Wednesday, April 26, 2023

Basketball: Fast Five, Teaching Better

"Leaders make leaders." Players, "become your own coach." Promote self-sufficiency by giving players more responsibility to teach.

Teach players to "see the game." Get "buy in" by adding value. 

1) Assign players teaching topics. Assign a player a two-minute talk. 

Ideas:

  • Moving without the ball (e.g. types of cuts)
  • Three common ways to defend the pick-and-roll
  • Offensive reads for off-ball screens
  • General zone offense concepts
  • Five principles for shot selection
  • Principles of defensive transition (Dos and don'ts)
2) Get more from video. Give players an "overview" on the structure of a possess:
  • Initial spacing
  • Player and ball movement to create advantage
  • The scoring moment to convert advantage to points
  • What do excellent teams and players do differently? 
What do you think is going to happen? What happens? Why and how did an action succeed or fail? 

3) Teach to the test. Review the Four Factors (Eight with defense) - SCORE-CRASH-PROTECT-ATTACK
  • Shooting (effective field goal percentage)
  • Rebounding 
  • Reducing and forcing turnovers
  • Free throws 
4) Be specific with teaching methods. Remember the FEYNMAN TECHNIQUE
  • Name 
  • Define 
  • Research 
  • Simplify 
Get 'granular' (e.g. photoemulsion versus pixellation). Players should learn the Big Picture and the details. 

5) Be aware of "self-serving" bias. Go back to 'self-interest'. In Community Medicine we learned about  "compliance," why people take or don't take medications. 
  • Barriers (costs, individual health beliefs, availability). A player may lack skill, confidence, or trust in the system.
  • Efficacy (does this 'medicine' work...) The player can benefit from more skill, strength and conditioning, game knowledge.
  • Severity (high blood pressure becomes heart, kidney, or neurologic disease...). A lack of athleticism translates to a bench role.
  • Susceptibility (why it matters for you). Attention and practice play only matter if you hope to earn a role.
What's your motivation to improve? 
  • Minutes 
  • Role
  • Recognition  
  • Making teammates better 
  • Team success 


"Self-pity is not going to improve the situation."