By Brian McCormick
Brian McCormick Basketball
Author, Cross Over: The New Model of Youth Basketball Development
Director of Coaching, Playmakers Basketball Development League

In a game, players play defense at full speed and most movement starts with a change of direction – very rarely does a player receive a pass standing still with his defender an arm’s length away in a stationary defensive position. Instead, most on-ball defensive situations start from an off-ball situation with the defender moving to his man when he receives a pass.

The strength coach in the video below is a soccer coach and speaks about the drill’s importance for soccer, but the same things could be said for basketball.

By Brian McCormick
Author, Cross Over: The New Model of Youth Basketball Development
Director of Coaching, Playmakers Basketball Development League

Generally, coaches attempt to add sophistication or complexity to improve performance. Once players master one set, they add another and another to give the team multiple options and to force the opposition to scout more and more options and plays.

From a practice perspective, what is the least active part of practice? The answer differs between programs, but 5vo walking through plays has to be among the least active aspects. Rather than add more sophistication, which increases the amount of time spent walking through plays 5v0, simplification reduces this time of inactivity.

What do you do with more time for activity? Increase the pace and competitiveness of practice to improve conditioning in game-like situations.

In my “Coaching Basketball” class that I teach to undergraduate students, I asked the class for the things that they disliked the most about playing sports. Practice, conditioning and coaches screaming topped the list (several students are Division-I athletes, so it was not because these were soft players who never succeeded). When I asked how to make practices more enjoyable, the first answer was to make drills more competitive or to scrimmage more.

Last season, I did very few drills. Because we did the same drills, I never had to re-explain a drill. Therefore, we could move more quickly from activity to activity. We also ran a very simple system with one offense and one defense; therefore, we never walked through our offense or defense 5vo, increasing our activity.

By simplifying in these two ways – drills and system – we increased the pace and competitiveness of practice, which eliminated the need for conditioning. Players played harder because they knew that they did not have to save themselves for sprints, and we developed a competitiveness that transferred to the games.

While this approach may not be appropriate for every level, I suggest simplifying things before adding complexity. If the drills work, relate to game situations and incorporate a competitive element, players probably will not be bored doing the same drill nearly every practice. On the other hand, changing drills frequently may lead to boredom if it means the coach talking too much and if the drills lack relevance to the game.

Once you simplify to the essentials, you eliminate much of the wasted time and can increase the pace of practice. I know one coach who spends 30-45 minutes doing warm-up drills that he despises because he feels like his team must practice for two-and-a-half hours. Why waste time for 45 minutes to lengthen a practice? Why not shorten the practice to make players and parents happy and focus on the essentials?

By Brian McCormick
Author, Cross Over: The New Model of Youth Basketball Development
Director of Coaching, Playmakers Basketball Development League

Several years ago, I trained two young players. Joey’s dad was a prominent high school coach. He had perfect shooting technique. His dad did not allow him to play in pick-up games or for an AAU team because he did not want any bad habits. He ran his own mini-clinics for Joey and his friends so they could play, though he structured their play and demanded precise fundamentals throughout.

Walt was different. He played all the time. He played in neighborhood games and on several AAU teams. He worked with me to learn proper shooting technique, as he was a poor free throw shooter even though he got to the free throw line frequently during games. He was not exactly fundamentally sound, but he was an effective young player.

In today’s world of youth basketball, many see players like Walt as a problem, as they lack instructional video-quality fundamentals. These coaches favor Joey’s dad’s approach and believe that through drills and fundamental execution, Walt will develop into the better player. In real life, however, Walt was and is the far superior player.

After winning his last fight, MMA fighter Jon Jones made an interesting observation when asked about his development and progression as a fighter.

“I had (coach) Mike Winklejohn really help me with my foundation, keeping my hands up, punching harder, kicking harder, blocking properly,” Jones told MMAjunkie.com… “But Phil Nurse really exercises my creativity to make sure I’m not becoming too fundamentally sound. It’s just a great combination.”

Fundamentals are important, and every player needs a fundamental base. Jones works on his fundamentals in terms of his blocking punches and keeping his hands high. However, Jones’ strength lies in his unorthodox approach – his long reach, his strength, his creativity. From Judo throws to spinning elbows, you don’t know what to expect from Jones.

In sports, and life, we often see an athlete like Jones and think that if he is this good without proper training, just imagine how good he will be when he learns the right way. However, would Jones be as exciting and effective if he eschewed his fighting style to be more like everyone else? Urijah Faber was the best featherweight in the world as a completely unorthodox fighter before he was knocked out when he tried a spinning elbow and leaped right into a devastating right hook. Now, Faber is more controlled and more like everyone else, and it remains to be seen if being more fundamentally sound can return him to the top.

Boston’s Rajon Rondo is a player who many would say is not fundamentally sound for an NBA point guard. However, he is as effective as any NBA point guard. Would he be more effective if he played like everyone else? If he tempered his creativity, would people place him in the same category as Deron Williams and Chris Paul or would the change make him less effective?

I watched an academy spend entire sessions on straight-line dribbling drills and then none of the players could beat a defender with the dribble. Meanwhile, players at the park who spend their time playing 1v1 appear less skilled in the straight-line drills, but are far more effective against defenders despite their apparent lack of fundamentals.

Every player needs fundamentals. Rondo has a great base from which he builds. He has great footwork, huge hands that make him an exceptional ball handler and a great understanding of the game. He has a sense for how to use his body and fakes to create the desired pass or shot. However, this game sense and the moves that derive from it are not the fundamental moves that most coaches teach. Several coaches tweeted criticism of high school players at summer tournaments because they tried the Euro-Step that Rondo often uses.

Fundamentals should be seen as the starting point. Once players have a fundamental base – shooting technique, ball control, lay-up technique, jump stops, etc. – they need to make the fundamentals their own. They need to use their creativity to expand the basics into their own moves.

Basketball is not about creating robot-like copies of other players or the coach. Instead, creativity is taking the basics and putting one’s own spin on it. Creativity requires a player to internalize the basics and expand upon them to develop one’s own moves, timing and style. Players who expand upon the basics generally outclass those who are more textbook-fundamental.

By Brian McCormick

Author, Cross Over: The New Model of Youth Basketball Development
Director of Coaching, Playmakers Basketball Development League

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With each session, I had a different purpose. However, I managed the camp based on the players’ enthusiasm: if they appeared to enjoy something, we continued; if they did not, we stopped.

Old school coaches would think the camps for 3rd – 5th graders were a joke, but several parents asked us to run the camp again every week of the year. I probably spent no more than 20 minutes per day on drills, and we never played a second of 5v5. On the last day of camp, as I tried to create some new, fun games, we played capture the flag with basketball rules for almost 90 minutes and the players never lost their enthusiasm. In fact, it was the first time all week that they were not begging me to play steal the bacon by the end of the first hour.

I have never directed a camp (or practice) with so little actual basketball, but I do not know if I have ever had a camp as successful. The players appeared to love playing team tag, dribble tag, sharks & minnows, steal the bacon and capture the flag. Not once did a player ask to scrimmage or play a “real game.” In fact, by the last day, when I tried out freeze tag (did not go as well as planned: cannot play freeze tag with equal numbers per team), the players actually finished a game and started the next game without me having to say anything.

I think the camp was successful because I got out of the way. During capture the flag, I had to intervene once because there were too many disagreements about who got tagged or whether someone should have been in jail or not, but once I explained that we were going to play fair or play not at all, we had no issues. In fact, in the last game, there was a close call as to whether a player crossed the line before getting tagged and I asked the tagger if he got him in time and he said no – he played fair even when given the opportunity to decide the outcome of the game.

Even when we did drills, we went for short spurts and worked on important skills, so the players maintained their enthusiasm. I essentially focused on lay-ups, ball handling, jump stops, pivots and passing during the week – I did not introduce shooting to this group. One day, we did a right-hand lay-up drill (not the most skilled players in the world and many were beginners) for over 20 minutes and nearly every player maintained his enthusiasm and effort level throughout the drill with no direct supervision (I walked around to six different baskets).

The key with this age group is to make the activity fun so that they want to continue. I concentrated on agility and ball handling the most because the skills are most accessible to the age group and the games are easy and fun. As a bonus, improvement was visible.

I tried a couple generic straight-line ball handling drills to introduce the proper technique for dribbling. One young player was in front of me, s I watched him most intently. He struggled. He slapped at the ball and could not keep his head up at all. Later, when I watched him while we played dribble tag, he attacked other players, changed directions, controlled his dribble and looked up. He was a much better ball handler and practiced more game-like skills while playing tag than during a straight-line drill. If that is the case, why even bother with the boring drill when the fun game involved more realistic practice and improvement?

The 6th-8th grade group was more difficult because of the disparity of talent. Some players would not have been too good for the 3rd-5th grade session, while several would have been okay with the high school players. There were also several cliques of teammates, which always makes a camp environment tougher.

However, these players rarely lost their enthusiasm. Every drill had a purpose and an end-goal, and we moved quickly between skills and games. For instance, when I introduced shooting, each group made 20 shots at a spot and then moved to the next practice. While the goal may interfere with learning to some degree (players concentrate on making shots rather than learning the correct shooting technique), the goal maintained concentration.

On the final day, I split the group into 3v3 teams and we played 3v3 games to 3 baskets. I put the bigger, older players at one end and the younger, smaller player at the other end. When I watched the older players, I was disappointed by a lack of effort. We had played an advantage passing game before the 3v3 and it was probably the poorest effort of the camp. I gathered the older players and asked for help. I explained that they were not playing with any enthusiasm or effort in this drill or the previous drill. I asked if they wanted to continue or move on. Several suggested a move to cut-throat, rather than the 3v3 games. I had them finish a couple more games and then we played cut-throat. After the discussion, they played hard for the rest of the camp, and again there were no complaints about the lack of full-court games or 5v5 or “real basketball.”

When coaching young players, sometimes we allow our adult sensibilities and perspective to get in our way. Young players do not need to develop adult-level skills. It does not matter if none of the players shoots like Ray Allen or handles like Steve Nash. Instead, the goal is to make the game fun so the players want to play more. Sometimes that means fewer drills or less specific skill development and more fun games and general skill development (tag, for instance).

Do you have any great ideas for summer basketball camps? Please share in the forum.

By Brian McCormick
Director of Coaching, Playmakers Basketball Development League

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The drill is simple. Each player makes three of each kind of lay-up before switching to the left side (a total of 24 lay-ups in the entire drill). Every lay-up starts on the wing at the three-point line, free throw line extended. As the previous player goes, players spin the ball and catch on a one-count or jump stop with knees bent and butt low. Each move uses only one dribble and three steps. Players must learn to extend with the dribble on their first step.

EXTENSION LAY-UP DRILL

• Lay-up (right foot pivot): Use a crossover step with the left foot and extend with the right-hand dribble. Jump off the left foot and finish with a right-hand lay-up,

• Reverse Lay-up (right foot pivot): Use a crossover step with the left foot and extend with the right-hand dribble. On the final step, with the left foot, extend into the middle of the key, jump off the left leg and finish with a right-handed reverse lay-up on the left side of the rim.
• Inside-hand Lay-up (left foot pivot): Step directly to the basket with right foot and dribble with the right hand. Jump off the right foot and finish with a left-hand lay-up. The footwork feels awkward for most right-hand dominant players, as they squeeze in an extra step to jump off the left foot. Ask players to vocalize their steps, saying “Right, left, right, lay-up,” if they really struggle.
• Crossover Lay-up (left foot pivot): Use a crossover step with the right foot toward the front of the rim and dribble with the left hand. Jump off the right foot and finish with a left-handed lay-up on the left side of the court.

This drill forces good footwork and emphasizes staying in stride, as opposed to shortening the steps to get to the “correct” foot. It also works on different finishes, rather than only working on a lay-up with hand behind the ball at the proper angle.

Beyond the finishes, this drill teaches a proper drive step or first step to the basket. Players will not believe that it is possible to reach the basket in one dribble from the three-point line until they try. Initially, many players will be unable to get to the basket because they dribble before taking their first step. A big first step and extending with the dribble will put the player closer to the basket compared to a player who does not go anywhere with his first dribble. A good drive step makes for a more dynamic offensive player.

When teaching the drive step, teach four things:

1. Nose over toes, chest over knee with the drive step.
2. Eyes to the rim.
3. Extend with the dribble.
4. Body up, body in: offensive player puts his shoulder on defensive player’s hip. Do not belly-out.

These concepts will create a more dynamic player. Too many players need six dribbles to create their own shot; in the flow of an offense, a player does not have six dribbles. By stepping directly past the defender, and extending with the first dribble, an offensive player will be open in one or two dribbles for a shot, a lay-up, or a dish to an open teammate.

By Brian McCormick
Director of Coaching, Playmakers Basketball Development League

How does the video relate to basketball practice? If making it fun to walk up the stairs encourages more people to walk up the stairs, can a coach change his players’ behavior through fun drills as opposed to yelling or running?

Basically, do drills need to be fun?

When players do not pay attention at practice, or when a coach believes that the players are not playing hard, coaches tend to yell or make the players run. Why?

Running does not motivate the players to play harder or pay attention. If anything, this behavior creates an antagonistic relationship between coach and player. Instead, a coach wants to create an environment where the coach and players work together to meet similar goals.

When I see players losing focus, I change the drill. I want to end a drill at its peak, before the effort, intensity, execution and interest start to wane.

I also try to keep drills fresh so players feel like they are constantly learning something new. For instance, rather than doing zigzag defensive slides, I use a drill called “Mirror Defense.” Rather than do straight-line ball handling drills, I play tag. My goals are the same, but the drills are more active, competitive and fun.

By Brian McCormick
Director of Coaching, Playmakers Basketball Development League