Obviously, it is important to practice if you want to be good at basketball, or at anything for that matter. With this in mind, it is important to practice correctly, and that does not always happen. Too many players focus on volume training, taking x amount of shots or practicing for a ridiculous amount of hours, and although it is good that they are practicing, it is important to know that they must practice with the fundamentals in mind. More isn’t always better, sometimes it’s just more and that philosophy can be detrimental to your game, keeping you from improving and reaching your goals. I see this all the time from players.

The conversation usually goes something like this:

Read the rest of this entry

This past Saturday, as I was working with one of my highly talented young basketball players one common issue kept coming up; he simply was not protecting the basketball as he made his move around a defender. During a drill that was designed to teach the players a very simple yet affective skill, hesitation, I noticed that he was not protecting the basketball as he made his move. I was actually able to reach in and knock the ball from him easily and consistently. The reason…he was doing nothing with his guard arm (the arm without the basketball). Then…

Read the rest of this entry

About two weeks ago I wrote an email highlighting how one of my younger basketball players that I work with for basketball skill development showed up at the gym and started chucking up jumpers from long range. To teach him a lesson, I walked over to the court and began doing some form shooting drills.

Read the rest of this entry

In the recent months, my wife and I have been meeting with architects and contractors with the hope of putting an addition on to our house in order to compensate for the soon to come new addition to our family. Our most recent child is expected to come within the next couple of months and our house just needs more space. We are under the gun in terms of time, not only because of her due date but also because of the onset of winter. If the weather gets too cold too soon, we may not be able to get the foundation for the house in. And, if you can’t build a house without a foundation.

Similarly, you cannot build a good jump shot without a solid base.

Read the rest of this entry

About a week ago, I was speaking with a coach over the phone and he made a comment that the more I thought about it, the more interesting it became to me. He was saying how he only had a short period of time to practice, and that he, “really needs to work on his plays.” I did not think much of it during the course of our conversation but then I thought more about it afterward I was a little concerned. The reason?

Read the rest of this entry