The word practice still holds value. It’s a sacred space. A place where we aim to master the movements we want to repeat with ease. That’s something I’m grateful for. Because every great performance starts with a private repetition that was once a struggle.
But now that I’m deeper in this BAG mindstate, I’m more aware of what I’m practicing — and why.
Balance Comes First
Practice isn’t just about getting better at one thing. It’s about asking:
“How does this movement add balance to my whole game?”
Because if it doesn’t serve balance, it doesn’t serve the player long-term. We’ve confused mastery with memorization. But BAG teaches us that real mastery is movement with purpose.
What Makes Practice Great?
There is no single perfect path to excellence — but the efficiency of the path matters. It’s measured by how much balance it adds to your game and life.
If the dribble move improves your shot mechanics – Great practice. If the layup drills tighten your dribble control – Great practice. If sled rebounds build your resilience & patience – Great practice. If counting down 5-4-3-2-1 builds team rhythm and trust – Great practice.
The Key?
Be intentional. Be observant of your body. Watch how your balance shifts. Listen for aids — physical cues, internal signals, emotional triggers. They’re always there when you pay attention.
To All the Coaches Out There:
If you’re coaching with heart and awareness — I salute you. Keep teaching. Keep serving. Keep growing. Your way is yours.
The BAG way is just another way. A way built on Balance, powered by Aids, and rooted in Gratitude.
We’re walking together. And I’ll always be grateful for that.
Author’s Note: Living the BAG mindstate means sharing reflections as they happen. Here’s what rose up for me today on the court—and in life.
A Moment of Rest at the Summit
I’ve been busy living 🧠⚡️❤️⚓️. This morning delivered a profound reminder: the top isn’t a place you reach—it’s a place you stay. Once you arrive, the only option is to keep going.
Balance in Competition
Competition is woven into our nature—and into basketball. But I’ve learned that true balance in competition isn’t about winning or losing. It’s about playing with honest values, giving your all, and trusting the flow of the game.
Balance: Showing up fully—mind, body, spirit—without fear of outcome.
Misses and turnovers? They’re not failures—they’re opportunities to grow, moments to reflect for better balance next time, since we keep getting the chance to express.
Aid Through Generosity
When you pass the ball, you’re offering more than a simple assist. You’re giving the energy you’ve stored up—your focus, your intention, your gratitude. And the game gives back in equal measure.
Aid: Every good pass, every perfect shot—these are gifts exchanged between players.
Gratitude in the Flow
Hearing “Great pass!” or “Nice shot!” It’s not just competition—it’s shared celebration. It’s two or more people from different paths finding common ground through balance.
I had the best game of the year today. We laughed. We flowed. We honored the court and each other. And through every swish and every cheer, I felt gratitude.
Gratitude: In every moment of play, we experience the freedom that comes from balanced giving and receiving.
Closing Prayer
May the impact of balance bless every part of our lives—on and off the court. I know the players I played with today feel it, too.
The Way to Play the Game Is to show up, give your best, and celebrate the balance we create together.
Date: Category: Brains & Guts Reflections Author: Coach BAG
The Beginning of BAG’s Purest Form
Today was powerful. A reminder — of why I started. And why I’ll never stop.
This is simply the beginning. The beginning of pure, open BAG — no gatekeeping, no holding information for later. The BAG mindstate is meant to be shared in real-time. Every aid, every discovery, every moment of balance that enters my life will be given to the next generation, immediately.
Because this is how the Bright Advancing Generation will grow — not in secret, but in the light.
Balance Found In A Smile
I trained a young man today. Unplanned. Random. But the moment revealed itself exactly as it was meant to.
What started as a simple reconnection with the aids for myself… Became a moment where I became the aid for him.
I watched him begin to understand balance — like riding a bike for the first time. And as the balance took hold, the smile came.
That smile — I know it well. Because it’s the same smile that saved me. The smile of clarity. The smile of understanding. The smile of gratitude.
Why I Train
I don’t do this for income. I don’t do this for numbers. I do this for one reason only: To serve as the aid for the next generation.
The BAG method isn’t about forcing change. It’s about revealing what was always already inside you — balance.
Whether you’re on the path to the NBA, chasing a college scholarship, or simply finding peace within your skillset — Balance belongs to everyone.
The Flow of The BAG Mindstate
🧠 Balance — Recognize the tension. Respect it. ⚡️ Aid — Apply the adjustments that reveal control and freedom. ❤️ Gratitude — Smile. Feel it. Receive the gift.
Bright Advancing Generation Has Already Started
From my first client Sammy, to today’s young man… I’ve seen the same results over and over: Balance. Consistency. Confidence. Gratitude.
That’s BAG. That’s why I’ll keep walking. Keep sharing. Keep giving away these aids as they’re revealed to me.
There’s no competition. There’s only contribution. There’s only purpose.
Closing Reflection
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Bright Advancing Generation is full of balance and hidden treasures.
Not because today feels any more special than any other day… …but because it’s a day every good man hopes to be acknowledged on. Some fathers — and I mean some (which is already too many) — never get to feel what this feels like. Not just for themselves, but for their kids — the energy exchange, the gift that never stops giving. A beautiful daughter that makes you feel like a lion 🦁. A strong son that you believe could be Hercules ⚡️. It’s truly nothing like being a father. The opportunity to breathe air and share it with them… It’s a responsibility worth dying for. It makes every second… every breath… full of gratitude.
The Aids That Shape Me I’ve been shaped by so many aids along this path: • The pain. • The mistakes. • The breakthroughs. • The lessons I prayed I would never repeat. • The grace I’ve received. And I’m still growing. This is an energy thing. I feel strong because I’ve stayed faithful. I feel grounded because I’ve found purpose. I’m living my dream — not in some material sense, but in the purest way possible: To be present. To love deeply. To choose balance over bitterness.
Crayons Show Love I remind myself daily: Crayons show love. It means that kids don’t need perfection — they need color. They need presence. They need the freedom to draw outside the lines while you stand beside them with patience, not control. That’s how we plant gratitude seeds. One seed at a time. One smile at a time. One prayer at a time.
Love Is Always the Choice The BAG Mindstate always brings me back to one truth: Love is the hardest choice… because it’s the most powerful. Hate doesn’t grow anything. Bitterness doesn’t build anything. But love? Love creates space for the next generation to thrive. Even in the toughest moments — Even when tested — Even when misunderstood — We choose love. We choose balance. And we end up… grateful.
Author’s Note: Brains & Guts isn’t just about what happens on the court. These entries document my real-time process of mastering the BAG mindstate — mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. This post reflects one of the most personal phases of my sharpening season. It takes brains to analyze where you are, and guts to stay on the path. Every word you read is part of that process.
The Pathway Is Unique
Bag is a mindstate you must enter and exit. At the entrance, you meet amazement and lost treasures — a secret pathway to the ultimate state of being. I’m simply speaking from my experience using the BAG mindstate.
While traveling in the pathway you continue to hear chants and screams from the entrance — the past versions of yourself desperately holding on to the possibility of your return. Once you enter, you have a choice:
Go backwards to the entrance
Or exit too soon and return prematurely.
As distance increases for me from the entrance, I can tell I’m starting to become hard to see — hard to make out. The frequency is desperate and continues to be loud due to the space between us. But as I keep my head down — not focused on destination, just moving forward — my steps fight for me and drown the noise. It’s aware of my arrival. It refuses to accept the accomplishment of my new state of being. I can’t move backward. I refuse. I’m becoming something that is foreign.
I know nothing is new underneath the sun, but I wonder who in my bloodline has walked this path before me and passed this experience into my hands. I’m grateful for them. I shall walk until we rise again.
No one. No noise will stop me from heading forward for us. The bag mindstate is a constant forward motion — not perfect, but progressing.
The Nature of the Sound
The sound uses words like “never” and “always.” It communicates strictly through judgment. It begs for empathy — but once you give it space, you become a perspective jumper… trying to decode its view, trying to justify your own.
When I’ve done that in the past, I didn’t move backwards — but I was tempted to leave the pathway.
That temptation is part of the test. It dangles my inner issues. It challenges me beyond my own understanding.
The Inner Battle Team
You can’t fight this with your adult self alone. Your inner child and the memories of your past must come to the fight with you.
That’s why I’m grateful for the ones who walked before me. I know they’re watching and assisting me. Inner child. Adult self. Ancestors.
We hold hands together as we walk. Reminding the sound:
“We’ve united before. And we stayed strong through this cycle of life.”
Time? Energy? They continue to shift this pathway to carry the story once told. And again, I stay out of the way —
Head down. Moving towards the inevitable.
Forward Is The Only Direction
The goal of the sound was to get me to go backwards. But I’ve realized:
Forward and steady is the pace of life inside the BAG mindstate.
Doubt is gone. Fear is gone. Pain is felt — but understood.
The deepest pain I once carried was not being involved in my child’s life as much as I would like. But I’ve chosen to release control over what I can’t hold. I’m grateful for every moment, at any capacity, I get to share my experience with my daughter.
For Her — And All Who Come After Me
The bag mindstate will meet her one day. I’m grateful to walk this path now — to share my experience. Even if not in words — I will love and bond with her in ways that imprint energy she’ll carry.
The ancestors will hold her hand, just as they held mine. Her inner child will fight the good fight for her one day.
Always grateful for the opportunity.
I walk this pathway with full faith. Every treasure I drop along the way may one day be found by her.
There is nothing new under the sun:
First born.
Separated from each other.
Father and daughter.
The cycle repeats, but the healing begins here.
The world may push fathers out of the home — but I will walk forward, into the pathway. Not only to find the exit, but to remind her that her father is a man who accepted balance… Who sought aids… And who reached gratitude.
🧠⚡️❤️⚓️
Post Summary Tagline: “Forward and steady is the pace of life inside the BAG mindstate.”
I’m stacking bricks. Locking in a new aid, refining a concept that already works, testing and teaching my body what balance really means.
Last night was a breakthrough. I focused on the shooting elbow — finding the perfect angle from different shot pockets. It’s subtle, but this minor adjustment fixes the off-hand naturally and locks in a consistent shooting release.
This might be the final shooting aid I needed.
It’s teachable. It’s beautiful. And it works.
It’s not just about form—it’s about body awareness. This is going to be a major addition to the BAG system, especially the Body Awareness Guide. It even looks sharp on camera—those gestures will make for some powerful visuals.
I walked away from the session feeling grateful. Not because of perfection, but because I’m becoming more in tune with my own process.
The bricks are being laid. One by one. And none of them are rushed.
Day 2- Presence Over Pressure 4/9/25
The energy is flowing.
Everyone I hooped with today felt it too. But I’m not doing this for their approval—I’m doing it for the kids, for the students, for the ones looking to get in their BAG.
I’m present. I’m grounded. I’m anchored.
I played with rhythm and control today—feeling my balance increase in real time. My body responded. The movement was mine. Teachable. Tappable. Transferable.
I inhaled. I exhaled. And gratitude filled the space in between.
Old aids came back to life. New aids emerged effortlessly. I’m witnessing the power of patience and the reward of reflection.
The BAG isn’t just a mindset—it’s a movement. And I’m proud to be its messenger.
Day 3 – Boundaries , Not Battles 4/10/25
Today tested me in a different way.
I was asked to babysit on a weekend that wasn’t mine. And I had to say no—not out of spite, but out of structure.
I understand that my daughter’s mom has her own pressures, her own lens, her own life. I don’t carry anger toward her, and I respect that parenting is difficult for both of us—especially during times of transition.
But I’ve learned that empathy doesn’t mean self-abandonment. I can care and still say “no.” I can love my daughter deeply while still creating healthy lines around my time, energy, and commitments.
I didn’t retaliate or argue. I stood firm in my decision, and I honored the balance I’m building in my life.
Because when I’m grounded, my daughter gets the best version of me. Not the burnt-out version. Not the overextended one. The present, peaceful, and purpose-driven one.
And even with all the tension—I still went to hoop. Not to escape, but to reconnect. Every dribble, every shot, every moment of flow reminded me:
This is how I process. This is how I grow. This is how I stay in my BAG.
Evening Session Recap:
I went to hoop the at night and had to stay grounded.
The teams I ran with didn’t really want to pass me the ball—whether out of ego or misunderstanding the rhythm of the game—but I didn’t let it take me out of character. I found other ways to contribute. It did interfere with the opportunities I needed to test some shooting aids, but I still found bright moments.
Great passing. Tough shots made. Tough layups finished. Dribble control? Locked in and flowing.
And the next day, I went back to my day job . Gratefully, I got to work alongside someone who shared amazing energy and deep gratitude. Their stories made the whole shift feel light and reminded me: there’s promise in this path.
Then, after work—I got invited to hoop again. This time, something unfortunate happened… I hyperextended my left leg. It was tough—especially because my right leg was just getting back to 85–90% after healing from the last hyperextension of my right leg.
Still, I walked it off. I kept playing. I adapted.
The beautiful part? This squad actually passed the ball. I shot the lights out. Multiple games won. Deep shots falling. The Bag Mindstate Aids were working, even through injury.
I reminded myself: Athleticism can fade—but Aids? Aids evolve.
I didn’t lose a game. And even while injured, I made the team better because I had other tools to rely on.
This injury is a reminder to continue healing with discipline, to lock in on my physical BAG just like I have with my mental one.
Wrap-Up – Coach Bag’s Corner
Three days in—and I feel stronger, wiser, and more purposeful than ever.
This isn’t just a blog. It’s a journal of transformation. It’s the birth of a mindset movement.
Coach Bag is more than a name. It’s an example. A framework. A mission.
From injury to insight. From pressure to presence. From frustration to fuel.
If you’re reading this—you can build it too. Just don’t rush. Don’t copy. And never forget—the bricks are the aid… but the foundation? That’s gratitude.
Stay in your BAG. Stay anchored. Stay building.
Coach Bag
Always Grateful,
‘If this blog speaks to you, stay tapped in with Coach Bag. Drop a comment, share story, and remember – your BAG is waiting”
Coach BAG 