eat the best food possible. This may be difficult if you’re not doing well financially, so you’ll have to find ways to get good food from reliable sources.

But it’s also bad if you tend to gorge and put on too much weight. Many pro careers have been derailed due to weight issues, which then make injuries more likely to occur. If you have contact with a nutritionist, take advantage of it and listen to that expert advice.

If you eat right and live right, you will play right.

Communication is the one skill that elevates all other skills. Whether you’re an entrepreneur, an artist, an engineer, a doctor, or a basketball player, you can do a lot better if you can communicate with other people.

In basketball, you have to talk to your coach and your teammates. Being able to converse with them properly lets you say what you need to say and listen to what they have to say clearly. This lets you make a good impression and be a good team member.

Good communication as a basketball player means maintaining eye contact with whoever you’re talking to, listening to your coaches and teammates, and making yourself understood.

This isn’t just about keeping your grades up to make it and stay on the team. Cultivating a work ethic in your academics develops the discipline necessary for both college and the professional league. Also, doing well in high school can get you a better chance to enroll in a major university.

If you’re not doing well with your studies now, that gives coaches a reason to doubt your availability for the varsity team and your reliability down the line. Don’t give them any reason to doubt by having good grades and being ahead of the curve.

If you don’t love the game, it’s going to affect how you play it. Every game will be a slog and every practice will feel tedious. If you’re into basketball in the first place, then it’s most likely because you love the game.

But it will be hard to keep loving it once it becomes like work. There will be times you won’t find it fun for various reasons, like playing against a vastly superior team, your coach and teammates giving you a hard time, or so on.

It’s up to you to find ways to keep it fun. Understand why you love the game in the first place and what things about it make it fun for you. If you’re having fun, you’ll be more fun to play with, and you’ll be a better player. It’s a feedback loop that’ll make you want to keep playing.

A lot of the things that will get you picked up by the varsity basketball team are also things that will carry you through for the rest of your life. While it’s great to be good at basketball while you’re still young, the qualities that will make you better as you grow are what will truly define you. Now, go out there and show them what you’re made of!

8 Tryout Tips Guaranteed to Get You Noticed (And What To Avoid So You Don't Get Cut)

Do you know exactly what the coach is looking for in tryouts? Do you know everything you need to do?

You may think that you do, but its highly unlikely.

Actually, what you think would help with tryouts may be the exact reason you get cut from the team. Sad thing is that Ive seen players like you make these critical mistakes over and over and over again.

Ive been fortunate to conduct tryouts for youth clubs with over 400 kids. Ive also been part of high school varsity tryouts with 100 kids for a state championship caliber team at the high school level.

Im able to give you the critical tips that can help you make the team and avoid those mistakes that get you cut.

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1. Do what you do well.

One of the biggest mistakes you can make is trying to impress the coach by doing things that are outside your skill set. This often results in a disaster for you.

If you are a good rebounder, grab every rebound.

If you are a good shooter, shoot when you are open.

If you are a good finisher, attack the basket when a lane is open.

If you are a good ball handler, make the simple passes, the simple moves.

If you are not a good 3-point shooter, dont step out and shoot one during tryouts. Ive seen kids literally hit the side of the backboard trying to do this.

The coach will instantly think, Wow. This kid does not know a thing about shot selection. Maybe hes a low IQ kid.

Trust me... with the limited time that a coach can see you... this is not the impression you want to make. Even if you play great the rest of the time, the coach already has impression about you and thats hard to change.

Here is a good measure... can you make 7 out of 10 shots unguarded from a spot. Maybe 6 out of 10 for youth players. If not, dont take the shot at tryouts.

2. Hustle! Hustle! Hustle!

There is no excuse for any player on this one. You just have to commit and develop that mentality.

When the ball is on the floor, dive on the floor. Box out on every shot. Sprint on the fast break. Sprint to spots on the floor on defense.

Communicate on defense and offense. Be loud and do it often.

These are things that every player can do and every player should do.

This is why you see players who arent skilled make the team. Theyre willing to do the little things that make teams good or great.

3. Dont be just one of the guys in the crowd - Make a great first impression.

Here is a great way to make a first impression.

When the coach calls everybody in at the beginning of the first tryout...

Instead of walking out there or jogging out there like every other kid.

Sprint! Sprint directly to the coach and stand right in front of him. Stand tall and keep eye contact on the coach during the entire talk.

I guarantee youll have the coachs attention. Ive conducted tryouts. Ive been in rooms with coaches discussing who to cut. This makes a difference.

Your buddies may give you some crap, but youll be the one laughing when you make the team or get more playing time than them.

4. Avoid the amazing play mentality. Do something that makes you stand out in a positive way.

This is not what you think. This is not making an amazing play. Remember... do what you do well.

Flashy doesnt impress coaches. It may look cool on the playground, but thats why you dont see NBA guys doing streetball moves during games. Its flash. Its hype. Its not effective against good players.

You should do something with substance that coaches will notice in a positive way.

Earlier, I mentioned communicate on defense.

One time when I was conducting a tryout for 3rd to 8th graders, we were with the 4th grader session.

All of the sudden, across the gym, I hear a blaring yell Screen! Screen! Screen! It was from this little guy named Tommy.

Ten seconds later, I hear Tommy yell again, I got ball!

This continued the whole day. He communicated early. He communicated loud. He communicated often. (ELO Early Loud Often. Kevin Eastman would have been proud.)

There may have been 30 other kids communicating in the gym, but he is the only one I remembered. I didnt know him before the tryouts, but I sure know him now. Guess what... he made the first team.

5. Dont be shy Talk to the coaches before tryouts.

Too many make the big mistake of being too shy to talk to the coach. And this can make a huge difference with making the team.

Sometimes, this simple act will elevate you in the eyes of the coaches because they know that you care and youll do whatever it takes to help the team.

Be specific. Tell the coach that you really want to make the team. Ask them what they need on their team.

6. Be a great teammate Great attitude and sportsmanship

Every coach wants a player who is a great teammate and makes the players better around them.

You can do this by...

• Being a great practice player and challenging your teammates during practice to make the team better.

• By putting everybody in a better mood with your positive attitude. Lets face it... were all humans and its more enjoyable to have a little fun in life. Nobody wants to be around a person with a poor attitude.

• Display great sportsmanship. When a coach sees you helping players off the floor and playing hard but clean basketball, they know that they can count on you not to lose your cool and hurt your team in a negative way at an important time.

7. Get there early / warm up properly.

Getting there early shows the coach that you care and that he can depend on you to show up on time to practices and games.

Also, make sure to warm up prior to playing, so you are playing your best as soon as the whistle blows. First impressions are very important.

8. Who cares if you screw up Next play!

If you make a mistake... oh well, it happens. Everybody makes mistakes.

Always go on to the next play.

The best players react in a positive way to those mistakes and dont let them snowball into a bunch of mistakes.

There are no guarantees in life. However, if you use the tips mentioned above, you will dramatically increase your chances to make the team and earning more playing time.

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To check out the different camps, Click Here.

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Basketball at my school. In my yard. In my city! - Ramensky urban district

To rally players and coaches, amateurs and professionals - everyone who is not indifferent to basketball. To unite efforts, knowledge and skills to achieve common goals... Such tasks are set by the Autonomous non-profit organization "Ramensk City Basketball Federation". The general director of the federation, Dmitry Kovalev, is a lawyer, basketball player and just a resident of our city, who sincerely worries about the fate of his favorite sport. Dmitry headed the federation quite recently, but his enthusiasm, determination and a clear understanding of how to give impetus to the development of basketball in Ramenskoye inspire confidence: everything will work out!

- Dmitry, not for the first time in the Ramenskoye basketball environment there have been talks about the need to create a specialized basketball school in the district (now in the district). Do you think this is the key to the future victories of Ramenskoye basketball?

- Such conversations are underway, and they come down to the fact that first you need to build a large hall, on the basis of which a sports school will be organized. For sure, it will be a universal hall, and, if this idea comes true, basketball players will share it with other athletes, carving out free hours in the busy schedule of sports sections. But I see another way of development. I am now creating a children's base, I strive to involve as many children as possible in basketball, to give them an early basketball education, which will further contribute to achieving high results. If a sports school is to be created, then it should immediately be filled with players, and those who will be able to compete for high places. The best of the best should come to school.

- How does the federation implement the idea of ​​mass involvement of children in basketball?

- The Basketball at My School project was supposed to start in April, but the coronavirus pandemic forced it to be postponed to September. The essence of the project lies in the fact that in the sports halls of secondary schools of the Ramensky city district, professional coaches will conduct basketball lessons for children of three age groups: preschoolers from five years old, students in grades 1 and 2, students in grades 3 and 4. Each group will study for one hour three times a week. The guys will have their own uniform, team, paraphernalia. We invite both boys and girls to train together. The federation sets itself the task of involving children in professional sports within the walls of their own school, close to home, without the need for long journeys. Several educational institutions have already joined the project, but I set myself the task of involving at least ten schools in the project. Training with your friends, classmates and students of parallel classes will bring the children to a new level of development emotionally, psychologically and physically, and help them better adapt among their peers. The child will become more active, developed, interested. At the same time, the guys who are the most promising in terms of sports will form the basis of the Ramenskoye sports basketball school in the future.

- Now the youngest basketball players involved in the section are guys born in 2010. You recruit children from the age of five ... What is the reason for this?

- We don't want to waste time. The child, together with his parents, makes a choice, plays basketball for a year or two, and if he doesn’t like it, changes his mind, then at the age of seven he can switch to any other sport. At the same time, he will be already physically prepared. Coaches will help him take the first step, and then the child himself will choose which sport is closer to him. At the same time, he will successfully fit into football, boxing, and even checkers due to the already received sports training. In all progressive basketball countries, kids start at the age of five, so why should we fall behind?

- Who will coach the young basketball players? Does Ramenskoye lack professional mentors?

- Now the backbone is formed: about eight coaches. We also keep in touch with the State Academy of Physical Culture and Sports in Malakhovka, which annually graduates young and ambitious specialists. There will be no shortage of trainers. Of course, we strive to ensure that professional, highly specialized coaches work with the guys. In addition to ours, Ramensky, there are also attracted: for example, an experienced coach from Spain, who now lives in Zhukovsky.

- Apart from the Basketball in My School project, what other ideas are close to being implemented?

- If possible, I would like to hold a big school tournament this year. Now the championship among schools takes place in a few days, and during the year the teams do not meet each other. There are many schools in the Ramensky city district, and it would be more interesting and useful if they played in a round robin system. We will create a unified school league, within which the teams will go to each other's games once a week, show real, strong basketball, to which classmates, teachers, and parents will come. School basketball leagues already exist in Russia. For example, the school basketball league "IES-BASKET". In 2007, this project was launched in the Perm Territory… Why can't we do the same?!

- It's clear with children's sports... What other areas does the activity of the Ramenskoye Basketball Federation cover?

- Street, adult men's and women's basketball. This fall, I want to launch the Ramenskaya Basketball League project for basketball fans aged 18 and over, to hold tournaments for adult players. Many people go to Moscow to take part in tournaments. What for? Ramenskoye has all the conditions for this: halls and players who want to compete. Let's make a round robin system and invite judges. Statistics, videos and results will be published on our website ramfb.ru - everything will be beautiful! The Ramenskaya Basketball League, the Children's Basketball League and the Basketball at My School project will be launched next year. Do not forget about street basketball, streetball. We will continue to hold tournaments in the fresh air! Basketball is a universal sport, you can play it from childhood to retirement: at school, at the institute, with friends, renting a hall, and on summer playgrounds. I am a living example of the fact that basketball life does not stop over the years. I think that this is correct.

- There are many plans and it would probably be difficult for a non-profit organization to implement them without the help of sponsors or support from the local authorities ... who did it. I want to thank the Administration of the Ramensky City District, the Committee for Sports and Youth Policy for their attention and support. We are not businessmen, not outsiders - the federation, together with the Administration, is developing socially significant projects. The administration provides the halls, the federation is responsible for organizing training. Such interaction gives results, raises the level of basketball, makes it more popular. Another task of our federation is to establish a dialogue with investors, to find people who are ready to invest in sports. Sports can be investment attractive. There are entrepreneurs in the Ramensky District and not only who love sports and are ready to build basketball courts, but they do not know where to turn, where to start. To learn more about us, you can go to the site ramfb.ru, write or call me: E-mail address is being protected from spambots. Javascript must be enabled in your browser to view the address. or 8 (977) 539-87-06... The Federation is open to cooperation. At the same time, we understand that no amount of millions can replace the desire to work, the desire to direct all our efforts to the development of basketball.