Beginner Shooting Progressions For All Ages

By Don Kelbick

QUESTION:

What is the best way to have a kid progress shooting from a low position around the stomach or chest (i.e. push shot) to a position in which the ball is set higher with the arms/hands?

ANSWER:

A lot depends on how old the kid is and whether he can comfortably reach the basket or not. The method I use is called “by the numbers.”

Start by sitting in a chair.

#1 - Hold the ball in front of you, by the seams, in the fingertips of the shooting hand.

#2 - Turn the ball and put it into a shooting tee. Hand under the ball, on the fingerpads, in the proper shooting position.

#3 - Shoot the ball as high in the air as possible while holding the follow through. The object is to have the ball return directly back into the shooting hand without having to move your hand to catch it. The only way to do that is to shoot it straight up.

Eventually, I will add a new #3, which is stand up (shooting the ball becomes # 4). Eventually, you will synchronize the body motion and the hand motion. After that happens, I will add the guide hand.

It is important to remember that it takes 3 times longer to break an old habit than to build a new habit. When frustrated or challenged, people invariably revert to what is comfortable to them, which is the old habit, so it will take a lot of repetitions. By removing the basket as an objective, players are more motivated to do the reps.

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NEW Offense Article on the Triangle Offense

By Joe Haefner

When Don Kelbick was recently in Austria for training players, he worked with a coach who used the Triangle Offense. When Don got back, he diagrammed and wrote down everything about the Triangle Offense that he could remember.

Read more about the Triangle Offense used by Phil Jackson and the Los Angeles Lakers.

NEW VIDEO - Strength & Conditioning Article for Basketball

By Joe Haefner

If you are looking to improve explosivness and strength on the basketball court, take a look at this new article we just posted: 4 Strength & Conditioning Drills
for Basketball Players.

NEW Article: Developing a Team Covenant

By Joe Haefner

I’m a big believer in developing “synergy” within your teams in order to over achieve in season. One of the things we are doing this year at UW Stout is working on developing a “team covenant”–a set of ideas that each member of our squad agrees to do that will help us establish norms and positive attitudes.

Below is a list of “I CAN COMMIT” statements that we will be reviewing with our team.

For the rest of the article written by Larry Ronglien of UW Stout Men’s Basketball, visit Developing a Team Covenant.

Tips for Subbing With Youth Basketball Teams

By Joe Haefner

Check out this forum discussion on subbing for youth teams. There are some great subbing methods such as the “piece-meal” & “numbering” methods.

Subbing for Youth Teams

Here is the numbering system I used in the past:

1. I would assign a number to each player. If I had eight players, I would make sure that 1 & 2 was either a good ball handler and/or scorer. Then, I would do the same thing for 6&7. This way, you have a player who can score and/or handle the ball on the court at all times.

2. If we played 4 8-minute quarters, I would sub every 4 minutes.

3. I subbed for the next numbers in line. For example, if I had players 6,7, 8 on the bench. I would sub for 1,2,3. When I had 1,2,3 on the bench, I would sub for 4,5,6. When I had 4,5,6 on the bench, I would sub for 7,8,1. When I had 7,8,1 on the bench, I would sub for 2,3,4.

NEW Article: 3 Things You Can Learn From Football’s “WILDCAT” Offense

By Don Kelbick

Any of you who know me or have read my work, know I look at basketball differently than most. I am always looking at things in everyday life or in other sports and relating them to basketball to try and help me be a better teacher and coach.

I apologize to our readers who are unfamiliar with American football. Please try to understand the essence of these thoughts.

I hate to draw parallels from football. Football has become so technical that I think you can program “Rock-em-Sock-em” robots to play it. Jim Valvano, the late, great coach at Iona and North Carolina State, used to call football the “F” word and forbade anyone to say it in his presence. That’s quite a statement when you consider he was the athletic director as well

Be that as it may, I think we all can learn from the Miami Dolphins. Here in Miami, the Wildcat offense is a star. For anyone not familiar with the “Wildcat,” it is a formation and system of plays that has its roots back in offenses of the 1930’s and 1940’s.

For the rest of the article, visit: http://www.breakthroughbasketball.com/coaching/3-things-wildcat.html

New Article (VIDEOS) - Early Specialization & Playing Multiple Sports With Pete Carroll, Dom Starsia, and Bob Braman

By Joe Haefner

If you’ve been reading articles at Breakthrough Basketball for any length of time, you probably have heard us say that athletes at the youth level, and at least through the junior varsity level, need to stay involved in multiple sports to become better athletes.

Watch Videos and Read More

NEW Book - Pro Coach Reveals Simplified Process to Develop Post and Perimeter Players

By Jeff Haefner

We released a new Post Development and Footwork book with 2 SPECIAL offers only available THIS WEEK…

You can check out the new Book and special offers here:
http://www.breakthroughbasketball.com/pr/post-play.html

Those of you that have been follow us for a while know that we have never said anything like this before…

But for the first time, we must tell you that every single coach at every level should get this book for the footwork explanations alone.  The way Don Kelbick simplifies the complex art of post play and footwork is unparalleled.

The footwork (along with many of the concepts in the book) applies to all positions, not just the post.  And as you’ve probably heard from Don, Jeff, Joe, and many other coaches… FOOTWORK is arguably the most important skill for players to learn.

Yet, most coaches don’t understand what footwork really is or how to teach it…

Well, Don has illustrated and explained footwork and how to teach it brilliantly.  This is something that ALL coaches should learn.  We can’t emphasize enough how much we recommend that you learn Don’s unique ways to teach footwork.

This applies to youth coaches, point guards, female athletes, male athletes, and everyone.

So be sure to check out this new book and take advantage of the special offers you have available this week:

http://www.breakthroughbasketball.com/pr/post-play.html

Hard copies are now available.

Free PDF Report - “The Ultimate Guide to Motivating Players – 35 Ways to Keep Players Working Hard”

By Jeff Haefner

According to coaches that subscribe to our newsletter, one of the BIGGEST challenges they face is motivating players on a consistent basis!

We all know it can be extremely difficult to get players to stay focused and work hard the entire season.

Yet, player motivation can have a dramatic effect on your success…

By effectively motivating your players, they will learn MUCH faster, win more games, learn life lessons, improve skills faster, have more fun, and become better players & people.

Read More

Post Rules For Youth Motion Offense?

By Don Kelbick

QUESTION:

Your site is great and I’ve learned a lot from the motion ebook. Thanks.

I coach 5th grade boys and we’re 0-5. We started using the motion after the first game. The offense is still a mess, but we occasionally get a give and go for a layup that looks kinda like basketball. So while I’m extremely frustrated, I have to admit that we’re improving and the boys haven’t quit.

My only rule now is to basket cut after a pass if the point can’t pass to the wing. However, he just starts dribbling and turns it over. If the point does make the pass and the wing can’t pass it back to the point, he just starts dribbling and he turns it over. The result is usually a fast break for the other guys.

I’m looking for another rule and would specifically like to get the post guys involved in the offense. The rules I’ve seen all seem to be geared to the guards. Any rules for the post guys?

Also, do you have any thoughts on a set? We start in a 1-2-2 now, but that leaves a lot of real estate for the guards to cover against pressure and also seems to clog the lane if the give and go does work. I’m thinking of moving to a 1-3-1 and having the low post move to the weak side after a pass.

ANSWER:

The answers to your problems are child development issues not basketball issues. I would recommend that you find a couple more rules, such as what do you do if you can’t pass to the cutter and what do you do if you are the next receiver and can’t get the ball, but I think you may be missing the big picture.

You say to yourself, “some plays look like basketball,” and “the team is improving,” and the “kids are still playing hard,” and that is a result of coaching. You getting frustrated is the result of the score. I wonder how much of what the other teams do “Look like basketball,” or is it just kids on the other teams being able to do a couple of things individually. To stop that, work on defense and the game will even out. Also, in 5th grade, they shouldn’t post players, all the players should just be learning how to play.

The reason that the kids dribble and get it stolen is more a development issue than anything else. How good of a ballhandler can a 5th grader be? It has more to do with the way they perceive the world. Spacing, timing, speed, etc. are all things in life they need more experience at. There is a reason why young kids shouldn’t cross the street by themselves, because they don’t have enough life experience to determine how far away a car is, what speed it is traveling and how long it will take to get there. It is worse on a basketball court because it is all new experience and there is nothing in real life they can draw on.

If the kid is going to dribble, at least tell him where to go and forget about the offense. If you are going to put the ball on the floor, take a lay-up.

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