How to Avoid Squandering Your Greatest Resources - Volunteer Assistant Coaches

By JimBado

If your team is like most, you’ll have parents willing to help you. Some parents will be able to make every practice and game; others only some. Some will understand basketball; others will be clueless. No matter who they are, how you use them, to a great extent, will determine how well your team performs.

The worst thing you can do: squander adult volunteers’ time, knowledge and skills. If you’re a control freak who must manage and run every aspect of practices and games, do your volunteers a favor and tell them you don’t need their help (even though you do). Why? Because adult volunteers want to be active and involved; nothing is worse for them than standing around with nothing to do. Failure to give your helpers meaningful roles where they can deploy their knowledge and skills (some may know more about the sport than you) is a sure way to create frustrated, disappointed adult volunteers.

The good news: with a little foresight and planning, you can get a lot out of your volunteers. And, even better, the adults will enjoy being “used”. Assistants, in fact, are a lot like players, you need to keep them busy. One of the simplest and easiest ways to get the most from your volunteers is running stations in practice.

To run stations, follow these simple steps:

1) Split your squad into 2, 3, or 4 relatively even groups

2) Pick a fundamental skill to practice at each station

3) Assign an assistant to run each station

4) Rotate the players every 3-5 minutes among the stations (you will keep track of time)

5) Get the heck out of the way!

Splitting your squad into smaller groups benefits both your players and your volunteers. In station work, players get many repetitions of a fundamental skill. Since they run the station, your adult volunteers will share their knowledge with the team and work closely with all the players. Will your volunteers always teach a skill the exact way you would have? Of course not, but, remember, you’re a youth league coach – just like your assistants – not Duke’s Coach K.

Here’s a three-station example (3-5 minutes at each station, then rotate, 15-20 minutes total):

1) One basket: v-cut, catch pass from coach or another player, shoot jump shot

2) Up and down both sidelines: defensive slide/turn the dribbler (dribble against pressure)

3) Other basket: roll ball to shooter/defender runs to guard shooter and boxes-out/rebounds

If you follow this approach, your players will practice v-cuts, shooting, defensive slides, dribbling against pressure and boxing out multiple times over the quarter hour. As a youth coach, you’re always pressed for time: stations help you get the most out of your limited time. In some of our practices, we run two different sets of stations to keep the team and volunteers all busy.

There’s no limit to what you can practice in stations. You could do lay-ups, machine-gun passing and crossover/change of pace/speed dribbling. You could split your team in half where one group works on footwork drills while the other plays dribble knockout. No matter how you split them, you’ll receive the same benefits: multiple repetitions of fundamental skills while everyone stays active and involved.

Remember, your enemies are idle, bored players and, also, idle, bored volunteers. If you keep your assistants busy leading valuable station work, they will enjoy volunteering. And, even better, your team will be more successful as a result of their active participation.

You can find more articles from Jim Bado that are usually non-basketball related at the LOSER Report.

For more youth coaching tips, drills, plays, offense tips, defense tips, and much more, visit our Youth Basketball Coaching Home Page.

4 Things You Can Learn From State Competition

By Jeff Haefner

I don’t know about you but I watched quite a few of the state playoff games in Iowa recently.  I noticed a few things we could all learn from.  I’m sure if you watched in other states you noticed the same things happened all across the country.

Every team that made it far in the state tournament and into the championship rounds had GREAT guards!  (Duh)   They usually had good inside players too - but every single team had TWO, THREE, FOUR, or even FIVE really good guards that could handle the ball and control the game.

I noticed these guards were very well schooled and could do 4 things extremely well…

1 - They could handle the ball with either hand effortlessly going at any speed.  You could tell they spent a lot of time working on their feel and control of the ball.

2 - They changed speed beautifully keeping the defense off balance and controlling the game.  They constantly used a variety of speeds, not just slow and fast.

3 - They used the back up dribble consistently to get out of trouble, keep their dribble alive, keep the defense off balance, create good passing angles, and control the game.

4 - They used change of direction cross-over moves skillfully and effortlessly keeping the defense off balance, penetrating at will, getting where they want, and controlling the game.  They almost always changed speed when they made the cross over dribble and change of direction.

It was a beautiful thing to watch these skilled guards play at such a high level and control the game.  It is no coincidence that you see these skills at such a high level.

As a coach, you are NUTS if you’re not proactively developing these skills with your players.  And not just the point guard!  You need at least three players on your team (and preferably more) that can do all those skills above.  It’s not rocket science.  It just takes practice.

Use the off season to develop these skills and maybe at some point you’ll find your team at the state tournament too.

2010 SUMMER WORKOUT SEASON PART 4

By Don Kelbick

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2010

This will probably be the last entry of this summer’s training season. Most of the players are at their training camp, some seasons have actually started. Right now we are down to Raja Bell and Rob Hite. Raja leaves for Utah on Sunday. I am going to continue to work with Rob until he signs somewhere.

Rob is someone I had as a rookie. He is a graduate of University of Miami (2006) and played for the Miami Heat as an undrafted free agent. He is a hard worker and made the roster out of nowhere. After a year with the Heat, he played a bit for the Nets. Last year he was invited to training camp with the Spurs but broke his hand and could not go. He has played the rest of those seasons in Europe and has been pretty productive. Sometime soon he will be back in somebody’s camp.

Rob and Raja make good workout partners because they both work on the same things. Rob is about 6-2 and is an “other worldly” athlete, even by NBA standards, and a very good long range shooter. He has a major ball handling weakness which is probably the reason he is struggling to stay in the league. His shooting at times is very streaky, when he is good, he is really good, when he is bad, he misses horribly. I attribute that to an inconsistent rhythm when he shoots. In one drill I counted 8 different types of footwork in 1 twenty-shot drill. It is tough to be consistent that way.

To stick in the NBA, you don’t have to be good at everything.  When you are young, just find one thing that your team needs and hang your hat on it. Raja did it with defense and grew to be a reliable scorer. Rob has yet to find his niche. I think he should either strive to be a defensive stopper or be another Eddie House, instant offense. On days you’re good - you play, if not - you don’t.

We have cut back on the days we work out but have upped the intensity. We strive for 400 shots per day, per player. There is a lot of ball handling into shots and a quite a bit of aerobic work as we create a lot of shots off the run. To combine both aspects, there is a premium on getting the ball on the move and making 2-dribble moves.

It has been a very good workout season. With the occasional college player that we have thrown in, I think we have helped a dozen players.

I hope they all have great years.

To view coaching products from Don Kelbick, go to Don Kelbick Products.

For more information on Don Kelbick, go to www.DonKelbickBasketball.com.

2010 Summer Workout Season - Part 3

By Don Kelbick

Tuesday August 24, 2010

It’s funny how things go. Most of the summer I have been pretty busy. Every day at least 2 groups kept me busy from 8 in the morning until at least noon, non-stop.

Now it is time to play. Anthony King has left for Cyprus, Jonathan Rodriguez left for the Dominican Republic, Guillermo Diaz has left to play for Puerto Rico in the World Championships and then will go on to Italy. Others have left to other parts of the world. I am left with 2 guys, Raja Bell and Keenan Browder. That’s ok, because now we can really concentrate on specific needs.

We have transitioned from volume shooting to more specific techniques. We still take a lot of shots but we have moved on to things such as reading screens, spot up shots off penetration, reading defenders in the post, etc. Most of the trigger movements come out of Raja’s role in Utah’s offense.

Keenan has some significant minor league professional experience and we are trying to make a higher level opportunity for him. He has really benefited from Raja’s experience and advice. He can really shoot the ball and hopefully we can add enough to his game to get him a chance.

Another player who is off to play is Ralfy Portuando. I don’t write about him because he is not a professional. But, he is the person whom I am most proud of. Ralfy came to me as a 15 -year old part time HS player. He is the definition of a gym rat. Every day he would call and ask if we could work out. We would do a 6 am workout before he went to school. His work ethic earned him a spot as a dedicated workout partner for Raja and Rasual Butler. Imagine a HS player who didn’t get much playing time turning into a mandatory piece in a workout plan for NBA players. They just would not work out without him.

He must have paid attention. He went on to play a year in Junior College and now, he is on the way to play at Florida State. The kid who did not know what to do to get himself playing time in HS has worked his way into playing in the top conference in college, the ACC.

Pretty special kid.

To view coaching products from Don Kelbick, go to Don Kelbick Products.

For more information on Don Kelbick, go to www.DonKelbickBasketball.com.

2010 Summer Workout Season - Part 2

By Don Kelbick

Sunday, August 1, 2010

Workouts are going well. This week we were greeted with some good news.

Anthony King, who was selected as MVP of his league in Cyprus, has resigned in Cyprus. After spending some time this summer with the Heat and hoping for an NBA break, he decided to accept an offer that doubles his salary. Anthony is now the highest paid player in the league.

Denis Clemente, who spent time this summer with the Charlotte Bobcats and played summer league for them, has signed a 2 year contract with Maccabi Rishon in Israel.

Workouts are going in 2 groups. My emphasis on footwork and the way the workouts are structured, allow me to work with players of different positions and ability levels at the same time. Jonathon Rodriguez has been working on increasing his arc and his footwork. He seems to be coming along. He has much better rhythm in his shot, due to the footwork and the increased arc has allowed him to stretch his range. Whether he can do it in competition remains to be seen. When confronted by stress, we invariably revert to what is comfortable for us. He needs a lot more repetitions to ingrain the changes he has made.

Anthony King is a great example of that. He has increased his range a good 5 feet and is now comfortable a big step behind the 3 point circle. His footwork has been solid since we started working 3 years ago, and now, I no longer have to say anything to him regarding the height of his shots. The results have been impressive.

Raja Bell continues to work to recapture his playing form. In the past, he has come with a shopping list of things he wants to improve. But, after missing almost the entire season last year, he feels that he needs to recapture his intensity and conditioning. Workouts that in the past covered specific things are now more universal, combining a number of skills at once. And every drill involves a cardio aspect to challenge his conditioning.

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Workouts are significantly more intense and challenging than they were just a couple of weeks ago. Players need to be rounding into better shape now so there are more repetitions and less breaks during the course of the workouts. They are not longer workouts (I try to keep them under an hour and 15 minutes) but there is much more work in each one. Training camp for European players starts much earlier than here in the States. Anthony King leaves Sunday for Cyprus, Guiilermo Diaz leaves for Italy on August 23.

Guillermo Diaz is recovering from a deeply pulled groin muscle that hampered him in Italy and in the tail end of his Puerto Rican season. He is just now returning to form. He has played in the NBA with the Clippers and the Bobcats but feels he can carve out a great career in Italy, so instead of trying to catch on with another team, he is committed to becoming an Italian favorite. Always a great shooter, if he can stay healthy, he will become that.

Jonathon Rodriguez continues to come along. Corrections have become less and less in regard to his footwork and shot. I am now concentrating on trying to have him become more efficient but moving in straight lines and eliminating any drift in his shot. Slowly but surely, he is stretching his range, which he must do to have success at the next level.

I have begun to introduce some competitive work into the workouts with the second group. I don’t usually do that. Because Raja Bell missed most of last year, he wants to work on his instincts and recognition. So, we play some 2 on 2, starting with some type of pro action (zipper cut, ball screen, etc.) and play a few games. After that, we do a lot of pure shot repetitions. Before we play, the work is very heavily cardio intensive. Before we play, within about 40 minutes, we try to get about 250 shots per player with a 3 man group. Afterwards, we try to get in about 100 shots more.

Carlos Arroyo is once again in Puerto Rico training with the National Team as team captain. They will be playing in the World Championships in Turkey at the end of August

To view coaching products from Don Kelbick, go to Don Kelbick Products.

For more information on Don Kelbick, go to www.DonKelbickBasketball.com.

2010 Summer Workout Season - Part 1

By Don Kelbick

The Summer training season is in full swing.

So far this summer we have worked with Raja Bell, Anthony King, Brian Waters with Guillermo Diaz and Denis Clemente due in shortly. Other regulars, such as Rasual Butler and Carlos Arroyo have not been in yet due to scheduling conflicts and might be in to get ready for training camp.

I am very selective with whom I work with. I work very hard and appreciate the way all these guys work.

Raja is in a free agent summer. As usual, he comes with a laundry list of things he wants to improve on. After so many years of playing with Phoenix and being a designated shooter, he wants to improve on his game off the dribble. This is a different summer for him, not only being a free agent but also because he missed most of last year with a torn tendon in his wrist. He is 100% now, in great shape. I hope he signs with someone who has a chance to win. He will be out for 3 days this week as he meets with the Lakers and the Bulls.

Anthony King is one of my favorite people. Not a big scorer in college, his offensive game had really come a long way. He played last year in Cypress where he was the 4th leading scorer and leading rebounder in the league. I think that we need to expand his game a bit. At 6’ 9” and 240 pounds he is a big undersized for his skill set. I made a small adjustment in his shot and now his shooting range has increased dramatically. My hope is that he carries the adjustment to the foul line. Last season he shot 68% from the foul line. Based on the number of foul shots he took, if he can move his percentage up to 80%, which is not unreasonable for him, he would be first in both scoring and rebounding. He must be doing something right because he has been invited to summer workouts with the Miami Heat.

Brian Waters played at Elon College in North Carolina. He is a great athlete and really quick. He was not really a heralded player in college and I want him to be ready when someone calls to give him a chance.

Denis Clemente is coming off a great senior year at Kansas State in is currently in the summer program with the Charlotte Hornets. I hope he plays well enough to get an invite to training camp.

Guillermo Diaz played with the LA Clippers and is now making a great career in Europe. He has had opportunities to go back to the NBA but prefers the stability he has found as one of the best players in Italy.

Friday, July 20, 2010

This was a pretty good week of workouts. The week started with Raja Bell missing Monday due to the fact that he was in Utah to sign his 3 year guaranteed contract. It reflects the respect NBA people have for him. While not for huge dollars, by NBA standards ($10 million), the fact that he will be 34 years old in September and all 3 years are guaranteed is very unusual for a player of his age playing his position. When he returned from Utah, his work ethic was unaffected. I will match his work ethic against anyone.

We also learned that Anthony King was named Most Valuable Player in his league in Cyprus. He had been working out with the Heat but is now back in our workouts. He may not be able to pass up the offer that has been extended in Cyprus.

Jonathan Rodriguez has joined us. Jonathan just graduated from Campbell University. He finished his career as one of the few players in NCAA Div. I history to score 2000 points and grab 1000 rebounds. He is 6’6” and the challenge with him will be to expand his game by improving his ball handling and increasing his shooting range. At his size he will be a full time perimeter player at his next level. He will face quickness that he has not faced before. In addition, he has to be able to stretch defenses. I’ve made a small adjustment in his shot that will result in more arc, which will increase his range. It has paid immediate results. Hopefully he can carry it over to competition.

To view coaching products from Don Kelbick, go to Don Kelbick Products.

For more information on Don Kelbick, go to www.DonKelbickBasketball.com.

Should You Remove Competition When Teaching?

By Joe Haefner

Here is an excerpt from the FAQ section of the Post Player Development book by Don Kelbick.

What about practicing post moves with a defense? I’ve read that players need less 1-on-0 and more 1-on-1 and situational drills. Once they have a base for some moves, they need to practice those moves against competition. Otherwise, they won’t develop the “feel” of when to make the right moves. Why wasn’t that addressed?

I am completely on the opposite side here. I think players need more 1-on-0 work and less 1-on-1. I don’t believe in competitive teaching. I don’t teach reading the defense. I teach action and counter. There is no right move, there is only what you do well. 90 percent is mentality. The information in this book is exactly what I teach. Then I just send them out to play.

Now you’re probably wondering why I don’t believe in competitive teaching and reading the defense. Even though my feelings on this are too extensive to cover here, I’ll try to address some of my thoughts.

My philosophy has developed over 30 years of coaching in both team and individual situations. I combine that with three degrees in Education. I say that not to blow my own horn or to minimize anyone else, but to emphasize that it is not an arbitrary method.

I believe that to be an effective teacher you have to remove stress from the classroom. I don’t believe in negative reinforcement, running for mistakes, placing penalties for missed shots or turnovers, or winners and losers in teaching situations. All that adds to the stress level of the players you are trying to develop. A basic effect of stress is that it narrows the perceptual field. It limits what the player is able to see, and how they form perceptions.

When you are a big picture teacher, as I am, anything that prevents the players from seeing all the possibilities or puts them in a position to fear failure, as competition does, would be counter productive. I have seen situations where players fail over and over again because they are working out against a better player. That affects self-image and retards development. I have also seen players take advantage of lesser players and never fail. This gives them a false sense of accomplishment and when they fail in a game, it is a hard fall.

I put my competition into scrimmages where they actually have to play and do the things they practice. Admittedly, it goes slow at first but then the curve becomes very steep. I don’t teach reading the defense. Having a defense there so it forces a particular turn does not fit with my philosophy. Shooting over a hand or having to deal with contact are moot points because I try to build an act and counter mentality to the position. I also really push the mentality that shooting is all rhythm. So, getting a shot blocked, bothered or shooting with contact doesn’t matter because I want to ignore those things and just concentrate on rhythm.

In practice, not using competition in your teaching allows for a better pace of learning, more consistent situations, less dropped passes, less bad passes, more skill intensity and better self image.

And then there is the biggest issue; if a player can’t get on the floor they can’t improve or help you. If I had one hair on my head for all the players that got hurt in competitive drills and had to sit out practices or games I would have more hair than the ex-Governor of Illinois (I can’t even say his name properly, no less spell it, but I do know he had a lot of hair). An injury in a game or scrimmage is acceptable. But an injury in a teaching situation is tough to defend. To say they need to knock heads to become better when it knocks them out instead is not acceptable.

Practice Players Versus Game Players - Why Do Some Play Better/Worse In Games?

By Don Kelbick

Question:

Why do some players look so good in tryouts/practice but totally become invisible during a game, while some look average in tryouts/practice but then go kick butt during a real game? How can I decipher through this during tryouts/practice to choose the best game players? Thank you.

Answer:

What you are asking about is one of the challenges of coaching and there is very little you can do about it.

Firstly, let’s look at basketball tryouts. What is it that you do in the tryouts? How long do they last? How many days? If you are running one of those one day tryouts where players are on the court for 10 minutes and then they are done, you are working with a very small sample size. Have you ever had a bad 10 minutes on the court yourself, maybe gone 0-5 from the floor in your 10 minutes. If that is the only time someone will look at you, they will think you can’t shoot. They won’t see (or care) when you hit your next 32 shots in a row because they weren’t in your tryout time.

Players who shine during practice but not in games usually have one of two (or both) issues. One is talent. When playing in practice against his teammates, he might be more evenly matched with his opponent because, as a coach, you are trying to make practices competitive. You construct your competitions by finding players that are evenly matched so they are challenged but can experience some success. In a game you don’t have that luxury. He might be simply playing against a better player in a game.

More than likely, though, his problem is self image and confidence. Practice is a very comfortable atmosphere where there are more knowns than unknowns. That comfort breeds confidence and better play. In a game, where all the situations are different and the competition is a mystery, poor self image and doubt control the situation. It also has a tendency to snowball. If you don’t understand what is happening, think about how confused your player is. You have to be very careful how you handle this situation. Once he starts believing he can’t do it, he can spiral downwards and never become an effective player.

In regard to the second situation where a player is hidden during practice and plays well in games, again, there might be two issues. One is he might be bored in practice. You have to find different ways to focus him and to teach him the value of practice, even if he feels he isn’t challenged.

The second situation is simple, players play better with good players. In practice, everyone gets on the court. In games, theoretically only the better players get to play at the higher levels of basketball. It could be possible that his game is helped by the other players. Getting the ball at the right time in the right spots, having other threats on the floor to occupy the defense would even make my game better.

As far as how can you decipher as to what players will do in games, become a coach and guess with the rest of us.

The Player’s Point Of View (They Like Defense Too!?)

By Joe Haefner

Here is another guest post from our friend Coach Ken Sartini.

This is a response from one of his former players about his favorite things playing for Coach Sars.

• Playing against 6 defenders.
• Defense footwork drills. These built endurance and desire to play D!
• Working on running our fastbreak lanes.
• Help side defense. Learning how to play up the line.
• Having knowledge of what our opponent was going to do so we can prepare with repetition on how we will run our sets in games. EX: the GNB game (they were ranked #8 in the State at the time) we executed that game plan perfectly both offense and defense. The way we practiced was how we played the game…… We were always more prepared than the other team.
• I think the way we practiced…ALWAYS HARD…. Made us have that same mentality in games, very important!

To be honest, everything we did in practice had a direct correlation to our games, we had no wasted time.

New Article: Do You Yell At Referees?

By Joe Haefner

Check out the new article called Do You Yell At Referees?