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One of the biggest frustrations of coaching is when you have skilled yet timid players with no confidence.

You know if they were more assertive and aggressive, they would help your team win more games. They might even turn into one of your best players.

I believe I have the solution to this problem. I’ve seen players transform quite quickly….these same timid players turn into aggressive and assertive players.

My “ah-ha” moment happened nearly a decade ago.

We hosted a local basketball camp with Don Kelbick, so he could show us his Attack & Counter Skill Development System.

In two days, I saw Don take a kid named Cody that lacked confidence and transformed him into an aggressive, assertive player. We’ll get back to this story and how Don did this in a second.

But first let me explain who Don Kelbick is… if you already know Don, you can just skip down to the next section.

Who is Don Kelbick?

Prior to the camp, when I first read and listened to Don’s principles within his Attack & Counter System, I’m going to be truthful… I thought it sounded a bit strange because it went against conventional coaching. At the same time, I was intrigued.

And Don has a pedigree. He coached for over 20 years at the college level. He’s also trained numerous NBA players...

• Raja Bell who was initially undrafted and turned into a 12-year NBA vet and one of the top 3-point shooters in NBA history. He’s ranked 23rd in 3-point shooting percentage for NBA/ABA history.
  
• Bruce Bowen who was a defensive specialist, NBA champion, and also developed into an elite 3-point shooter. He led the NBA in 3-point shooting percentage in the 2002-03 season.
  
• Joe Johnson who is a 7-time NBA All Star and Olympic Gold Medalists.

And he’s trained other players like NBA champion JJ Barea, Rasual Butler, Omri Casspi, Tim Hardaway, and more.

So I thought I would listen.

Never did I think that what I saw that weekend would completely change the way I teach the game… for the better.

Back to Cody’s transformation into an aggressive, confident player...

I didn’t know Cody before the camp. However, I quickly realized that Cody was very easy to like. He worked hard, looked you in the eyes when you spoke to him, and did little polite things like opening doors for you. So it was easy to root for Cody.

After some conversations, I found out that Cody played on the 2nd team for a local elite AAU team. His friend Tyler, also at the camp, had always been on the first team.

On their school team, Tyler was the star. Cody was a role player off the bench.

After two days, Don made it look like Cody was the star.

You could even see that Tyler was a little taken back during a one-on-one drill on the second day.

After a quick, aggressive move by Cody that ended in “And 1”, you could see it on Tyler’s face. His eyes got big, eyebrows lifted up, and he said, “Whoa. Nice move, man.”

And this wasn’t a lucky play. It was happening over and over again.

And you could see it in Cody's body language. The first day he walked around with a slightly sunken posture when competing against the better players. The last day he was walking tall with his shoulders back. He was playing confident and looked confident.

On the last day of the training, I remember Don talking to Cody on the sidelines. Don said to him, "You've never been able to take it to Tyler like that before. Have you?"

Cody replied with a big ole' grin... "Nope."

Don just said, “You sure can now.”

From that moment on... I knew we needed to share Don's system with the basketball world.

How Don Transformed Cody

While this is simplified and I recommend seeing this in person, this is basically what Don does...

• Removes fear of failure.
  
  He tells players that basketball is not a game of perfect. He gives examples of some of the best players in the game missed more shots than they made. He lets them know that the only way to improve is to make mistakes and get outside your comfort zone.
  
  
  
• Simplifies the mental game and speeds up decision-making.
  
  He does through his “Think Shot” mentality and mapping.
  
  
  
• Teaches players the importance of attacking immediately.
  
  In addition to mapping, this removes indecision and speeds up reaction time. This allows you to take advantage of the defense being out of position.
  
  
  
• Teaches counter moves that help players take advantage of where the help defense is typically located.
  
  His counter moves take the player away from the defense. There are fewer defenders and they have to cover more ground. This gives the offense more success.
  
  
  
• Steers players towards success...
  
  Don steers players towards shots and moves that result in higher percentage shots. Success breeds confidence. Confidence breeds more success.
  
  
  
• Getting in thousands of repetitions.
  
  Don believes that you improve through repetition. You improve your skill set and your moves become instinctual which makes you quicker on the court.
  
  He also does with coaching cues that make players better as they’re doing the drill.
  
  
  
• Don teaches you how to be great with your feet.
  
  Your feet are the foundation for everything you do in basketball… shooting, ball handling, triple threat moves, ball handling moves, moving without the ball, etc.
  
  He shows how certain movements with your feet happen over and over again… just with different situations on the floor. He’s able to teach NBA-level moves to 5th graders because he’s mastered simplifying and connecting footwork.

Here are some articles and videos that explain these concepts in more detail.

How To Accelerate and Simplify Player Development To Win More Games

This Instantly Improves Decision-Making, Aggressiveness, & Makes You a Better Scorer

The Most Dangerous LIE In Basketball?

This Secret To Counter Moves Improves Shooting Percentages & Offensive Efficiency

How This Surprising 79% NBA Study Can Dramatically Improve Your Drills, Practices, and Workouts

The Best Way To Get Your Players (or Children) To Rapidly Improve Like Cody

Quite simply, attend his camps first. After that, watch his videos.

Personally, I don’t know why… but his concepts didn’t resonate with me completely until I assisted with one of his camps. Well, they resonated quite well and I’ve attended about a dozen of his camps. And I’m continuously picking something up new.

So if you’re a coach, if you’re a parent who works with their children, if you have a team of players, if you have children who play basketball, attend the Attack & Counter Basketball Camps.

The worst case is that you pick up better ways to teach footwork, shooting, ball handling and finishing. The best case is that you also completely change your approach to the mental game like I did.

Then if you’re a believer like me and many other coaches and players… you buy his videos and review them periodically.

Register soon...7 of his 12 Attack & Counter Camps are already sold out or just have a few spots left.

Also, if you could get 60+ players to come to a camp, you can inquire about fundraising and hosting a camp.

What do you think? Let us know by leaving your comments, suggestions, and questions...

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