Post by Hiroshi on Feb 10, 2015 10:00:36 GMT -5
Standing on the outside court of the campus, the sun was already going down, creating a orange glow over the court. But I had to get my practice in on this day and classes were long this day so I had only this evening to get my training in. It seems I was the only one using the court today as no other student was on the court itself. The court was empty and not a single student was even close. The weather wasn't even bad either. A cool breeze would just hit the skin from time to time but nothing cold and it was dry at least for the time being. It was a Monday and seems nobody really used this court on the Monday evening.
There I was, wearing a black tank top and a sweatpants with dark red stripes on the side of each leg. The ball was resting under my right arm. Looking at the ring I cracked a smile.. It felt good being on the court after being away from it for some time. I was wearing black and red Jordan's, those were the once I normally used when playing basketball. I kinda got used to this model and normally always play on these. I always order them specially. My red eyes would lock onto the ring and then my eyes would close for a second as I take in a big deep breath.
I would think about the reasons why I;m doing this and why I am standing on this court right now. I wanted to become the best and show those who thought I could not make it wrong. I wasn't somebody with talent but i did work hard to make up for the lack of talent. Skill over talent was my motto. And as soon as I get back on the grind I will try out for the basketball team here on 552 and wanna become the state champ. I wanted to become the ACE, this way I would become most important and carry the rest if needed. I did had enough height for it but my jump had to be higher and my speed had to increase. I hard to train my legs insane and hope the rest would keep up and my legs could handle the constant pressure of jumping high and the impact from coming down again. My condition had to be top tier if I wanted to stay in the whole match as the Ace of the team,
First things first, I would lay the ball down next to the ring and would run some laps around the court. I had to get the blood flowing trough my legs and warm them up and get that hearth rate up. I would breath into my nose and out of my mouth as I ran my laps and didn't really count how many I did. I just ran until I felt my legs would be warm enough. I would start running slow until I get into a certain pass and kept it up to keep the hearth rate up. once in a while I would make a small sprint, ony to turn into the normal run after once in a while. After a while I would slow down the run and drop down and started doing 20 push ups, going down slow and up fast followed by 20 push ups of the ground clapping my hands together, trying to get as muchts spring off the lift. And to top it off I would push my body off the ground and bend my knees in and tap them with my hands and fall back in the push up position and do this another 20 times.
Next up would be the sit ups to get my abs stronger and my core, as I would do 100 sit ups and follow that up with 50 leg raises. After that I would stand back up and started to stretch the legs until I felt them being flexible enough. Now it was time to start for real and I would pick up the ball and started to dribble the ball from one side to the other at first just a normal step and not really going fast but just to get used to the ball and the court itself. As soon as I was used to it all I would dash from side to side as if I was battling other people and avoiding them from stealing the ball. I had my eyes closed so I could really see them. I had to work on my fake's, this way I could pass the opponents better and get myself out in the open to make shots. This was still not one of my strong points and had some trouble holding the ball when going for the fakes.
" I have to keep pushing "
Sweat would drip down my face and I would sometimes sweep it off with my tank top. I need to keep it up, I have to improve my stamina. I wont become the ACE by not pushing it to my very limit. My body had to be trained like my mind. I had to keep believing in myself never lose faith of being the best I could be. I knew I was worth more then this, I had allot of power behind my motivation to keep grinding until I would prove them all wrong. My eyes only showed fire as I practiced and all that would watch would feel it. The time and pain I had to put in to keep going, the sweat and the tears.
Next up were the jumps, I had to really ask all I had from my legs at this point. My goal was to reach the top of the backboard of the ring, I had to push more with my legs to gain more air time and aim higher. I also should be able to get the rebounds by out jumping those next to me. Dunking, lay ups, rebounds, I had to be able to do it all.
I would dribble up to the inside with speed and push off from the ground as hard as I could to jump as high as I could but it was hard to reach the ring and I would put allot of pressure on my caffs every time I came down and pushed off again at the next try. But I had to keep pushing myself to reach that goal. My jump got higher but my legs were about to give up after jumping for a hour doing anything from dunks to lay ups and even tried to air walk but that didn't went so well. As I landed from my last jump I could feel a sharp pain in my left leg and dropped to my knee. A painful shout left my lips as I tried to get back up. My body was getting tired from grinding for a few hours now. Yet I wasn't done yet it didn't felt right yet.
"Not yet... not yet!!"
I had to talk myself back up or nobody would, I could not go down this easy. Never would I be able to stay down from this never. I would push myself back up and pick the ball up once again. I had to jump even higher and went for it again and jumped up as high as i could until my hand touched the top of the backboard. I cracked a grin until I landed and crashed down hard and had to catch myself with my hands. My breathing was heavy and sweat would drip down my nose onto the ground. The pain inside my legs were hell and I dragged myself towards the pole to help myself back up to my feet. The ball was half way the court as it rolled down after the last jump.
" Not... good .... enough "
I tried walking towards the ball but my legs would not allow me and I would drop down to my knees again. It was hard to even keep myself awake. I brought my body to its limit but I had to go beyond that limit.. I should not even have a limit on my body. Pushing myself back up I would slowly walking up to the ball and pick it up. I was tired and I was in pain but I could still practice my three pointers and I would walk up to the line. I would relax abit and threw the ball, it would hit the ring and see it bounce off towards me and I just failed making the three pointers... I had to control my breathing better and time it way better to even get them all the time.
" Remember Hiroshi, remember those that doubt you. They will be laughing if they see you now! "
I had to speak to myself and get me back on my game and focus. I once again controlled my breathing and released the ball at the right time and this time it went in without hitting the ring. And after that it went in again and again... I kept it up for 50 shots only missing 5 of them. Soon I had to face opponents and see if it all worked in a real match because now there were no people giving me pressure at the moment. After training for 3 hours straight I had to give my body rest and I stopped shooting the ball and my wholle body was covered in sweat... My mouth was dry. I walked up to the side and grabbed a bottle of water and drank it in one go but taking small sips.
" One day I will conquer this court just wait! "
With these words I walked away from the court towards the exit of the schoolyard, I didnt walk fast because to tell you the truth I really went over the limit for what I could this day. Leaving the school, I walked up to my car, the black Dodge charger was there waiting for me. Placing everything in the trunk the ball the back. Closing the trunk I would walk up to the drivers seat and sat down. Closing my eyes leaving the car off I would give in to the pain and tiredness.
After sitting there for some time I would turn the car on and drove backwards onto the streets. I still had to get home. Driving in the dark only thing you could see were the lights of the car. My first practice felt good but I saw many flaws in my game and had to get really back into it after a small layoff. But also I had to learn to fight better to even survive this school. Knowing that a match would probably end in a fight on the court or off the court.
After a while I got home at my small apartment, taking the bag and ball from the trunk and soon after I would enter the apartment. Dropping the ball and bag into a corner in the hall. After I would walk into the Bathroom and after taking off the clothes drenched in sweat, I would step under the shower letting the water wash the sweat away. It felt good on my body after a hard training. After washing myself I would dry myself and walk up to my couch and drop down. I wasn't even able to turn the tv on or eat something as my body just needed the rest and my body fell into a deep sleep.
In that deep sleep I would see the whole training again, and see my flaws and strengths, all so that I could improve the next day and get better and better. Eat sleep grind and repeat would be the perfect motto right now. So with this a long and hard day would end and I would repeat it tomorrow.
There I was, wearing a black tank top and a sweatpants with dark red stripes on the side of each leg. The ball was resting under my right arm. Looking at the ring I cracked a smile.. It felt good being on the court after being away from it for some time. I was wearing black and red Jordan's, those were the once I normally used when playing basketball. I kinda got used to this model and normally always play on these. I always order them specially. My red eyes would lock onto the ring and then my eyes would close for a second as I take in a big deep breath.
I would think about the reasons why I;m doing this and why I am standing on this court right now. I wanted to become the best and show those who thought I could not make it wrong. I wasn't somebody with talent but i did work hard to make up for the lack of talent. Skill over talent was my motto. And as soon as I get back on the grind I will try out for the basketball team here on 552 and wanna become the state champ. I wanted to become the ACE, this way I would become most important and carry the rest if needed. I did had enough height for it but my jump had to be higher and my speed had to increase. I hard to train my legs insane and hope the rest would keep up and my legs could handle the constant pressure of jumping high and the impact from coming down again. My condition had to be top tier if I wanted to stay in the whole match as the Ace of the team,
First things first, I would lay the ball down next to the ring and would run some laps around the court. I had to get the blood flowing trough my legs and warm them up and get that hearth rate up. I would breath into my nose and out of my mouth as I ran my laps and didn't really count how many I did. I just ran until I felt my legs would be warm enough. I would start running slow until I get into a certain pass and kept it up to keep the hearth rate up. once in a while I would make a small sprint, ony to turn into the normal run after once in a while. After a while I would slow down the run and drop down and started doing 20 push ups, going down slow and up fast followed by 20 push ups of the ground clapping my hands together, trying to get as muchts spring off the lift. And to top it off I would push my body off the ground and bend my knees in and tap them with my hands and fall back in the push up position and do this another 20 times.
Next up would be the sit ups to get my abs stronger and my core, as I would do 100 sit ups and follow that up with 50 leg raises. After that I would stand back up and started to stretch the legs until I felt them being flexible enough. Now it was time to start for real and I would pick up the ball and started to dribble the ball from one side to the other at first just a normal step and not really going fast but just to get used to the ball and the court itself. As soon as I was used to it all I would dash from side to side as if I was battling other people and avoiding them from stealing the ball. I had my eyes closed so I could really see them. I had to work on my fake's, this way I could pass the opponents better and get myself out in the open to make shots. This was still not one of my strong points and had some trouble holding the ball when going for the fakes.
" I have to keep pushing "
Sweat would drip down my face and I would sometimes sweep it off with my tank top. I need to keep it up, I have to improve my stamina. I wont become the ACE by not pushing it to my very limit. My body had to be trained like my mind. I had to keep believing in myself never lose faith of being the best I could be. I knew I was worth more then this, I had allot of power behind my motivation to keep grinding until I would prove them all wrong. My eyes only showed fire as I practiced and all that would watch would feel it. The time and pain I had to put in to keep going, the sweat and the tears.
Next up were the jumps, I had to really ask all I had from my legs at this point. My goal was to reach the top of the backboard of the ring, I had to push more with my legs to gain more air time and aim higher. I also should be able to get the rebounds by out jumping those next to me. Dunking, lay ups, rebounds, I had to be able to do it all.
I would dribble up to the inside with speed and push off from the ground as hard as I could to jump as high as I could but it was hard to reach the ring and I would put allot of pressure on my caffs every time I came down and pushed off again at the next try. But I had to keep pushing myself to reach that goal. My jump got higher but my legs were about to give up after jumping for a hour doing anything from dunks to lay ups and even tried to air walk but that didn't went so well. As I landed from my last jump I could feel a sharp pain in my left leg and dropped to my knee. A painful shout left my lips as I tried to get back up. My body was getting tired from grinding for a few hours now. Yet I wasn't done yet it didn't felt right yet.
"Not yet... not yet!!"
I had to talk myself back up or nobody would, I could not go down this easy. Never would I be able to stay down from this never. I would push myself back up and pick the ball up once again. I had to jump even higher and went for it again and jumped up as high as i could until my hand touched the top of the backboard. I cracked a grin until I landed and crashed down hard and had to catch myself with my hands. My breathing was heavy and sweat would drip down my nose onto the ground. The pain inside my legs were hell and I dragged myself towards the pole to help myself back up to my feet. The ball was half way the court as it rolled down after the last jump.
" Not... good .... enough "
I tried walking towards the ball but my legs would not allow me and I would drop down to my knees again. It was hard to even keep myself awake. I brought my body to its limit but I had to go beyond that limit.. I should not even have a limit on my body. Pushing myself back up I would slowly walking up to the ball and pick it up. I was tired and I was in pain but I could still practice my three pointers and I would walk up to the line. I would relax abit and threw the ball, it would hit the ring and see it bounce off towards me and I just failed making the three pointers... I had to control my breathing better and time it way better to even get them all the time.
" Remember Hiroshi, remember those that doubt you. They will be laughing if they see you now! "
I had to speak to myself and get me back on my game and focus. I once again controlled my breathing and released the ball at the right time and this time it went in without hitting the ring. And after that it went in again and again... I kept it up for 50 shots only missing 5 of them. Soon I had to face opponents and see if it all worked in a real match because now there were no people giving me pressure at the moment. After training for 3 hours straight I had to give my body rest and I stopped shooting the ball and my wholle body was covered in sweat... My mouth was dry. I walked up to the side and grabbed a bottle of water and drank it in one go but taking small sips.
" One day I will conquer this court just wait! "
With these words I walked away from the court towards the exit of the schoolyard, I didnt walk fast because to tell you the truth I really went over the limit for what I could this day. Leaving the school, I walked up to my car, the black Dodge charger was there waiting for me. Placing everything in the trunk the ball the back. Closing the trunk I would walk up to the drivers seat and sat down. Closing my eyes leaving the car off I would give in to the pain and tiredness.
After sitting there for some time I would turn the car on and drove backwards onto the streets. I still had to get home. Driving in the dark only thing you could see were the lights of the car. My first practice felt good but I saw many flaws in my game and had to get really back into it after a small layoff. But also I had to learn to fight better to even survive this school. Knowing that a match would probably end in a fight on the court or off the court.
After a while I got home at my small apartment, taking the bag and ball from the trunk and soon after I would enter the apartment. Dropping the ball and bag into a corner in the hall. After I would walk into the Bathroom and after taking off the clothes drenched in sweat, I would step under the shower letting the water wash the sweat away. It felt good on my body after a hard training. After washing myself I would dry myself and walk up to my couch and drop down. I wasn't even able to turn the tv on or eat something as my body just needed the rest and my body fell into a deep sleep.
In that deep sleep I would see the whole training again, and see my flaws and strengths, all so that I could improve the next day and get better and better. Eat sleep grind and repeat would be the perfect motto right now. So with this a long and hard day would end and I would repeat it tomorrow.
