One of our team’s core values is to “help others”. As a coach, you find lots of opportunities to reinforce this core value in practice and games… You can help your teammates by passing the ball in games, you can hustle to get rebounds in drills so you partner gets more shots, you can rotate […]
Trying New Drills – No Dribble is Still One of the Best
I’ve tried dozens of new drills this year with both our 4th graders and our 10th grade high school team. I plan to keep using several of them. I’ll start writing up the drills and sharing them with you soon. But I keep going back to a really simple drill that is still one of my […]
Coaches: What are your favorite drills for the HEAVY training ball?
I’m curious how other coaches are utilizing the Heavy Training Basketball. What drills do you like to use with the heavy ball? Let me know in the comments below.
Do Your Players Waste Time Before Practice? Give Them a Routine to Improve Skills
Do your players tend to take circus shots and mess around before practice? Typically, I find that 80% of our players talk and mess around…. while one or two players are doing something productive like practicing their form shooting. To solve the problem, I gave our team a routine to go through if they get to […]
Day 3 – 4th Grade Basketball Practice Plan (Had a Great Practice!)
We had a great practice with our 4th grade girls team last night! One of the best practices we’ve ever had. Here’s the practice plan… Go over core values. Form shooting with left hand (1 min) Form shooting with right hand (1 min) Footwork, lay ups, and shooting – spin outs (12 minutes… 1 min for […]
Video – The Race to Nowhere in Youth Sports
This is a great video that all coaches and parents of athletes should watch. I have shared the article version of this topic in the past — but the video expands on the article and is a must watch…
New “High Five” Twist to a 1on1 Drill That I Really Like
I found a new twist for a 1 on 1 combo drill that I really like. It’s called High Five 1 on 1. We used to run a similar drill except the lines were usually around the baseline. I really like the “high five” twist because it provides several benefits. It’s so simple. The “high […]
New Drill and Basketball Training Aid — The Sweep Stick
Here’s an interesting new training aid and drill to help your players protect the ball and develop the habit of “sweeping” it: http://www.breakthroughbasketball.com/drills/sweep-stick-layup.html
Youth Sports Specialization – How to Decide “IF” or “WHEN” Your Child Should Specialize
Here’s a good article I found about youth sports specialization. This is highly recommended reading for youth coaches and parents: The article give you an objective look at specializing in sports and what you should consider. In particular I like the distinction between “early specialization” and “late specialization” sports… “The relative desirability of specialization depends […]
The Effects of Positive Coaching
For those interested in brain science as it relates to coaching, here’s an interesting research finding from Case Western: http://blog.case.edu/think/2010/11/15/coaching_with_compassion_can_alight_upa_human_thoughts