It is summer time! This is the time that AAU season starts and the traveling begins! With the pandemic occurring, I know things might be a little different from the previous years, but your mindset shouldn’t change because of it! There might not be any fans in the crowd, there might not be college coaches watching on the sideline of the court, but every minute you play counts. Remember, keep getting better when no one is looking. Just because the world is on pause, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t still be thinking of your future. It is time to get creative and even more motivated to pass others up. While you are working, others might be resting. It is your time, it is AAU time!
While at AAU tournaments, you will be playing many games in a short period of time. You might be playing two to three games a day for a full weekend. Your intensity level needs to stay high throughout this time. So, how do you do this? To conserve energy between games so you can exert full performance effort, you must have a plan beforehand. See what your tournament schedule looks like and use that to your advantage.This will allow you to recharge that battery, refuel your body with nutritions, and reset for the new team you will be competing against.
Here is an example of to relax during tournaments:
- Before the tournament starts: Don’t watch too many teams that are competing before you. Let it be a surprise. That’s the fun thing about AAU. You play teams that you have never seen before and can’t really scout the team in advance.
- Between games: Snack on something light, refuel that body. You don’t want to be too stuffed so be careful of what you eat! Go to a restaurant or pack food and eat outside. Get out of the sport complex. It will be a nice little breath of fresh air to help you reset for the next game.
- Between day one and day two: Explore the new area you visited, go on tours, become closer friends with your teammates, do some fun things at the hotel. Don’t think about who you are playing the next day. Just have fun. That is what AAU is all about!
Written by:
Sarah Grippi
Basketball Mindset