|
Return to Newsletter Index page
ATTENTION: You are receiving this newsletter
because you subscribed to it. If you'd like to remove yourself
from this mailing list, please see the instructions at the end
of this newsletter. Our subscriber list is NOT made available
to other companies or individuals. We value every subscriber
and respect your privacy. 1. Welcome from the Coach GIRLS' TEAM IN WARMUPS, ~25% Actually Team B got off to an 18-6 lead, as expected, but then the Team A started to find a way to compete. They had a 10-12 record, so I knew they were a bit "iffy," but I discovered they had a talent for running fast and forcing the action ... in close. Their shooting was never any good from the outside, but they were dangerous in the open court. When pressed, a couple of them knew how to break the press and the team wound up getting a lot of layups and put backs. They were fun to watch in this aspect of the game. The stronger home team made the mistake of keeping the press on for most of the game, which played into Team A's only strength. Also they played them man-to-man for most of the first half, allowing them sometimes to penetrate and get to the basket that way. The game was much closer than it should have been. If the superior home team had called off the press and played zone and forced them to shoot from outside, they would have won by a landslide. Team B finally won by 8 or 10, but it was more exciting than it should have been. BOYS TEAM IN WARMUPS, ~33% In this case the home team didn't let them break the press and get easy baskets so it was a rout. The home team played all 15 guys, including JV's and still won easily by 13. It could have been 80 to 40. The visitors had no weapons from outside. They were well coached, disciplined, strong, played hard, moved and passed well, but they could not make outside shots to save their lives. The one guy who seemed to be the go-to guy for outside shots near the end was just a mediocre shooter. Game over. SOMETHING WAS MISSING I can see how the ineffectiveness happens because I can see what's needed. I'm sure the coaches are working as best they can to coach and prepare their teams. They work on shooting every day; they "instruct" them as best they can; they have them practice their free throws for a certain length of time; they put pressure on them in various ways. But the kids hadn't figured it out. IT'S NOT "MENTAL" WHAT'S NEEDED A throwing or flipping motion has a lot of variables and flattens the shot. A pushing action, meanwhile, if done at the same speed and force every time, gives you a motion that's predictable. If the arm motion is directly exactly on line and the wrist and hand don't throw it off line, the ball flies true. If the wrist and hand can become passive, then the Release becomes repeatable. The majority of power and the variable supply of power can come from the leg drive, what I call the UpForce, rather than from the upper body (arms and hand). And to control distance, you can vary the arch (angle of release) at the last instant instead of trying to vary the Release. SHOOT "ABOVE" THE BASKET, NOT
"AT" IT Shooting at the target creates a flat trajectory, and flat shots come in hotter to a smaller target. Under pressure these shots just get tougher and tougher, and once you've missed a few, confidence drops into the toilet. High arch gives both a larger landing area and a softer shot as gravity has a chance to slow it down. LOOK FOR HELP -- THERE "IS" A
MORE EFFECTIVE WAY! My website and video present a method that works easily and powerfully. There may be other sites that talk about these things and describe approaches that can help you. There ARE answers out there. I just recommend that you not keep doing what you're doing and hope for improved results. It probably just isn't going to happen that way. Basketball is more fun when you can score
and win your share of games. Then practice and effort is rewarded.
The aspect of team is also more evident when motion and passes
result in success, in baskets! Passing gets everyone involved.
And your players will be getting more points and assists, and
that makes the game enjoyable. I suggest every coach visit their website and consider reading their materials (on the site, via the Newsletters, CD's, books, etc.) and getting involved. Phil Jackson is the group's National Spokesperson, and Larry Brown was just added to the Advisory Committee. Larry signed on because his 8 year old son had a bad experience with a coach and he wants to help spread the PCA message. For general information contact PCA at "silvia@positivecoach.org." I really believe in this way of being with the game. I'm going to audit some of their trainings soon so I can implement more of their approaches to coaching in my clinics and writings. Our main goal as coaches, I feel, is to use sports to teach life lessons. Competition and winning are only a part of the reason we devote so much time to it. The pursuit of excellence challenges us to become as strong and effective as we can be. But it's what is learned during the practices and games -- not the score -- that makes a difference in lives. If I can teach kids to shoot more powerfully, they'll perform better and have more success, develop a higher level of self esteem, etc. But if, in the process of my coaching, the kids learn how to learn, if they learn the value of focus and hard work, if they learn to trust themselves more and overcome the doubts and fears we all have, then I've made a true difference. PCA is a group that is dedicated to these principles and their remarkable staff is taking it to a high level across the country. (The following story is about a baseball team, but it could as easily be about basketball. At the end I'll suggest some ways these "victories" could be measured in our game.) "SUCCESS IN A ONE-WIN SEASON" by Tal Alter, Washington D.C. coordinator for the Positive Coaching Alliance "I like to win. I did as a competitive athlete, and I do as a coach. So what could l learn from a one-win season? Everything. "Last fall, I became the coach of a newly formed 14-Under travel baseball team called the 'Gamers.' As a first step, my fellow coaches and I wanted to establish a strong team culture and clearly define our priorities to both players and parents. Before the season we held a parents' meeting and wrote a letter to every family requesting that they 'Honor the Game' with their conduct. We discussed our goals with our players and let them know that we would stress the pursuit of excellence over the win, and that a Gamers' most noticeable attribute should be his desire to play hard and work harder. Playing the game this way, we told them, would make it fun. "At practice, with equal energy to teaching the mechanics of the game, we drilled hustling on and off the field and picking up the gloves of stranded base runners after our half-innings at-bat. We told our players that successfully accomplishing these goals would represent at least 14 victories in a seven-inning game. After recording three outs, we should have all nine of our players off the field before the opponent had one on; after our at-bat, nine of our players would be sprinting on the field before the other team had one off. Helping stranded base runners with their equipment demonstrated the teamwork, alertness and unselfishness needed to accomplish these 14 wins. "In our culture, Gamers were expected to take risks and push themselves to make plays beyond what they thought possible. In order to do this, players had to allow themselves to make mistakes and rebound from failures. We discussed the importance of mentally "flushing" errors and strikeouts, and we followed through by never criticizing mistakes (although we did let players know when we felt their efforts lagged). We also emphasized that teammates played an important role in this process. To make sure that players were mentally in the game at all times, we had everyone in the dugout face the field, stand and support their teammates when the ball was in play. In addition, parents were not allowed to enter the dugout, so all conversations were between people directly involved in the game. "We emphasized effort and learning to allow players total control over their success; they responded with enthusiasm on and off the field. We also gave players ownership of their learning process. After games, players talked first, and important growth came from their self-critique and analysis. Throughout the season, players gave great effort and improved. Most importantly, they came to practice with smiles on their faces. "Our first season was a huge success. We won one game on the scoreboard, but had a multitude of our own victories. "Under the common definition of success, we would have reevaluated our methods and changed our approach for the next season. But our players and their parents had done everything we had asked of them, and we believed winning would come as a byproduct of hard work, not because it was an overriding goal. We were right. Our parents supported the approach. They cheered for the effort made by both teams and never questioned an umpire's decision. Players took pride in what it meant to be a Gamer. They played hard and worked harder. Before the end of the next summer season, we were winning more than we were losing. "A one-win season tested our ability to redefine success. Honoring that principle made the eventual scoreboard victories even sweeter." --------- Count how many of these victories you have in a game. A note about "hustle." I remember a halfback for the Minnesota Vikings who played in the late 60's by the name of Osborne. I remember him because every time he was tackled, he would jump up off the ground and sprint back to the huddle, usually being the first one there. Nobody else did that. It was who he was. He was hustle. It made him memorable in my eyes. While the other players on both teams were all slowly raising themselves off the ground and lumbering back to the huddle, Ozzie was already there. It made him special. A word about end-of-game handshakes --
another way to get a personal "victory." GRATITUDE: I know it's easy to feel proud of yourself and your team when you win, and it's easy to feel rotten when you lose. It's a mindset that our culture seems to program in most of us, that winning is good and losing is bad. (This is what PCA is working to alter in the game.) The old mindset expresses itself in how you shake the opponents' hands after a game. Here's a different way to react to the game's outcome: When you shake your opponents' hands, really greet them, look them in the eye, make a solid handshake and say something like "Great game!" or "Thank you for a great game!" or "You played great ... thanks!" or "Thanks for being here!" Say whatever you want but make it a positive statement honoring the game, expressing gratitude for their effort, etc. If you win, it's easy to be magnanimous. It's when you lose that you have a chance to be special. Can you lose the scoreboard score and then look each opposing player in the eye with strength, sincerity, joy and appreciation for being alive and wish them a sincere "Congratulations!" or "Nice game!" or "You played great!"? If you can, then you and your team will, indeed, be very "special." You will be remembered. One more suggestion: (This is an idea
I had a long time ago but a coach I presented it to then thought
the kids would never do it. In the context of the PCA movement,
now it makes more sense.) Wouldn't that be an awesome example of
team and of "Honoring the game!", another way of making
your team special? I wonder if anyone will take me up on it...
THIS IS ABOUT THE MANY, NOT THE FEW THE VALUE IS IN THE PROCESS, NOT THE END
RESULT TEAMWORK THE GOAL IS BETTER HUMAN BEINGS If you'd like to start on the process of learning how to coach shooting with my Method, please be in touch with me and join my Coaches' Mailing List. The list is a quick and easy way for me to communicate to all the coaches at once. As I develop new things and post new articles, coaching ideas, etc., I use this vehicle to let you know. Also, visit and bookmark my "For Coaches" page, as it will have more and more coaching ideas, lesson plans, articles, etc. There's a "Homework" document that can get you started on this path very quickly. To join the List, go to this webpage on my site ("For Coaches" page), scroll down to the "Sign up" section and click "Join List: Send Email to subscribe..." You'll be prompted as to what to do. Your email address will not be sold or given to anyone else, and you can easily un-subscribe yourself on that same page. If you're having some wonderful results
either from working with the Swish video or just from reading
my coaching suggestions, lesson plans, etc., please write them
up for me to post on the coaches' page for others to see. We
can all learn from each other's experiences and insights.
I invite you to bookmark my Website so you can go there easily to catch my latest comments on shooting. You can read about my video there (including endorsements, testimonials, reviews and an overview of the video), my coaching, and the many articles on shooting I've written. You can see video clips and archived back issues of this Newsletter and, of course, subscribe, if you're not already getting this on a regular basis. Please tell others about this newsletter,
my site, and my video. Forward the newsletter to them and suggest
they read it and the many archived issues. Send them the URL
(http://www.swish22.com) and let them know there's a proven method
for powerful shooting. Some of the clinics that are being planned
in the next few months: If you'd like to organize some shooting
clinics or camps, please call or email me. I'll be scheduling
Coaches' Trainings at each stop as much as possible, too. Stay
in touch for them. To SUBSCRIBE to this Newsletter, click
on the link below. The first option is to click on a link to Topica where they will ask you open a free account with them. This is okay to do, as they have good free mailings lists, discussion groups, etc., but I think most of you just want to subscribe to the newsletter. You do that most easily by the second option, just REPLYING to the email. That's all you need to do, no need to key anything. Click on this email -- it will start the subscription process: Subscribe. Remember to expect the Confirmation email. To UNSUBSCRIBE from this Newsletter, just
send a blank email to the following: ------------------------------------------------------------ |