There’s a specific type of player that defenses love. Not the bad shooter. Not the slow guy. The hesitant one. The player who has the skills, has put in the work, and then gets into a game and decides that today is not the day to test any of it. Defenses don’t need a scouting […]
You’re Leaving Points on the Floor and the Defense Knows It Read More »
A high schooler I work with had a really clean catch and shoot stroke. Practiced it constantly. Rebounder feeding him, same spot, same setup, feet always set. In practice the guy was a problem. You could not leave him open. Then he got into games and suddenly nothing felt right. The pass was a little
Every Shot Is Going to Feel Different. That’s Not the Problem. Read More »
Most shooting coaches will tell you to square up. Get your feet set. Get your body organized. And they’re not wrong, in a perfect world where every pass is perfect, every dribble ends exactly where you want it, and defenders stand politely while you get ready. That’s not basketball. The gather is the moment between
Your Gather Is Slower Than It Needs to Be Read More »
I had a middle schooler who reacted to every single mistake like it had personally wronged him. Missed shot, pounded the ball. Sloppy handle, threw his hands up. Bad footwork rep, completely checked out for the next three. It didn’t matter what we were working on. Shooting, dribbling, footwork patterns, reads off the drive. Every
Mistakes Are the Whole Point Read More »
I had a high school boy who did everything right. Square to the basket every time he caught it. Ball up and held tight. Pivots textbook clean. He’d been coached well and he’d listened to every word of it. On paper he looked like a good player. On the court he looked like someone doing
The Ball Needs to Breathe Read More »
I had a high school girl who was one of the better shooters on her team. Tall, long, way bigger than most defenders she faced. For a while that covered everything. She could catch, take her time, pause at the top of her shot, and still get it off because nobody could reach it anyway.
Your Shot Has a Traffic Jam In It Read More »
I had a high schooler who was one of the most detail-oriented players I’ve ever worked with. Every rep had to look right. Every footwork pattern had to feel clean before he’d move on. If something broke down mid-rep he’d stop, reset, and start over. He was putting in serious work. In practice he looked
You Can’t Train for Speed by Going Slow Read More »