1) Strive to improve everyday

2) Drink more water

3) Stretch daily

4) Keep a basketball notebook

5) Read all the books you can about this game

6) Expect the best, prepare for the worst

7) Have a weekly plan

8) Consult with trustworthy experts

9) Get a mentor

10) Hire a personal basketball coach/trainer

11) Enjoy the small wins

12) Celebrate the big victories

13) Eat less junk food

14) Wake up before 6:00am

15) Always tell the truth to your coaches and teammates

16) Go to class

17) Think about your life beyond basketball

18) Put things in perspective

19) Don’t smoke marijuana

20) Smile and always be polite to your fans

21) Take the team out for fun ever so often

22) Schedule monthly 1 on 1 meetings with your head coach

23) Always be prepared for a game

24) Have a vision

25) Visualize daily

26) Make the extra pass

27) Dive on every loose ball

28) Always shake hands with the opponent after the game

29) Never get a technical

30) Have a short memory

31) Thank your parents often

32) Never think: “That can’t happen to me” because it can.

33) Know what your best asset is.

34) Have self-awareness

35) Push your body to be great

36) Speak less, listen more

37) Be mentally tough

38) Unplug your XBOX

39) Set tangible off season goals

40) Know your teammates inside and out

41) Mentor a younger player

42) Do community service

43) Seek knowledge daily

44) Never think you are too good

45) Study film

46) Watch basketball games on tv and take notes

47) Know the NCAA qualification guidelines (SAT/ACT qualifying scores) and get 200 points better than them.

48) Get to a summer camp with great teachers

49) Play less games in the off season and do more skill work

50) Lead by example not just by words.

Bonus (#51) – Download our free app!

Then he picked up the tennis ball and threw it at the wall…it bounced back to him. As he walked out of the gym he turned and asked “Which one are we?” A losing streak is adversity, it creates an atmosphere of negative thoughts, it makes you doubt the team philosophy.

Adversity provides you 2 choices:

Choice A) To crack like an egg

or

Choice B) To bounce back like a tennis ball better than ever.

When times get tough this off-season, which one will you be: The egg or the tennis ball?

Do you like your teeth? We assume that you do, that’s why we partnered with Gladiator® to bring you a fun 3pt challenge.  Before you enter our Gladiator® mouthguard challenge, we wanted to let you in on a little secret…LeBron James get’s his custom designed mouthpieces from Gladiator®! We figured if it was good enough for him, it’s good enough for you! You can see a picture of Lebron wearing his custom designed mouthguard from Gladiator® inside the 3pt app.

Click here to continue

We value our partnerships and look forward to working with USAJBA.

Here a bit about them:

The purpose of USAJBA is to record and publish State and National rankings for teams competing in USAJBA sanctioned events. What sets USAJBA apart from other organizations is there are no team sanctioning or registration fees.  Teams can register to play and earn points without any charge. USAJBA does not charge tournament directors fees to register as tournament directors. USAJBA does not tell you how to organize and run event or what entry fees to charge. That is left up to the discretion of the tournament directors.

Visit their website here

Here are 3 ways you can improve today and become a better teammate.

1) Request a 10 minute meeting with your coach: Opening up the lines of communication with your coach can be very beneficial. Sit down with your coach and see how you can become the team leader this off-season. Get specific feedback on things you need to focus on.

2) Watch tape: Request to see game tape from last season. Grab two good games and two bad games you played. Take notes and do a comparison, see what jumps out at you.

3) Engage a teammate: Take 5 minutes today and engage a teammate you usually don’t talk with, get his/her perspective of the season and the off season. You never know what you can learn.

We are very excited to announce that you are going to see a few new features added to the 3pt Academy app when you turn it on now! Here’s two very important one’s…

“Find a Trainer”

‘Find a Trainer’ is a new GPS feature that allows our users to discover basketball skills trainers and strength coaches nearest to their location. Just pull up the icon and discovery experts in your region!

Steve Nash Foundation

As the 3pt Academy network continues to evolve and remain the #1 app for youth basketball players, we are proud to welcome in the Steve Nash Foundation. Part of being a student athlete is being a steward in your community and giving back to those who are less fortunate. Here is your chance to “make an assist” with the Steve Nash Foundation and contribute to the wonderful causes the Foundation is dedicated to serving.

Inside the app you will have the chance to donate directly to the Steve Nash Foundation, using your mobile phone. All the details are there for you. By donating you do automatically enter into the chance of winning a signed Nash NBA 2012 West All-Star replica jersey.

The 3pt Academy app network is proud to feature these two new updates that remain consistent with our mission of making the game better.

Happy ballin!

-3pt Team

All of us search for great tools to use online, we all want to see if there is something out there that can improve our game, but sometimes it’s hard to determine what is a scam and what is not a scam. So its important to develop an online thought process.

Here are 7 tips that might help in your decision making phase.

1) If the website you are on is one of those really long and takes forever scroll downs (you know the one’s that just keep going forever) with a lot of yellow or red highlights in big bold wording. It usually has big arrows pointing to payment options…this is usually no good.

2) If the program is offering you quick results – “7-days to great ballhandling skills” It’s a scam and impossible. Being a great ball handling takes time, lots of time…never look for any quick fixes when improving your game.

3) If the site doesn’t offer you continual support and teaching…its no good. Buying something online that is brand new to you will automatically generate some questions, make sure the site offers support and they answer those questions regularly.

4) “Pro” or “experts” are involved in the creation of the product. Research these people and make sure they are legit.

5) Offer’s you “101″ new basketball drills – C’mon man, basketball has been around for a long time, there are no 101 new drills or secrets. You really only need 20-25 drills to be effective anyways.

6) Gut instinct – For the most part, follow your gut.

7) Google it. Google the product, the company and the people behind the product. This will give you all the information you need.

Use your best judgement and search for genuine content….If it is offering a quick fix and seems to good to be true, then it probably is. If you ever feel uncertain, just save your money!

Lyndsey is a former WNBA draftee (Indiana Fever) and former All-American at Iowa State who now runs her own skill development company in Iowa.

Pat the Roc has become a world-renowned streetball player who continues to raise the bar. He’s been featured in the AND1 Mixtape Tour and ESPN Streetball. But maybe most importantly he loves to teach young players, specifically on the teachings of confidence. He aspires to be a mentor to any young player looking to develop his/her game.

We can say with confidence that Pat brings some flare into the 3pt app.!

Top posts of the week:

1) Watch and learn; a guide to watching March Madness by Keys to the Gym.com

2) Sh! You’re leading by Lyndsey Fennelly

3) Full series on off-season training preparation by Alan Stein

4) Personal leadership questions by Hoopskills.com

Videos of the week:

1) Overtime workout by Ryan Goodson

2) NBA moves by Korey Harris of Student of the Game Training

Tool of the week:

Manu Ginobli Scoring Series. Enjoy this handy tool created by Tim Springer of Spartan Basketball.

Top product of the week:

$14.95 Basketball: My Journey is a personal journal and goal setting book for basketball players. The purpose of Basketball: My Journey is to help the motivated basketball player set goals so they can achieve success along their basketball journey. In this book, the player will learn how to set attainable goals and track his or her progress with “daily” guided journal pages. Journal your basketball journey to achieve your goals!

One more thing:

New features are coming to the 3pt app. We are working hard to create a better overall student athlete experience for you. We’ll make an announcement when these changes are ready!

Happy Ballin!

-3pt Academy Team

Top Posts

• 5 Ways to think like a Champion by Hoopskills.com
• 3 part series for strength and conditioning in the off-season by Alan Stein
• Core defensive principals from NBA legend Dee Brown by Student of the Game Training
• Habits of good point guards; “race with control” by Dena Evans featured by HoopsU.com

Top Products

We have an exciting product to showcase this weekend, a book called “Fistitude” written by Sean Glaze, who specializes in leadership and team building exercises. Fistitude is available for $7.99 in the Amazon bookstore.

Product Description

The boys basketball team from a small private high school finds itself struggling through a dreary season, when their coach is called away to attend to a family member’s illness. Enter a wise and mysterious janitor, who not only accepts the reins of leadership for the team during that absence, but soon becomes a mentor to the team, especially to a talented young man named Matthew who is essentially raising himself after he and his father moved into town following the loss of his mother. Through a series of five lessons woven into the frustrations and excitement of the season, the janitor offers lessons that correspond to each finger in a fist, and helps the team to accomplish their goals and become leaders themselves.

Give back to the game

Lastly, make sure you check out the wonderful things Crossover Basketball is doing. There are many ways to get involved with this great organization. If the game was good to you, then start thinking about ways you can give back the game. Crossover is a perfect place to start!

Happy Ballin!

-3pt Academy Team

We’re always striving to give our users the best possible experience and a huge part of that is continuously improving our content and videos. That’s why we are excited to have coach Brian McCormick join us. Coach Brian specializes in youth instruction and development. Any young coach can benefit from his basketball mind. We have created a special icon titled “youth coach” so you can easily locate Brian’s content and video instruction.

Top posts of the week:

1) Building a Point Guard by Hoopskills.com

2) I cannot acccept not trying by thellabb.com

3) Replace jealousy and defensiveness by building team trust by Greater Results Team building

4) 5 lessons from Peyton’s press conference by Hoopsroundtable

5) Reflecting back on your season…Insights into sadness and disappointment by Keys to the Gym

6) Hardwork pays off by Student of the Game Training Co

Deal of the week

1) Vertical Jump program on sale for $9.99 by Maxfitsystems (only available in app shopping catalog)

• (Fine print: Only for players in 9th grade and above)

Crossover Basketball and Scholars Academy

The 3pt academy app has teamed up with Crossover Basketball and Scholars Academy to create a global presence in the youth basketball world. Crossover Basketball and Scholars Academy is a registered 501(c)3 non-profit. They are an education and leadership program using basketball as a vehicle to increase educational opportunities for students of any socio-economic level in India. If you would like to learn more, discover volunteer opportunities, or make a donation – please visit them at www.crossover-india.org

What does this mean?

In a nutshell, when you open up the app you are now being connected to not just other players here in the United States but all over the world! Connect with other players by sharing pics, videos and basketball tips by using the “activity” wall! We think its a pretty cool thing!

Happy ballin!

3pt app team