Triumphing over Tryout Trauma
Nervous anticipation. Sweaty hands. Wavering confidence. Last second self-doubts. Sound familiar? Then you must be getting ready for hoop tryouts! It’s almost that time of the year. I can remember those days like it was yesterday, (instead of the 15 years ago that it really was!) I know, however, that regardless of how many years have passed since my first select team tryouts, some things never change. It was not until I walked in and realized that I wasn’t competing against 7 footers and I wasn’t the only one who missed occasional shots that I could relax and breathe a little.
Sometimes as players, we tend to create more stress for ourselves when more stress is the last thing we need. After all, this is basketball and this is supposed to be fun, right?
Since I know now as a coach what I didn’t know then as a player, I get to impart a little knowledge to you guys. So grab your pens and highlighters and take some notes. The most important advice I can give to all of you getting ready for tryouts is to RELAX! The hard part already is done. All the work that you put in your game this summer at camps, clinics, 3 on 3 tournaments and, of course, by yourself in the gym or driveway sweating it out, is what is going to get you through these tryouts. Have you ever heard the saying; “Players are made in the off-season”? That is so true. Your current level doesn’t matter. Even in college, our players are expected to put in hours and hours in the summer time, practicing their skills and working on their games. Coaches can’t work with players in the summer so the players have to do things solo. When our collegiate players came back to school this fall, they had only two weeks before the start of official practice on Oct. 12. They were expected to come back to school in shape and ready to go. If not, then we make room for them on the end of the bench. Even Harry Potter can’t whip up enough magic to get a player in competition shape in two weeks!
It’s hard to play your way into shape when there are 15 other girls on the team who get as many reps in practice as you and you are going to school full time on top of it all. So if you have put in the work this summer in preparation for tryouts, then you should be okay. If not, you better start busting it, (and get out your magic wand!)
 Take care of your body! You are stressed and nervous and your body is going to react to that. Eat the right foods, get adequate rest, and drink a lot of water. Junk foods eventually wear you down and when you are on your millionth sprint in tryouts, you are going to wish you hadn’t eaten that last bag of Doritos and drank your fifth Coke, (even if the can did say Diet). Trust me, Shaq can say what he wants on TV, but he cannot eat a Shaq-sized Whopper combo and then go out and dunk on six people. He wouldn’t even be able to get off the ground. Remember, he’s being paid to say he lives off Burger King. Since fast food executives are exactly beating down your door to endorse their food, stay away from it during tryouts and your season. You want to get every edge you can. The collegiate athletes I coach have training table each night and we make sure they are eating well-balanced nutritional meals.
Get rest! When mom says it’s bedtime, listen to her. I’ll let you in on a little secret. When we are on road trips, our players have curfew, just like most of you! Even though they might beg to differ, we realize how much the body needs rest to perform at this high level. Therefore, at 10 p.m., I’m tucking in 21-year-olds for the night!
You might be trying out with 30 other players. Unless you are a 7 footer who never misses a shot, it might be hard to stand out among the other players. Therefore you have got to make yourself stand out. Bring something to the table that no other player has. Start with good old-fashioned hustle. That will get a coach’s attention. It gets mine every time. Crash the offensive boards, dive on the floor for loose balls, play defense like your life depends on it, (and for some of you it might!), and talk, talk, talk! Cheer on your teammates and call out movements on defense and treat every drill like it’s a game. I guarantee your coach will notice you. There always is room on a team for blue-collar players with great work ethic. After each day of tryouts, go up to the coach and ask how you can improve on your game. Get to tryouts early and shoot a little extra afterwards. This is not brown-nosing or kissing up, contrary to what your teammates might think. (However, don’t ask the coach if you can wash their car or walk their dog. That is a form of kissing up that might get you cut quickly.) But there is nothing wrong with having a desire to get better and showing the coach just how hard you are willing to work to make the team.
Relax, treat your body like a temple, and find a way to stand out. If you are able to do all those things then the final bit of advice I have should come pretty easily. That of course is simply to HAVE FUN! Good luck and see you on the court!
Shimmy Gray is a third-year assistant coach with the University of Washington women's basketball team under June Daugherty. She also assumes the title of Director of Basketball Operations this year. A native of Flint, Mich., and standout at Carman-Ainsworth High, Shimmy played college basketball at Michigan from 1991-94, where she was a three-year starter for the Wolverines and team captain as a senior. Despite playing only three years, she is still ranked among the UM greats in seven different categories, including steals (6th), rebounds (15th) and rebounding average (11th). Shimmy played professional basketball with Olivias Futebol Clube in Coimbra, Portugal, then with Athletes in Action before becoming an assistant coach at Bellevue Community College in 1999. Along with her coaching duties at Washington, Shimmy coordinates the Huskies’ opponent scouting efforts, is the team academic advisor, oversees the Husky Women’s Basketball Community Youth Clinics and is an active participant in the Huskies' yearlong community service projects.
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