Originally published in Hard2Guard Player Development Newsletter, Volume 4.

The brain prefers limb movements to be synchronized: to feel the phenomena, rub your belly and tap your head. When putting together a motor program, movements are rhythmic. For a basketball example, watch a player as he dribbles one ball high and the other ball low, which requires hand asynchrony and a lack of rhythm. The complexity is to dribble without rhythm, as the tendency is to move slowly toward a more rhythmic pattern. Dribbling two balls simultaneously is a less complex task, as there is rhythm, and the hands move synchronously. Dribbling two balls in an alternating pattern is slightly more complex, but the rhythm makes it simpler than the one-high/one-low drill.  [continue reading…]

Originally published in Hard2Guard Player Development Newsletter, Volume 4.

During the 2010 FIBA World Championships, many criticized Team USA’s skill level, especially the shooting of players not named Kevin Durant. A familiar theme of the last decade is to criticize the skill level and coaching, usually focused on fundamentals. Fundamental is typically synonymous with technical skills, especially shooting (although I feel that this short changes our concepts of fundamentals).  [continue reading…]

Originally published in Hard2Guard Player Development Newsletter, Volume 4.

After the last issue, a father emailed and criticized my training, saying that I “messed up” his sons. When I trained his sons, they felt that I did not know what I was doing because I asked a right-handed shooter to step into his shot right-left. The father said that he tried the footwork the next day and it felt awkward.  [continue reading…]

Last weekend, I spoke about practice design at the USA Basketball Coaching Clinic in Mt. Vernon, New York. One big issue with practice design is the distinction between technique and skills, and the transferability of both to game situations.  [continue reading…]

Originally published in Hard2Guard Player Development Newsletter 6.3. Purchase Volume 6 as a paperback or a Kindle. 

As we performed our usual shooting drill at the beginning of practice, I yelled at one player to curl into his shot, as the drill is designed. The player likes to do his own thing, and he was flaring to the three-point line rather than curling towards the elbow. After I yelled at him, I thought about it. I am not enamored with the drill because we shoot mid-range jump shots, but we have 14 players and two baskets, and it allows everyone to shoot without standing in line. I emphasize shooting threes or getting to the rim. Should our practice shots reflect our game shots?  [continue reading…]

Originally published in Hard2Guard Player Development Newsletter 6.2. Purchase Volume 6 as a paperback or a Kindle. 

Many coaches have an ideal in mind when they teach shooting. Anything deviating from this ideal is considered a flaw, and we provide feedback to correct these flaws. Is that an appropriate way to teach shooting? [continue reading…]

Originally published in Hard2Guard Player Development Newsletter 5.10. Now available in Kindle and paperback. Subscribe to the weekly newsletter here.

This week, I worked out an 8th grade girl. When we met, the father explained the numerous problems with her shot and gave special attention to her thumbing the ball with her weak hand. The girl was 5’1 and maybe 100 pounds. [continue reading…]

Originally published in the Hard2Guard Player Development Newsletter, Vol 4, Number 42. Volume 4 now available as a Kindle or a paperback.

Our most colloquial term referring to motor performance is “muscle memory.” This term is accepted generally and practically, but learning occurs in the brain. When we talk about “muscle memory,” we refer to motor programs stored in our procedural long-term memory. Because learning occurs in the brain, we cannot see learning. Instead, we infer learning based on performance. [continue reading…]

Originally published in Hard2Guard Player Development Newsletters, Volume 3. Purchase Volume 3 as a paperback or Kindle, and subscribe to the latest newsletters in the box above.

Dean Oliver’s Basketball on Paper provides a guide for identifying skills to develop for each position. Oliver identified the four factors that determine the outcome of each game. They are:

1. Shooting percentage differential
2. Offensive rebounding differential
3. Turnover differential
4. Free throw differential

[continue reading…]