I’m Mike Nilson and I want to help you become a better player through building basketball habits.  Let me show you how the best players eat, train and lead.  Can you imagine what jumping a few inches higher would do for your game?  Or how much better you’d be on defense if you were quicker.  How much more could you help your team if you played stronger?  That’s what I’m here to help you achieve.

Since 2000, I’ve helped thousands of basketball players and coaches become their best.  They’ve all been at different places in their development, but the common attribute they shared was that they were willing to make a commitment to practicing basketball habits.  Don’t worry if you’re new to training or are a picky eater… I was once there too.  As long as you have the right mindset, you can do anything!

What’s A Hoop Commitment?

HERE’S MY DEFINITION

I heard a story years ago that changed my life:  The key to Jerry Seinfeld’s success is that he commits to writing one joke a day. ONE JOKE!  The greatest comedian of our time isn’t writing 10 or 20 jokes a day… he commits to writing just one.

Every day that he creates a joke, he earns the right to put an “X” on his calendar.  The “Xs” create a visual chain of success that he can watch grow.  I could just imagine the stacks and stacks of calendars he has that are full of “Xs”.

On days when Jerry is sick, tired or unmotivated, he says to himself, “Don’t Break The Chain.”

It’s easy to fail if you only have a couple days of success in a row, but when you have hundreds of “Xs” on your calendar, there’s no way you can fail.  The longer your chain of success, the stronger you become mentally and the closer you get to achieving your dream.

After hearing Jerry Seinfeld’s story, I immediately put a calendar on my wall and started my chain of success.  Now that I have thousands of “Xs” in a row, I personally know the power of not breaking the chain.

A Hoop Commitment is a promise to practice a daily habit that will improve your game.

You can’t be a great player in one day, even if you practice for 24 hours straight.  The only way to accumulate the 10,000 hours it takes to master a skill is to commit to building basketball habits through daily practice.

HOOP COMMITMENT
IS A PROMISE
TO PRACTICE
A BASKETBALL HABIT
EVERY DAY
TO IMPROVE YOUR GAME.

Where Should You Start?

3 BASKETBALL HABITS

While there are endless ways to become a better basketball player, I’ve spent my career becoming an expert in 3 of them: Nutrition, Workouts & Leadership…or Eat. Train. Lead.

You can’t be an expert in strength & conditioning without being an expert in nutrition because food is what fuels your workouts, helps you recover and eventually builds muscle.

And you can’t be an expert in nutrition without being an expert in leadership because changing eating habits requires extreme motivation.  That’s why I’ve spent my career learning how to help players improve the way the eat, train & lead.

Pick one of the areas below and commit to practicing some aspect of it EVERY DAY for the next 30 days.  By the end of the month, you’ll know exactly how to fit it into your schedule and will be on your way to making success a basketball habit.

EAT.

You can’t be a great strength coach or trainer without being a great nutritionist.

Food is what gives you energy to lift weight and sprint up and down the court.  It’s also fuel that helps you recover and ultimately build muscle so you can jump higher and finish stronger.

With so many fad diets out there, it can confusing on exactly what you should eat.  Basketball has unique energy demands, so if you want to build muscle, burn fat, and have more energy on the court, you need a program specifically designed for your sport.

Learn about Basketball Nutrition

TRAIN.

Have you ever wondered why the best basketball players in the world don’t look like physique models or football players?

Why doesn’t Kevin Durant or James Hardin have bulging muscles like they guys in your local gym?  It’s not because they don’t work hard, it’s because they do basketball-specific workouts to help them move better on the court.

While you can get a ton of general workout information online, most of it won’t make you a better basketball player.  If you’re looking to jump higher, cut quicker or finish stronger on the court, your general body building, football or crossfit-style workouts won’t cut it.

Learn about Basketball Workouts

LEAD.

After almost 20 years of training professional, college and high school basketball players, I’m convinced the number one quality that determines an athlete’s success is their leadership capabilities.

And one of the biggest myths out there is that people are born natural leaders.  Leadership is an art and a skill that can be learned, practiced and improved.

Players with beautiful jumpers weren’t born with that skill.  They spent thousands of hours seaming the ball, focusing on the rim and snapping their wrists.  The only way to be great is to put in the work.

Learn about Basketball Leadership
Practice Basketball Habits

Common Mistakes

THE BIGGEST OBSTACLES TO YOUR SUCCESS

As a strength & conditioning professional, nutritionist and basketball coach, it breaks my heart to see motivated players set themselves up for failure.

Most people start out with the right intentions, but they have a misguided idea of what it takes to become their best.  Having a faulty plan is actually worse than having no plan at all.

Here are 3 of the most common mistakes that keep players from reaching the top:

MISTAKE # 1: COMMITTING TO MULTIPLE BASKETBALL HABITS

Research shows that we are more successful when we focus on one thing at a time.

In Leo Babouta’s book, The Power Of Less, he shares that when you focus on one habit at a time, you have an 85% chance of being successful.  When you focus on 2 things, your success rate drops to 35%.  If you try to build three habits at a time, you have less than a 10% chance of consistently doing any one of your habits.

If you want to be your best, fight the urge to do everything at once.

Pick one skill to work on for 30 days and turn it into a basketball habit.  Build that skill into your daily routine to a point where you don’t have to think about it.  Once you get to that point, you’re ready to start with a new skill.

MISTAKE #2: MAKING TOO BIG OF A COMMITMENT

When it comes to building basketball habits, less is more.

Motivated people often make the mistake of thinking that if a 5-minute commitment is good, then a 30-minute commitment must be even better.  What I’ve found is that anything longer than a 15-minute commitment usually ends in failure.

The best part about a 5-minute commitment is that even when you’re sick, tired or unmotivated, you can still muster up the energy to do anything for 5 minutes.  And once you get going, 5 minutes usually turns into 15 or 30 minutes.

There have been plenty of times over the last few years where I would have broken the chain if I had to do a 1-hour commitment.  Creating 15-minute commitments has allowed me to grow my chain of success to thousands of “Xs” in a row.

MISTAKE #3: STARTING AT LEVEL 3

Whether it’s starting a workout plan, improving the way you eat or becoming a better leader, the best place to start is at Level 1.

Level 1 of Nutrition is FUEL, which shows the importance of eating enough.

I’ve given hundreds of nutrition consults and the biggest mistake athletes make is worrying about the quality of food when they simply just aren’t eating enough.  It doesn’t matter the quality of gas you put in your car if your tank’s on empty.

Level 1 of Leadership is SYNERGY, which shows the importance of creating energy with teammates.

There’s nothing more harmful than a player trying to hold teammates accountable when they haven’t built a connection.  You can’t become a Level 3 Leader without having the discipline to master Level 1.

There’s no way around this truth – There’s no shortcut to becoming your best.  You must start at Level 1 and work your way to the top.

HANG A CALENDAR
WHERE YOU’LL SEE IT
EVERY DAY.

Choose Only 1

BASKETBALL HABITS

Knowing that you’ll continually strive to get better for the rest of your life, there’s no pressure of which commitment to start with first.  Any of the basketball habits you choose will be the right one.

Here are two simple options to get you going.  Pick one of the basketball habits and Don’t Break The Chain!

OPTION #1: ONLY DRINK WATER

Your muscles are roughly 80% water.  If you want to function at your highest level, you need to stay hydrated.  Research shows that being dehydrated as little as 1% can lead to a loss in reaction time.

Drinking soda pop or energy drinks also contain ingredients that aren’t good for your body, so committing to only drink water cuts out the extra junk.

FOR THE NEXT 30 DAYS, COMMIT TO ONLY DRINKING WATER.

Bring a water bottle wherever you go and politely say, “no thanks,” when a friend offers you a sip of their flavored drink.  With every sip of water, you’re one step closer to becoming the player you’ve always wanted to be.

Every day that you only drink water earns you the right to place an “X” on your calendar.  Start building your chain of success today.

OPTION #2: BALL HANDLING 5 MINUTES

Carrying my basketball everywhere I went for two years straight was the best thing I could’ve ever done for my handles.  There’s no substitute for touching a basketball every day.

If you want to become a better player and teammate, improving your dribbling skills is crucial.  If you want to easily get to the rim or get your jumper off, tighten up your handle.

And, it’s impossible to be a great teammate if you’re not a great ball handler.  The ball needs to be on a string so you can keep your eyes up and see open teammates.

FOR THE NEXT 30 DAYS, COMMIT TO BALL HANDLING 5 MINUTES A DAY

Make sure that your calendar is placed on your bedroom wall or bathroom mirror so you have a visual reminder of your commitment.  Every day that you complete 5 minutes of ball handling earns you the right to extend your chain of success.

If you want to ball handle side-by-side with professional players and see the drills they used to be their best, click here to check out The Leadership Commitment.  In addition to improving your handles, you’ll learn the 3 Levels of Leadership and how to help your team rise to the top.

Here’s a short video that describes the 12 week commitment.

JOIN THE COMMUNITY

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