One of my favorite things about coaching is designing practice plans. I love the attention to detail involved in designing a practice, the competitive atmosphere that a well design practice creates and the environment that it creates for players to improve a particular skill. Here are some key factors that make a practice effective.
1. All drills must serve a purpose and must match the philosophy of your program. There are thousands of great drills out there. However, when selecting a drill, it should be designed to teach a concept that is important to your philosophy as a coach. If you simply use the drill because it is a good drill, but it does not fit with your system, is it really helping your players for game success?
2. Length of drills: In our practices, we like to have short drills that are usually 5-10 minutes long. In these drills, we focus on high intensity, competitiveness, and lots of reps. We really try to minimize the amount of stopping the drill to talk to a player. Instead, we try to pull that player aside when he is out of the drill so that we don’t stop the flow of the drill for the rest of the players.
3. Player Reps: One of my biggest pet peeves in practice is players standing on the side watching other players do drill work. We really make an emphasis when designing practices to get as many reps for our players as possible. If players don’t get the reps, the skill does not become a part of muscle memory and they end up thinking too much which will slow the reaction time.
4. Competitive atmosphere: There are many ways that drills can become competitive. You can keep score on specific items during a drill. For example, during a shell drill, keep score on items that need to be improved (effective ball pressure = +1, strong box out = +1, poor closeout = -1…….). When we work on defensive closeouts, we will put 3-4 basketballs on the ball rack. For every poor closeout or lack of proper verbals, we take off a ball from the rack. When the rack has no balls left, we do a form of conditioning to get our focus back. We keep score on our shooting drills, free throws and anything else that we do to create a competitive atmosphere. There are drills where we will put a team at a disadvantage. For example, we might be working on a transition shooting drill for our sideline break. We will have 3 teams (Varsity, JV and Freshman). We will start the Freshman at +12, the JV at +6 and the Varsity at 0. We will put 2 minutes on the clock and the winner does not have to do conditioning. This improves the player’s effort and serves as our conditioning as well.
5. Assigning names to drills: This is such a detailed item to practice planning, but it is so important. Mike Dunlap stresses this a lot. He talks about giving a meaningful name that will trigger an automatic reaction and having the players echo call out the drill (coach tells one player the name of drill and the player yells the drill out to the rest of the team).
6. Don’t become a slave to a drill or to time: There are times where a drill just is not working. As coaches, we need to be able make practice adjustments just like we need to be able to make game adjustments. There are times where a drill becomes counterproductive. When that time comes, it is time to move to the next element.
7. Setting the tone in practice: How you start your practice can determine the success of your practice. It is vital that your players get engaged physically and mentally right away. Using a competitive shooting drill or defensive drill is a great way to get your players invested in that particular practice.
There many other factors that can determine the effectiveness of a great practice. I highly recommend that you research Mike Dunlap and Don Meyer. These are just 2 of the great practice coaches out there.
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Monday, October 29, 2012
BLOB Playbook
A while back, I was contacted by a coach, Troy Culley (@troyculley), to see if I would be interested in collaborating with him on a free playbook focusing on nothing but Baseline Out of Bounds plays. I am always interested in collaborating and helping other coaches so I took him up on the offer. We compiled a playbook together and started sending it out to coaches. Coach Culley posted it in a basketball forum and I sent it out to my listserv. Coach Wayne Walters, SWARM Enterprises, then contacted me and asked if he could contribute some BLOBs that he has used over the years.
I have posted the link to the playbook. Hope it is of use to you as you begin to plan for the upcoming season.
BLOB Playbook
Both Coach Culley and Coach Walters are great about sharing information and helping other coaches. Their contact information can be found on the front cover of the playbook.
I have posted the link to the playbook. Hope it is of use to you as you begin to plan for the upcoming season.
BLOB Playbook
Both Coach Culley and Coach Walters are great about sharing information and helping other coaches. Their contact information can be found on the front cover of the playbook.
Competing with Less Talented Teams
Most coaches at some point in their careers will experience a team that is lacking in talent. This was my case a few years ago when I was coaching girls. We won 4 games over the course of 2 years. At practice, we did a lot of fundamental development focusing on passing, dribbling, footwork, shooting and ball toughness.
My thought at the time was that in order to keep ourselves in the game, we need to minimize the number of possessions that the other team would have and play really good defense. Looking back at this approach, especially the offensive side, I can see that this approach was not ideal. I could see it working had our players had a good base of fundamentals. However, it was a struggle for us to get ball reversals, find quality shot attempts and ultimately we had a large amount of turnovers each night and were struggling to score 30+ points. Regardless of how good our defense was, it is tough to win games if you are scoring 30-35 points.
Over the years, I have done some research, talked with numerous coaches and watched some videos on this topic. Granted, I came across many different philosophies that emphasized slowing down the game, but ultimately, my opinion has changed. If I could re-coach those 2 years with those exact same players, in a nut shell, my approach would be as followed:
1. We would look to do the bulk of our scoring out of our transition offense. We would spend a large portion of practice working on a sideline break that would also serve as our press break. As I noted above, we had a hard time scoring out of our half-court offense because of our fundamental ability, style of play and the athleticism of our opponents. Rarely would we get a quality shot that was not contested. Therefore, getting the ball up the floor as quickly as possible with the pass and attacking the rim in transition would have probably given us better quality shot attempts. It would have also given us a better chance of getting offensive rebounds and more free throw attempts, both of which we struggled to do in the half court set.
2. I would have also been more aggressive with our defense (full court and half court). I probably would have stayed with our match-up zone, but would have been more aggressive with trapping. I would also have extended our defense and played the game full court. Granted, we were going to get with some of our rotations, but we would also force a few more turnovers that would have led to higher quality shots that we were not getting in the half court set.
3. In both our transition offense and defense, I would have had to play more people in order to play that aggressive style for a full game. In reality, there was wasn’t much difference in ability from players 1-12. Not only would more kids have played, but I think kids like to play this style anyways, so we would have probably been a happier team regardless if we would have been winning or losing.
4. I would have continued to use a simple have court offense that emphasized attacking the basket with the dribble and with the pass regardless if we saw man or zone defense. I would have also reduced the number of sets and quick hitters.
5. Fundamentals would continue to be taught in practice. I would have just incorporated more multidimensional drills that incorporated combination skills in the transition game (being that is where most of our game would be played at).
I don’t know if we would have won any more games than we did those 2 years, but I know I would have enjoyed coaching more and the kids would have enjoyed playing more. In my opinion, even if we lost those same games, but were scoring 50 points rather than 30 and more kids played that were probably about the same ability level anyway, it probably would have been a better couple of years.
We are currently using this approach this year with our boy’s program. We have done a lot with statistical analysis and have found that the numbers (FT attempts, shooting percentage, turnover differential and points per possession) support this style of play for us. We have an athletic group which makes it even more enjoyable to coach and play.
My thought at the time was that in order to keep ourselves in the game, we need to minimize the number of possessions that the other team would have and play really good defense. Looking back at this approach, especially the offensive side, I can see that this approach was not ideal. I could see it working had our players had a good base of fundamentals. However, it was a struggle for us to get ball reversals, find quality shot attempts and ultimately we had a large amount of turnovers each night and were struggling to score 30+ points. Regardless of how good our defense was, it is tough to win games if you are scoring 30-35 points.
Over the years, I have done some research, talked with numerous coaches and watched some videos on this topic. Granted, I came across many different philosophies that emphasized slowing down the game, but ultimately, my opinion has changed. If I could re-coach those 2 years with those exact same players, in a nut shell, my approach would be as followed:
1. We would look to do the bulk of our scoring out of our transition offense. We would spend a large portion of practice working on a sideline break that would also serve as our press break. As I noted above, we had a hard time scoring out of our half-court offense because of our fundamental ability, style of play and the athleticism of our opponents. Rarely would we get a quality shot that was not contested. Therefore, getting the ball up the floor as quickly as possible with the pass and attacking the rim in transition would have probably given us better quality shot attempts. It would have also given us a better chance of getting offensive rebounds and more free throw attempts, both of which we struggled to do in the half court set.
2. I would have also been more aggressive with our defense (full court and half court). I probably would have stayed with our match-up zone, but would have been more aggressive with trapping. I would also have extended our defense and played the game full court. Granted, we were going to get with some of our rotations, but we would also force a few more turnovers that would have led to higher quality shots that we were not getting in the half court set.
3. In both our transition offense and defense, I would have had to play more people in order to play that aggressive style for a full game. In reality, there was wasn’t much difference in ability from players 1-12. Not only would more kids have played, but I think kids like to play this style anyways, so we would have probably been a happier team regardless if we would have been winning or losing.
4. I would have continued to use a simple have court offense that emphasized attacking the basket with the dribble and with the pass regardless if we saw man or zone defense. I would have also reduced the number of sets and quick hitters.
5. Fundamentals would continue to be taught in practice. I would have just incorporated more multidimensional drills that incorporated combination skills in the transition game (being that is where most of our game would be played at).
I don’t know if we would have won any more games than we did those 2 years, but I know I would have enjoyed coaching more and the kids would have enjoyed playing more. In my opinion, even if we lost those same games, but were scoring 50 points rather than 30 and more kids played that were probably about the same ability level anyway, it probably would have been a better couple of years.
We are currently using this approach this year with our boy’s program. We have done a lot with statistical analysis and have found that the numbers (FT attempts, shooting percentage, turnover differential and points per possession) support this style of play for us. We have an athletic group which makes it even more enjoyable to coach and play.
Friday, October 26, 2012
Youth Offense Philosophy
As coaches, we all know the importance of having a well-established feeder system to help build the longevity success of our basketball program. As always, there are multiple ways to organize a feeder program. These are just the steps that we go through each year.
We feel that it is important that our feeder systems have the foundational fundamentals built into them. It is our responsibility to equip the feeder coaches with the proper offensive and defensive philosophy, the proper verbals and language, and proper fundamental development. We feel that if our youth can learn these 3 elements along with team chemistry and effort that they will come into our high school program with a good base. We meet with our feeder coaches before the season starts and discuss with them our expectations and philosophy to the game. We explain to them that we are more concerned about the fundamental development of the players rather than the number of games or tournaments that they win. The feeder coaches are given a packet of fundamental drills and offensive/defensive elements that we would like them to implement. Therefore, listed below are some of the specific items that we emphasize in our feeder programs.
1. Man-to-Man Defense: At the high school level, we play an aggressive 1-1-3 match-up zone with our boys’ team. We apply lots of ball pressure all over the court and use a variety of trap and stunt schemes. However, we feel that in order to properly play this style of defense, kids need to know how to defend the ball, get into help position, front the post, get the ball to a side and force baseline. Granted, you can do all of these out of a zone set, but we feel that man-to-man is better at teaching these concepts to youth players.
2. Base Offense: We feel that all players need to be confident passers, dribblers, cutters, shooters and understand proper spacing. Therefore, we believe that using an open post offense allows us to effectively teach these elements. Too often, players are labeled as post players just because they are tall and never develop any skills away from the basket. Years later, that same kid has not grown at all and is now expected to play on the perimeter but has never developed the skill set to be successful. We just start with basic pass and cut principles and driving actions with proper spacing. From there, we start building in other elements such as down screen and curl.
3. Transition Offense: After years of running a traditional middle break, we made the switch to running a sideline break package. I had numerous conversations with a coach name Wayne Walters, founder of SWARM Enterprises, and his justifications for running a sideline break just made a lot of sense to me. We started putting it in at the high school level and had a lot of success with it. Therefore, we are starting to put it in with the feeder programs. It really allows us to advance the ball up the floor quickly and put constant pressure on the defense.
4. Fundamental Development: All of the drills that we have our feeder programs use are drills that we use at the high school level or at least teach the same fundamental concepts (footwork, language, shooting mechanics and so on). This has tremendous carry over to the high school level because they have a foundational knowledge base that they can continue to build on the first day of high school practice.
By no means is this a perfect setup. We are constantly making improvements and adjusting our methodologies. If you have any interest in studying youth basketball development, I highly recommend contacting Brian McCormick. He has some amazing stuff on youth basketball development.
We feel that it is important that our feeder systems have the foundational fundamentals built into them. It is our responsibility to equip the feeder coaches with the proper offensive and defensive philosophy, the proper verbals and language, and proper fundamental development. We feel that if our youth can learn these 3 elements along with team chemistry and effort that they will come into our high school program with a good base. We meet with our feeder coaches before the season starts and discuss with them our expectations and philosophy to the game. We explain to them that we are more concerned about the fundamental development of the players rather than the number of games or tournaments that they win. The feeder coaches are given a packet of fundamental drills and offensive/defensive elements that we would like them to implement. Therefore, listed below are some of the specific items that we emphasize in our feeder programs.
1. Man-to-Man Defense: At the high school level, we play an aggressive 1-1-3 match-up zone with our boys’ team. We apply lots of ball pressure all over the court and use a variety of trap and stunt schemes. However, we feel that in order to properly play this style of defense, kids need to know how to defend the ball, get into help position, front the post, get the ball to a side and force baseline. Granted, you can do all of these out of a zone set, but we feel that man-to-man is better at teaching these concepts to youth players.
2. Base Offense: We feel that all players need to be confident passers, dribblers, cutters, shooters and understand proper spacing. Therefore, we believe that using an open post offense allows us to effectively teach these elements. Too often, players are labeled as post players just because they are tall and never develop any skills away from the basket. Years later, that same kid has not grown at all and is now expected to play on the perimeter but has never developed the skill set to be successful. We just start with basic pass and cut principles and driving actions with proper spacing. From there, we start building in other elements such as down screen and curl.
3. Transition Offense: After years of running a traditional middle break, we made the switch to running a sideline break package. I had numerous conversations with a coach name Wayne Walters, founder of SWARM Enterprises, and his justifications for running a sideline break just made a lot of sense to me. We started putting it in at the high school level and had a lot of success with it. Therefore, we are starting to put it in with the feeder programs. It really allows us to advance the ball up the floor quickly and put constant pressure on the defense.
4. Fundamental Development: All of the drills that we have our feeder programs use are drills that we use at the high school level or at least teach the same fundamental concepts (footwork, language, shooting mechanics and so on). This has tremendous carry over to the high school level because they have a foundational knowledge base that they can continue to build on the first day of high school practice.
By no means is this a perfect setup. We are constantly making improvements and adjusting our methodologies. If you have any interest in studying youth basketball development, I highly recommend contacting Brian McCormick. He has some amazing stuff on youth basketball development.
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Game Winning Specials
A while back I did some research, watched a lot of game film and compiled a bunch of special situation plays. I included a bunch of different scenarios and some different approaches for each scenario.
Check out the eBook and hopefully it will help you out.
Game Winning Specials
Check out the eBook and hopefully it will help you out.
Game Winning Specials
Parent Meetings
As we prepare our teams to get ready for the upcoming season, there are number of things to do on our "to-do" lists. One item that we have every year is parent meetings. This is extremely beneficial to communicate expectations of coaches, parents and players. Many potential problems can be put to rest right away before the season starts if appropriately presented at the parent meeting.
Here is a list of items that we have gone through in the past with our parents.
1. Reading of Parent Pack
2. Introductions of coaching staff.
3. Being a part of the Titans Girls Basketball Program
4. Physicals
5. Activities Handbook
6. Once the season begins, you may not be a part of another basketball team, such as Y ball or Traveling Teams.
7. Coaching philosophy and expectations for the year
8. Practice attendance and expectations (excused and unexcused absences), and protocol if player is going to miss practice
9. Playing time
10. Academic expectations
11. Appropriate way to handle conflicts
12. Seniors last game (how that will go and what to expect)
13. Question and answer session
It is definitely not going to fix every problem, but it does help communicate expectations.
Here is a list of items that we have gone through in the past with our parents.
1. Reading of Parent Pack
2. Introductions of coaching staff.
3. Being a part of the Titans Girls Basketball Program
4. Physicals
5. Activities Handbook
6. Once the season begins, you may not be a part of another basketball team, such as Y ball or Traveling Teams.
7. Coaching philosophy and expectations for the year
8. Practice attendance and expectations (excused and unexcused absences), and protocol if player is going to miss practice
9. Playing time
10. Academic expectations
11. Appropriate way to handle conflicts
12. Seniors last game (how that will go and what to expect)
13. Question and answer session
It is definitely not going to fix every problem, but it does help communicate expectations.
Mike Dunlap Videos
After watching the Mike Dunlap’s latest DVD’s (10 Points for Better Coaching, Shell on Steroids, Organized Anarchy Defensive Transition) released from Level X Hoops, I can see why Coach Dunlap is so highly respected in the coaching community. His attention to detail and approach to the mental aspect of learning and teaching is clearly portrayed in all 3 videos. He is constantly challenging you to think about your approach to learning, coaching and teaching. For example, one of the questions Coach Dunlap presents is do your drills fit your philosophy to the game or do you use drills just because they are new and fun? Coach Dunlap is constantly asking questions like this to make you think about what you are doing as a coach.
I was also impressed with how the teaching points from each video carried over to the other videos. The methodologies presented in the 10 Points for Better Coaching were very prevalent in the Shell on Steroids and Organized Anarchy Defensive Transition videos. Regardless of your philosophy to the game, you will be able to find a drill or coaching point from these videos that will challenge you and ultimately improve as a coach. Without a doubt some of the best stuff I have seen in a while.
Check out Mensbasketballhoopscoop to read more reviews on Coach Dunlap's dvds.
I was also impressed with how the teaching points from each video carried over to the other videos. The methodologies presented in the 10 Points for Better Coaching were very prevalent in the Shell on Steroids and Organized Anarchy Defensive Transition videos. Regardless of your philosophy to the game, you will be able to find a drill or coaching point from these videos that will challenge you and ultimately improve as a coach. Without a doubt some of the best stuff I have seen in a while.
Check out Mensbasketballhoopscoop to read more reviews on Coach Dunlap's dvds.
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