GOLD STANDARD COACHING @CoachLok

Coaches need to constantly discover ways to improve their drills or get the most out of them. All coaches have their own sets of drills that teach their basketball philosophy, but there are many ways that you can create more intensity, enthusiasm, discipline, etc. This can be done by evaluating all the factors involved in a drill. Drill what fits your own offensive or defensive philosophy. Believe in what you are doing. Practice things you'll be trying to do in actual games.

 Give all drills a name so players can identify the procedure and purpose of each drill. For example, "Two-Ball Power-Ups" drills on inside power moves, using two balls in the lane area. Don't waste time on the floor going from drill to drill. Discipline your players to sprint to the next drill station. You don't want to find yourself spending too much time explaining how to run a drill. Demonstrate all new drills on chalkboard prior to practice or give the players a page for their playbook t...

If you're visiting here then you're probably like me and have a thirst for knowledge. There are so many great sites to visit -and here's one you should definitely give a look to. HoopsU.com is giving away 5 yearly memberships to Hoops U. Insider as part of the Hoops U. Relaunch Event! Click your way over right now to get in on the fun!

My name is Ray... and I Tweet. Yes, I get on Twitter, follow some absolutely great people, have learned a ton and share thoughts with some great "followers". I have built some great relationships with like-minded people who I’ve never met face to face –yet consider friends. It’s opened some doors, and actually led to my being a contributor here. So don't be afraid. Like they used to tell Mikey on the Life Cereal commercials, "Try it… you'll like it!" My philosophy with Twitter is “Here is what I'm thinking. What do you think?” You can follow me here and try it out. Those who have read my previous entries (or those who have followed me on Twitter) know that I coached middle-school for 6 years, in high school for 13 years, at the college level for 9 years, but the most difficult coaching I’ve experienced was the 15 years that I coached my children in a variety of youth-sports. As you could imagine, I learned a bunch of “dos and don’ts” during that time....

CBS 60 Minutes did a fabulous piece on Hall of Fame Coach Bob Hurley, from "Miracle on St Anthony" fame. Coaches that are a little "rough around the edges" (to borrow a good friends phrase) can be very polarizing in circles that evaluate their, performance, effectiveness, and quality of the players' experience. Some quotes from the story really caught my attention. First, Coach Hurley doesn't sugar coach anything and players. They absolutely know what they're getting into. Coach Hurley says, "I'm still one of the most demanding people that the kids are gonna come across" But at the same time, that demanding nature comes form a great place. " I think everybody can be better than they think they can be." And being a former Parole Officer in New Jersey, he's used to working with a tough crowd. "I'm dealing with adolescent males," Hurley said. "And in order to get them to perform on a regular basis, this grou...

Close games become a way of life for coaches and teams on all levels. Successful teams are prepared for end of the game situations. It is often this five or ten minutes a day which coaches spend on end of the game situations that makes the difference between a district title, a berth in the state tournament or a disappointing trip home. It is very important to not assume that your players know what to do! Try to work on special situations every day. Here are some questions all coaches should ask themselves. The answers will vary according to your personal philosophy and your team’s strengths. Then share those answers with the team and prepare them to execute: Do you push the ball and play or call a timeout to set up the last shot? How do you intentionally miss a free throw? With a three-point lead, do you want to foul before a three-point shot is taken? Do your players know when to foul? How to foul? Do you have a sign or call so your players know to foul without alerting the other t...

We used to play a team that did a great job mixing M2M and Zone Defense, especially coming out of time outs. To battle that we went to a 1-4 set that was effective vs Man or Zone Defenses A side benefit of this is it built confidence among the players as they knew what they were going to run was appropriate for the defense we'd see, and it gave the players confidence in the game pan the coaching staff developed. One of the worst things possible is coming out of a time-out or running a set play and needing to change because the defense is in something else. There are times you can see the players deflate in front of your very eyes when they feel as if they were "out-smarted". This way, they feel in control of the situation and are more apt to perform with less anxiety and more confience.

When it comes to youth basketball at the U10 level, I believe my thinking might be a little different than most. Young players get their fun from offense, and this fun determines whether they stick around the sport long enough to "get good". In my opinion, then, rules should be adapted to teach the game with the intent to develop basic offensive skills and enable young players to have as many opportunities with the ball as possible and with as much success as possible. In order to do this, I think it is necessary to restrict a little bit of on ball pressure and allow the player with the ball to focus his/her attention on handling the ball as opposed to being distracted by the defensive pressure. A novice basketball player is not yet skilled enough with the ball to execute most dribbling moves while seeing teammates if they have to also worry about intense defensive pressure. For that reason I am not opposed to zone defenses at the youngest levels. Often times against a man-...

Managing blowout games is always an issue in youth and high school sports due to the great disparity in the skill level of players, goals of each team, first round tournament match-ups of top vs bottom seeds, and imbalanced leagues that cause these games to occur. I've written about this a couple times before, and my most recent post on " Mismatch Etiquette " is here In an attempt to handle those blowout situations a youth basketball league has implemented the following rule: 12.1 REMOVAL OF TOP PLAYERS - If the mercy rule is in effect at the start of, or any time during the 5th period, it is mandatory for the opposing coach to select a maximum of three (3) players to sit out the balance of the game or until the difference in the score of the game is 15 points or less. Eligible substitutes must be available and the removal of players cannot force a team to play with less than five (5) players. I asked for some opinions of this rule and my friend Matt Grahn (who writes a ...

From Championship Productions web page: Ray Lokar's Fundamentals Factory for Youth Basketball with Ray Lokar ("Coach Lok"), 30+ year basketball coach at the youth, high school and college levels; Positive Coaching Alliance/Stanford University - Lead Trainer; Director - Basketball4All,net Editor - Basketball-tips.com Ray Lokar presents his "Fundamentals Factory," a place where developing basketball players go to build their game in a competitive, fun environment! Coach Lok simplifies the fundamentals of basketball, highlights the key points, and leads the demonstration of fun and effective drills, competitive contests, and short-sided games to benefit any youth basketball team. Prepare to encounter fresh and innovative concepts and insightful teaching points from a basketball coaching veteran that will help you improve all of your players, on both sides of the ball, in all areas. Learn about: The "Golden Triangle" The ball-man-line Why you need "yo...

Has there ever been a team covered with as much scrutiny at the beginning of a season than the Miami Heat has at the dawn of the 2010-11 NBA season? I would only say... be careful what you wish for, you just might get it. The scrutiny has been brought on by their actions and now that they've made their own bed, they must lie in it. So is it justified? Lebron has been set up for this scrutiny since high school, some he brought on himself, some of it no fault of his own. The national media exposure (TV games, books, documentaries, etc) was not his fault, although those around him allowed it to happen and benefitted from it is well. However Lebron contributed to it as well as he embraced the MJ comparisons while saying he wanted to be "a global icon." That will turn up the expectations, across the board, for sure. At that point you better play, and act, accordingly. Jordan was the first real global basketball player and in such made the largest impact on the game today. LB...

A good friend of mine on Twitter is Clarence Gaines, a former scout and front office exec with the Bulls in their heyday. Clarence also the son of Clarence "Big House" Gaines , Hall of Fame coach at Winston-Salem. @cgrock24 , as he is known on Twitter, offers some great insight on the book "Play Their Hearts out" by George Dohrmann. @cgrock24 said: "Finished "Play Their Hearts out" by @georgedohrmann What can be gained by reading this book? If you're a parent of a talented basketball player, it's a must read. You'll learn a lot about the pitfalls of youth basketball and the importance of shepherding your child through this maze of deceit, corruption and confusion. Hopefully, readers will understand the folly that is grassroots basketball and how it's not a necessity in the middle or early high school years to expose your child to the endless stream of games that are a part of travel team basketball." ...read the rest here

When I used to coach my daughters youth team , we ran a 5 out offense with alot of give & gos, pick and rolls, and backdoor cuts. I used an interesting teaching technique with this young team that provided a nice visual guideline for spacing. To teach them proper positioning and spacing I put 5 "hula hoops" on the floor (point, 2 wings, and 2 short corners) and made a girl stand in each one. The object would be to have the hoops next to the ball filled at all times.The girl with the ball would pass and then cut to the basket, looking for a give & go, thus leaving her "hula hoop" open. The player closest to that open hoop must v-cut and fill that hoop, leaving her hoop open. The player next to an open hoop must fill that hoop. Eventually the 1st cutter ends up filling an open hoop in the weakside short corner. All the players have to do is look around for the closest "open hula hoop". If you have a cutter that is especially adept at inside play, ...

This is a great podcast featuring Jim Thompson, who talks with NBA coaching great and Positive Coaching Alliance National Spokesperson Phil Jackson, who shares his insights on how to build a true community within teams, finding voice for star players while encouraging role players to embrace their vital place on any successful team. Phil also shares his philosophy on balancing talent versus effort, the role of rivalries to motivate teams, and how to extend the lessons of sports beyond the court. You can download the podcast or the transcript of the interview here: