Are You a Champion?

By Rick Torbett, Better Basketball

You picked up a basketball because it was fun, right? It was fun to play with your friends and get some exercise. But then your idea of fun began to evolve. Competing began to give you a thrill. Your team winning began to be the definition of real fun. But a team can only be as good as the individuals that make up the team, so you decided to become better.

Going to a Higher Level

In fact, you want to be a cut above the rest and pull your team up with you. Playing against average players is not good enough anymore. In fact, whatever the level of your competition, you have a desire to play on a higher level. Basketball is still fun for the same reasons its always been, but now the fun goes deeper; its now tied up with getting yourself and your team to the next level -- maybe even to a championship.

Evolution of a Champion

Regardless of where you got the desire to become a champion, you must change, develop and evolve how you view yourself. At this point, you must be willing to dump your excuses into the trash bin. You can no longer believe that you're limited by the neighborhood you grew up in, your friends, your family, or your genetics.

The Champion's Mindset

There's no one to blame for what you can or cannot do with the ball other than yourself. In fact, you must be ready to toss the whole blame game into the same garbage bin with the excuses. There can be no interest in reasons why you can't. As a person thinks in their heart, so they are. Make no mistake about it, you can't think like everyone else. Your mind must think like a champion before your body can follow.