With many of my basketball players and gymnasts currently in season, I have been asked a lot lately about what they should be eating before their games or meets.  What athletes should eat for the Pre-game meals have always been a source of confusion.  I can remember when I first started coaching basketball, many of my players showing up to games and eating nothing but candy about an hour before they had to go on the court.  In fact, it was not until I began educating them on proper pre-game nutrition that they started to eat the correct foods at the correct times before games.  Not giving your body the proper nutrients before an intense activity like a game can leave you sluggish and tired and that will reflect in your performance.  Whereas, eating correctly before games can provide you with the energy to perform to your abilities and dominate the competition.

In order to perform well in any sport you must eat properly especially before games.  The primary purpose of a pre-game meal is to provide your body with fuel so that you have energy throughout the entire game.  Having energy throughout the game requires athletes to eat certain types of foods.  Slow and easily digestible carbohydrates are a necessity.  Such foods like brown rice, sweet potatoes, or whole grain breads will provide you with the sustainable energy that is needed for all four quarters.  Do not overdo it though.  Too many carbohydrates, especially the wrong ones can weigh you down and leave you feeling heavy and slow, ultimately ruining your play.

The second key component to a solid pre-game meal is a nice piece of protein, like chicken breast or salmon.  Including protein in the meal will make sure your muscles are getting proper nourishment while aiding in your post game recovery.

A good example of a pre-game meal would be a grilled chicken sandwich on whole wheat bread, fresh fruit, and a sweet potato.  Since this meal is rather large, it is recommended that you eat at least two hours before game time thereby giving your body time to digest consequently allowing you to perform at your best.  Remember, you want to be able to dominate the competition, so give your body the pre-game meal that it deserves with enough nourishment to last you a full game. 

Committed to taking your game to the next level,

Rich Stoner

USAW, Sports Performance Coach

Dear Coach Rich, I would like to know if you are available to set up some 1:1 basketball tutoring sessions at NJSA. I believe you know my daughter, Ali, who is one of Jason’s level 10 gymnasts. Both she and Jason have spoken highly of you, however you should know that I might not be one of your usual projects. I have played basketball consistently since I was a kid and would like to try out for the Master’s (45 and over) Maccabi basketball team representing the United States this coming December in Brazil. The issue is that I am not 45, I am 58 and had a left hip replacement 1-1/2 years ago. I have been training very hard, but recently have gotten discouraged because, since my surgery, I have not been able to recapture hardly any of the speed or mobiltiy I had previously. On offense it has hurt me terribly because I can’t drive to the hoop anymore, however I have found other ways of remaining an offensive threat. My defense, however, has become a disaster, as the lack of speed and mobility have made it almost impossible for me to guard anyone effectively. Can you help?? I am a former college varsity athlete (tennis at Lafayette College) and have remained actively involved in both tennis and basketball. I know that I will be a lot older than other candidates at Maccabi tryouts (end of September), but I feel that with some good supervision and training that I would stand a decent chance of making the squad. I look forward to hearing from you.

It is not often that I get emails from people looking for basketball skill development that are in their 50′s let alone  from someone who also just had hip replacement surgery.  So, needless to say I had to read this over a few times just to make sure I was getting it right.  So I called him back that day, but not before figuring out what the Maccabi games are.  Through my extensive research and phone calls to a few friends I found out that they are the equivalent of the Jewish Olympics.  They are held once a year all over the world and every fourth year in Israel.  Ultimately, I thought this would be a unique and cool opportunity for me to work with someone who could ultimately make such a prestigious team. 

Fast forward two months to today and we are still working together on his game.  He has tried out for the team and as of right now made it as an alternate.  He informed me that he was the oldest one at the tryout and described the tryouts themselves as quite demanding.  He did, however, feel that he was well prepared as a result of our workouts.  I was quite proud of this accomplishment and as I watched him go through our workout last week, I could not help but notice how much he has truly improved. 

 First off, his conditioning is so much better than when we started as a result of our constant movement throughout the workouts.  I can remember back to the first itme we worked out and his breaks were every few minutes and quite long.  Now, they are few and far between and he is right back on the court for more.  This improved conditioning has allowed us to accomplish more and more each time out.   He is also significantly more agile now because of the extensive amount of time we have spent working on the changing of directions.  As a matter of fact, he mentioned to me after the tryout that, he could not remember too many guys beign able to score on him over the course of the weekend.  Not bad for a guy who listed defense and mobility as his main weakness.  Finally, having already been a strong jump shooter, he is now an even better jumpshooter and a much more versatile scorer.  This is a direct result of better footwork which has been a major focus of all of our drills.  Having his feet in a consistently better position has enabled him to get his shot off quicker and attack the basket more explosively.  Ultimately adding more variety to his game at the age of 58.

So, what can we take from this great story? 

1. It’s never to late to realize a dream.
2. Hard work and persistence can help you accomplish your goals.
3. Fundamentals like footwork are the basis for many aspects of the game of basketball including jumpshooting, attacking off the dribble, and changing directions.
4. You should never underestimate the importance of being in good condition.

If you are as impressed with this guy’s accomplishments as I have been let us know in the comments section below.

Don’t forget, the special promotion sale of my Basketball Speed and Agility project is still going on now over at www.basketballspeedandagility.com.  Don’t miss this opportunity to get your hands on some of the drills that I used to help this old dog learn new tricks.

See you on the court.

Rich Stoner

Elite Basketball Training, LLC

Now getting back to my original topic, it is great that these players are working on their skills.  I love it, but here is where I have my issue.  Each day, as these players pass through my strength and conditioning area, they always inquire about stregnth and conditioning for basketball and my programs that I offer.  I always explain how valuable it is to their personal basketball development and their future as basketball players.  Once I do this, they are extremely excited about my programs and sports performance training as a whole, but each day these players continue to walk by as I train my groups and continue to say that, “they are going to come, tomorrow, or next week.”  Nonetheless, tomorrow and next week keep coming and these players just keep walking by. 

I honestly feel bad for them because next basketball season is going to come and they will be in the same physical shape as they were the previous year.  They will not be any quicker or more explosive and therefore unable to create their own shot or get their shot off over bigger, quicker, and more explosive players who did strength train in the off season.  I cannot stress enough how important it is to develop your body in the off season.  That is the time to put on size, increase your strength, increase your vertical, becom more explosive and quick.  The off season is the time to take your game to the next level, not only by developing your basketball skills but by developing your basketball strength, power, speed, quickness, agility, and conditioning. 

Let me know your thoughts on developing your basketball body by writing in the comments section below.

Also, if you are interested in my basketball strength and conditioning programs or any of my sports performance programs contact me directly through this site or register today at the New Jersey Sports Academy. 

See you on the court!

Rich Stoner

Elite Basketball Training, LLC

As far as the hamstrings go, they are an often forgotten about but extrememly important part of the legs.  Well developed hamstrings can prevent lower back injury and allow an athlete to pick up heavier weight from the floor which will ultimately translate into better performance in their sport particularly ones that require explosive movements like sprinting and jumping. Some of the best hamstring exercises include the Romanian Deadlift (single leg rdls are excellent because the add an aspect of balance to the exercise), the stiff legged deadlift, and glute ham raises.  One of my favorite hamstring strengthening exercises can be viewed in the video below.  It is a modification on a glute ham raise that can be done with a regular flat bench and a dumbell. 

Grip strength is also of key importance to all sports that the hands are involved. However, it is once again forgotten about when training.  Having better grip strength will allow you to hold a baseball/softball bat in a stronger position which will aid in your swing, the same can be applied to stick sports like lacrosse and field hockey, and finally (my personal favorite) it will better your ball handling in basketball and prevent you from having the basketball ripped from your hands.  There are multiple ways to improve your overall grip and forearm strength including dumbell holds, plate holds, and using a fat bar for various lifts. 

The video below shows one of my basketball players completing sets of the modified glute ham raise and towell pullups. If there are any good exercises that you guys can think of, please let us know by posting them in the comments section below. Thanks and see you on the court.

Rich Stoner

Located at

FREE TWO WEEK TRIAL

VALID THROUGH NOVEMBER 30TH

Sports Specific Group Training Located at:

8 Cornwall Court East Brunswick, NJ www.thefieldssportscomplex.com

Two Friday’s ago I attended the Garden State Coaches for the sixth straight year and as always, it did not dissapoint.  As far as basketball clinics go you would be hard pressed to find a better lineup than the one that they had there that day.  Kevin Eastman, Mike Fratello, Fran Fraschilla, Hubie Brown, and Joe Paglia all gave great presentations on various topics that I will be posting for you guys over the course of the next month, or so, leading right up to basketball season. 

For those of you who do not know, Kevin Eastman is an assistant coach for the Boston Celtics  and one of the foremost authorities on individual skill development for basketball in the world.  If you have ever seen him speak before you know he speaks in lists, and lots of them.  Man does he over deliver which is why I always try to get to see him when he comes out this way.

So let’s get started right now with Kevin Eastman’s thoughts on leadership and talent.

1. Do you occupy the seat or do you execute the position?
2. Leadership can build and leadership can destroy.
3. Talent can but does not always mean leadership.

There is physical talent and mental talent, the mental talent makes for better leaders. Consequently, we do not want talent on the team; we want the team to be talented.

The “ed” in talented stands for “Extra Dimension.”

Talent puts points in the basket.  Talented does the following:

• Makes teammates better.
• Makes the team better.
• Makes himself better by taking care of 1 and 2.

I thought these were fantastic points that Kevin made and I left them up to you to interpret.  Please let us all know your thoughts on any or all of them by responding in the comments section below.  Thanks.

See you on the court!

Rich Stoner

Our mission that day was to get my weight room set up and prepared, not only for this week’s group training sessions, but also the Grand Opening and Athletic Expo that will be taking place at  The Fields this weekend.  The open house is going to be full of activities and energy as there will be food, drinks, demonstrations, give aways, and discounts. There will also be local papers a D.J. to keep the party going and, the radio station, Magic 98.3.  Rumor has it that professional soccer players from The Red Bulls and professional basketball players from The Nets will even be there! 

So please stop by between 10am and 2pm and enjoy the day, especially on Sunday when I will be there the whole time (a previous engagement is keeping me away on Saturday) promoting The Highlight Reel – Central Jersey’s AWESOME recruiting services and conducting my usual INTENSE workouts in the Elite Sports Performance training center.

Just to give you an idea of what The Fields is really like, I took the liberty of filming a short video tour of the facility.  It is kind of rogue and in some cases a little  Blair Witch Project, but overall it gives you a great idea of what this place is going to be about.   So check out the video and I hope to see you all this weekend at The Fields in East Brunswick, NJ.

Train hard, be efficient and I will see you on the court.

Rich Stoner

Finishing around the rim is a skill that needs to be developed and practiced because at higher levels of play, finishing gets more and more difficult.  The two basketball drills performed in the first video will help you improve your finishing skills around the rim.  These are just examples and can be expanded on by adding different finishing variations or moves.  It is important to try to finish in as many different ways that you can think of (high, finger roll, floaters, etc.) because the perfect situation very rarely exists in a game and you must be prepared to make different types of shots if you have to.

The second video is another great example of a finishing circuit that you can use at the end of your workout.  Finishing circuits are a great way to add some conditioning to your workout while combining strength and power.  By adding these types of circuits to your workouts on a frequent basis, you will see your level of physical preparedness skyrocket.  This will allow you to outlast your opponents and finish the game strong.

To increase competitiveness, you can definitely make this a relay race by dividing your team up into groups and having half the group on either endline.  Once one player has moved all three bags the length of the court, the player on the other end brings them back to their original starting point and so on.  You can also create variations of this race by designating what type of carry the athlete must do while sprinting.  For example, the first bag has to be an overhead carry, the second bag has to be a zercher carry, and the third bag a bearhug carry.  By doing this, you are forcing the athletes to work different muscles each time they are carrying a bag.  Whether you go individually or as a team, chart their times and post them so that they know what times to shoot for the next time they do this type of race. 

This type of conditioning goes beyond just running sprints because it requires the players to be explosive in getting the bags into a position that they can carry them and it requires them to do a weighted sprint.  I highly suggest this for any athlete looking to improve their game.