Getting Better During AAU

As everyone knows, AAU has a completely different format than the high school season. It actually mimics youth travel basketball a lot. Not a ton of practice but more games. Any way you look at it, as a player, you should get better.

Let's talk about getting better during games first. The idea behind playing AAU is that you will play with and against better players consistently throughout the spring and summer. Any time you can play against better players, it's beneficial to your game. You will probably have to play at a faster pace and speed than you are accustomed to. That alone will force you to make adjustments to your game in order to succeed.

With practices only being a few days a week, it's difficult to get better from practice. I don't mean this in a bad way. You can get better by learning to practice at game speed. You can get better by practicing against better players (generally speaking). Just like games, you have the opportunity to get comfortable with being uncomfortable. Hopefully, your coaches put you into positions that you aren't use to by challenging you athletically and most importantly mentally.

This last part is the most important. Working out on your own. This is where you will see the biggest gains. YOU must find time to get better on your own. YOU must find a gym or court to get better. YOU have to figure out a way to get hundreds of game shots at game speed on a weekly basis. YOU have to figure out what works best for you to reach your potential.

Obviously, working out with someone else is ideal. They can rebound for you and vice versa. Giving you a chance to take a ton of inside out game shots, which is a much higher percentage shot. You can sprint around getting rebounds, thus forcing you to be fatigued while shooting. Hopefully, while fatigued you can be consistent with everything involved in your shot, which will help from being fatigued during games. You can play one on one to work on individual moves. You can defend each other and force each other to work on each person's weaknesses.

What it all boils down to is that YOU have to work to get better. There is no one else that can truly force you to get better. Regardless of what your HS or AAU coach says, YOU have to want it.