[tlieb]

Here in Oregon the "Camp and Summer Season" have come to an end and all that remains is the 3-on-3 tournaments. For me the part that's really frustrating about the summer season is how short it is. When March comes around I'm usually ready for the season to be over and need a break from the game both physically and mentally. After about a month or so some tournaments pop up and they're fun to work because you get to go back out on the court and see how much you've lost with a month of doing nothing but watch the NCAA tournament. June rolls around and that's when everything comes to a head. If you wanted to you could go to a camp every weekend in June and first two weeks in July. Summer league starts up and there are Boys and Girls games to work practically everyday of the week. Weekends have mini tournaments that feature some of the best club teams in the area and also those high school teams that you've been working during the week. You go to a camp and you get all this feedback and things to work on. You take that and apply it to your summer league games the next week. Another camp rolls around and you try to build on what you've already accomplished. Then it all ends!

You've dedicated yourself to the game and your personal improvement and now you have to sit and wait for September/October to roll around before you can get a taste of some "Fall Ball," or you just have to wait for the season to start up in late November.

My mom use to always make me read books, take summer classes, go to camp during my summers to stay fresh so I didn't go brain dead and once classes started the transition from doing nothing to homework everyday wasn't so painful. My question to all of you is what do you do to keep from being "stale" while we have to sit and wait for the calendar to strike October?