Engine too Impact

"Hey, listen fella just try your best out there. Go out and have some fun." That's what my coach used to say to me coming off the bench during a game when losing by 50. I believe it was due to the fact that I was never blessed with natural athletic ability when starting out. You know those players that just had 'it' from a young age, the flair, the ability, the pizzazz? That wasn't me. In fact, I was the opposite. It hurts my chest saying this... a lot...

I was an engine player. Now if you don't know what that is let me explain...

Engine player

/ˈɛndʒɪn/:

noun: the player that goes out and runs a lot but has 0% efficiency on the ball.

The type of player you pick close to last when your playing football in the park. For those who used to play Pokemon it's like when you go to the gym and you have two really good Pokemon and one really crap one, that you don't even want to show. Let's say the two strong ones were Pikachu and Geodude, then the weak one was Rattata. Rattata is the common Pokemon you can find anywhere. I WAS RATTATA!

My coach used to say to me, 'go out there and give the team some energy', now when I was young that used to hype me up. But the older I got the more I thought, hold on... what does that mean? Energy and work rate is something which is essential to playing basketball. Its like asking any sportsmen to run.

At one point during my rebellious adolescence phase, I decided I did not want to be an energy player but more of an impact player. The type of player that changes a game and opposition fear. So I did the only thing I knew how to do at that age, I became an engine... with training. I was there 30 minutes before everyone working out and 30 minutes after the last person. I also challenged myself by playing with the best people, essentially people who were out of my league. I knew I couldn't improve a lot or at all by playing in the same environment.

Playing with the best had me in a constant state of confusion. They did things in ways I didn't comprehend previously as a player. I used to be like...

There were certain habits I had to forget and new skills I had to develop from scratch. This had me getting up at 5/6am every morning to go and shoot in the morning, constantly challenging myself on the weaknesses of my game and working on things I could never do well.

With time and persistence, I went from an engine player to an impact player at Manchester Giants. I'll be very honest I am still not the best shooter in the world, no way near one of the best players in the world. However, I am living proof that you can start off completely crap but that doesn't mean you have to stay that way.