Your Kid Looks Great in the Driveway. Then the Game Starts. Imagine a driving school that ran like this. You show up, sit in a parked car in an empty lot, and for three straight months you practice turning the wheel and working the pedals. Nothing else. No traffic to read, nobody merging next to […]
Why Your Basketball Skills Disappear in Games Read More »
You Already Have a Step on Your Defender, Use It. I had a middle schooler who could not figure out how to get past people. Sometimes it worked. Most of the time he’d start a drive, get walled off, and end up going nowhere. And the weird thing is he was still scoring, because the
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The Best Player on the Floor Looks Like He’s Barely Trying. That’s Not an Accident. I’ve got two kids in the same middle school group who might as well be playing two different sports. The first one plays like the court is made of lava. He catches the ball and right away the dancing starts,
Why the Best Basketball Players Look Like They’re Barely Trying Read More »
Stop Catching the Ball Like It’s on Fire. Take Two Seconds. I train a couple of middle school girls who are basically two different players depending on the setting. In practice, once they warm up and lock in, they look genuinely good. They read the floor, they make plays, they remember everything we’ve worked on.
Stop Catching the Ball Like It’s on Fire. Take Two Seconds. Read More »
The Right Basketball Decision Isn’t Always the Right Decision for You I train a middle schooler who’s been working on reading help defense when he drives. Good kid, wants to get it right, which is exactly where the trouble started. We were running live scenarios, and every rep I’d stop him, show him the best
The Right Basketball Decision Isn’t Always the Right Decision for You Read More »
You Don’t Need the Ball to Take Over a Game Most kids think scoring is something that happens to them. The point guard decides to pass, or the coach draws up a play, or the ball just happens to find them in a good spot. And when none of that happens, which is most of
How to Score Without the Ball in Your Hands Read More »
I had a kid tell me he wanted to play college basketball. No offers. Small school. No AAU. He was a good shooter, but he was small, and his handle and his footwork had a long way to go. He was lifting occasionally, shooting around a little, playing pickup with his friends, and he genuinely
Are Your Habits Actually Matching Your Goals? Read More »
I had two of my players going at it in pickup the other day, and it was not a fair fight on paper. One of them’s a big, getting ready for high school, already carrying that size. The other one hasn’t hit his growth spurt yet, so he was giving up a lot of height
Why Losing 1v1 to a Bigger Player Might Be the Best Thing for Your Game Read More »
I had a middle school kid who could shoot the lights out from the perimeter. Catch and shoot, money every time. But the second he put the ball on the floor to drive, he got stuck. The defender would stay glued to him, he’d pick up his dribble, and then he’d just stand there holding
Push and Pull: How to Create Space Without Being the Fastest Kid on the Court Read More »
