Basketball: Solutions for Extinguishing Bad Habits

Extinguishing "automatic" behaviors is tough. Instinctive actions can be good or bad. 

Even with a "good player" it's normal to wonder about ceiling and where the next level arises in context of size, athleticism, skill, basketball IQ, and resilience. 

Don't immediately put the ball on the floor. Dribbling becomes reflexive, like eating. It shouldn't. On the catch,  "Face, scan, decide." 

Practice solutions: "It's a game of passing and cutting." Practice no dribble to deny the dribble and force movement. 

Take quality shots. Right range, rhythm, defensive proximity, situation. Better shot selection makes immediate results possible. Every player should know quality shots for herself and for each teammate. 

Education: shot charts and film review. You never wanted to hear the coach yell "forced shot" during a film session. 

Don't take plays off. Players take plays off physically and mentally. Taking plays off cheats teammates. "Win this possession."  

Solution: "Fight for your culture every day." STOPS make RUNS.

Be in position and stance. Practice stance and positioning with meaningful feedback. Having an assistant to monitor the help side can help. 

Solution: Consider using either film or stills of both. 

Blurry is fine here. The ball is above the elbow on the right. The player on the right is taking away the backdoor cut. The helpside defenders should have a foot in the paint, prepared to help and rotate. 

The pass gets thrown away but we were not ready to help.

Be self-aware. What are my strengths and weaknesses? What is my plan to diminish weaknesses? How will I measure progress? 

Solutions: Find a mentor. Become your own coach. Study the game. Ask yourself, "what would I do here?" 

Lagniappe: Bad habits are never in short supply. 

1. Don't stand.
2. Play both ends of the court. 
3. Share.
4. Don't overthink.
5. Practice precedes perfection. 

Lagniappe 2: Understand tempo. "See with your eyes not your heart." 

The local high school led by twelve in the second quarter, controlling the game and the tempo in a shot clock state. The visitors sought to force a faster tempo, via extending their defense, trapping, and transition. A local fan was screaming "Run" when maintaining a controlled tempo seemed better. The visitors rallied to win at the buzzer. 

Lagniappe 3: from Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, - Shunryu Suzuki

NEGATIVE and POSITIVE: Big mind is something to express, not something to figure out. Big mind is something to express, not something to seek for."