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156. Former Division I player and coach Alli Bills
74 Plays11 days ago
Midseason can feel heavy for girl basketball players. The excitement of the season has worn off, bodies are tired, roles may feel unclear, and confidence can quietly slip. In Episode 156 of the Especially for Athletes, former Division I player and coach Alli Bills speaks directly to athletes living in that tension—and offers perspective that is both grounding and empowering .
Alli begins with an honest challenge: “If you want to be great, you have to ask yourself—do I really want to be great?”Midseason is often when players feel discouraged by constant correction, and she reminds athletes that growth doesn’t mean you suddenly forgot how to play. “You started the season thinking you were pretty good, and by this point you feel like you can’t do anything right,” she explains. Her counsel is to pause and intentionally reconnect with what you do well. “I want you to write down all the things you know you’re great at,” she says, emphasizing that belief is the foundation of real development.
One of the most powerful parts of the conversation centers on self-talk and consistency. “You are not going to get better if you are not visualizing it or in the gym or in the weight room—it won’t happen,” Alli states plainly. She encourages athletes to build simple, repeatable routines and anchor positive self-talk to physical actions. “You cannot think of two things at once,” she teaches. “So choose the positive one.” Whether it’s at the free-throw line or during a tough practice, those routines become a mental reset button that brings confidence back when pressure is highest.
Alli also reminds players that roles matter—even when they don’t show up on the stat sheet. Sharing stories from her coaching career, she highlights athletes who may not have played much but made an enormous impact through effort, energy, and gratitude. “The impact that you can have in any role is up to you—and it can be significant,” she says. Midseason is not the time to shrink or disengage; it’s a time to lean in, prepare your body, and be ready. “When your number is called, you don’t want to question if you’re ready—you want to know you are.”
Her message to every girl basketball player is hopeful and demanding at the same time: have a vision, stay consistent, be where your feet are, and don’t fear failure. “The only true failure is not trying,” Alli reminds us. Midseason isn’t something to survive—it’s an opportunity to grow into the player and person you’re becoming. To hear Alli’s full wisdom, stories, and practical advice, we invite you to listen to Episode 156 of the Especially for Athletes podcast
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Credits: Hosted by Shad Martin Produced by Shad Martin and IMAGINATE STUDIO
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Transcript
Introduction to 'Especially for Athletes'
00:00:01
Speaker
Welcome to the Especially for Athletes podcast, where we explore essential principles that empower athletes to learn life's most valuable lessons through sports.
00:00:16
Speaker
Hello, everybody. Welcome to the Especially for Athletes
Allie's Transition from Basketball to Real Estate
00:00:19
Speaker
podcast. We're honored to be joined by a great friend of our program. She's been with us there from the beginning, former college basketball player and college basketball coach, and even had some professional time there as a player, Allie. And you've joined us in so many of our events and and on a number of podcasts in the in the past. And we just absolutely love having you on and love your insights. So how are you doing, Allie?
00:00:44
Speaker
So great. And it is so good to join you. Always good to be a part, especially for athletes. This is an amazing program. I know it has blessed so many lives. And I know parents are equally grateful for the impact that you've had on their kids and their athletes. So thank you for having me.
Sport as a Lifelong Connection
00:01:00
Speaker
Well, thank you for being here. Tell us what you're up to now. What's going on in your life? What are some of the things you're working on? I wish I could say like a million things that are are happening right this second, but always in the works. So I'm still in the mortgage real estate industry. Absolutely love it.
00:01:17
Speaker
ah Left coaching and and thought that would feel like the end of my athletics. contact and I've stayed involved in being able to do some player development, and even did some skill stuff, getting ready for tryouts this year, which was super, super fun to keep a foot in that arena because i absolutely am connected through and through to sport and and will be my whole life.
00:01:39
Speaker
So much so that, as you know, I try to come up with some fun adventures personally to keep feeling like an athlete. And it looks a little different now than it did back when I was in high school or college or even 15, 20 years ago. But um it's just a part of who I am. And it's not so much about competing with other people. I mean, it always is. You can't take that away. But It's way more about my personal progression.
00:02:04
Speaker
And I'm challenging myself in ways that make me ask questions. And sometimes why am I doing this? But mostly just
Do You Want to Be Great?
00:02:12
Speaker
really seeing not what I'm made of, but what sport really taught me from a young child through college and the professional levels that strengthen me, increase my mental toughness. and And I still get to test that a little bit now and even progress in that as an old has-been athlete. um On the side of that, I still stay heavily involved in contrast therapy, run sauna while company, love to like the new ropes course for teams and companies of getting together, doing sauna, cold plunge, and just the benefits of that.
00:02:51
Speaker
I could tell you all the benefits, but in the end, as you've experienced, it just feels great. yeah Whether it's doing anything for you or not, you leave feeling much improved and healed and just in a better place. So that's my life right now.
00:03:06
Speaker
That's awesome, Allie. And for those who don't know, so you played basketball at the U of U. Yes. And then you coached at Brigham Young University for how many years were you there BYU? 12 years. One year Utah, 12 years at BYU. Awesome.
00:03:22
Speaker
yeah And that's when you chose to kind of move on to new things in life and take all those lessons you learned from playing and coaching. And and like like you said, I've experienced it as well. we We have these bodies that are worn out and, you know, we we put a lot of ah miles on those on those bodies, but finding new ways to compete and new ways to push yourself is really, really important. Something I know you're passionate about. And and so...
00:03:50
Speaker
but and we Hey, we were, we were, became has-beens at a great time because there's so much available to us for all the pounding that we've put ourselves through. There's really so much we can do. So changing that vocabulary of being a has-been and broken and all these things is gone. It's just, it might look different and we can still do so much. We can still be athletes. And so I think that's good for people to know and to feel and see now.
00:04:15
Speaker
Absolutely. Absolutely. Well, Allie, we are right in the middle of girls basketball season and you are an expert, not just in basketball, but in girls basketball skill development, um the mental side of that
Coaches' Belief and Balancing Strengths and Weaknesses
00:04:29
Speaker
game. I mean, I'm sure you've done tons of study regarding how to coach girls and how to help them progress and and what's good to do in season and before season and to prepare for tryouts, as you already mentioned. So I just wanted to start with um with a ah very general question.
00:04:47
Speaker
But what practical tips do you have for real development for effort that ends up making a ah difference in performance? So Maybe ah a more general way to ask that is we're we're right now, we're recording this on New Year's Eve, right? And if if a player wanted to be a better version of themselves January 1st, 2027, than they are January 1st, 2026, what are some of the things that you have seen that really help, particularly girl basketball players, to progress and grow in the sport?
00:05:29
Speaker
Such a great question. And I think the very first thing is that if you want to be great, you just asked, you just said that if you want to be great, you need to ask yourself that question.
00:05:42
Speaker
Do you really want to be great? Or are you there for the social? Are you there for the interaction? And that's okay if you are. But you can't expect to be a different player if you really don't want to be a different player.
00:05:56
Speaker
So number one is to ask yourself honestly, is do I want to be great? And if you do, there's definitely things that you can do. One, you have to believe that you can be great.
00:06:10
Speaker
When you get this point in the season, you have been told every single day something that you're doing wrong. And you started the season thinking you were pretty good. And by this point, all of a sudden you feel like you can't do anything right.
00:06:25
Speaker
So I want you to take a step back and I want you to think about or even write down all the things that you are great at, the things you know you do well. And I want you to have in your mind who you want to become as a player.
00:06:41
Speaker
Maybe you can look at another athlete and say, I want to play like that player. You have to have something you're working toward, something that you can see, something you believe you can do.
00:06:55
Speaker
And then the key to all of that, after you believe that you can do it, after you know that you want it, is to consistently show up every single day with that mindset of becoming that player, that athlete, that contributor.
00:07:14
Speaker
yeah And so I would say consistency. Now, if we want to dive into the details of that, just know that you are not going to get better if you are not either visualizing or in the gym or in the weight room.
00:07:28
Speaker
It won't happen. You could believe that you're going to be great all you want, but if you actually don't put in the work, there won't be the outcome that you're looking for. So those things are very important.
00:07:41
Speaker
Yeah. Can we delve into those just a little bit? Yes. So we had Sam Merrill on, um former our Utah State great, currently killing it in the NBA, doing a great job.
00:07:53
Speaker
And he talked about how really sometimes it takes not just focusing on your weaknesses, and you went to this a little bit, but for him saying, what can I do better than anyone else in the world?
00:08:05
Speaker
And for him, it was, i can shoot better than most people in the world. Now I have to defend myself. at a level that makes it not a liability yeah for me to be on the court, that ah my shooting is is a benefit without this being more of a liability than this is a benefit.
00:08:26
Speaker
So I have a ah number of questions if it's okay here. But first is, do you have a coaching philosophy when you're working with with girl basketball players, boy basketball players, you coach them all, about the balance between leaning into your strengths and that extra time in the gym, leaning into your strengths or eliminating your weaknesses.
00:08:50
Speaker
How do you balance those two?
Power of Self-talk and Routines
00:08:53
Speaker
and Do you have any thoughts on that? Yeah, for sure. Let's start like as a coach. Your kids have to know that you believe in them. There is a reason you put them on your team.
00:09:04
Speaker
And oftentimes, even you forget what that is because you're constantly focusing on the things that need to be better. And so I think verbalizing to your player their strengths is really important.
00:09:17
Speaker
And that is the confidence that motivates us to keep working on our weaknesses. If we're constantly working on things that we're not good at, we won't keep doing it. That's no different as adults. We like to do things we are good at.
00:09:30
Speaker
And there's a reason that you have a gift in something, you have a talent in something. It doesn't mean you can't develop more, but you don't lose that. You continue to make that great. And that's your confidence factor. That's your motivating factor to keep moving forward. Because again, we like to do what we are good at and improve upon that. So as a coach, it is, it's verbalizing and recognizing and not forgetting to, to be positive and to express like there is a good gift and talent that you have and that you contribute while also helping them develop those other areas.
00:10:07
Speaker
As the athlete, being able to, again, have grace and even though We feel like it might be arrogant or that we feel like it might be inward focus is talking about our strengths. There's a way to do that to ourselves.
00:10:22
Speaker
You've got to know what you're good at. You've got to know what you bring to the table. And that cannot change. If you're questioning that, your coach will question that. So you make sure that you are solid on the things that you know you can do well.
00:10:36
Speaker
And if there's not something right now, don't be hard on yourself. There's a reason you're on that team. It might not even be on the court and you have a huge impact on that team, not on the court. You've got to find that one thing and that will motivate you every single day to have the confidence to to move forward and to work on those things that need extra time.
00:10:58
Speaker
And so consistently working on the weaknesses without forgetting what you truly bring to the table and reminding yourself of that every day. And that self-talk is really important, isn't it?
00:11:09
Speaker
like It is. it's It's self-talk, but it's more than that. It's how you carry yourself. It's how you show up. And it is very obvious to me as a coach when my player has lost confidence in themselves. And sometimes I know I'm probably the reason for that.
00:11:23
Speaker
and need to get them back to that place that they were that high school all-star or they were that leader. And now for some reason, that light is dimmed. And whether it's because of them and their self-talk or me, we need to fix that. That is important to maintain and grow.
00:11:40
Speaker
Yeah. We had a golfer on, Zach Jones, a BYU golfer, going to be a professional golfer. Before he hits every golf shot, he tells himself, like he gets over the ball. He has a few things that he tells himself about his golf swings, some keys. And then he says, I'm the best golfer in the world.
00:12:01
Speaker
and And that's something he does with every shot. We had Ashton Reiner on national champion javelin thrower. She went through an eating disorder. She went through a ton of stuff. I mean, her story is so incredible. She started off great and went through that eating disorder, didn't even qualify for nationals, just went was having a really hard time. And a got herself out of that and then won the national championship in the javelin.
00:12:30
Speaker
incredible story. But she says to herself as she goes up to the to the runway to throw, I'm Ashton fricking Reiner, you know, it's it's like it gives me chills when you say that, because it is so powerful. You say that to yourself five times. And guess what, you'll start believing it like you will feel it.
00:12:54
Speaker
And As you say that, one, that's an amazing story and a huge sign of resilience and just um a mental toughness for sure.
Staying Focused Amid Distractions
00:13:04
Speaker
But by overcoming that, just imagine the confidence that she added to, you know, her, what she already had.
00:13:11
Speaker
But did you know that a lot of times these these great athletes, they have these rituals, they have these routines because Self-talk is powerful, but it needs to be accompanied with a physical action. So whether they're gripping a golf club, whether they're you know hitting their hand into their fist, you say something, you connect it physical and it internalizes it and makes it real. But you cannot think of two things at once. You can't say, I am awful. I hope I don't miss. And also say, i am freaking amazing.
00:13:44
Speaker
You can't, you cannot think of two things at once. So that's why free throws are really a place that we see a lot of those is even the best athletes in the world have moments of self-doubt. They have moments where there's a lot of pressure and they have to dig deep because maybe they've missed how many shots.
00:14:03
Speaker
And make that game winning free throw. And as soon as they get up there in that routine, they a are anchored to a phrase and to a physical action that puts them in that state that immediately brings them back to...
00:14:19
Speaker
I'm freaking amazing, you know, and whatever it is. And I think that is a tool that, you know, not a lot of coaches teach. It is so powerful, that self-talk, but using it consistently. And that's going to be the key today is consistency of what we do and also attaching it to something physical. You see people like touch their face or their hand on their knee or spin a ball, whatever that is, it anchors in that phrase.
00:14:47
Speaker
And it makes it so powerful. But try, try to think of two things at once. It's not possible. Yeah. In fact, choose the positive one. Yes. i So I was a great free throw shooter in high school. I could say that. i that was Not everyone can. So that's great.
00:15:04
Speaker
But I learned at a young age to have a routine. And ike still to this day, i would two dribbles,
00:15:15
Speaker
Like, and I would say this in my mind, two dribbles, spin the ball, find the seam, bend the legs, follow through. Perfect. And then you shot right after that?
00:15:28
Speaker
Yeah. yeah And guess what? By saying that, could you think of the score? Nothing else was in my mind. And when I did miss, so this is interesting. Like I've shared this with athletes all over the country.
00:15:40
Speaker
Like my most horrible... sporting moment of my life. I was a sophomore playing varsity basketball. I wasn't getting a lot of time at the time.
00:15:51
Speaker
We were down like seven with two minutes to go hit some three pointers. My team I'm watching from the bench hit some three pointers. And, uh,
00:16:02
Speaker
got us right back in the game to where we were down by one with 10 seconds left. They throw the ball in We fouled the guy. He's a good foul shooter. So we think we're going to be down by two or down by three, sorry, with, uh, with just seconds left.
00:16:17
Speaker
So my coach calls me, puts me in and says, Hey, you know, we need all the three point shooters in there. And, uh, if you get the ball, just relax and do what you do. Right.
00:16:28
Speaker
So, They miss the shot, miss the free throw. the The second one, we get the ball. We have no more timeouts. They throw an outlet pass to me. I'm on that side. I take a few dribbles. I pull up sooner than the defender behind me thinks I'm going to. And he plows over me as I shoot a three-pointer.
00:16:45
Speaker
And so as the buzzer goes off, I have three shots down two and with no time on the clock. Oh, ideal. In the semi-final of the Heart Holiday Classic, one of the biggest tournaments in Southern California, against Heart.
00:17:01
Speaker
So we're playing them at their home gym. Home gym. It was probably like right literally this time of year right now. And I got up there. And after years and years of going through that routine, I started to think different things.
00:17:18
Speaker
Right? Like, so for me, it took that experience of I got up there and i started to think, hey, I got a lot of adrenaline right now. That's not what i said to myself for thousands of shots before then. Yeah. It was one, two, spin, find the seam, bend the knees, follow through.
00:17:38
Speaker
Right? Yeah. like and And now all of a sudden, I'm, okay, I got a lot and I'm thinking these other things and that... Having that that good, healthy um inner talk, if if you could master that to to these girl basketball players we're talking to, what are you, mean part of it, wouldn't you agree, Allie, is awareness? Like, just take a day and pay attention to how you're talking to yourself.
00:18:05
Speaker
And that's at school. That is everywhere. You know, when someone says something to you, how do you respond? And are you responding because of your own insecurities?
The Internal Voice of Athletes
00:18:16
Speaker
Or are you responding because of how you're feeling emotionally? There's an awareness. And I love this with young female athletes, because women more than anyone have the ability to really connect as a team on a totally different leather level and to be so great as a team and to experience those those successes together really different, you know, um but also when things aren't going well.
00:18:43
Speaker
they feel that disconnect that's very different. And it makes it hard to compete with with those teammates in the same way. And so I think it's really important, not just for personal self-talk, but how you're showing up for your team. It has everything to do with your belief system in yourself.
00:19:00
Speaker
And so, yes, when you step up to that line, you are so confident and wanted to be that person. But one shift in routine, changing what was consistent for you for so long can really distract you. And we talk about distraction, whether it's a change of vocabulary, whether it's a phone and it can take us off our game.
00:19:25
Speaker
Completely. It just takes that little bit lack of focus and a shift that can change that. And so I would say for athletes to find and be, like you said, very aware to have the courage to take a minute and breathe in any scenario and calibrate what's next yeah and what needs to be done and slow down, you know, in order to do that.
00:19:49
Speaker
Because what you think about yourself, the way you talk to yourself will be the most important voice that takes you where you want to go your entire life.
00:20:02
Speaker
Yeah. So that's a great, I mean, probably went a direction that I wasn't thinking we would talk about, which is my favorite thing about this podcast, by the way, for sure is one of the greatest things that, uh,
00:20:17
Speaker
a girl basketball player, but any athlete, um, could do to be different on January 1st, 2027 than they are now, maybe start with pay attention to the way you're talking to yourself.
00:20:30
Speaker
What are those things you're saying in your mind? Are they, are they building? Are they helping you? Or are you your worst critic? Do you say things to yourself that your father or your mother would never let someone say to you. Right. Yeah. And and so that maybe in some cases, parents aren't the most positive influence.
00:20:55
Speaker
So how do you combat that? And again, parents don't have a handbook. They know what they learned from someone else doing that to them. And so your voice has to be the dominant voice and you need to learn how to make it your greatest cheerleader while also pushing you to become your best self.
Improving Shooting Skills
00:21:18
Speaker
And we all are still finding that balance, that grace and giving yourself credit for the things that you are so great at is the most important thing while you try to work on those other things. Awesome.
00:21:34
Speaker
Okay, can I hit you with a rapid fire thing just from your experience? So I'm i'm still thinking of this first question about improvement. Sometimes I think that there are young people who they do really want it, but they might be naive to the cost of becoming great.
00:21:53
Speaker
And so in your experience, let's just take shooting as an example. If someone wanted to become a greater shooter, like a better shooter by January 1st, 2027, how many shots would you recommend they put up consistently daily outside of practice? More than they're doing now, whatever that is.
00:22:20
Speaker
But if you look at the greats, I would say more than a number of shots is to commit an amount of time. where you can be intentional with improvement and getting better.
00:22:35
Speaker
That could be five minutes a day. That could be 30 minutes before practice or after. But if you are not in the gym doing more than you're doing now, then you're going to expect a different result that's not going to happen.
00:22:49
Speaker
And so that is different for everybody. Your best shooter spend two hours in a gym outside of practice. on a daily basis. And they are the great greats.
00:23:01
Speaker
But it's very intentional and very focused in those two hours. Some people mentally don't have that maturity yet to spend that amount of time.
00:23:14
Speaker
If you can go in and be focused for 20 minutes, 30 minutes, build it to an hour, that you're very intentional and you are positive and you have purpose in it,
00:23:26
Speaker
be consistent in that and build on that time. i think that anything more than what you're doing now, it equals growth and improvement. Awesome. In fact, we had George Nyang on. I don't know if you got to listen to that episode.
Consistency and Vision in Routines
00:23:41
Speaker
It was really great. He's a very deep thinker.
00:23:45
Speaker
He talked about when he went to Golden State and it was just like, i think he called it, I had a cup of tea in Golden State. Like he didn't yeah play the season, but he was there for a summer or something.
00:23:57
Speaker
And he realized that Steph Curry and Draymond Green and Clay Thompson, all of these guys, Kevin Durant, it was that that time, they had a routine.
00:24:15
Speaker
and And it hit him, I don't have a routine. These guys come in and they do the same things every day to get where they want to get. And I just come to practice and i work hard.
00:24:31
Speaker
And he realized that greatness often involves what you're talking about, that that extra time that is very intentional, that is very structured, that can be adjusted over time.
00:24:44
Speaker
But that that might be something that I would ask a girl basketball player if she was on here with us is, what is your routine? And if the answer is, i don't have a routine. i do what my coach tells me to do.
00:24:58
Speaker
Then maybe a next step would be just do a little research. There's a lot of resources online now, and it really doesn't matter what I don't think there's one that's right, one that's wrong. Right.
00:25:09
Speaker
But to say, what routine, half an hour routine could I do to improve my shooting? And then start with that. Ask advice, as you alluded to as well, being humble enough to go to someone who's a really good shooter and say, can you tell me about your routine?
00:25:27
Speaker
Absolutely. How you became a good shooter. You do not have to reinvent the wheel. That's right. you You do what someone's already doing and modify to make it your own. But I would say in that time, routine, consistency, you know, is the key to growth.
00:25:43
Speaker
But do work on your strength in that time and build that confidence and know why you are successful to begin with. And then pick one thing that you struggled with in practice, in a game that you just aren't comfortable doing and work on that the second half.
00:26:02
Speaker
and And then finish with, you know, that focus and that routine at the free throw line or or something that just dials you in to finish really focused. And so it brings you kind of back after doing some uncomfortable things.
00:26:16
Speaker
So start with something that builds confidence. Work on one thing that you know is uncomfortable. That might be a Euro step. That might be, you know, left hand off left foot.
00:26:26
Speaker
Just something that is not natural for you. And then finish in a really focused frame of mind. with all the right words to yourself in that process. Awesome. And then you have to do it so many times that it becomes boring. I feel like... Consistently boring is what it's like.
00:26:44
Speaker
Yes. Consistently boring. and And most people, the good news is... for those that want to improve. And oftentimes in sports, it's improving in relation to others, right? Like you want to get better. You want to beat that team that you lost to, or you want to win that spot that you want on the team.
00:27:03
Speaker
Most people will stop when it gets boring. So every second that you could push beyond boring, It feels like you're making up ground on the majority of people.
00:27:15
Speaker
and And I think though the reason that people push through boring is kind of what you mentioned, Draymond Green, Thompson, Curry. They have a vision of who they want to be and who they're expected to be. They have an added push that some people don't have.
00:27:32
Speaker
But without a vision, you won't work through consistently boring. And so for young athletes, you have to have a vision of where you're going, where you want to go, because whatever you're focused on, you move toward.
Being Present and Fitness Strategies
00:27:48
Speaker
If you're not focused on something that makes you a better basketball player, then you're not going to work through and push yourself through the boring aspect to be great.
00:28:01
Speaker
And so I think, again, vision, knowing who you want to be as a person and athlete and why that's important to you is the driving force to work through those things, to do the uncomfortable extra work. You know, after a game, I think Kobe had like 38 points and he missed percentage wise. His percentage was like,
00:28:24
Speaker
even at that was like under 40%. He took every missed shot and he shot every missed shot 50 times after the game to make sure that he didn't miss that shot again, or just to gain more confidence in that for the next time.
00:28:41
Speaker
And that was consistent for him to do after a game, no matter how much he shined. And so again, but he had a vision of who he was, who he wanted to be.
00:28:55
Speaker
And he knew that he was very present playing basketball. And it was very clear to his family that this season is not very balanced in my life because life is not balanced.
00:29:10
Speaker
you know, and we have to prioritize. However, he communicated that to the people he cared about. They supported him in that. And while he was there, he was there. And I would say for young female athletes, be where your feet are.
00:29:23
Speaker
If you're at practice, be at practice. Don't worry about what your friend said. Don't worry about who likes you, who doesn't like you. Don't worry about what a teammate might be thinking. And maybe there's jealousies because you're working really hard and you're getting attention that they're not getting.
00:29:39
Speaker
It is so important. You be where your feet are and you do everything you can to be the best version of yourself. And when you step off that court, you go to the next part of your life, whether it's social or family or school, just be present in that moment.
00:29:54
Speaker
It eliminates so much stress and worry and distraction. And you'll you'll reach your potential more that. Yeah, we call that winning the hour. Winning the hour. Whatever...
00:30:05
Speaker
Whatever your task is give 100% to that task. And I love what you said. It's not just about accomplishing more. It's about simplifying life and taking emotional weight off yourself to where you don't have to be carrying around everything every hour of every day.
00:30:22
Speaker
drop things and focus on the thing that's most important during that time. And it actually is freeing very to not have to worry about all of that. So for sure, that's awesome.
00:30:34
Speaker
So you mentioned weights and having been a college coach, I'm one that realized later in my playing career the importance of maintaining throughout a season, not just preparing for a season, that you can lift and lift to be the best shape of your life in baseball on February 1st when college baseball starts.
00:30:54
Speaker
You don't continue that until the end of the year. You're going to feel way different and way more worn down in yeah in May than you did in February. What You've been a college coach. You've seen what great college programs do. You've been a college player. You've experienced it yourself.
Strength Training Advice
00:31:11
Speaker
If there was a young woman listening to this that's in the middle of their season, they don't want to overwork themselves in the weight room, but they want to make sure that they're maintaining. What does that look like for them?
00:31:22
Speaker
For sure. i would say that a lot of it is how many minutes are you getting? If your if your goal is to to be, maybe you're not starting, which it doesn't matter to me, it's when that game is close and your goal is to be one the coach can count on and get in when the game is tight.
00:31:39
Speaker
then your fitness level, your strength, your stamina and endurance, you don't want to have to lack confidence because you don't trust your fitness and your strength. For kids that are playing 40 minutes, you're going to go into that weight room probably twice, three times a week and maintain.
00:31:57
Speaker
If you are not getting the minutes, you're going to keep developing your strength. You're going to make sure that you're getting extra cardio in. So when your number's called, You do not have to question or doubt that you're ready to go.
00:32:11
Speaker
And I think that's the key is that there is not a player that just stops lifting during the season. They'll get injured. It's understanding what their body is and pressure their bodies under and making sure that that program in season is suitable for them to maintain and not lose anything while others need to keep growing because they're not getting the minutes.
00:32:36
Speaker
yeah And so and developing that way. So if you're not pi playing 40 minutes, then a lot of times in practice, you're not practicing as much as the others. You might need to do a little bit of work outside to make sure that you're staying in shape. Am I understanding that? You definitely need to be doing it outside. yeah There's no question that when you're in that weight room, you're not doing the same things as the kids getting all the minutes. You have a different purpose.
00:33:00
Speaker
You are there to get stronger, to make sure that you are pushing them by you pushing yourself. And that's cardio as well. You might stay after practice. And yeah, we hate it when we the coach says stand on the line, but you might get after and say, hey, for some of these girls that haven't, let's shoot a couple of free throws and let's run some ladders. Let's do some things. You know, it's not always about volume, but you've got to get extra in so that You are called in at a game and there's eight minutes and you are gassed after four because you didn't do your part to prepare. You'd be so mad at yourself.
00:33:33
Speaker
So don't let that ever keep you from being able to perform when your number's called. And you mentioned going to the weight room three times a week. And I'm sorry if I'm getting way too technical here, Allie, but what are some of the lifts and things? Because i i just, I know this, like our coaches, our female coaches, our coaches of female basketball players and male basketball players, they're,
00:33:56
Speaker
you know, they're usually basically volunteers, right? At the high school level. yeah or They don't get paid enough to do what they do already. So a lot of them are there at practice. They're there for every game.
00:34:10
Speaker
But there may not be that time where we're getting together as a team and we're going to lift um to make sure we're maintaining. Can you just give a a simple, like if someone was listening to this and saying,
00:34:24
Speaker
I want to start doing that, but I don't even know how to lift. um Where would you send them for some advice on what to do during those three times a week of lifting?
00:34:36
Speaker
Yeah, it's a really good question because safety is always the first thing. You know, if you're in a gym all by yourself, especially a high school gym, and you're not going to ah fitness center with your family to get that extra in, safety is first. And so you want to learn everything you can about functional movement.
00:34:54
Speaker
We can get really, really strong. doing functional movement. And so just just look up that word and things that include functional movement. That is flexibility, range of motion and strength, and really working on core strength. If you can go to a gym,
00:35:11
Speaker
And you could actually, like with a family pass or whatever, or rec center, you could do a class that is actually like a bar class. So there's an instructor that's instructing you to do that. You could get a personal trainer on the side because again, you're not going with your team. This is extra time. and someone that is a professional that can help you be really hands-on, make sure you're safe in order to get stronger. So if you're by yourself and you're in the high school, you're going to do functional movement, a lot of body weight, a lot of um core strengthening that will help you in adding the cardio.
00:35:47
Speaker
All the Olympic lifts, all the heavy lifting that's done before the season. But as far as getting stronger, there is so much you can do through functional movement and core training consistently that will keep you moving and progressing in strength as well as fitness.
00:36:04
Speaker
Awesome. That's awesome. um Maybe one last question, then I would like to end by talking about goals since we're sitting here on New Year's Eve. is Absolutely.
Overcoming Challenges in Sports
00:36:14
Speaker
We love stories, and sometimes stories of athletes inspire and they really teach principles that we've been trying to talk about right now, you know, for the first half an hour of this. But do you have a player that That when you think someone who who grew and became even more of a player than you ever thought they could, is there someone that comes to mind that is an example of the things we've been talking about that through grit and consistency became someone that that you looked at in the end and thought, holy cow, I am so proud of what they've become. Is there one that comes to mind and would you you tell us their story?
00:36:57
Speaker
Man, there's so many because to me, you know going through the refiner spire as an athlete could mean you know getting cut and having to keep trying.
00:37:09
Speaker
It could mean an injury and having to come back. It could be trying to start and not being able to until your senior year. So I'm going to share two really quick ones. One is a young lady that came in from California and she was a walk-on.
00:37:26
Speaker
And she actually never played, but she probably had the biggest impact on our team than any player that I coached. And she wore a headband, called her Little Ninja, but any opportunity for the team to get ahead, they did it verbally for her so she could get into the game.
00:37:47
Speaker
That's making a difference. That is someone that came with a purpose, had a vision to play. It wasn't to start. It was to get into a game. And that's going to be different for everybody.
00:38:00
Speaker
But the impact that you can have in any role, that's up to you. And it can be significant. And for her, the amount of emotion that was experienced by that team every time she was able to step on the court was like winning a championship.
00:38:17
Speaker
And that's what sports was. I bet she wasn't a powder. Like, did she accept her water? First to get everybody water. First to cheer for everybody. She was out there stretching first.
00:38:30
Speaker
She made everybody better because she was so committed. For what? Maybe to get into a game. She's not even on scholarship. So that gratitude for what we do have is really important because she would have given anything to have that.
00:38:48
Speaker
She got financial aid her senior year. And that was awesome. That's that's so that athlete we just love. We all know who that is if you're hearing this and it's, it's such a, it was such a blessing to, to coach her.
00:39:02
Speaker
Another athlete, incredible athlete, um, Haley Hall. and she actually went through not one, not two, but three ACL tears in her college career.
00:39:17
Speaker
Phenomenal athlete, all conference athlete, um, great offensive and defensive player. But with every injury, you go through physical setback, mental setback, and you have to figure out a way to work through it each time.
00:39:34
Speaker
Every single time that she would have an injury, the conversation around her was, you need to play different. You can't attack and be so aggressive. You just have to be smarter in how you play.
00:39:46
Speaker
I personally went through several ACL tears as a player, and I've had four to this day. And the one thing is you can't change the person inside. So if you're aggressive, you're going to be aggressive. And if you are going to be on that court, you're going to compete. But if you're on that court, you have to be willing to get hurt again if you're going to do it the same way.
00:40:08
Speaker
But to try to go in to be some someone different would be really difficult, and it would probably take the joy out of the game. So Haley says, I'm going to be Haley. I'll be smart and I will prepare by getting stronger, staying mentally tough, getting in the gym. And you think she had to work extra?
00:40:28
Speaker
She put in about six years and four years because of her injuries. And that was a full commitment the entire time. But her consistency, her routines gave her the confidence in all of those moments to not just come back, but to come back and be even better.
00:40:46
Speaker
I believe she actually became as great as she was, not because she came in with talent, had the drive, had the vision. It was the refiner's fire. And through every injury, she learned something new about herself. She became more grateful to play the game.
00:41:03
Speaker
It meant something to her. You take something away that from you that you love. It might be a car. It might be a video game. It might be a boyfriend, you know, whatever it could be.
00:41:16
Speaker
But all of a sudden you appreciate it more. And I think if we could just have gratitude for what we have before it's taken away, would save us a lot of grief. But Haley Hall is a great example that went through and and a lot of athletes at a certain point. And it's not wrong to be done. I mean, every time you go, you're going to be you. You're going to step on that court. And if you're ready for that to possibly happen again, then then go for it and we'll cheer you on.
00:41:42
Speaker
That's only a decision you can make, you know? And so what a great example and fortitude, confidence. And she had a lot of faith in in the Lord and that that's what he wanted her to do. And what can we say to that?
00:41:55
Speaker
So super, super grateful to have been able to coach her.
Visionary Goals and Redefining Failure
00:42:00
Speaker
And she's just an incredible human being to this day. Really inspiring to hear her talk about her experience. and And she's wonderful. And she coaches today. So.
00:42:10
Speaker
Oh, yeah. Where does she coach? She's been at Timpanogos. Okay. And sounds like someone we need to get on our podcast too. Yes. You should help us line that up. She would be wonderful. Absolutely. That's awesome.
00:42:22
Speaker
That's awesome. Well, Allie, thank you so much for talking basketball with us. And I think this is stuff that sometimes people just don't know what they don't know until someone with your expertise and experience is able to share some things. And so we hope that was a ah help to those high school basketball players out there that are right now, right in the middle of it. And and it that was very informative to me. So thank you. Can we shift goal or shift shift gears for a little bit?
00:42:51
Speaker
Absolutely. Let's do it I just wanted to spend the last couple of minutes we have here together talking about goal setting. And, um, You know, I know this is something that you think a lot about, about becoming and about putting things on the calendar and and making commitments and keeping those commitments. And I would just love from Allie Bills and someone who's thought so thoroughly about these things. So what advice would you give someone who wants 2026 to be a lot better or a little bit better
00:43:28
Speaker
than 2025 was. So I got stuff. I got stuff for this. This is, I've had some great mentors um that have helped me to replan, to redesign how I look at my future.
00:43:45
Speaker
And it has changed my life. And I will say right now that if you want an exceptional life, you need to create exceptional experiences. And that is on you to do. But before we even talk about how I do this, I want to talk about fear of failure.
00:44:00
Speaker
The one thing that stunts our growth more than anything is just this fear of failing. So we set goals that we know we can check off. Some of us like to even write down things we've done just so we can check them off.
00:44:12
Speaker
You know, a goal is no different. we We set these goals and we feel that success is actually being able to check it off. I want to actually reframe your mind on this. We're going to take kind of goals off the table and talk about vision.
00:44:27
Speaker
And success is actually trying, not checking it off. Success is actually expecting something greater than you would ever even think you could do with the chance that you might not even complete it.
00:44:41
Speaker
Because let's say you set a goal for here. Check it off. Awesome. I ran. if I've never run before. I'm going to do a 5k. Check it off. Great. I'm going to say you've never run before. Okay, let's do a half marathon.
00:44:53
Speaker
What? I can't do a half marathon. You sure can, but that's not the point. We're going to vision of where we want to be. And let's say we don't check it off, but you end up here.
00:45:04
Speaker
Now, instead of a 5k, you just did 10 miles. And guess what? You can walk three. No one asks if you walk or run. You just did a half. The biggest obstacle we face is this fear of failure.
00:45:19
Speaker
And failure, we need to redefine. Failure is falling forward. Failure should be something that at the dinner table every night we talk about as a family and say, what did you fail at today?
00:45:31
Speaker
Because it is only through falling that we actually grow and get better. And so we are going to fall forward. We are going to have a vision of what we can accomplish far greater than we would normally make for ourselves. So we're going to just talk about daily routines,
00:45:51
Speaker
And those daily routines, my mentor, Jesse Edseler, calls them daily vitamins. Those daily vitamins are things that we just do naturally that make us feel better.
00:46:03
Speaker
That could be morning going out and getting sunshine. That could be going out and working out right first thing in the morning. That could be reading a book. That could be going for a walk. That could be saying prayer or reading scriptures or writing a note to someone.
00:46:17
Speaker
I want you to think of five daily vitamins that if you take them, you're a lot healthier for it mentally, emotionally, and physically, whatever those are. Okay. Daily vitamins are are a part of our identity. Okay. They're who we are.
00:46:33
Speaker
I'm not, my identity isn't a basketball player. It's not a coach. My identity is the things I do every single day. Okay. My vitamins, my identity is also my habits.
00:46:46
Speaker
So I want you to come up with one monthly habit that you're going to try you've never done before, maybe, and decide if you want that to become a vitamin.
00:46:57
Speaker
And you could do that quarterly or monthly. But as we introduce new habits into our life, again, they need to be things that maybe we can't check it off that we did it all the time. But by doing it, we learned a little bit more about ourselves.
00:47:09
Speaker
I'm going to drink 100 ounces of water in a day. I am going to walk 10,000 steps a day. I am going to run one mile a day. I am going to shoot 20 shots after practice from one spot that I was struggling with every single day.
00:47:28
Speaker
Whatever that is. And you are going to implement it. You will know pretty quick if that's going to be integrated into your life and become a part of your identity. but set that habit or that winning habit idea to something that makes you feel better, that improves a skill, that challenges you, and that if you do it, you'll be closer to what you're trying to accomplish. The third thing is that annually, we want to do something that really challenges us. And this can be for coaches and adults specifically, but if you can start doing this as a young athlete,
00:48:06
Speaker
This is incredible. It's called a misogi. It's a Japanese word. And it's to do something extraordinary and extreme that maybe we don't think we can accomplish.
00:48:16
Speaker
That takes a lot of focus and time. It might be practicing so you can try out for the basketball team. It might be that you are wanting to play a certain part on a football team.
00:48:27
Speaker
And that means you have to put on x amount of weight and get stronger and run the 40 in a certain time. Whatever that goal is for you at a certain time in life, if you want to be a part of a play, if you want to make a dance team, whatever, you have one year and you are going to commit and focus to whatever that masogi is.
00:48:47
Speaker
You might want to create an app. It doesn't matter. It has to be something, again, that might not be achievable, but who you become along the way is critical.
00:48:58
Speaker
So this daily vitamin, these winning monthly habits, and this annual misogi is going to create an identity that not only you can be proud of, but it's going to create an exceptional life. Imagine if you keep start this right now and you do that for 20 years, what you can accomplish in those misogis over 20 years.
00:49:20
Speaker
The other thing is I'm a huge believer in doing what you love with the people that you love. And while you're younger, sports are everything.
00:49:32
Speaker
They're everything. And your teammates are everything. Outside of the gym, off the field, what are you doing to to strengthen those and show gratitude for those relationships?
00:49:46
Speaker
Plan something. It's not about what you spend financially. What time are you spending with your families that are supporting you in these sports?
00:49:57
Speaker
Are you putting time aside to just be with your family? It's really hard as a teenager to want to hang out with mom and dad. We're not as cool. But there will be a time in your life where you wish you had that back or that you would have spent a little more time with them.
00:50:13
Speaker
It goes by so fast. But having these intentional experiences and doing what you love with the people that you love is really important. Now, just because of where you're at,
00:50:26
Speaker
in high school, college, playing sport, it's really important that you understand that people don't love you because you're a basketball player or a wrestler. You get attention because you're in those places.
00:50:39
Speaker
But the personal growth is what's giving you happiness, not your titles. And as long as we continue to progress in life physically, emotionally, spiritually, and we create experiences, intentionally put things together where we can grow and be challenged, we're going to have a lot of happiness.
Creating Exceptional Experiences
00:51:00
Speaker
But as you get older and at your age, my little ninja player, the greatest joy that you will have, and notice I said joy, not happiness, is when you give that back to people.
00:51:13
Speaker
You don't realize that when you perform on those courts, the joy that that brings to your family, the joy that it gives to your coach by you going out and just doing what you love and doing it great.
00:51:26
Speaker
There's times where you can actually physically change someone's life by doing something for them. And that is joy. But this life is about progress.
00:51:38
Speaker
Don't worry about falling forward. The only true failure is not trying. That is it. And I will challenge you to actually set a higher standard for yourself than anyone else would.
00:51:52
Speaker
And I don't care if you ever check it off. It's who we become along the way. So can I leave them with a challenge? Please. there um Is there something you want to add to that?
00:52:03
Speaker
Well, just amen. I mean, we've had people on and we've talked a lot about it. There's something about um focusing more on your identity, who you want to become, rather than the tasks to become that. Maybe just one analogy that I got to spend some time with Linji Robbins. And in this conversation, he talked about how um oftentimes he would go and he would he would visit missionaries. Yeah.
00:52:36
Speaker
and their leaders. And he said, you know, here's an analogy that he had heard from someone else, but he applied to this. He said, oftentimes, when I see people trying to help others improve, i want you to imagine people in a boat, and they have oars, and in every single direction around them, all you could see is the ocean tipping off into the horizon.
00:53:02
Speaker
And then, you know, we we give them all these rowing advice, like, hey, make sure that the oar is at a certain angle. You'll get more pull for that. You'll you'll get a lot more if you do that. And and by the way, you're you're going right.
00:53:18
Speaker
You're going off your target, which means you're pulling harder with your right hand than your left. So you need to make sure that you're not doing that. And then, you know, we give all that advice.
00:53:29
Speaker
And he said, but sometimes people start rowing when they're focusing on that stuff. And then they're like, wait, are we even on track? Are we off track? Like, i don't know. Are we still going right?
00:53:40
Speaker
and And he said, so we give a lot of rowing advice. He said, instead, what if they just saw a speck of an island on the horizon?
00:53:52
Speaker
And we spent more time talking about the island. Look, on that island, there's fresh water, there's fruit, there's amazing animals. If you could get there, it's going to be incredible. You'll be safe.
00:54:06
Speaker
It's right there. All of a sudden, you don't need to talk as much about rowing because they have a vision of the island and they'll make little adjustments along the way.
00:54:18
Speaker
And his one little bit of advice, this analogy just came to my mind as you were talking, Ali, was we need to talk even to ourselves more about the island, the why, the where we want to get.
00:54:31
Speaker
than the rowing. We'll find ways to get better at getting it where we want to go, but we have to know where we want to go. And we have to have a picture of that in our mind. And so as I heard you talk, the one thing I would just add is maybe as we sit here on December 2025, and we're looking at next year,
00:54:54
Speaker
if we don't know what the island is yet That might take some time even over the first month of the year to think, where do I really want to get? What life do I want? And then the other stuff will start to take care of itself if we start keep thinking about that island.
00:55:12
Speaker
For sure. And i I think, again, the phrase that I was introduced to that's really helped me is that whatever you focus on, you move toward. And that can be good or bad.
00:55:23
Speaker
So the power of our thought and the power of our vision and the power of our words, That's our center of our focus. Is it moving you in to the island or away from the island? And sometimes you might take a little beer one way or the other, and you have to refocus on on what you really want and knowing what that is.
00:55:42
Speaker
And that is going to be the driving force. to get you through the consistently boring. But being consistent, having a vision, having a routine and habits that create your identity, it doesn't matter what sport is in your life. It doesn't matter what career you end up having.
Letter from Future Self Challenge
00:56:00
Speaker
You'll have progress. You'll have joy and you will have a freaking exceptional life because you know how to create exceptional experiences and push yourself beyond limits because you're not afraid to fail.
00:56:13
Speaker
You're afraid to not try. That's awesome. Okay. You're going to leave us with a challenge, Allie. This has been amazing, by the way. So I'm going to close the podcast with your challenge to us. Okay.
00:56:24
Speaker
So i want you guys to, within this weekend, by Sunday, or whenever this is going out, whenever you get this. So my challenge to you is over the next week, give yourself 10 minutes is all you get.
00:56:38
Speaker
You are going to write a letter to yourself from your future self six months from now. That six months from now, you are going to tell yourself,
00:56:49
Speaker
all the beautiful things that have just happened in your life that are part of the vision that you want. For example, if your vision is this championship or your vision is to make this team or to do well in this class or be recognized by a special someone, whatever that is, your future self is going to say, i want you to be prepared. You have some incredible relationships that are going to come into your life. You are going to have an opportunity to get into a game and you'll have an opportunity to step up and show them what you are capable of. You are going to do great. You are going to crush it. And you're going to be given another chance after that because of how you perform. You are going to have a teacher tell you how great it is to work with you because of how much you contribute in class. And you are going to have a parent say that you bless someone's life because of how you reached out to them.
00:57:43
Speaker
Again, have a vision and be very specific about what matters to you and what is important. And I want coaches and adults to do this. And in six months, you're going to open that letter.
00:57:54
Speaker
If you don't have a vision, you're not working toward anything. Be very clear in what you want. A lot of you have created vision boards. When you write it down as if it's already happened, you're one step closer to that vision than anything else that you can do.
00:58:12
Speaker
and go after it. And that it is my challenge. And at that six months mark mark, do it again for the next six months. That's awesome. Simple way to create the islands, to create that vision. This is where I want to get.
Conclusion and Resources
00:58:26
Speaker
So Ali, you are always such a privilege to talk to and thank you for being such an integral part of our organization and for all that you've added over the years and for taking the time today to sit down with us and have this discussion.
00:58:42
Speaker
Absolutely. And you keep sharing those analogies because they are fabulous and you come up with the best ones all the time. But always a pleasure. Always a pleasure to talk to you, Chad, and to be a part of Especially for Athletes.
00:58:53
Speaker
Great blessing in my life. Thank you. Well, thank you. And thank you, everybody, for joining the Especially for Athletes podcast. Eyes up. Do the work. Thank you for joining the Especially for Athletes podcast.
00:59:05
Speaker
To learn more about Especially for Athletes organization, get a copy of our book, The Sport Light, or to bring our program to your team, school, business, or organization, visit us at especiallyforathletes.org.