Trey Hall Working Hard
What up Basketball Family?
Welcome back for another week of my Basketball Spotlight Diary of a Baller.
Monday was the start of my first full week of summer vacation. I got a chance to sleep in a bit, but wanted to get up so my body doesn't adjust to sleeping late. I had some free time before that day's Lifeguard orientation, so I was able to link up with a few friends in my neighborhood. We sat around and talked about summer plans before I headed to work; orientation focused on our employee handbook and how to properly fill out time sheets. When we were finished, I went to pick up a couple of my boys for a workout with my Dad. We spent a lot of time on footwork and pull up jump shots off of dribble moves. After a few hours in the gym, we dropped my boys off and headed home. The next morning would be the first of my early morning training sessions, so I got to bed right after showering and eating dinner.
Tuesday morning's alarm went off at 5:15 am; it felt like I only slept for an hour. My trainer starts our workouts at 5:45 am so I had to get myself dressed and out the door pretty quickly. It was my first day and I had no idea what to expect, but my Dad had been through similar workouts and told me how challenging they were. A few minutes in, I knew exactly what he meant.....I was being physically and mentally pushed like never before. The exercises focused on footwork, core stability, and lower body explosion which all translate to the basketball court. I was completely drained after the workout and fell asleep as soon as I walked back into the house. A few hours later I woke up and got ready for more orientation at work; we covered CPR techniques and how to respond to emergency situations. I had time to grab something to eat before heading to that night's workout where we worked on transition shot making and ball handling. By the end of the night I felt a little sore but understand its a part of the grind to get better. I had to work the following morning, so I decided to get to bed early.
Wednesday's Lifeguard orientation was done by Police Officers. They talked to us about recognizing situations at the pools that may need Police presence. After work we picked up a few of my friends and went to hang out at a pool for a few hours. From the pool I had to get changed for evening church service and a workout. We got a lot of shots up and learned some new combo moves from mid range. The rest of the night was spent hanging out and watching some of our favorite shows on TV.
Thursday was another early morning training session, which meant I was up at 5:15. No two workouts will be the same, so once again I had no idea what to expect. That morning was just as tough as Monday; core work, lower body explosion, and stability. Since the workouts end before most people are awake, I have so much of the day to get other things done. I went home, showered, and picked up some friends who were working out with me later in the evening. We all went to go visit my Grandmother and cleaned my Mom's car before lunch. A few hours later I got in a tough workout with my guy Muhammed. We spent hours doing conditioning, ball handling, shooting, and defensive drills before heading back to my Grandmother's. The NBA Finals were on that night so we watched that while eating dinner.
With no workout or orientation, I got a chance to sleep in Friday. I still wanted to get some conditioning in, so my Dad put me through an interval workout on the treadmill. With the rest of the day free, I went back to the pool to hangout with a group of my friends. We swam, played pool, and ate lunch before everyone went home. I was playing in the Game Over tournament in New York the next morning, so once again I got myself to bed early.
Our first game wasn't until Saturday afternoon, which allowed us to take our time getting to the City. I was playing up with our 16U team, so I knew I'd have to adjust to the speed and physicality of the games. Both of our pool play games were competitive, but we played well enough to win both by wide margins. I shot the ball really well from mid and three point range, which is a direct result of the reps I've been getting in the gym. Since Sunday's games were scheduled for early morning, we drove right back to Connecticut so I could rest for the early wake up call. I was in bed shortly after walking through my door.
I was awake at 6:30 am Sunday morning to take the drive back to New York. There was much less traffic that morning, so we made it in more than enough time to stretch and mentally prepare. Our semifinal match up was another game that didn't look competitive on the scoreboard, but both teams played hard and we got the win. We didn't have to wait long for the Championship, which was scheduled for one hour later. Judging by the way we played all our games to that point, we felt confident as a team in our chances to win the Chip. That ended up being a bad thing because we were perhaps too confident. After a slow start and getting down by nearly 20 points, we made a few runs before losing the game by 15. I was disappointed in the way we finished the tournament but in the end, playing against the older competition was good for my development. After Coach Pete talked to the team about mental preparation, we were on the road and home in time for game 7 of the Finals. I don't have to say much about how good the game ended up being.
As I close this entry, I'm getting myself ready to take on the second week of my summer schedule. Stay tuned as I keep you all updated on how it goes.
Stay blessed!
New Instagram handle: @iamtreyhall2020
