I love the holiday season. There is something about this time of year that is quite magical. Personally, I enjoy heading out shopping for friends and family. As with everything else that I do, it is quite a production, and it usually includes a large peppermint mocha latte from Starbucks and quite a few hours trying to find that perfect gift for the people in my life that I love. Beyond that, people just tend to be nicer to everyone. I mean it was just yesterday that I saw a woman give a guy the finger as he ran her off the road into a Dunkin Donuts parking lot. I’m joking of course (not really, I did actually see that but keep in mind, I live in Jersey and this happens by the minute). In all seriousness, people are a lot nicer at this time of year. More people say hello to others that they do not know, hold doors for people, and actually have manners. It is really quite magical.
Speaking of magical, Tim Tebow has had quite a run of late. Love him, hate him, or just don’t really care, you have to admit that for a guy who couldn’t hit a bull in the butt with a snow shovel, he has really found ways to put the Denver Broncos in a position to win games in spite of his inaccuracy throwing the football. Is it magic? I’m not entirely sure about that, but something about professionals making ridiculous mistakes in late games (Marion Barber) and the consistency of opposing team fumbles that occur late in the fourth quarter kind of make you scratch your head and say, “Did that really just happen…again?”. Not to mention the fact that Tebow cannot throw the ball for three quarters and then finds a way to complete his passes in the fourth quarter. All of this begs the questions, what makes the fourth quarter Tebow time, and what makes everyone so much nicer at the end of the year? The answer, believing.
I have never seen a person believe in himself, his team, and the power of God quite as much as Tim Tebow. I watched a spot on TV on him this past Sunday and I came away quite impressed. The man is so positive in his approach to everything he does. Here is a guy that has been ridiculed by pretty much everyone for how bad he is and he still finds a way to be positive in his approach to everything. Tebow is constantly reassuring himself and his teammates that as long as they keep playing hard they will find a way. He even talks trash in a way that endears his opponent to him. It is really quite amazing and it is definitely contagious. It is Tebow’s positive mental attitude and belief in all of those around him that keeps himself and his teammates in the right frame of mind to believe that when and if they have the chance to win, they can and will take advantage of it. Not only does Tebow believe in himself, but he believes in his team and that has taken them from teh depths of the NFL standings to first place in their division and a potential playoff appearance.
It is the power of believing that also makes everyone so much nicer during the holiday season. People believe in the magic of Santa Claus, Rudolph, Frosty the Snowman, Elves on shelves and even Cousin Eddie and ultimately this makes people happier. It makes people want to be nice to each other and say hello to people they would not normally say hello to. It makes them want to forgive those who they have held a grudge against all year long. Believing makes you want to buy gifts, write cards, and sing songs in a way that you have not done all year. Having something to believe in just makes things better.
So that should be your focus as you continue to work on your basketball skills and sports performance training. Learn from Tim Tebow’s fourth quarter success and everyone else at holiday time and believe in yourself. Keep a positive attitude now and throughout the year. Do not get discouraged when success does not always happen or even does not happen for a while. Stay the course and beleive that you can and will be successful in whatever it is you want to accomplish, and it can and will happen. Just look at where believing has gotten Tim Tebow and the Broncos. Just look at how nice believing has made those around you. It really is quite magical.
I want to take the thank all of my Elite Basketball Training family for your support throughout the year. It is all of you that make it possible for me to do what I love to do best and provide you with valuable information on basketball skill development, sports performance training, and college planning and recruiting. I wish you all a Happy Holiday and enjoy the time off with your friends and family.
Earlier this week I sent out an email that brought up the subject of basketball skill development in practice during the season and whether or not it should be a priority. If you did not see that email, here is the first part of it:
Yesterday while having a conversation with a local basketball coach, I happened to ask him about his practice planning and how he used his practice time. He told me that they worked on their offensive plays for half the time and their defensive plays for the other half. I was NOT surprised at all. This happens at least once a week where a coach tells me that all they work on is their offense and defense. I totally get it too. Gym time these days is severely limited almost to the point where coaches can only get one solid practice in a week. For the most part, that practice is only a hour to an hour and a half. The games are usually on the weekend so they have to work on their offense or defense during their practices. This seems reasonable and understandable but I’m not sure I agree entirely.
As a former varsity basketball coach and current basketball trainer, skill development played an important role in every practice. There was not a day that went by that we did not work on some, if not all of the fundamental basketball skills of shooting, passing, and dribbling. The reason behind this was that I wanted to have as many multi-skilled players on the basketball court as possible. Doing so would give my team the advantage over other teams who did not have the same type of player. It baffled me when I would talk to other coaches who told me that they never practiced shooting the basketball during the season. Last time I checked, the team with the most points won the game, and in order to score, you needed to be able to shoot and/or finish. The only way to get better at either one of those skills is to practice them…so we did. Keep in mind, this is a high school team with players that supposedly had been working on these skills since their youth. The need for skill development in youth basketball practices is even more amplified because of the stage of the game they are in. However, from talking to many youth coaches, skill development during practice time does not seem to be a priority.
What seems to be a priority is teaching the players how to run their plays because knowing the plays will give your team a better chance of winning which, is totally understandable. Gym time, to my knowledge, is limited these days and the players have to know how to run the offense, so this rational makes sense, to a degree. Where I differ is that if players cannot pass, dribble, and shoot you can run plays until you are blue in the face and you still will not score. What happens after the player screens down, pops out and catches the ball? If the player does not have fundamental basketball skills, a turnover will usually occur. I have seen it quite often at all levels of basketball. Consequently, instead of teaching players the plays, teach the players how to play.
Please keep in mind that I am not saying that plays should not be taught or run. That is absolutely not my point. What I am saying is that if players know how to play, they will run the plays more effectively and this will, ultimately, lead to a better basketball experience for everyone involved. Skill development can and should be taught within the offense that you are trying to run. Break your offense down, no matter what type of offense it is, into parts. Work on skills within that specific part and then bring it back together to make it whole again. Teach the players how to cut, move and screen properly all while teaching them what to do with the ball when they catch it. We worked consistently on skill development within our offense on a daily basis. One of the best ways to do this is in a three on three setting. Three on threes simplifies the game, especially for younger players. It also creates more space for them to experiment on their offensive game. This will ultimately create more confidence in the players and the team as a whole, and a confident team can be a successful team.
In the end, teaching basketball players plays is doing them an injustice, especially at the youth levels. Players need to learn how to play basketball first and foremost and the youth level is the perfect place to teach players solid fundamental habits. With this in mind basketball skill development can and should be taught basketball skills in a way that relates to the offense you are running. Ultimately, this will lead to a better basketball experience and players will learn how to play rather than just learn plays.
Let me know what you guys think about this topic by writing in the comments section below.
If you would like to learn more about how Elite Basketball Training can help you teach your players basketball skill development within your offense, email me at rstoner42@gmail.com with questions and have us come to your practice to work on skill development with your players.
In my effort to make the world more knowledgeable about basketball skill development and sports performance training, I have been uploading many new videos to my youtube channel lately. These videos consist of drills to help develop your basketball skills as well as exercises to develop your explosive power and jumping ability.
I am never sure how many of you realize that I have a youtube channel, so every so often, I like to devote a blog post to update all of you on the new videos that have been posted. Below are the links to a few of those videos plus a small description of the drill or exercise and its benefits. I hope you enjoy them.
Two Ball Pass and Attack Drill:
In this drill the player attacks with two basketballs. When they reach the top of the key they pass one to a player under the basket and then re-attack with one ball from the wing.
Skills worked: ball handling, passing, finishing, change of direction
Two Ball Shooting Drill:
In this drill the players are working on their ball handling with two basketballs, footwork, pivoting, and jump shooting.
Lateral Rope Hops: (Increase your vertical Jump)
This plyometric drill has the players consistently jumping laterally over a rope that is set to about 3 feet high. Ground touch time should be limited while doing this drill.
Prowler Slide Sprints: (Increase Speed and agility)
In this video the basketball players are pushing the prowler, then sliding out to a specific spot and sprinting through the end line.
I hope you enjoyed the videos. Please let me know what you think by writing in the comments section below.
If you are looking to give the gift of Speed, Agility, and Quickness this holiday season to the basketball player in your life, head over to www.basketballspeedandagility.com now and get your copy of Elite Basketball Training’s Speed and Agility Drills and Skills. This e-book and video combination will provide you with the tools you need to take your speed, agility, quickness, and skills to the next level.
I recently reconnected with an old basketball friend of mine that has basically done it all in the basketball business. Yesterday while we were on the phone we initially started talking about camps and clinics but then the topic turned to training and in particular, shooting. Where I do a lot of footwork, shooting technique, and shooting drills in my basketball skill development workouts, this guy is a shooting expert. His knowledge of the jump shot and how to become a great shooter is astounding and just in our conversation last night I learned about five new things I could apply to my jump shot training.
One aspect of the conversation that we got into was the mental concentration that it takes to become a great shooter. More specifically, concentrating on every shot that you take. Watching your shot every time you shoot and analyzing it for few seconds right after can turn you into the jumpshooter that you always wanted to be. This is an interesting concept and one that I was just relaying to one of my basketball players the week before. However, it is absolutely positively one of the most overlooked aspects of becoming a good jump shooter. Most players only watch their jumpshot to see if it goes in and then get pissed off if it does not. However, they cannot really get too mad, since they only have themselves to blame. Good jump shooters will watch their shot each and every time, hit or miss, and then make adjustments based on where the shot goes in or where it hits, if it misses. Good shooters know the fundamentals of the jumpshot, and they know what causes a jump shot to miss long, short, right, and left. This knowledge comes from hours of training. It comes from making mistakes, recognizing the mistake, and then making corrections.
Beyond watching your shot for fixing mistakes, good jump shooters also watch their shot for feel. Good shooters know what it feels like to have a shot miss. They also know what it feels like to have a shot go in. Now I am not talking about the feeling like crap because you missed a shot or feeling great because you made one. I’m talking about the feeling of the smooth transition from your legs to your upper body when taking a jumper that hits nothing but net and the herky jerky motion of a shot that did not go in and just does not feel right. How do they know these feelings? Simple, they watch their shot and they learn from their makes and misses. Muscle memory plays a huge role in becoming a good jump shooter. Therefore, they must remember what it feels like when the shots are perfect and go in and then repeat that feeling. Conversely, they must know what it feels like when the basketball is not shot correctly and remember neve to repeat that. By recognizing the good feeling shots and working to repeat that feeling these shooters will be building up muscle memory of the correct way to shoot a basketball.
Ultimately, becoming a good jump shooter takes hard work and concentration. It is more than just going out and taking jump shots. It requires you to shoot the ball and learn from every shot, make or miss. Becoming a good jump shooter requires you to learn to how your shot feels when it goes in and then repeat that motion. Bottom line…becoming a good jump shooter requires you to watch your shot.
See you on the court.
Rich Stoner
Elite Basketball Training
Ps. Don’t forget to give the gift of speed, agility, and quickness this holiday season. Pick up your copy of Elite Basketball Training’s Speed and Agility Drills and Skills today at www.basketballspeedandagility.com for the bargain price of $14.99.
As I finish up my week today with basketball skill development workouts all day at Elite Basketball Training, I wanted to take the time to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgving.
I realize how grateful I am for what I am able to do each and every day. I am very lucky to be someone who enjoys what they do for a living. The fact that I can go into the gym and work with athletes of all ages and help them take their game to the next level no matter what sport it is, is a rewarding task. Consequently, I am thankful for that opportunity every single day, and thankful for you for making that possible.
So THANK YOU Elite Basketball Training family for all of your support throughout the years. Enjoy your holiday.
See you on the court.
Rich Stoner
Elite Basketball Training, LLC
Ps. Enjoy your leftover Thanksgiving Turkey Sangwiches…I know I will.
