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Player Development

(courtesy of familymatters.net) Show up for practice on time, with a good attitude, and ready to work hard. Decide at the outset that you love (not just tolerate, but love) every member of your team (athletes, coaches, trainers, and assistants). Never shortcut or minimize warm-ups, calisthenics, wind sprints,...

We are always looking for great content from guest coaches, and recently came across this article from Coach Randy Brown (coachrb.com). Coach Brown is a consummate professional who spends his days helping young coaches get started in the college game. His College Coach Now Mentoring...

Hand on BasketballYou picked up a basketball because it was fun, right? It was fun to play with your friends and get some exercise. But then your idea of fun began to evolve. Competing began to give you a thrill. Your team winning began to be the definition of real fun. But a team can only be as good as the individuals that make up the team, so you decided to become better. In fact, you want to be “a cut above” the rest and pull your team up with you. Now, playing against average players is not good enough anymore. In fact, whatever the level of your competition, you have a desire to play on the level above them. Basketball is still fun for the same reasons it’s always been, but now the fun goes deeper; it’s now tied up with getting yourself and your team to the next level - maybe even to a championship. If you’re at this point in your life, then you’re ready to train like a champion. There’s not room in this article or any other single article to map out all of the details for training like a champion. So instead, let’s look at the big picture:

You’ll need a workout partner for this one, but it’s worth the trouble. A workout partner adds 3 things to your training:
  1. An element of accountability
  2. A defender that you can see and read rather than just imagine.
  3. Intensity: a partner will naturally raise the effort and concentration that you put into your workout.
The first goal of this workout is to get in a wide variety of 50 shots. I should call it a 100 shot workout because both players will get in 50 shots each in a little over 20 minutes. If each player keeps up with the number that they make, then all they need to do is multiply by two and they’ll have their percentage; Very easy to turn into a competition. The workout covers the 3 ranges of shots: outside the arc, the mid-range, and finishes on the goal. The second goal to the workout is to get each player to associate certain shots with certain actions of the defender. An example would be if the defender closes out short, then you should shoot and not drive. A third goal can be seen in the shots where the shooter must ignore the presence of the defender and focus on making the shot. I’ve heard psychologist say that success rates below 50% do not do a good job of reinforcing behavior. They say that the higher the success rates are over 50%, the stronger the reinforcement becomes. Now, what’s that got to do with this workout?