San Antonio Spring Challenge Basketball Tournament

Southwest Regionals qualifiers will be at the new State of the Art Mission Conception sports Park..

It will feature top teams from all over Texas and its borders.

Date: April 14-15

Cost: $295 per team.

4 game guarantee

WIN OR GO HOME!!!

Call 210-416-5157

For Preferred Rates in Hotel Booking click here

Contact San Antonio Basketball Trainer Terrence Jones to schedule a basketball lesson focused on free throw strategy and system that will improve your game.

Scams are not unheard of even in the basketball world. Recently there have been stories out there about former athletes scamming players and their parents out of money.

Former New Mexico State basketball player Daniel Hicks created a basketball camp and scammed seven young basketball players out of $500 a piece.

Kids traveled from all over the world to play in Hicks camp, but quickly found out that his “basketball camp” was just a way for Hicks to make money. Some kids weren’t fed for days at a time and had very little money.

Hicks claimed he was trying to bring a positive academic and basketball experience to South Charleston (West Virginia). It’s hard to believe Hicks after reading all the charges against him that it was his intention to help students become better basketball players.  As a parent, you wonder how to avoid basketball scams like this and people like Hicks.

First of all, do the research. If a camp is run by a former player r basketball trainer you have never heard of before, find out this person’s background. In the age of this of the internet, it is easy to find out about anyone’s background. You’ll be surprised at what you find if you Google that person.  If they are asking an outrageous amount of money, then that could a sign as well.   All basketball camps are going to ask for a certain amount of money, but if it sounds like it’s too much they are asking for, then it maybe a scam.

Ask questions about the camp and what all they offer.  Do they offer room and board?   What skills will your kids be learning?   And most importantly who will be teaching your kids? Another good indication if this is a legit camp or not is the website.  Does the business have it’s own physical location?

If the website looks professionally done, it’s should give you a good idea whether or not the camp is legitimate.

As a parent, you best bet is to find camps run by known players or head coaches.   A lot of college basketball coaches run summer camps for different ages.   Normally, the kids wouldn’t have to leave the area you can just take them there and drop them off for the day.

Be leery of any camp that may be out of town or in some cases as in the Hicks case, out of the country.   I’m sure if the parents in the Hicks case knew their child would be in another country being treated horribly by this guy, no one would they have sent them there.  Most basketball camps should be a fun and safe environment for children to learn and grow as student athletes. If the camp you are thinking of sending your child to does not offer those things, your best bet is to stay away.

The best way to keep your pocket book safe and most importantly your child safe is to do your homework parents; follow your instincts. You’ll be saving time and money if you following your gut because if it’s too good to be true, it normally is.

If you are interested or know a second or third grade youth basketball player who is interested in playing, please contact us today to schedule an evaluation!

Call San Antonio Basketball Trainer Terrence Jones

at 210-416-5157.

Most of the time it is because you aren’t good enough, why you aren’t good enough is the question you should be asking yourself if you are struggling with playing time. As a coach, when I don’t play certain players most of the time it’s because they lack confidence and it is evident when they are on the court, their body language looks scared, timid and afraid to make mistakes. In practice, they are usually very quiet and do not speak up a lot. If you look afraid when you’re on the court, then you have no business being on the court plain and simple. I see a lot of young players that are scared of contact and will shy away from aggressive players and get owned on defense by backing down.

You can never be afraid to make mistakes because that is the best way to learn and when you learn, you build confidence and confidence gets results. Some of the other times I don’t play players is because of their attitude, if you are selfish, quick to blame others and unwilling to accept mistakes is another reason that will get you on the bench. On the other side, I love playing guys who just go get the ball. They may not be very good on offense or anything, but I love playing guys who fight for rebounds, play aggressive defense and are not afraid to foul. Tenacious players like this I cannot resist but to play them. They may have ugly shots and cannot dribble, but as long as they don’t shoot or dribble, they can significantly help a team through defense, rebounding and unrelenting hustle. To anyone struggling with playing time you need to realize that it may not be your basketball skills that are lacking, but rather your competitiveness.

Remember if you aren’t getting playing time, the coach already has his “go-to” guys for scoring and pure basketball play. So he’s looking for guys who can make a difference without scoring so my advice is to be more vocal, be loud in practice, on defense always try to get the ball no matter what and don’t be afraid to get very physical and create contact rather than receive it. Small things like this coaches notice when looking for players to come off the bench, sure hitting a few shots in practice is good but those things come and go, your heart and hustle is what will get you more playing time.

The game of basketball is a lot like real life, and you can tell a lot about the person by the way they play.  It does not matter if they are good or not, things such as how you handle adversity, do you play well with others, are you willing to share the basketball and are you willing to sacrifice individual wants for the needs of the team. Things such as this are very telling of a person’s character and applicable to real life situations. Lessons that can be learned through the game are how you handle success and failure, do you give up when things aren’t going your way or does that make you try even harder?

These virtues transcend through the game and into the real world, do you back down from good competition or are you willing to take challenges and risks? I believe that the game of basketball actually exposes what kind of person you are and allows you to see it for yourself because you are stripped bare of everything except your willingness to win and compete.

One of the biggest lessons I had to learn personally was that I am not the best, it was a tough one to swallow, however when I could accept that, it allowed me to grow as a player because I was no longer in denial about how good I am and I could maximize my strengths and minimize situations where I wasn’t as strong. Basketball showed me who I was as well as who I could be if I worked hard for it and that is something that has forever helped me off of the court as well as on.

When the player has reached his growing peak in height which usually doesn’t stop until sophomore or junioryear in high school for most boys is the age we recommend strength training with weights.  However more and more middle school programs require kids to workout in weight rooms and the intensity have become increasingly harder as high schools are becoming more competitive and pressuring middle schools to have their kids start lifting earlier in an attempt to gain an advantage. This is counterproductive to those athletes because it puts stress on bones and joints which will slower their growing rate, as well as making the muscles bigger and stronger which only tightens ligaments and tendons connecting to the bones so when growing does occur the muscles will be more resistant to stretching and pulling of the bones during the growth phase.

Instead of lifting weights and building strength, players should focus more on stretching, flexibility, and balance and coordination exercises. These will help prevent injuries down the road, and will build a solid foundation for any athlete so when the growing spurt happens, they will be able to adjust quickly and with little trouble.

A few good coordination exercises for young basketball players is dribbling with tennis balls, work on one tennis ball then try to accomplish dribbling two tennis balls at a high success rate.  Involving balance is a great tool for increasing coordination because it is the foundation so working on simple balance exercises will go a long ways. Standing on one leg and shifting your own body weight in different directions will really help tap into your central nervous system and will help you grow into your body quicker.  Speak to your pediatrician or family doctor and ask for a recommendation to a strength trainer who specializes in dynamic, body weight only movements.

Of course, there are always a plethora of drills you can do to improve your shooting, ballhandling, passing and etc. However the easiest way to
get a solid workout in while you play basketball by yourself is to just keep running. After you shoot, go run and get the basketball, don’t walk and get it, that wastes time and lowers your heart rate. Keep your heart rate up by keep running to get the basketball and dribble out to the 3 point line or where ever and make a little dribble move as you would in a game if you were trying to get by a defender and get to the rim and finish, pull up for a jump or a step back. Just play with yourself and keep your imagination going. If you are by yourself, I’ll admit it’s hard to stay motivated after awhile if you are just doing drills with no imagination. The benefits from this is it will keep you in shape if you keep up the running, it will prevent you from burning out, keep moves fresh in your mind so you’re ready when the time comes in the game, as well as help you learn and imagine new moves for you to try.

Not by themselves, but they can be a resource and workout tool to use every once in awhile. However, I would not advise someone to solely rely on them to greatly increase your vertical. If a player wants to learn how to dunk a basketball, the best way is to practice dunking on a lower goal. It practices your footwork and your explosion for jumping higher. To supplement dunking on a lower goal to increase your vertical, I would also recommend these exercises: (keep in mind when doing these exercises, you want to do them all with quick explosive movements that will replicate and reinforce the explosive power it takes to explode high off the ground)

-seated and standing calf raises

-Squats with light weight and fast explosive movements

-Hamstring Pulls

-Lunges

-Box jumps

-Lower back raises

All of these muscle groups help aid in the jumping motion, but as I stated earlier the best way to get all these muscle groups to work in unison is dunk on lowered goals.  Plyometric type training may also present  medical concerns for younger athletes that you can discuss with you doctor or trainer.