That Basketball Life

Nice breakdown of what made Steve Nash so good.

 When we go to youth games we like watching how the kids warm up.  To us youth basketball is an easy game to coach.  As a youth coach you need to teach your kids how to play good aggressive man to man defense and on the offensive end teach them how to pass and move towards the basket.  In a pass an move offense, layups are so important.  This goes back to our opening statement about watching youth level warm ups.  Most of the teams warming up spend a lot of time shooting shots, but the good ones are always working around the basket.  We've always found it entertaining that youth teams spend so much time working on jumpers and so little time on layups.  In addition, the little time they do spend on layups is spent doing basic layups using the right hand on the right side and the left hand on the left side.  There is so much more to it than this however and kids should be exposed to different types of layups in practice.  No one can predic...

Speed kills.  This statement is true in many ways.  It's true positive ways and negative ways.  It's true that going to fast on the expressway can get you killed.  It's also true that playing fast in sports can be of great benefit to you as a ball player.  I am definitely not writing this post encouraging people to speed when they drive but what I do want to do is take some time to explain how improving your quickness with and without the ball can help your basketball game immensely.   You might be asking is it possible to improve your quickness on the basketball floor?  The answer to that question is most definitely yes.  There are 5 ways which you can increase your quickness and help you become both tougher to guard on offense and tougher to beat on defense. Physical Coordination - Training your body to move quicker is where it all starts.  With this portion of quickness training it is very important that you push yourself beyond the c...

I have a player who has been with me for a very long time.  He has been with me since he was in kindergarten and I have seen this boy turn into a pretty good ball player throughout the years.  Each year he has added another piece to his game including this year when he added a left hand finish to his arsenal.  This boy wants to be a good player.  He works hard and never complains.  He's getting to the point where his skill level is really good.  I would say it is above average for a kid his age.  The issue is that he doesn't dominate games like he should and he is starting to realize it.  He recently came up to me and told me that he doesn't think he could compete with some of the better players he faces in our league.  This crushed me because I saw that he was broken and discouraged which could lead to a confidence breaking slide.  I quickly reminded him about all of the progress he has made and encouraged him to keep working.  The...

One of the common traits that all great basketball players have is balance.  If you watch videos of the great ones they always seem to be under control.  You'll hear people say how the great ones have elite body control.  This body control starts with footwork.  The great ones can do what they want on the basketball floor because their footwork always keeps them in balance.  Even with the acrobatic shots they make, if you pay close enough attention you will notice how the great ones always manage to stay balanced and square.  This is what separates the athletes from the great ball players.  It's true that many of the great basketball players are also some of the best athletes in the world but it's also true that not all great athletes are great basketball players.  There are a lot of factors that come into play when we are talking about what makes great basketball players and one of them is footwork. We will spend some time on this topic and try...

Another video on correcting shooting form. There are a few more good tips in this video.

Nice video on correcting your shot. Regarding the comment about the head I want to add that many kids jerk their heads back when they shoot in an effort to draw more power to their shot but in reality this has the opposite effect and drains power from the shot in addition to moving the sightlines at a crucial point in the shot.

Click on this link for another nice article on vertical jump training. I'm convinced that this workout not only helps your vertical jump but will help you improve your sprint speed as well.

If found this interesting blog post in www.hoopsbeast.com talking about how to increase your vertical jump.  Click here to read.

10 Fundamentals for Proper Footwork : Proper footwork is the foundation of the game of basketball. Building a skill-set of solid footwork techniques can ensure the proper development of 12-year-old youth players and high school players. Some footwork techniques included here are time-tested basic fundamentals. Others may be completely...

Nice video created by By Any Means Basketball. A lot of what they say is in sync with what I believe young players should work on even more so than jump shots at a young age.

Nice video from EGT on how to train guards to think quicker while playing.

One of the biggest problems that coaches have in general is closing out a game.  Many times a coach will want to take the air out of the game by slowing things down too early.  This causes his team to get out of their rhythm and takes the intensity out of the team.  There are two questions that need to be answered when addressing when to close out a game when leading.  Is it worth taking the air out of the ball at all?  If it is when is a good time to do so? The answer to the first question is "it depends."  I know it sounds like a cop out but stay with me for a second.  As a coach you need to read the vibe of the game.  Specifically you need to ask yourself the following question:  Which team has momentum at the end of the game?  The way I see it there are 3 different scenarios in a game when your team is winning a close game: Your team is winning and has the momentum. Your team is winning but the lead has shrunk and the moment...

This is a nice video with simple tips to help create separation and make a ball handler's job easier.

Okay.  You're coaching a game and your team is down 5 with 3 minutes left.  You have decided that it is time that your team starts extending the game.  How do you do this?  The next topic that needs to be covered is how to extend a game. In order to start discussing this topic we need to break it down by offense and defense. Offense: On the offensive end you need to be prepared to speed everything up.  You will want to make sure that you have your best players in their best positions and ready to run a quick hitting part of the offense or some quick hitting set plays in an effort to get your team back in the game.  Your team needs to be aware of the fact that this is the point of the game where they need to be super aggressive.  You want to take action towards the basket.  The reason for this is twofold: The other team will not want to foul you for fear of giving you an and 1 opportunity. Taking the ball to the basket increases your chances...

The first topic I'd like to discuss concerning EOG situations is when to begin the process of extending a game.  A coach will want to extend a game when they are trailing in hopes of buying time in an effort to get back into the game.  There are 2 questions that need to be answered: At what point in the game do you start the process? At what point do you not bother with extending the game? The answer to the first question  depends on the age group you are coaching and the kids abilities.  If your team contains a bunch of grinders and its tough for them to score you may want to start the process earlier.  If your team is a good scoring team then you may start a bit later.  In general I like to use a 3 point per minute +1 minute rule.  How this works is that if you are down 3 points you can wait for the last 2 minutes of the game to extend (1 for the 3 point deficit +1 more minute).  If you are down 8 points you start extending the game at th...

Over the next few posts we will be discussing our philosophy on certain End of Game situations.  Specifically we will be discussing the when and how of certain EOG situations. Specifically we will discuss the following: 1 When to extend a game when trailing. When to speed up a game when winning. How to extend a game when trailing. How to speed up a game when winning. More to come.