Expert: Coach Jones - 7/13/2011

Question
Coach Jones im currently in a summer league in lebanon and over the past few weeks ive been playing some of the best basketball of my life but over the past few days i seem to have just stopped playing the high level that i have been is there any reason for this, does this happen to many people, and is there any way i can get back on my game and oh yea im a 6'4 15 year old center. Thanks Coach

Answer
Hey There Shaddy Character -
I can help, but since I don't know any more than the little you've given me to go on I'll be using a shot-gun approach as opposed to laser specific answers.  
This happens to most athletes too many times.  The reasons are as varied as; I'm actually having trouble with my girlfriend and I didn't realize it would really affect my game - to - I sprained my ankle so bad I can hardly walk on it.
Assuming you haven't neglected telling me you're physically incapacitated for some reason here are my thoughts:
I'm guessing your level of play rose to the level of your teammates and/or your competition and you're having difficulty maintaining a high level of concentration - or - you've decided everyone isn't as good as you thought and so you're playing down to the common denominator.
You could also be playing in competition more frequently than you're used to and you're tired, mentally, physically or both.
Maybe you're wearing new shoes and they are limiting your play or maybe it really is your girlfriend.  

Let's discuss the first one first: thinking about what you're doing can limit your game performance; study the info on court vision at www.BasketballShootingCoach.com to rectify this situation.  
Trying too hard to do more than you're used to doing can be throwing you out of position and out of your comfort zone, in other words you might be spreading yourself too thin on offense and/or defense to be effective on either end of the court.  Fix this by concentrating on your defense.  Stop worrying about your offense.  If you step up and become really effective on defense your offense will take care of itself.  You see the effort on defense ALWAYS transfers to offense.  If you're hustling on 'D' you'll find yourself transitioning faster from 'D' to offense and you'll find yourself in proper offensive position more often with higher percentage scoring opportunities.  When you score you end up transitioning harder and faster to defense and your defense grows ever tougher, and on and on and on.

If you're playing down to a lower level of competition simply decide to dominate the game.  Score 50 points, pull down 20+ rebounds, block 10 shots, get 10+ assists.

If you're tired you need to eat more nutritiously, drink purer liquids - lots of purer liquids like filtered water and get plenty of sleep.
You can improve your concentration, and eye-hand coordination, by learning to juggle (see www.BasketballShootingCoach.com/juggling).

There also might be the situation that you're feeling overwhelmed by some really stiff competition.  If that's the case playing HARD 'D' is the way around that too.  If you're unable to still stop your opponent when doing your best, ask your coach how he recommends you reposition yourself to become more effective and/or have someone video your game, not your team's game - your game.  Have a camera isolated on you and study what happened after the game is over and you're relaxed and able to stop - rewind - pause, etc.  Figure out where you're weak and do drills designed to specifically fix your short coming.

If it's your shoes or girlfriend I'm not qualified to comment.

Here's hoping this benefits your game,
Coach Jones

P.S.  Download "Basketball - It's All About The Shot" while you're on the website.