Ep. 26 | From Kobe’s Mindset To Youth Development | Tim DiFrancesco

Tim DiFrancesco shares what he learned working with Kobe Bryant and NBA players—and how those lessons translate to youth basketball. The conversation focuses on attention and presence (“be where your feet are”), building habits in the other 23 hours of the day, and why inviting failure is essential for growth. The episode also covers youth development realities (most won’t go pro), the role of coaches as teachers, screen-time as a performance dampener, and practical strength & conditioning principles by age group—especially how to introduce resistance training safely and progressively.

If this conversation helped you, tap follow, share it with a teammate or parent, and leave a quick review so more players and coaches can find it.

8 Things Coaching Kobe Bryant Taught Me about Commitment, Outworking the Competition, the Mamba Mentality, and More:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/8-things-coaching-kobe-bryant-taught-me-about-commitment/id1603012439?i=1000553903174

Follow Tim: https://www.instagram.com/tdathletesedge/

Transcript

Welcome And Why Tim Matters

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Today's episode is very important for coaches, but even more important for basketball players. My guest today is Tim DiFrancesco.

SPEAKER_01 0:10

Imagine if it were acceptable or it was somewhat normal for youth athletes to be intoxicated under the influence of alcohol while before they went to practice. Am I saying they ate healthy all the time? No, Kobe Kobe loved to have a sneaker spot. If anything, invite failure, because it means you're putting yourself out on a limb and you're you're stretching your limits, and you're gonna fail when that happens. Approaching him in the hallway and immediately went out to shake my shake his hand, put my hand out, and um started to say something along the lines of you know, Mr. Brian, I want to introduce myself. My name is Tim. And before I could get any of that out, uh, he just slaps my hand away and says, Man, get the F out of here. We got work to do. I already know who you are. Let's go get the work, let's go get the work done.

First Meeting With Kobe

SPEAKER_00 1:04

Hello everyone, and welcome back to another episode of Basketball Buddy and Mind. Today's episode is very important for coaches, but even more important for basketball players. My guest today is Tim DiFrancesco, founder of TD Athletes Edge, and former strength and conditioning coach for Los Angeles Lakers. And I know now many of the young uh listeners, players, basketball players are thinking, hey, Tim has worked with the the GOAT uh rest in peace, Kobe Bryant, for multiple seasons, and he probably has those stories and he can confirm or kind of debunk that myth. But uh what I want to say to you what makes Tim special is not that he has worked in the NBA, not that he has Kobe Bryant's jersey with the signature on the wall, and not that he owns a world-class facility, but uh it is the kind of the person that he is, and uh I want to share a short personal example by this. So when I first reached out to you, Tim, 2017, uh you replied to me immediately, and not with a short answer, but it was like 300 uh words letter. Two years later, I emailed you again if I could come for a visit. You gave me your phone number, I flew over there, uh, you gave me gifts, uh, showed around everything. Uh everything is like very good. We have had since then, we have had multiple calls about rehab, about struggles that I had over my careers and decisions that I was wondering should I do that or not? And you never said no to me. And I'm just random coach from you know Lithuania. So, you know, Tim, after the one of the last calls, not last, one of the calls that we had when I was in Israel, I know it's taking a little bit long, but I want to say everything. So when I was back in Israel three years ago, uh you were probably the most important person when I was making the decision should I start studying physiotherapy or not? And after one of the calls, it was like 12 probably in the night for me, you said, Stan, go for it. And my path was clear for three years, and now in this moment, I will be graduating within three months. So this episode for me is personal, is uh very important. I truly appreciate you being here. So thank you for joining us.

SPEAKER_01 3:39

It's my pleasure. I mean, I think um I've always tried to pay it back for the people that gave me the time of day when um I was trying to carve out my way and figure my way out and and uh to where I wanted to go. And so um it's also it's extra easy to do that with somebody like you who is um just really passionate, uh believes in the craft, in the uh the service that we can provide as knowledgeable strength coaches, physical therapists, and so on and so forth. And so um yeah, you make it real easy to uh uh to pay it back to. And and uh I learn as much from you as you've ever learned from me for sure along the way. So um it's uh it's an honor to be on here. I'm really excited.

SPEAKER_00 4:27

Thank you. Thank you very much. And uh like for anyone would like if anyone would like to hear more stories about Kobe Bryant, uh Tim has done a like probably that's the episode that I have sent to the most people I have ever sent. And I listened again last week. I will put it in a show notes. So there are many stories about Kobe Bryant, about how he was as a person and as an athlete. So you definitely check the description and you will see uh that link to there, but I still need to address uh Tim, the elephant in the room, and everyone is waiting. So could you please share like one like story that maybe comes first to your mind or like the most memorable with a Kobe Bryant?

Presence As A Performance Superpower

SPEAKER_01 5:11

Yeah, I mean I think it it's funny because I think that one of the stories that best captures Kobe and my relationship with Kobe was the very first time I met him. And for the most part, I was not typically starstruck with being around the players and things like that. And um, I was able to sort of compartmentalize and make you know, remind myself or sort of go on to uh autopilot of saying, This is my job. I'm not here to be a fan right now. Uh but with Kobe, it's a different level. So, you know, there was sort of like my mind was racing and um, you know, couldn't believe I was approaching him in the hallway and immediately went out to shake my hand, shake his hand, put my hand out, and um started to say something along the lines of, you know, Mr. Brian, I want to introduce myself. My name is Tim. And before I could get any of that out, uh he just slaps my hand away and says, Man, get the F out of here. We got work to do. I already know who you are. Let's go get the work, let's go get the work done. So I think, you know, that piece of it um was in in some ways really assuring um for me to say, okay, that's it. He's here to work, I'm here to work. We, you know, that's that's uh that's easy for me to do. That's when I what I do best. And so let's get to work. And so it kind of put me at ease, I think, going into it. And um and and then from then on out, I learned a lot from him. I I mean, right away to give lead that into another sort of anecdote, uh uh he I realized that he would have his eyes closed during a lot of exercises, even though I wasn't asking him to do that. And what I realized afterwards was that he just was one of his superpowers was the ability to just be strictly in the moment that he was in at all times and get the most out of whatever moment it was. He did a lot of stuff, he covered a lot of ground. Um he he poured himself into whatever it was that he was doing. Um, and mainly that main thing was basketball, but you know, he had other things going on outside. But he was able to just be strictly in the moment. If he was at practice, he was 100% at practice. If he was in the weight room, he was 100% in the weight room. If he was on the training table, he was strictly focused on what was being done on his body, getting the work in and engaged in the with the clinician that was working on his body. If he was eating breakfast, he was focused on his breakfast. Um, and I think that's a really important thing for any young athlete, any athlete aspiring to move up levels is that you if you can't be purely 100% where your feet are in that moment, right now on this podcast, if I'm if I'm thinking of the 10 things I want to do this afternoon and how my daughter's nine-year-old fourth grade basketball practice, what drills I'm gonna do, and her practice with her tomorrow, I'm not gonna be my best in this podcast, right? So it goes for every single thing. He was the best at that skill as I've uh a human being as I've ever been around. So I would say that is the main the biggest thing that I took from him, and you have to work at that. Most people, it is not natural to be able to block out the noise and be solely focused on the thing and that is in front of you and and and not think about what just happened before you got here and what's about to happen when you're getting out of this thing. So, you know, he he he really either, I don't know, he I think he did work at that. I mean, he practiced mindfulness and things like that. But whether you do need to practice more mindfulness or make it a point of emphasis for yourself, I would say having been around him for four, uh his final four seasons were my first four seasons. During those four years, I took a lot from him. That was number one.

SPEAKER_00 9:19

Yes, I mean, probably right now, like it's even more important because we have so many different distra, like so many distractions. Like phone, of course, obviously, that obvious number one. And even like right now, we as I said, recording this podcast, I'm in this moment. And you know how my kind of on the phone, my mode right now is called? It's called mindfulness, meaning nobody ever can contact me in this moment because it's on the mindfulness mode. So it's funny you mentioned that. Is that is that something that you kind of see that people are not maybe either paying attention to or that you have not met that many people who are uh focusing that much and they are usually are distracted?

SPEAKER_01 10:03

Yeah, yeah, I think so. I think it's really hard and sometimes even scary for people to be all in on that on the thing in front of you. Um there's sort of two parts to that. One of it is is is it's it is challenging to your our mind is in some ways designed to wander and and go different directions, but the other part of it is it's can be scary to go all in on something. Because what happens if you go all in on something and it doesn't work out well? Um it doesn't you know go right. And and I I think that's the other piece that I learned. One of the other pieces I learned from Kobe is no never ever ever uh fear of failure. If anything, invite failure because it means you're putting yourself out on a limb and you're you're stretching your limits, and you're gonna fail when that happens. And um being, you know, inviting failure instead of fear, fearing failure, I think is really important. But yeah, I think a lot of people do struggle with compartmentalizing and being all in on the one thing that is in front of them, um, and then move on to the next thing when that timeline or that time limit is up or that meeting is over or that uh practice is over, um, you know, that that kind of thing. I think people will be surprised if they were able to give themselves the opportunity more to be completely all in and give their all and and be locked into whatever moment they're at um and whatever in front of them at that moment. I think people would be surprised as to how over time when you when you add those pennies to the piggy bank and just are continuously doing that over and over again with everything you're doing, um it actually becomes noticeable. It's very easy actually to stand out when you're when you're capable about that, of that, you know, and and and to be honest, Stan, I'm I'm not doing this because I'm on your show, but you you have a great ability to be very, very locked into the moment of where you're at. And I think that's the piece, one of the pieces that drew me towards you is is that you were very, very focused and locked in to what was in front of you, you know, and I I think that's uh I think that's something that everybody could benefit from.

Phones, Focus, And Youth Athletes

SPEAKER_00 12:26

Hey, thank you. Thank you. Uh seriously, uh but uh listen, so then Tim, like would you say that this is an issue that you see right now like in youth development, that we are paying too much attention to the reels, to something external, maybe something that we cannot control that much? Uh or what would be the mistakes? Like, because when we look at the youth development, we have to take into consideration these things. We cannot only think as we are like talking about bastard body, but we have to talk about the mind also. So when you think about all these three areas, you would say that this would be uh the main issue right now, like in development of youth, not being able to.

Coaching As Teaching And Belief

SPEAKER_01 13:12

No, I mean, let me yeah, I mean, let me let me put a hot take out there, right? And and and just it if imagine if it were acceptable or it was you know somewhat normal for youth athletes to be intoxicated under the influence of alcohol while before they went to practice. Like to some level, uh, you know, a small amount. It was okay. It was okay. We didn't we didn't worry about it, right? That that's not normal and that would not be acceptable. But let's say it was. Like the I don't know that there's as much of a difference between that and having a kid spend three hours on their phone scrolling through social media right before they're about to go to practice. Your mind is dampened. Your your senses, your reaction time is dampened. I'm not saying, I'm not saying that scrolling on your phone is the same as drinking a bottle of beer. I'm but I am saying that there are similarities in how our senses are dampened and our mood is impacted and changed, um, more depressive moods, um, you know, more irritability, things like that, less less ability to focus on uh shorter attention spans. Those are proven physiologic changes when we've now had lots of evidence of people and lots of time to see what happens when people scroll on their phones and and and get into that sort of mindless tunnel of the internet and of social media. And that's not even to mention, like if you get into the darker parts of it where you begin comparing yourself to other people out there and things like that. And so, you know, I think that there it is fair to say like there are some similarities to those two things uh of uh but we would never, ever accept or or be okay if we knew outright that people three hours before their game were were enjoying, you know, 15-year-olds were enjoying a couple of beers before the practice, right? I mean, that would send people into an outrage. And so I think that that's the piece of listen, I have a six and a nine-year-old daughter. They have screen time. I'm not some, you know, I'm not running a monastery with a bunch of monks, right? And and like they are going to have some screen time. We try to time it the right way. We try to educate them about it's not all, it's not um, there there are negatives to this. Your body, your mind, your brain does not necessarily know how to process this type of interface, and so it struggles, and so it responds with these types of moods or these types of behaviors and and that kind of thing. And we don't want you to be in a position where you're swimming, you're on, you're running against the current all the time. And and that's why we have limits, we have boundaries as to how much screen time, when can we have that, and and that kind of thing, and what types of platforms we're allowing you onto, right? And so listen, nobody in this world is gonna go around living in a cave in a in a monastery like a monk. But uh at the same time, I think that it's really, really important that we recognize we're talking when we talk about youth athlete development, we're we're really one tiny little fingernail of those kids are are gonna actually get paid to do this this sport. So the bigger picture is that we have to be able to be preparing them on how to be their best as a adult, as an adult professional at whatever it is, and it's probably not gonna be sport. And so I think that that's the piece that we have to sort of rein ourselves back into. You can go through all the proper agility exercises that you and I could come up with for your kids to do. You could go through all the best plays that you could do in practice to have your your team have the best out-of-bounds play or the best, you know, whatever it is. And that that's a piece of it. You want them to be success to be in a position to succeed with the tools they need when they're on the court. But when it's all said and done, what are you doing as a youth developing coach to be able to help them to understand the habits? And I think this is really challenging because it's very easy for an adult coach to get on their soapbox and wag their fingers at the kids. Kids these days, you know, and you kids don't, you know, blah blah blah. When I was a kid, we we just we have to get away from that. That immediately, I promise you, immediately, tune, they're they're gone. Like you've lost them. As soon as you say you get on that soapbox about that, you have to meet them where they're at. It has to be a little bit silly, a bunch of fun, it has to be some learning, some accountability along the way. Like you have to find ways where you can empower them, but recognize them. The biggest thing that these kids want, they want to know that you believe in them, not just in the sport, not just to make a layup, that you believe in them as the adult in the room, as the coach, as the teacher. Sometimes I don't even like to use the word coach because I think a teacher is the better word. Yes, you know, and I think that we all assume when I send my kids to school, the teachers are gonna do the right thing for them. And for the most part, I think they do an amazing job. For some reason, it's acceptable for coaches to lose their mind and do none of the stuff that coach that teachers would be doing. And in fact, if teachers were doing what coaches were doing in youth development environments, they'd be fired. But for some reason, it's okay for coaches to go nuts and lose their minds. And you know, you know, but like a good teacher knows the route to flipping the switch on on a kid that needs help developing and and and wants to do well but doesn't know how to do well is to first and foremost show them you believe in them.

SPEAKER_00 19:41

Yes, yes. I mean, I could not agree more, even like the word as you say, teacher is some something that we teach uh the others and we we are coaching, but we are teaching them. And uh it can be teaching them uh through basketball, through strength and conditioning how to succeed in life. Uh, because maybe they will learn the importance of routines, the importance of uh uh focusing on uh uh oneself in order like oneself improvement in order to move forward, and maybe if you will not become a professional basketball player, maybe you will become professional um I don't know, accountant, you know, like something. But those habits, routines will lead you to the success, taking care of your body or your mind, not uh comparing yourself to the others. But when you think you mentioned that like a little piece, uh like a fingernail amount of athletes will be able to succeed when you look at the player who uh in your opinion, like when you see the person, who in your opinion has a chance? Who is that fingernail? If you understand my question, who has a chance to go to reach to the next level, to go pro in your opinion, when you see a person? Is there something that some like a bulb would light up and you would say, Oh, he might have a chance?

Signals Of Future Pros

Habits Of Long Careers

SPEAKER_01 21:06

I think a lot, you know, he she, right? I mean he or she, but like, you know, I think that a lot of it there is a a level of it that is um you know body size athleticism skill set, and you can work at that. So I'm not saying that those there are certain people that are just gifted with that. They they all had to work to that have that at some level. But I mean, if we're talking about basketball, the way the the game is played today, if you if you have a uh uh young athlete who is a little bit taller, a little bit longer, uh a little bit more kinesthetically aware and can move their body a little bit more fluidly, naturally, and then they're willing to it it let's let's break let me step back for a second. What if we were looking at this from uh categories of development? So let's just say, like in in our you know, in in in our school system, fourth grade, um, elementary school, nine-year-old to 12-year-old, right? Like if you wanted to try to spot that at that stage, I mean, good luck. Forget it. Like you, you know, the you're not gonna you might see some kids that are further along physically, they're they're a little bit ahead of schedule physically, or that kind of thing, but it doesn't mean they're gonna keep that. Like other kids are gonna catch up to them physically. So to me, one of and this isn't I I I heard this somewhere and I I really struck it it struck me and it stuck with me. At that age group, if you wanted to, you know, spot some a signal, a signal, not not a guarantee, a signal that you'd have something to build on towards that maybe this athlete is going to move up levels. Let's not even say that they're gonna make the pros, right? Do they reach for, do they seek out their sport outside of practice? I I think that's a really, really powerful signal because that doesn't mean guarantee. Oh, if my kid, when I'm home and I'm doing the dishes and I hear my kid went and got a basketball on their own and they were dribbling in the basement, oh my gosh, I got a pro on my hands. Like, no, I'm not saying that. Um, but I do think that if at that age, it's it's still pure. It's still all about the this is just a we've totally forgotten about what the whole point of the sport thing is. The whole point was recreation and community and team activities that people could enjoy together and be healthy for our bodies at an early age, right? And we've totally lost that. It's still pure when they're eight, nine, ten, eleven years old, right? And if without asking them, they're going to find their sport, they're asking to do more of it. They're wanting to go practice at the park the after practice is over. They want to go the next day. They want to they say, we don't have practice today. Can we go practice? Can we take a basketball down to the park? You know, that, or they're just grabbing a ball and dribbling in their living room when the parents are cooking dinner. I mean, that to me is a really big signal at that age. Now, as we go up in ages, you get up into say we're, you know, 15 to 19 year olds. Have they do they now have habits that they've decided to form that are unlike their peers? Are they um recognizing that their body isn't responding to zero sleep? And are they doing something about it? Are they are they asking their parents or looking for resources that can help them to find ways to get stronger? Um and and I think at that age is is extra important. When I found when I would watch whether it was Steve Nash, Steve Blake, um, you know, Dwight Howard, uh Pau Gasall, Kobe Bryant, when they would practice, they would inevitably miss some shots. But they didn't let that change their mood. They're able to accept the failure in the moment as learning, and they didn't get too high or too low in those times. So I think if we're talking about like 15 to 19 year olds, then are they developing their own habits without their parents saying, Johnny, you gotta go, you know, make sure you do your push-ups again, you know. Uh, you know, Sally, don't forget, you gotta, you know, you gotta shut your phone off and go to bed before 1 a.m. You know, it's like, are they developing their habits, um, starting to recognize that on their own? Um, listen, you can make the pros without those habits, but you have to be so big, so strong, so fast, so elite at one of the skills. If we're talking basketball, shooting, passing, dribbling, rebounding, playing defense, you have to be in the top 1% to not have those habits and still make it. Some do, some do, right? But unless you're that good, unless you are legitimately in your age group in the world, 1% top of those skills, then you better have be building up those other habits. So I think those are some of the things that I look at that could be signals. And the reason why I can say that is because I saw the other end. I saw what it took for Steve Nash, Antoine Jamison, um, Kobe Bryant, those players had very, very long careers and very, very successful careers. But early on in their careers, they, unlike some of their peers, when they got to the pros, had already built up good habits and then built stronger habits in the other 23 hours of the day that did not have to do with practice. And they stuck with those. And they weren't revolutionary, they were not something that nobody's been doing before. It's a secret. It was just that they were, you know, they treated sleep as a skill. They paid attention to their nutrition. Am I saying they ate healthy all the time? No. Kobe loved to have a Snickers bar, but like they he didn't, you know, he knew he couldn't eat Snickers bars five times a day. You know, he knew he knew he wasn't going to eat a Snickers bar right before a game. You know, and and and so they had those habits. That's what helped them to last that long. They had built them up early on in their career, and they probably had them before they got to the pros. Or they at least probably recognize they're important. And then each year you get better. I don't care what profession we're talking about. No professional at anything steps into their craft and then is just immediately the wit, like perfectly um patterned in terms of their behaviors, their habits, and everything. They have to figure it out. They're like, well, that didn't work so well when I uh went out with my buddies the night before the game. And okay, I guess I should like rein it in, and I'll just do that on you know nights that I, you know, don't have a game or whatever. But okay, now I'm gonna, in my first year as a professional, I'm gonna learn to go to bed a little earlier on the days I have a big meeting or whatever it is, you know, and and so I think that's the thing that we all forget is that we think that um, you know, if you if you were first time ever in a in a race car, it it's like everybody would know that's not going to look pretty, right? Going around the track the first time. But for some reason, we hold athletes accountable as if they've been going, you know, a race car driver for 20 years. They're just learning. They're just learning to do this stuff, you know, and and it takes time. We have to, you know, give them the grace and the patience to mess up. The to me, the great teachers and the great, if we want to call them coaches, but I like teachers, the greatest teachers are the ones that help people. Number one, like we talked about earlier, they show a belief, they they instill belief in the their students. Their students know they they believe in them. And number two, they teach them that it's okay to mess up. Because how are we gonna learn if if we're not if it's not okay to mess up? You know? And and so I think that those are the things that I I really go back to, um, having been around a lot of the great coaches and a lot of the great players.

SPEAKER_00 30:30

Yes, uh, this is this is amazing. I like that you said that people are those kids are not forced into don't forget to take this, don't forget to do this, that parents kind of try to um instill their um I don't know, wishes that maybe they have achieved something and they are trying to push their kid towards somewhere like a push. But actually, kid should do that, kind of give uh kids should have an option to choose, options to choose, and he or she should be kind of willing himself or herself to do those things by uh like without uh without parents interrupting uh or kind of forcing to do something. Because I really like that uh you uh you mentioned uh this part. And uh, you know, like I didn't even thought that we will be talking mostly about mind part, uh, but I really really believe is like super important. But if you would go to the body part uh in terms of like strength and conditioning, what do you think is important at that uh age? Maybe even two groups like 12 to 15, uh 16 to 19 years old? What should they focus on um in that age?

Strength Training By Age Group

SPEAKER_01 31:50

Okay, so 12 to 15, it should be a lot of gamified uh uh exercise. It should be um challenge the group two teams of kids to accomplish these things. Which team can accomplish these physical tasks you know faster if we're talking about on court conditioning or something like that. The I I just think you know the days of having those athletes go to the end line and and run gassers until they want to puke, you know, because you you think you're gonna make them better conditioning, um, you know, is it it's just you're it's a great way to lose your group, you know, and and so I think it if we're talking about stepping back off the court for a second, I think you want to be helping them to understand, um, first of all, let's debunk the myth that they should not do any resistance training because their growth plates are gonna be stunted, right? So that's not accurate, unless, of course, like you were to put a 400-pound bar on a kid's back and and they're 12 years old and it collapses their spine. Like, yeah, that would hurt them. That would also hurt a 28-year-old, right? So, like, you know, it's it's you can do resistance training, things like farmers' carries, um, you know, have being able to develop grip and have your body have to organize to walk and hold something heavy. Things like push-ups, things um, you know, they can do external loaded resistance exercises like squats and lunges, and they need to do those things to learn um the the to develop the strength and the the endurance and the durability, but also to learn how to organize your body when forces are applied to it. Now, in any age group, I don't care if we're talking about 10-year-olds or 60-year-olds, if you put too much weight on them, then that's not a good thing. But it has nothing to do with a kid should not be lifting after the age of you know eight or nine or 10. Um, you know, they can do those things. It just most of the time, I don't think uh until you're about 12 to 15 years old, you probably shouldn't be in a, in my opinion, a formal lifting uh program. I I think that um it should be much more about you know just learning to move your body and and gamified uh exercise type of formats before the age of 12. Then you can get more of a formal approach because you don't want them to become burned out or you know, bored with the program. Um and so I think that working on those types of things, learning how to land, right? Jump up, how do you land? How do you absorb force? Teaching that when you're working with a 12 to 15 year old is really important because then when they get to 15 to 19, they all want to be get be touching the rim. And if they've never been taught the landings or they develop the absorption capacity of those forces, it can be problematic. Um but I think the other thing to think about is today's game of basketball, and this is we see this at its worst at the NBA level, at the at the professional level. Today's style of basketball is a much more uh explosive, forceful, repetitious game than it ever has been. People want to say, you know, you know, NBA players, why do they need more rest and you know load management and all the conversations is like, well, the game completely changed. And so that's really at every level, too. Um, it didn't just change at the NBA level. It it changed at every level. And and so the way the game is played is much different. You need to prepare the body for that. Yes, you need to be factoring in some calculated rest periods, but it's not the answer is not to just give people more rest. The answer is to prepare the body for these more jumps, more landings, more turns and cuts and explosive changes of directions than the game has ever seen before. And so your training should begin to mimic that as you get up past that 12 to 15 age group. It should begin to mimic some of those patterns that are out there on the court. Part of it is traditional, tried and true. You need to load those joints, those tendons, those muscles, those ligaments. You need to lift heavy stuff with good form. And that mostly pertains in basketball to the lower body, but still, you know, core, upper body, you do have to brace yourself when you land with your wrist, with your forearm. You know, you need to do lift heavy lifting stuff to absorb that stuff. Um I think people could used to be able to get away with not doing a lot of resistance training in this in and around the sport of basketball. It wasn't as popular. It wasn't like American football, where from the day that sport was invented, there was weightlifting involved.

SPEAKER_00 36:58

You had done a reputation for players and Lakers, right?

SPEAKER_01 37:02

Yeah, yeah, exactly. And and you know, over time, I think if you rewind things 10 to 20 years, the game was slower. The game was more calculated and predictable. There weren't as many changes of directions at the speeds, at the velocities, at the frequencies, at the um repetition that there is now. And so I think people could get away with not having resistance training as a foundation, and now I don't think you can. Um, I don't think this game is you I don't think you I don't think you can play this game a long time without having resistance training as a big ingredient and foundation of what you do.

SPEAKER_00 37:49

Yes. So you would say that uh for that 16 to 19, we should ramp up and maybe do a little bit more of those specific movements either, like uh uh like specific basketball, I say movements, but also at the same time lifting heavier and not being afraid to load, as you said, lift heavy with great form. So like it cannot be perfect if we are pushing heavy weights. I mean, your form will change a bit, but it still has to look decent. So from that older age, you would be aiming with the that type of exercises.

SPEAKER_01 38:24

Yes. Absolutely. Yeah, I think it's I think it's a big advantage by the time you get to a um either club or college level, if you were to advance to that, and you've been lifting while you were in in in our you know school system age group, the the high school eight years, I think that is a huge advantage to having been introduced to resistance training at that 14, 15, 16-year-old ages. Huge advantage.

Modern Game Demands And Lifting

SPEAKER_00 38:53

Yes. Uh one like uh I don't remember which episode was it, but one of the uh professional basketball players, he was young uh by that time, he's still young, but he moved to professional league, and he said that I was very strong at my age level, under 19s, and he said when I moved to professionals, I was not the strongest anymore. However, I was still pretty good, and I could I could uh work a little bit more on my basketball skills when I was there and uh do a little bit less of the strength work because I have been doing strength work for the last six years like significantly, and he said that really really helped me to transition to them to the pros. And uh when I was there, they would be bumping me, uh setting the screens, I would be like hitting collisions, everything. He said, but the strength really, really helped me. So I don't know if you have seen the uh this transition from youth to the seniors levels.

SPEAKER_01 39:54

Yeah, I I I think that it um I mean I saw a lot of it when we when I was with the Lakers, we we had some pretty high draft picks those years, and so we would be drafting 19-year-old kids a lot. And um, you know, good good comparison. Um, they're both very successful players now, but um a really good comparison would be something somebody like Julius Randle was physically um very, very prepared for the for the NBA game. I mean, he he's now even more so. He's he's honed in on his his body even more so, but you know, he was a big kid, big guy, and he he was not afraid to lift weights and that kind of thing. Somebody like Brandon Ingram Um was physically much different than Julius Randle, you know, and and now Brandon has and and he and I worked a lot in the weight room together, but Brandon had a much steeper climb in the weight room than Julius did. And, you know, I think they both are you know, both of them are are arguably all-star level players at this stage, and they found their way, they let they eventually got in a position where their skill could really shine, um, but they both had to take different paths um to that. Um and and if anything, you know, Julius had to trim down a little bit, and he had to um uh you know not have so much bulk to carry around, and and and uh Brandon had to pack on a little bit because he had to be able to um withstand the forces uh of of of the league and and other players contacting him though at that um impact level and that kind of thing. And so I've definitely seen different paths to that. Uh and it's it's it's always evident to me when you have uh a young athlete who has already been exposed to strength training versus an athlete who is getting exposed to that later on.

SPEAKER_00 42:07

Yes, yes, very nice comparison, and it's also shows that uh like it can be too much if you are, as you said, like carrying extra muscle mass, even though it's muscles, it can be extra load for your body and you will be struggling. But look, you also had uh that experience in G League and in MBA, and if you would compare uh either like it can be G League and MBA, but let's say those younger athletes to the older professional athletes, what are those most biggest differences in uh how they approach development or how they approach recovery, how they approach life? What would be the differences between those two levels?

G League To NBA: The Other 23 Hours

SPEAKER_01 42:48

Yeah, the the biggest difference is that they they treated the other 23 of the hours of the day as more as time to what the choices and the behaviors and the things they did in those 23 hours were they were making those based off of the better choices I make there, the better my game will be. When we talk about the pros, when we're talking about the the NBA players, the G-League players, most of them struggled to make that connection. Most of them worked very hard on the court in practice. Some of them got extra work afterwards on shooting and stayed after and did some extra work. But most of them, I would say, did not make the connection that if I what I eat, how I sleep, how I take care of my body, and what I do outside of the practice time directly impacts my ability to get up again tomorrow and be better. And so It's a lack of connection in their mind to they they just couldn't make the and then you'd have a couple of players in that G League and and it was the D League when I was there, but we'd have a couple of players where they could make that connection and over time they could leverage that connection into standing out and getting out. That's the whole point. The whole point of the G League is to get out of there. You don't want to be there forever. You know, if you're the if you're the all-time leading scorer in the G League, I mean it's it's it's not it's not you know nothing, but it's not not ideal, right? And and um and so I think that was the biggest difference is that awareness that every I have to take 24 hours in a day and I have 24 hours of opportunity, not just one hour. If practice is an hour and the only opportunity you see is in that hour for you to advance, you're not gonna do well. Because you just wasted 23 opportunities in the in the in the form of an hour of the day that some other players might be taking advantage of.

SPEAKER_00 45:17

Yes, yes. You know, like I would like everyone to think in their heads this example that maybe uh you have example of somebody who is a young uh player, and regardless of all those 23 hours, they still kind of made it to the pro league. But think about example who stayed in the league who did not pay attention to those 23 hours. If you are 18 years old and you have a friend who had played in the highest league in your country, but you know that he didn't take care of the sleep or she or they didn't uh take care of the nutrition, but they still made it. You can think, yeah, but he didn't pay attention to recovery and he made it. Yes, but let's see who wins the long game. So it's very important for everyone to understand. Listen, Tim, I would like I could talk and talk uh more and more, but uh I still want to.

SPEAKER_01 46:13

Well, let me let me just pick one point to that. Definitely that's such a that's such a good point because listen, here's the thing. Yeah, that's gonna happen, but those are those one percenters that none of us are that. Like you 99% of us are not the one percent, right? Physically, you know, height-wise, you know, listen, I'm I'm not gonna grow to six seven. That's not happening for me, right?

SPEAKER_00 46:37

So you said six seven for like especially for this population, right? You wanted to Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_01 46:44

Like, you know, I exactly six seven. Uh but uh you know, it's it's it's not you are not there's a great chance you're not gonna be in that one percent. But so though let those don't come ever compare yourself. First of all, don't compare yourself to anybody but you because comparison is the thief of joy. But like look at do so definitely don't compare yourself to those one percenters because they could cheat the system. Maybe they could cheat the system for a long time. Don't worry about that. You're not you know, you are comparing yourself to you. You have to put yourself in the best position. So if you're not in that one percent and you can't cheat the system, even if you were in that one percent, why would you want to cheat the system? But you maybe you can. But don't let yourself be thinking like, well, they did it, so I could. Like, no, you can't. You you definitely can. Um, because I can almost guarantee you you're not in the one percent, and that's not a knock on you. Lots of people that are not in the 1% do make it, but they have every percent off of that 1%. You have to be tighter and tighter and tighter to the habits 23 hours of the day outside of practice.

SPEAKER_00 48:05

Yes, yes, exactly. I like it uh a lot. Look, last part of uh this show is uh short questions. Uh you can expand as much as you want, or you can answer one word. Uh I used to do just one word answer, but actually I like it more when you have a chance to expand or just say as little as you wish. Is that clear?

SPEAKER_01 48:25

You don't have to you don't have to give me special rules just because I don't know when to shut up.

SPEAKER_00 48:32

Okay, listen. Uh so first one is a little bit uh maybe it'll make you think, but what is or maybe there is something that you stopped doing as a coach over time? Like in terms of your professional uh things, the way you teach or the way you did something now you don't do anymore. Is there something that you stopped doing?

Parents, Variety, And Early Specialization

SPEAKER_01 48:57

Yeah, stop um stop I stop talking uh and trying to teach in during the action. So I like to do my teaching after somebody has practiced uh an exercise, a movement. Um I like to step aside, you know, maybe briefly say what I saw. Let's look at let's try to adjust this one part. But I think just less talking and stop talking during the the action.

SPEAKER_00 49:30

Okay. Uh maybe you have answered this one, but then you can repeat because I believe it's very important. What would you advise young players to develop or learn to maximize their chances of going pro?

SPEAKER_01 49:46

Um I don't don't don't look at the ultimate goal and and compare yourself to LeBron James right now. It's not the goal is not let me try to let me try to copy LeBron James and and and try to be that right now. Look at your your odd your audience, your age group, your peers, and say, who's the best in the room? Who's the best in the group? Who's the best at my level? And what are the things that they did or that they're doing? What are the things that they're that's helping them get into a good position? And and and read read your audience, read your peer group, and and see what people that are not doing well are are doing, and do less of that and do more of what the people that are succeeding are doing.

SPEAKER_00 50:50

Yes, yes, very true. And also copy what they used to do when they were your age, if you want to look at LeBron James or whoever, but uh don't copy what they are doing right now because maybe they are 40 years old and you are 15, so it's different. Totally. Uh next question is for parents, because uh you mentioned a few times your daughters, so they would be thinking, like Tim is top class uh strength coach, what sports do his daughters do or what they have done? Where did they start, where they are right now?

Quick Fire: Coaching Changes And Advice

SPEAKER_01 51:28

So my daughters are six and nine years old, and I don't know if I'm doing this right, um, but I'm doing what feels right, and what feels right for me is to let them choose the sports they want to do. Um, I would not say it's a strict rule, but we try to be involved in a physical activity every season, but not multiple. So we are purposely trying not to have our kids involved in two, three sports at one time. But we like them to choose variety. My six-year-old has never done softball before. She's gonna do softball because it's exciting for her. She wants to test it out this year. Um, you know, with my background and and my, you know, what I know, I could easily be saying, like, okay, we're doing basketball all year round, girls, and uh, everybody's doing it, whether you like it or not. And um, you know, and it's just I don't I don't think that that's a productive way. I think it just Steve Nash is one of the best examples. He grew up playing every sport, doing all kinds of stuff, running around outside when he grew up and bouncing while he jumped on rocks and you know, played with his friends and climbed trees. And yes, he played a lot of sports, but he played a lot of different sports. And I think that that's what you want them to do because again, your kid's not gonna be a two-time MVP like Steve Nash. I'm sorry. I I I'm I apologize if that's crushing somebody's dreams right now. Um, and by all means, prove me wrong. But um you're probably not so why why not experience a ton of different sports and see the ones you love? Again, I would go back to when they're as they're growing older into 10, 11, 12, 13, if they want to gravitate more and more towards one sport, great, but let them make that choice and let them signal that choice to you because they keep going back to that sport. Not because it's your favorite sport or you think it that they would be the best at that sport, but because they like that one the best. I'm I'm a really firm believer that every one of us as a developing human has a physical activity that we're drawn to. Not even necessarily a sport in the true sense of the word, but a physical activity we're we're drawn to. And sometimes coaches who are not being good teachers, they ruin that. They they they squash that, they extinguish that that natural draw to certain activities, and they can ruin it, right? And so let the kid just do the sport of the season or do some random sport than you never did when you grew up. I never did gymnastics growing up. Kind of wish I did, but I I never did. My kids are in gymnastics all the time now, they love it. Um, I I didn't do a lot of ice skating growing up. Our kids did ice skating last, you know, last year. You know, it's like, wow, I mean, why not learn all those things? And if they get done with it and they just don't like it. My oldest daughter did not like lacrosse. We we don't, we're not, I don't, you know, I'm not gonna force her back to go do lacrosse. Um, you know, and and and uh so I think it's just that's that's how I approach it.

SPEAKER_00 55:08

Okay, that's very, very nice. And uh Tim, the last question I have for you. What does it mean for you, basketball strong?

SPEAKER_01 55:21

Wow, you you turned my own medicine right on me. Oh man. Uh basketball strong to me is um I think it's it's it's being it goes back to that thing that I I learned from from Kobe, but also my my parents instilled this in me, so it was in me before I met came across Kobe, but it is um inviting failure instead of fearing failure. Because it means you're basketball, if we if we look at it in a basketball lens, if you want to learn the game of basketball, there's a lot to learn. There's a lot of fancy dribble hand-eye coordination, uh, motor skill. There's a lot of skill work to learn in in that game. And you better be willing to be silly about it. You better be willing to be to fail practicing an in and out to a crossover to a spin move. I mean, you're not gonna get that right the first time. In and and uh or the 20th time. And so to me, basketball strong has nothing to do with basketball. It is a great term that you could apply to anything of like it be willing to put yourself out there, fumble, fail, be silly with it, learn from it, learn, learn, learn, learn. And if you can do that in anything that you're doing, I think that's the greatest sign of resilience, of grit, determination is being able to be okay not being awesome at something. So that's basketball strong to me.

Defining Basketball Strong And Takeaways

SPEAKER_00 57:13

That's amazing. That's amazing. And uh each episode I summarize in three kind of key takeaways. So for listeners uh to better understand, uh, I could summarize probably in eight, but I'll still stick to my three. Uh so first one would be the very last thing you said, invite the failure. Uh that could be your motto. Like, if you miss, like next play, you know, go learn. If you missed, you learned. Like, I know it's sounds like a cliche, but as you Tim said, those grades, they were living that motto. Second would be 23 versus one hour. What you do on one hour is important. Of course, it's important how you practice and uh how many how which exercises you do and which drills you do. It's important. But how you approach those 23 hours, what are what are left for you, they uh they are uh uh significantly important. Uh there's 23 times more of that. So you really need to pay attention if you want to maximize the your chances. And the last probably would be uh be where your feet are. Like even if you will not become a professional basketball player, uh maybe you will enjoy, maybe you will play till you're 50 or 60, maybe you will not become a professional basketball player, but you will uh learn those techniques and routines and everything, and maybe you will become not a coach but a teacher. Who knows? But you have to be where you are right now and take the most of it. So I really took a lot from this podcast, from this episode with you, Tim. Thank you very much, very much. If someone would like to connect with you and uh listen more to you or just learn from you, what would be the best way?

SPEAKER_01 59:00

Yeah, the best place on Instagram, probably at TD Athletes Edge. And um, and and yeah, I'm I'm I'm pretty uh open there and I try to post regularly uh now moving forward. I'm I'm a bit more active. Welcome back. And so welcome back, baby. It's good to be back. Um so yeah, that's that's the best place to find me. Um you can go to our website www.tathletesedge.com, but uh those two places.

SPEAKER_00 59:31

Definitely check it out. It's in the show notes also. Everyone, thank you for listening, subscribe and share this episode with someone who might find this useful. This is the best way to support us. But for now, training, basketball, body and mind.