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Thursday, July 18, 2024

Basketball: Advice for Your Middle School Summer

To become a player requires exceptional commitment, continual ascension, and periodic frustration. Ideas for development:

1) Build skill. Become your own coach learning to separate with and without the ball. "Basketball is a game of separation and finishing."

Face the basket at the elbow, choosing your left as pivot foot. Close your eyes. Rip through and get as much separation as possible with a one dribble pickup. Become used to NOT seeing the ball.

2) Play one-on-one. Work on your separation moves off the catch, off the dribble, developing a jab series. Playing "on air" (no defender) gets you only so far.

3) Grow basketball IQ. Read. Study games. Study video, including coaching clinics and player development video (e.g. Drew Hanlen, Chris Brickley, Don Kelbick and others). 

4) Small-sided games. More touches and lots of decision-making. 

5) Get in shape. However hard you think you are working, it's a lot less hard than you think it is. 

6) Find a mentor. Be humble and coachable.

7) Care for 'the machine'. Hydrate, eat right with plenty of protein, fruits, and vegetables. Get eight hours of sleep nightly.

8) Study great players and coaches, including your mentor's mentors. That meant learning as much as possible about Dean Smith and John Wooden.

9) Bring your best self every day at home, school or work, and extra-curriculars. 

10) Be curious. Ask yourself, "what do I not know?" Choose topics - there are thousands - like pick-and-roll offense and defense, "negative step," or "the Four Factors" and study. Then challenge yourself to write down what you know on a sheet of paper.

You're probably saying, "this is a lot of work." Maybe this isn't the right game for you... 

Lagniappe. Become more. 

Lagniappe 2. What's you 'default' individual defense? 

Lagniappe 3. Coaches like Xs and Os. They help good players to separate and finish.  

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