“Simple can be harder than complex: you have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple.” — Steve Jobs

Basketball players have never had access to more information.

Open social media and within five minutes, you can find 27 dribble moves, 14 finishes, and a dozen different ways to create space.

Yet when the game speeds up, many players still freeze.

The problem might not be that they need more moves.

The problem might be that we have given them too many things to think about.

Nearly a decade ago we met NBA skills trainer Don Kelbick. Don has worked with Olympic gold medalists, NBA All-Stars, NBA champions, elite shooters, and thousands of college, high school, and youth players.

And one of the things that impressed me most was not the number of moves he knew…

…It was how simple he made player development.

And that wasn’t easy!

Coach Kelbick says:

“Rather than teaching you 100 different moves, I will teach you 3 pivots and 3 counters and how to apply them in 100 different situations.”

That simple framework is the basis of Kelbick’s Attack & Counter Skill Development System.

That idea dramatically changed the way I look at teaching.

More Information Does Not Always Create More Learning

Coaches usually give players more information because we are trying to help.

“Get your feet set.”

“Stay low.”

“Keep your elbow in.”

“Finish higher.”

“Hold your follow-through.”

Every correction may be accurate. But asking a young player to process all of them at once can make learning more difficult.

In one basketball shooting study, children ages 8 to 10 received five technical instructions before every practice block and completed 240 shots. The players with greater working-memory capacity improved. However, the instructions negatively affected learning among the children with lower working-memory capacity.

The study does not mean we should stop coaching technique.

It suggests we should be careful about how much information we ask a player to process at one time.

Build a Small Vocabulary Players Can Use Everywhere

Don’s Attack & Counter system organizes an enormous number of basketball actions around three pivots — the front pivot, inside pivot, and drop step — and three counters — the step-through, inside pivot, and sweep.

The genius is not simply that there are six pieces of footwork.

It is that players learn to use those same pieces in different situations.

A drop step can be used to score in the post. It can help a perimeter player punish a defender who overplays the passing lane. It can create space when a defender is crowding the ball. It can also appear as part of a finishing move around the basket.

Instead of teaching four unrelated moves with four different names, you can show players that they already know the footwork. Only the situation has changed.

That builds confidence and speeds up learning.

Try the One-Cue Rule

The next time you teach a skill, give the player one primary correction:

• Stay low through the pivot.
• Show the shot before using the counter.
• Attack in a straight line.
• Put your body between the defender and the ball.

Let the player complete several repetitions before adding another detail.

Then ask the player to apply that same footwork from a different location or against a different defensive position.

The objective is not to make the game simplistic. Basketball will always be complex.

The objective is to give players a simple way to handle that complexity.

That is what great teachers do.

And it is often what great players do too.

They do not have 100 unrelated answers running through their minds. They recognize the situation, trust the footwork they have practiced, and act without hesitation.

That is one of the most valuable lessons I take away from Coach Don Kelbick, and it is the foundation of his Attack & Counter Skill Development System.

And it is a reminder to me that simple almost always beats complex!

Good luck!

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