Hoops Elite Magazine
Micah Lancaster,
CEO and Founder of I’m
Possible Training
I’ve often told players that while they have
adult dreams, they have child-like processes. Their mindset is often the problem and we as coaches have often been
guilty of being the root of that problem
through myths that we spread. In today’s issue we will discuss one of the
major myths that we must conquer
at all costs to help player’s develop
better game results.
PERFECT
PRACTICE
MAKES PERFECT
The term “practice player” is a common term
used to describe players who are great in
practice, but poor in the game. These types
of players represent one of the game’s biggest mysteries, but I believe there is a simple
cure wrapped up in a simple myth. You’ve
heard it before and you may even say it often, “Perfect practice makes perfect.” Behind
this myth is one of the main reasons why
some gym rats find themselves on the bench
and why some players who only seem to play
pickup games get all the playing time.
We all know that the game of basketball is
imperfect in nature. There is contact, there is
chaos, and there are reads and reactions that
constantly change from situation to situation.
That’s why perfect training can never realistically match up to an imperfect game. In order for a
player to find game results, they must be shown
9 | Issue 1 - Jan 2015
how to train realistic to the game in terms of
the chaos, the contact, and the unpredictability that player’s will experience in the game.
I, for one, suffered from this same fault in
thinking. Like many players today, my coaches
told me that I needed to make 70-80% of my
shots when shooting alone in an empty gym
in order for me to become a great shooter.
This caused me to get everything perfect and
shoot in such a way that I saw the ball go in
more. That’s pretty simple. However, I started
to see the game-results that come with such
a process. My practice results were always
much, much better than my game results.
In the end, I discovered that perfect practice
only makes the perfect “practice player”. See,
if a player is always set on doing everything
perfectly and always focused on making such
an unbelievable percentage when shooting
the basketball, they will never approach their
training in a game realistic way. After all, how
many player’s actually make 80% of their shots
in a game!?? But if a player is able to practice
the game in an imperfect setting, they are able
to better simulate the imperfect situations and
circumstances that most resemble real game
action. They may only make 45-50% of their
shots practicing “imperfectly” but that may
just transfer over to 45-50% in the game itself!
In reality, the best advice to give players is
not to give them the age old philosophy of
“perfect practice makes perfect” but instead
remind them that training is messy in nature.
Make mistakes often, correct the mistakes, and
always remember that it takes imperfect training to near perfection for an imperfect game!