You're Never Too Small...Or Too Big

Many players seem to be obsessed with displaying and improving their leaping prowess. In the sixth and seventh grades, I couldn't jump high enough to touch the backboard. I wasn't concerned, as were my basketball-playing peers, because I was focused on skill development.

I was almost always the smallest player on the court. I was slapped with the label of being too small to excel in a sport dominated by taller, bigger opponents. I wasn't discouraged, in fact, I felt that this gave me a tremendous strategic advantage, I was underestimated by my opponents. They would take one look at me and chuckle to themselves, thinking that they were in for an easy time on the court against me.

I decided that I would mentally approach my size as an advantage. I turned the classic small-player limitations inside-out. My goal was to make my opponents wish, by the end of the game, that they were playing against a larger, taller player. I was quick, I could handle the ball, I could penetrate, I could shoot, I could play defense, and as long as I was "out in space" I had the advantage. I didn't allow other people's opinions limit me. I knew that height doesn't limit ball handling ability, or relative strength, or physical conditioning. Height doesn't determine how well you can shoot the ball. I worked on the areas that I could control and didn't worry about the areas that I couldn't.

The same mentality is true for the taller, larger player. Don't allow your height to limit your ball handling skills, or your shooting skills, or your conditioning. Work on your footwork and body control. Expand your mind. Learn to think the game as a point guard. Don't use your size as an excuse, regardless of how much-or how little-God gave you.

David D Comes to Improve...

I have been conducting basketball skill improvement sessions for over 8 years, and during this time I have worked with hundreds of players, from middle school up through and including professional players. I always follow the same process: conduct an evaluation of the players' skill level, review the evaluation with the player and set some goals, make a plan, start working to improve, review and repeat. Players come and players go.

David D came into the gym over two years ago, as an 11-year old player. I noted, among other things, that he was explosive and had good ball handling skills, but, he needed to work on his body control, had some poor visual habits, and needed to refine/correct his shooting mechanics. I have made similar observations about hundreds of players. David, however, was different.

David is now 13 years old, and when I look back at the video that I captured during his first session, I am amazed at the difference. He has improved dramatically in every area. The refinement of his shooting mechanics really jumps out, he now has an efficient one-piece shot that he is very accurate with. He can shoot off of the dribble or the catch. You don't have to be an expert to see the difference. How has David made these improvements? What is the secret?

David D comes into the gym, for each and every session, with one purpose. He comes to improve. He is focused. He is ready to work. He maintains a high energy level and he pushes himself on every repetition, of every drill. David is not afraid to work on areas that he is not already proficient in, he has a growth mindset. He wants to improve, and he is willing to pay the price to do so. He works on his game in between our sessions, and this is one of the keys to his improvement. David has the mental skills necessary to succeed. This is rare.

David recently attended the Duke basketball camp, along with 700+ kids with basketball dreams. I asked him how he did, and when he told me that he won the free throw contest for the entire camp, I wasn't surprised. David didn't just go up to Duke for fun, or for the experience, although those were important elements. He went to learn. He went to compete. He went to improve.

Motivation and Improvement

It almost always begins with a phone call: "Hello. My son (or daughter) wants to become a better basketball player. Can you work with them to help them to improve?" The caller usually then goes on and on about the accomplishments of their child, for example, how many points that they scored in their last game, and how much potential they have. I listen politely, ask a few questions, and then schedule the initial evaluation.

The collaborative process is: Evaluate the current skill level, set goals, make a plan, and work to improve. Repeat. I find that usually the players and parents are very excited, and motivated, initially. However, after they realize that this is a long-term process, and that it takes a high level of self-motivation and attention to detail, the enthusiasm wanes. I explain that this is the reality of improvement, and that I don't have a magic wand.

The players who are driven intrinsically, and who focus on the process of improvement and not the product, are the ones who stay with it. This 'stick-with-it-ness" is a key to long-term improvement, yet, it is very rare. Of course, this is exactly why so few players achieve their true potential. This has been proven again and again with research, such as the work by K. Anders Ericsson, who has written extensively about Expertise and the role of Deliberate Practice.

In the words of Coach John Wooden, "Confidence comes from being prepared." I can't give a player confidence, it has to be earned. Hard work during the off-season is the best way to improve your individual skills. Look in the mirror, make an honest self-evaluation, set some goals, make a plan and start practicing. Then, stick with it.

The Trap is Set

I am not a coach, at least not in the traditional use of that term. I am a Player Development Specialist. I focus on helping individual players improve. I consider myself first and foremost a teacher, and the players that I work with are my students. Current and former students include junior high and high school players as well as college and professional players, including P.J Brown of the world-champion Boston Celtics and Greg Monroe of Georgetown University.

I am now the Program Director at Above the Rim Gym, a state-of-the-art facility in Madisonville, Louisiana. This position has allowed me the opportunity to colloborate with various All-Star and AAU teams and their coaches. These coaches are volunteers, guys who are fathers of players on these teams, guys with full-time jobs in "the real world." Initially I was asked to help with improving each players' individual fundamental skills, such as shooting and ball handling, but, as time has gone by I have become involved in helping with overall team offensive and defensive tactics and strategies.

The offense that I have always been interested in is "the motion offense." The philosopy of the motion fits my philosophy of basketball: share the ball, move, maintain spacing and court balance, and work to develop each players' overall "game" instead of limiting players to narrow roles as much as possible. This is especially important with young players.

One of the tools that I am using to expand my knowledge (limited) of how to teach the motion is a Bob Huggins video, The Cut and Fill Motion Offense. Coach Huggins makes a great point in this video, (actually he makes many great points), when he says that "if you run sets, players get good at running sets, if you run motion, they become good at reading the defense, thus instead of running basketball plays they learn to play basketball."

Many youth coaches teach a few set plays, then they instruct their players to run these plays over and over, until they are good at running them. This is a short-term approach, it looks good at first and then when the set doesn't work or the defense adjusts, the players don't know what to do. Teaching the motion offense is the opposite, the players struggle at first because they are so used to running set plays, however, as they learn the concepts of the motion they are learning how to read the defense, how to set up the defender, and thus they learn how to play basketball. This should be the goal of every coach, become a better teacher so that your players learn how to play basketball. Focusing on this process, ironically, will produce a great product: a team that if fun to coach with players who are learning to play basketball.

Tiger Re-Tooled His Swing

Players are very protective about "their" shot. The shot seems to be directly connected to a player's ego in a way that other skills aren't. I have helped many players improve their shooting mechanics over the years and I have learned that the psychological details are probably more important than the physical ones.

If a player wants to improve his shot, he or she should keep these points in mind:

1. It takes 21 straight days to create a new habit, so be patient.

2. You often have to be willing to go backwards short-term to improve long-term.

3. You will have to sacrifice some range/distance initially as you work to change and improve

your shot.

4. Take advantage of expert coaching/teaching. Check credentials, be wary of self-proclaimed

gurus or some guy on the playground.

Preaching vs Teaching

I remember quite well an experience that I had as a rookie PE teacher. I had just delivered what I thought was a great introductory lecture on the material that the class would be covering. Then, I asked a series of questions to gauge how well the class had listened. Not one student had any real understanding of what I had just said. I was stunned and disappointed. Then, I saw a hand shoot up. Great, I thought, someone with some insight. The student's question: "Mr. Saylor, why is that light in the corner brighter than the other lights?" OK, maybe I had better start this class over.
I had to find a better way to communicate the information to my students. The usual reaction is to blame the students: they aren't listening, they are not focused, etc. The reality is, if you aren't presenting the information in an interesting and memorable manner, at the correct level, using the appropriate language, the students aren't going to "get it" and this is not their fault.
I was at a basketball clinic once, and after one of the coaches gave a spirited talk about the next drill/activity that would be conducted, I asked the group of young players a series of questions to assess their understanding. Not one player knew what the word "scrimmage" meant. They didn't know understand the phrase "flash to the post." I covered most of the key basketball terms used and they didn't know what most of them meant. They basically didn't comprehend the majority of the coaches' talk, but, they didn't want to appear to be "dumb" so they didn't ask any questions for clarification.
The point is, be very aware of your players' level of understanding and knowledge of the game of basketball. Ask questions. Don't assume that they know what you are talking about. Basketball has its own language and many young players haven't established their hoops vocabulary yet. The next time that you notice that they aren't following your directions, make certain that you "taught what you thought." Take a look in the mirror and assess your teaching skills.

Moses!

I had the opportunity to play against the great Moses Malone in a high school All-Star game. He was a 6'11" high school phenom who went on to become the first player to go directly from high school into professional basketball. He started out in the ABA, then moved into the NBA where he became one of the greatest players ever.
Moses was known for his rebounding prowess, and I was able to watch him up close and personal as we went through practice sessions and scrimmages in preparation for the game. He wasn't loud or demonstrative, in fact, he rarely said a word. He didn't have a great "build" and he wasn't extremely explosive as a jumper. Yet, he was a rebounding machine. How did he manage to outrebound more athletic players?
He worked constantly to gain inside position. He had a tremendous "knack" for anticipating where the ball would come off of the rim. He had great footwork and vision. He assumed that every shot would be a miss.
I learned a lot watching Moses at work. He had 30+ points and 20 rebounds in the national All-Star game that I played in, beating my team by 1 point with a dunk at the buzzer. He was a man among boys that evening. Today's players would do well to watch some video of Moses at work, quietly dominating the boards. They might want to get quiet and get busy.