GOLD STANDARD COACHING @CoachLok

The following was forwarded to me and written by Jim Donovan Do some coaches do this to young players? Have others done it to us? A number of years ago, I had the rather unique experience of being backstage in Madison Square Garden, in New York, during the Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Circus. To say the least, it was a fascinating experience. I was able to walk around looking at the lions, tigers, giraffes and all the other circus animals. As I was passing the elephants, I suddenly stopped, confused by the fact that these huge creatures were being held by only a small rope tied to their front leg. No chains, no cages. It was obvious that the elephants could, at any time, break away from their bonds but for some reason, they did not. I saw a trainer near by and asked why these beautiful, magnificent animals just stood there and made no attempt to get away. "Well," he said, "when they are very young and much smaller we use the same size rope to tie them and, at th...

In a "catch and shoot" situation. We feel that a player must KNOW if he is open before the catch, when he/she is on the move. If he KNOWS he is open, he should plant the inside foot and rise into the shot. As he is heading towards the pass and he plants the inside foot, and it squares you to the basket a lot faster and is probably more comfortable. Quickness is the key to getting off a good shot. The emphasis on preparing their feet and being "shot ready" gets the player to be thinking about shooting on the catch - that's when a player should be most open. Also emphasize that this is a great time to use the defenders positioning against himself. Making a move to attack that defender is more often than not the best time to do so. But we are not really talking about establish a pivot foot for future use - we are simply talking about preparing the body to rise into the shot in the quickest manner possible. If it turns out that he ISN'T open and he's stuck o...