PeaceLoveBasketball Friday: Fuel Your Passion
If you love to play basketball it makes it easier to work at practice everyday. Having passion for your sport or activity makes working hard easier, but it doesn’t mean that it will always be easy. Practice is practice, and it’s not always fun.
If you’re finding it hard to get out of bed and get to work on the court, take a moment to listen to your body and mind. Sometimes it’s a matter of pushing yourself a bit more but there are times when you need a break.
Is your body hurting, not sore, but hurting? Take a short break to heal.
Do you feel burnt out? Have you lost your passion? Your love of the game can get covered up by expectations and stress. Will I make Varsity? Will I start? Will I be good enough to play in college? Will I be able to keep my grades up? What will my parents think? What will my peers think? What will my teammates think?
Take a moment to listen to your heart and soul.
Often all it takes is a reminder of why you are on the court, of your love of the game, and that alone will give you the energy to push through the tough days and work hard. If you need a quick break to rekindle your passion, take it. Eat healthy and get lots of sleep and then get out of your head and onto the court, and have fun.
If you LOVE to play, then PLAY! Fuel your passion with your love of the game.
Monday’s Pen to Paper: Distraction and the Social Media Madness
Our lives are filled with distraction. Now it comes at us 24/7 by way of social media. Look around you. How often do you see people staring at their phones as they walk, drive or even while they’re in conversation? Are they fully engaged in life or are they disconnected and living through the lives of others via social media? Don’t get me wrong, I’m on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Linked In and I enjoy catching up and seeing what my friends are doing. And I post for work and to update my friends and family. But when I’m looking at social media, more often than not, I get annoyed because I know there is no way I can keep up with all the data coming in, all the pictures, the videos, and the updates, yet at times, I waste my time trying. I see it affecting the loved ones around me as well.
My teenagers are glued to SnapChat (which is way beyond me). And my husband over the past year has gotten addicted to Instagram and Twitter. Yes, he reads some news on these sites, but he also gets his mini adrenaline rush each day by watching video feeds of daredevils on motorcycles or people taking near death strolls along towering cliffs and skyscrapers, or by watching MMA fighters beat one another up and talk smack. A narrowcasting of social media geared to his liking. But too much of a good thing is not always a good thing.
Distraction.
It’s easy to go down the rabbit hole. You pop onto Facebook to see what your friends are up to. Next thing you know you’ve watched a few funny or inspiring videos that someone has forwarded and you haven’t even caught up with what […]
PeaceLoveBasketball Friday: Comebacks and Life
It sucks being hurt. It’s been a while since I’ve had an injury that kept me off the court for more than a month, one that I can’t tape up and fight through, but this last month has been different. I pulled the muscles of my rotator cuff, and I have been nursing a sprained wrist, so I can’t play basketball and I hate it. I really shouldn’t complain because my daughter is rehabbing a torn lateral meniscus in her knee and she is a college athlete who was looking forward to her sophomore season, I am just an old mom who likes to play the game. Still for both of us, it has been difficult to be injured.
I have recovered from worse injuries in my life. A shattered right arm which included a torn rotator cuff for one and a broken leg, yet every time I battle with an injury, it’s difficult to stay mentally strong. Each injury I forget that in the beginning, and at points along the way, it feels as if I’m never going make it, that I’m never going to get better. And so each recovery I struggle for a bit, I go through times when I want to crawl into bed and pout. But then I remind myself that I will get better and to stay positive, and eventually (not soon enough of course) I start to see improvement.
In the end it’s about finding strength within and finding support from those around you, because recovering from an injury, or any hardship, can be a battle, not only for your body but also for your mind. My daughter got some bad news this week, her knee is not ready. She put in two months […]
PeaceLoveBasketball Friday: Old Man Strong
There is something to be said for experience. When I play basketball these days, physically I can’t keep up with the girls who are half my age, but there are times I still feel strong. Not in the way that I pull down rebounds or run the court, but in my knowledge of the game, my understanding of what makes a winning team. When my son can’t get the upper hand wrestling against my husband, he complains, “It’s not fair, you’re ‘Old Man Strong.’”
Old Man Strong = Experience.
My husband is a three-time state wrestling champion and a former college athlete. He has muscle memory and more important a history and knowledge of how to use his body. A different but very real strength that is often more powerful than the ability to lift more weight.
Why am I telling you all of this? For you coaches it’s a reminder of how important your knowledge is in building the strength of your players and your team. Do they understand how to use their body to block out and get a rebound so they have the upper hand against a bigger, stronger opponent? Do your players understand how to keep their bodies low and ready to move when they are on defense so they can beat a faster player to their spot? Have you taught them to use ball fakes so they can attack the basket and leave their defender behind? Your knowledge of the game will make them stronger.
If you’re a player, listen. Listen to your coaches. Be open to learn as much as possible about the game. Sometimes you can even learn from old ladies like myself, who shuffle up and down the court, but who know how to run an old-fashioned fast […]
Meet Sonya
Meet Sonya
Sonya Elliott’s memoir, Back on the Court: A Young Woman’s Triumphant Return to Life, Love & Basketball, is her story of finding hope in the wake of tragedy after she and her fiancé were hit by a train. She blogs about writing, basketball, and life and is currently working on a Young Adult Novel and a Non-Fiction Coaching book. Stories of her career as a fashion model are woven through her memoir, as both the Soloflex and Easy Spirit Shoes commercials were filmed during that time period, and this unique and intriguing business continues to be a part of her life.
Sonya played basketball at Eastern Washington University and was a starter for the Big Sky Champion team that went to the 1987 NCAA tournament. She coached for almost 25 years and was voted Seattle Times Coach of the Year, Seattle Officials Women’s Basketball Association Coach of the Year, and twice voted Metro League Coach of the Year. She loves the game of basketball and is thankful, not only for her husband and kids but for her ability to continue to get back on the court.
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PeaceLoveBasketball Friday: Which Defense is the Best?
Defense is my favorite part of the game and man-to-man is my favorite defense. It’s my favorite to play, my favorite to teach during practice, and my favorite to use when I’m coaching a game. I also believe that every player should be taught man-to-man and play a lot of man-to-man, even though it’s not always the perfect solution in a game.
Players and teams should be taught man-to-man because it can be effective against opponents and because when players learn man-to-man, they learn the basic fundamentals of defense. I used the “10 to Win” Westside Rules of Defense when I was coaching at West Seattle. These rules set a precedent for what was expected; for players to stay low and close out aggressive but under control, to keep their hands up and out and to read their opponents, to jump […]
Monday’s Pen To Paper: Finding Space to Breathe
Photo Credit: Jeff Zaruba
Wow, 2017 flew by. There were good times (those seen on Instagram) and not-so-good times, but because of the ups and downs, it was fulfilling and interesting, and a year that I wouldn’t change for the world.
However, I am always looking for ways to make life better and I believe what will do that for me in the coming year is to work on slowing life down so that I can better appreciate every moment. Relishing the positive and understanding that when shit happens, I need to breathe and take a moment to myself then move toward happiness.
It’s not easy, especially when the real bad times hit. I’ve fought to save my job, I’ve battled injuries and I’ve lost loved ones and it took a lot of strength and courage to keep moving forward. But every day life can […]
Pen to Paper: The Power of Persistence
Monday’s Friday’s Pen to Paper: The Power of Persistence
It took me ten years to write my first book. I’m not telling you this to depress you, I’m telling you this to let you know, and to remind myself, that if you want something bad enough and you don’t give up on it, chances are you will make that thing happen.
I wanted to write a book that would share my experience in dealing with grief and recovery in hopes that it might help others, and I didn’t give up on that dream. It was not easy, writing is not easy in and of itself and it seemed that life always got in the way, work, kids, that sort of thing, but for ten years I took baby steps toward my goal, I was persistent.
Some, like my husband for example, might use the word stubborn. […]
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