Prepared for Pressure

Prepared for Pressure

Rivalry week. Derby game. Revenge Opportunity.

All of the above.

If you have any idea how “derby games” are overseas and the importance of them, then you know this week’s pressure and expectations were turned up a few notches.

This increased pressure gave me a golden opportunity to analyze myself under stress…

What were my defaults? Where did my mind go? Did I change?

A lot to unpack this week and a lot to learn from.

Let’s get after it… together.

But First…. Why I Do This

I got this comment on Tiktok last week and it perfectly embodied why I started Atypical and why I make content:

Growing up in basketball, nobody really took an interest into my development outside of coaches and some close friends. I so badly wanted a mentor figure who had been through what I was going through to help answer all my questions. I felt like I was wandering blindly through a maze just hoping to find the right path. I don’t claim I have the answers for your maze and basketball journey, but I do promise to try my best to walk alongside you as you we both figure out our own development.

I hope this resonates.

I care deeply about giving back.

Basketball Ideas I’ve Been Experimenting With

Close Out Reads

For the past couple of weeks in the ‘spot shooting’ segments of my shooting workouts, I have added a closeout from my trainer. The idea is to get more out of these repetitions then just mindless muscle memory repetitions because, I’m sorry, but those ‘make 10 and switch’ spot shots are nothing like a real basketball environment. In a game you don’t get another chance to fix your shot, you probably won’t be wide open, the pass probably won’t be from underneath the basket, your footwork will vary, and you will have more options than just the catch and shoot. This is basketball… it is dynamic.

Let’s get more real game carry over from our hours spent in the gym.

Adding the closeout (with extendo blocking sticks to simulate 7’5 wingspans haha), encouraged me to do three things:

1. Shoot with urgency and speed

2. Make quick decisions

3. Not micro-analyze my shot

These three things directly translate to a game. I noticed a difference in practice in terms of how comfortable I was when I would get closeouts, and I think it was because they seemed less few and far between. A lot of times during the season, the situations players need to produce most from (closeouts, 1v1, transition 1v1s, 2v2 ball-screen actions) are not repped enough in practice due to load-management or prioritization of team concepts. Add a close out to your spot shots and you can get some of those needed repetitions without destroying your body.

Here is what it looked like in my workout (below):

@treydrechsel

Simple ways to get better at basketball from a current pro basketball player!! #simple #probasketballtraining #prohooper #tipsfromaprohoop... See more

Here are some 2-person, partner shooting, options that offer the same benefit. I would allow a shot-fake on these drills to add another dimension of decision making.

Weather the Emotional Storm

When playing basketball at any level, there will be a lot of things outside of your control that can be very easy to react to. Examples of what I am talking about are referees, heckling fans, over-demonstrative coaches, emotional teammates, weird gym environments (I played in a gym in Serbia my first year that in a few spots on the floor when you dribbled the floorboard/wood would bounce up with the ball), the examples are endless.

In short, basketball gets chaotic.

It can very quickly become a storm that you get swept up in.

I know for myself that I am not at my best or closer to peak performance when I am wrapped up in all the extra bullshit that accompanies a basketball game.

So with that being said, it is important to have solutions and options for how to manage myself when my emotions are no longer serving my performance.

Here are the 3 simplest techniques I use: (each technique has a different time and place to be used so not all options are of the same value at the same moment)

1. Deep Breaths

   When things get realllllllll nasty, emotional, and intense, deep breaths are a really good option even though it’s rarely the option we want. Scientifically, they get more oxygen to your rational thinking brain and send signals to your fight, flight, freeze response that you are safe. Also, at the end points of your inhale and exhale, they give a brief moment of stillness where you can begin to talk yourself down from the emotional ledge so to speak.

   Learn your breath, learn control, learn power over your mind.

2. Staring at Nothing

   I swear I do this all the time and it works. When a ref makes a bad call this is my go-to. For real, I will legitimately stare at the most upper corner of the arena rafters. Why? It takes me away from what is upsetting directly in front of me. It is hard to be angry at a corner of an arena roof. It weirdly gives perspective. I don’t know, it works for me, experiment with it hahaha

3. Smile

   Smiling releases dopamine and serotonin, the two brain chemicals that are responsible for feelings of happiness, and we can control when we smile… so why not smile when you need it? Smile to give yourself a reminder that we should be happy playing the game we love! Imagine smiling at a heckling fan. You not only get a happiness boost, but that boost will probably be multiplied by how good it feels when it makes the fan mad hahahah.

I know these solutions sound simple and basic, but a lot of times the best solutions are the simplest.

Sophistication in simplification.

Try them out.

Mindset Ideas I’ve Been Workshopping

How to Feel Prepared

This week was a big one for us, and you could tell that everybody in our club from our coach, the players, the managers, to the medical staff were dialed in. By ‘dialed in’ I mean that they were all in on making sure we were fully prepared for this rivalry game. It made me reflect on what it took for me to feel fully prepared.

I came to three conclusions:

In order to feel fully prepared I need to:

1. Have studied what should be on the test

   I believe the work I have done will directly help me on the test. I have a good picture of what I will be tested on.

2. Believe I am competent

   I will never feel prepared enough if I don’t think I am good enough or that the test will be too hard.

3. Have examples of success

   I have proof that I can do this whether it be from practice or past games

For me, once these three boxes are checked, it just a matter of going out and doing what I have prepared to do.

Hopefully, me showing what I need to be prepared for a game will give you an idea of what you need to prepare for a game.

We all want results so bad, but, are we providing ourselves with what we need in order to produce those results?

The Truth of “Over-Preparing”

In our attempts to properly prepare for a game, if we overdo it, we can actually do some serious damage to our ability to perform. I call this “over-preparing” and I define it as:

Exhausting your facilities and capacity through overwork, over-stimulation, overload, and often over-information to the point it hurts your performance.

Most things in life, but especially in performance, are “bell-curves” meaning that at some point more is actually bad for us. Preparation is definitely one of those things.

This week there were multiple moments that I felt I was over-preparing for this game. I obsessively watched film on their players and sets to the point I was over-thinking how we should guard them. I overworked my body to the point that by Thursday I had to skip a shooting workout. I even felt myself the morning of the game “over-routining” meaning I was obsessing about every little detail of my game day routine.

The cool part was I caught myself, and I also was able to recognize the over-preparing for what it truly was…

Self-Doubt.

I was missing the mark and thinking preparing enough was going to make me feel good enough. I caught it in time though and, especially that gameday morning, I made a conscious mentality and action shift to prioritize peace.

The morning of the game I watched some of my highlights and reminded myself that Sporting had to guard Trey Drechsel and that was a lot to handle. When I showed up for the game, that antsy feeling of over-preparedness was gone, I was calm and confident and knew I was ready.

And the proof was in the play…

I played well and we got a much much needed 24-point win against our rivals to more or less secure at least a 2-seed going into playoffs.

Find your sweet spot in terms of how you are preparing for your games.

Sunday YouTube Drop:

This Part 1 VLOG shows all the preparation that went into the game, it also shows the over-preparation hahahaha

I hope you guys are excited for Part 2 on Thursday that shows everything that happened in this big rivalry game…

“Only Hooping Overseas” Storytime:

In the rivalry game this weekend, we were up big in the second half. I had a fastbreak and got fouled hard. In Europe basketball, it’s a bit different that the States; they are really looking to call intentional fouls (2-shots and the ball). These are fouls where a player is not clearly going for the ball, and they happen a lot when players are trying to stop a fastbreak with a take foul.

Well on this play, the guy gave me a little extra shoulder on the foul to stop the fastbreak. All I did was look at him afterwards… He immediately gets up in my face talking, “Why the reaction, why the reaction?”

All I did was look at him, so my response was, “I can look wherever the hell I want to!”

This made him more mad especially as I kept repeating it.

This lead to his teammates getting involved and chirping too. We were up about 15, so I had all the ammo for trash-talk, but I really did not use any of it.

But two things stuck out to me from their trash-talk to me:

“You are winning by 20, be classy”

It is one of the most annoying things to me that standing up for myself after a dirty play can be seen as showboating. Its like they want to be able to act however they want and get pity they are getting clapped… don’t get it. I think that mindset is absurd haha

“Relax, Trey, We know you are going to put this on YouTube”

This was the one for me. Not only does that mean they are watching my videos, but that they also don’t want to be on them getting cooked… tough luck my friend, tough luck. I appreciate the subscribe and your words only make my channel more valid.

I love it haha

I’ll Leave You With This:

Big moments and big emotions this week.

I needed to be at my best in those moments.

I was because I was prepared for it.

My best was there where my best was needed.

The greatest feeling in the world.

My hope is to help you have more of these moments and feelings.

Let’s keep building.

Trey