I had the opportunity to attend Pro Trainer School hosted by Drew Hanlen and Pure Sweat last week in Las Vegas. This was a unique opportunity and line up of speakers. The event had a total of eight speakers over a two day span. It was jam packed with player development teaching points, business plans, film breakdown, live offensive action and mindset training. While the takeaways are endless, I’ve compiled three specific things from each speaker that stood out to me in the moment.

Drew Hanlen Part 1 – Game Skills Game Results

• If you’re good, you’ll get paid. People will let you know if you’re good. Know your WHY!
• Ball and foot moving/hitting together – no wasted load up movements.
• Physicality on offense isn’t the knockout punch, it’s small jabs.

Phil Beckner – Standards for Personal/Professional Development – Absolutes for Shooting Workouts

• You can’t give away what you don’t possess – outwork and out show up!
• Activate the mind during warm ups –> hips for distance on your shot.
• Beat the movement – get out of the defenders footsteps.

Cody Toppert – Delay, Pistol, Away

• Randomize, repeat, retain.
• Teach it, rep it, script it, play it.
• Visualize, video, variety.

Rob McClanaghan – Game Reps

• Build trust with your players off the court – this goes a long ways on the court.
• Pound the last dribble before the pickup.
• The set up is more important than the move.

Paul Fabritz – 7 Ways to Enhance Player Health and Performance

• Free play and smile!
• Play a different sport to warm up before practice starts.
• Build and utilize systems.

Mike Procopio – Developing a Player Through Film Breakdowns

• Multiple ways to do it – be you, tell the truth.
• Be a great teacher – rep it, correct it, repeat.
• Do one thing for 15 minutes to begin practice – muscle memory through multiple reps.

Andrew Moran – Building Your Basketball Business – Integrating Skill Work Into Practice

• Be humble, be good. Be a great teacher.
• Had to go all in to make the jump, even though I wasn’t 100% sure it was right.
• Cater to the best player in your workout, not the worst.

Tim Martin – Self Awareness and Playing With Pace

• Be curious about who you are. Know thyself, work on yourself.
• Only way to get better is by taking risks.
• Pace creates space – high to low dribble, speed of dribble, slow and fast steps

I highly recommend attending Pro Trainer School next year if you have the chance. I’ve been breaking down the notes from the event over the past week and continue to learn new things I can utilize right now with our players. We constantly challenge our players to get better, and we have to do the same!