6.4.18

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Quote of the Week

A Word from DistinXion

Weekly Devotional

​“So Abram said to Lot, 'Let's not have any quarreling between you and me. . .for we are brothers. Is not the whole land before you? Let's part company. If you go to the left, I'll go to the right; if you go to the right, I'll go to the left.”                                                                                                                     - Genesis 13:8-9

Those who work together can get the best done. When you are trying to connect and compete with others, give all for your team. Developing a selfless, give everything attitude can be the best advantage.

Question 1

How have you seen a selfless competitor influence a team?

Question 2

​​​What's one thing can you do in competition/practice to reflect a selfless attitude to your
teammates?

Drill of the Week

Weak Hand Drill

Set up five cones on the three point line. Cones are located in the corners; wings; and top of the key.  Player starts out with head under the rim. Player has a basketball in their hands and must dribble around each cone with only their weak hand. The first cone they dribble to and back to the basket will result in them shooting a floater with the weak hand on the baseline. The second cone will be a regular lay-up with the weak hand (Nash lay-up). The third from the top of the key is a cross-over lay-up. The fourth lay-up is a regular lay-up with that weak hand and the last move is a reverse lay-up.  This is a great skill development drill for all players and will often reveal just how weak their weak hand is.

Message from Coach Thompson

Balance

Matthew 6:33-34 says, “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”

Summer time can be a refreshing time, but it can also be an incredibly busy time for basketball coaches. Running your summer camps; running individual and team workouts; taking your teams to play in shootouts and team camps; maybe organizing your own shootout (which brings all kinds of other dynamics like getting teams to come; hiring/lining up officials; concessions; getting volunteers to work gates/concessions, etc.) can take a lot of time and organization.  It can be hard for coaches to find balance and no one but a head coach can understand the stress of bringing it all together.  There is a lot to worry about when it comes to running your summer programs.  Here are five things that I try to do that help me to maintain balance with the busy summer months.

1.  Devotional time is non-negotiable:  Just like playing defense and rebounding are non-negotiable in our program, so is my devotional time in my life.  If it doesn’t happen, it just seems like the day can easily spiral out of control.  Set a time for your morning devotions and prayer and do not allow anything to interfere with this.

2.  Schedule - schedule - schedule:  Make sure you schedule events well in advance and try like heck to not make changes to that schedule.  Make sure your family (especially your wife or husband) is aware of your schedule.  After making this schedule for the summer and your workouts take a look at it and ask yourself, “Am I going to be able to be a husband and a father with this schedule?  More importantly, am I going to be able to be a man of God?”  If you see yourself compromising your faith and/or family for your summer basketball schedule, maybe it’s time to back off the pedal a little bit.

3. Schedule family time:  A big part of scheduling is to make sure you keep a focus on family time. Yes, scheduling trips is a good thing, but just as important as the trip to King’s Island is keeping family time a top priority each and every day. You always need time to get in the pool with your kids or take them fishing.  Heck even some time watching your son on the PS4, shooting some hoops in the drive, playing catch, or exercising with your family can create great memories.

4.  Get help and give up control:  Good assistants are invaluable.  Giving them guidance and direction is important, but letting go and allowing them to run with the responsibilities you have given them is just as important as allowing them to help you.  Be there as they develop the plan and assist them in working the plan, whether that be running your summer camp; scheduling your shootouts; or hiring officials.  This can be a huge time saver and allow you to focus on other areas of your program’s development.

5.  Focus more on player development than games:  At the end of your summer it is more important that players progress and get better than your JV team going 42-7.  One of my favorite quotes is that, “Nobody hangs banners for summer shootouts.”  Making your players better on and off the court is what is going to count when next season rolls around. 

Hopefully, these tips will keep the focus where it needs to be and help you find balance in your spiritual walk, your family life, and what you are doing with your players in your feeder and high school programs.

Message from Jason Brand & Billy Holder, SW Indiana FCA

Emotional Context

When we think about context, we usually think about historical, cultural, and/or grammatical context. But what about emotional context? God, the Creator of our emotions, has tucked inside of His inspired words an emotional context as well.

For example, the Hebrew word libabthini, found in Song of Songs 4:9, carries such a powerful almost untranslatable emotion. If you look at 10 different translations you'll likely find 10 different ways to translate it. Here are some "options." You have ravished, stolen, conquered, overcome, made my heart beat faster, held me hostage, taken hold, wounded, emboldened, charmed, and captivated. Which is correct? Probably all of them! They are all possible ways of translating libabthini. Each is similar but each highlights an aspect of the emotional context.

The Lord is saying to His "Shulamite," that you do "something" to His heart with just one glance of your eyes (in worship and adoration). You ravish Him, you conquer Him, you hold Him hostage, etc. etc.

Actually, the Hebrew word libabthini is taken from a Semitic root word that means "to tear bark off of a tree." Perhaps that is why the Douay version renders it, "You have wounded my heart with one glance of your eyes." He is saying that your loving eyes of worship have uncovered His heart and laid it bare, making Him vulnerable to you.

This is why we insist on bringing an emotional context to the Word of God, not just academic and scholarly, but the fiery context of God's heart as He expresses Himself through His Word. I want to be a scholar of His heart, not just letters on a page. His Word is a masterpiece of art, not just a combination of technical linguistic aspects. We must find His heart "bleeding through" the artwork of His Word.

Have a great week! - Billy Holder, SW Indiana FCA

 

Upcoming FCA Events

FCA Coaches Summit

Coach,

I hope this message finds you doing well. I want to personally invite you to our first FCA Coaches Summit this summer. This will be similar to a "coaching clinic" format. We will have Dr. Jeff Duke from 3D Coach as our "keynote speaker". We will also have some local coaches on hand to share ways they are able to use their respective sports to share their faith with their athletes. This is a free event with lunch provided. Please use the click on the picture below to get more info and to register!  Please let me know if you have any questions!

Jason Lowe - Springs Valley High School

Contact Us

Coach Thompson - coachthompson44@gmail.com - @coachthompson44
Luke Zeller - lukezeller@distinxion.org - @lukezeller40 and @distinxion
Nick Bartlett - nick@drdishbasketball.com

Dave Hudson - dhudson@fca.org

Jason Brand - jbrand@fca.org