X's and O's By Mike MacKay - Playing Strong

Playing Under Control
The first snowfall of the winter is always a reminder to us that we have to pay a little more attention to the road conditions: This is especially true for new or younger drivers who do not have lot of experience driving under these conditions. Drivers in slippery conditions need to:
• Control their speed when they approach an intersection or other traffic. No sharp turns or breaking at high speeds.
• Be prepared for the other vehicles to stop or turn in front of them at any time.
• Be alert; constantly scan anticipating what is going to happen.
Watching some basketball over the break I noticed that many younger and inexperienced players need to play basketball with the same caution as driving on icy road. Many players try to play at speeds which they cannot control. This leads to poor decisions, travels, poor shot selection, charges, turnovers and in some cases injury. As their strength, skill and size improve they will be able to play at faster seed. The faster their operational speed becomes the better they will be able to play, but when learning too much speed kills!

What follows is a progression for younger players on learning how to play under control and yet still be effective in attacking the basket. We often have to simplify the options to make decisions and execution easier. As the players confidence grows more speeds and options can be added. It will also illustrated how to take players through TLC (Teaching, Learning , Competing)

When first introducing a skill, the initiation stage, it is important to allow the players to practice at their own speed. They require a good demonstration of what the skill should look, feel and sound like. Allow them to process the information in his/her own way before you provide too much feedback. It is also important that they understand why the skill is being done in a certain way. This will help them in formulating the skill in their mind. This is why the old idea of whole-part-whole is important. The whole shows the why. Using a games approach can also be effective in showing the why.

Self-toss to 1,2 power lay-up or dribble jump shot
The players toss the ball with back spin to a perimeter position somewhere outside the three point line. Upon catching the ball and scanning the basket, the player drives to the basket for a 1-2 power lay-up. If attacking the foul line the player does a dribble jump shot. These should be accomplished with a maximum of two dribbles. The foot work on the layup is a 1, 2 count, with the outside foot hitting first closely followed by the inside foot.

The quick 1, 2 pull up jump shot is preferred over the hop to a jump stop when going for the dribble jump shot. It is quicker and does not allow the defense to recover.


Stopping
The first bike I had a child had only breaks on the rear wheel. You applied them by pedaling backwards. When travelling at speed and applying your back breaks you would go into a slide that you could learn to control. I had great fun in speeding along the drive way and slamming on the back break. My older brother go a hand me down bike from a cousin. This bike had hand breaks, one for the back and one for the front. I found out the hard way that when you were traveling at speed and slammed on the front break you lost your balance as your momentum carried you up and over the handle bars.

This same concepts applies to players when running at speed. If they try to stop quickly using the front of their feet. they will continue to rotate forward. They will either fall over or take an extra step to maintain their balance.

If they learn to stop by sitting down and using their back break they can remain on balance.

Being strong with the ball
When coming to a stop with the ball players need to quickly get into a strong position.
• Their vision is up,
• Their weight is over the top of their feet
• Their elbows are under the ball, the wrist is flexed and the ball is tight to the body. They are a spring ready to uncoil.
This allows them to:
• absorb contact and remain on balance
• to pivot in any direction
• to make a strong, high percentage shot attempt
The player who stops in a weak position will often
• Have his/her eyes looking down.
• The arms are extended with the ball down low
• The weight is on the front of their feet. They often will have taken an extra step to catch his/her balance.

Twisting with the ball
Players will often need to twist to protect the ball. This may not be a full pivot. Players who move the upper body, but not the lower body often get in caught in an off balanced position.

Renato Pasquali, from our Senior Men’s coaching staff, uses the analogy of the movement a skier makes when transferring weight from one ski to the other. There is a weight shift and the feet and hips both turn. Picture most sports where power is being generate. It is the twisting of the hips that produces this power. This keeps the player in a strong position from which he/she is still explosive. This is NOT a travel.

Too often when players pivot they are focusing on twisting their foot and swinging the other leg around. This often leads to dangerous twisting of the knee and the player ending up in a poor biomechanical position. They have no balance or power.

A pivot generates from the hips, The same skier twisting starts the motion of the pivot. The only thing is that one foot slides forward or back. This keeps the player in a strong position and safe since the knee and the toe are pointing in the same direction.

From this strong position players need to be able to pivot and fake. Often when faking players will put their body off balance or weak by extending the ball, arms and legs.

To stay strong when faking players need to disassociate the action of the upper body from their lower body. When the ball is being raised the lower body is lowering or sitting down. The faking with the eyes and shoulders is often more effective than raising the ball too high. Don’t lose the C formed by the bicep, forearm and wrist. This keeps the player strong to shoot at any time.


1,2 Power lay-up
This lay-up is very important skill for players to learn who are driving into traffic. The footwork is the same as the regular lay-up starting with the outside foot followed quickly by the inside foot. The only difference is that the player does not continue to drive the outside foot up. He/she takes off on both feet.

Pivot Away
If trouble occurs the player can use the outside foot to pivot away. As they become more adept they can also develop a little baby hook from this position.

Step through
If the defense moves up the player can step through by continuing to pivot. Throughout the whole process the player stays strong and on balance.

Why the outside pivot foot?
• It allows the players to carry a little more speed. A straight two foot jump stop requires a lot of strength to come to a complete balanced stop.
• The player is stepping into the contact. If a bump occurs they can push into it. If the inside foot is used they often have to step back to gain their balance and power. This puts them in a weaker position.
• They can KOB (keep on back) the defender by cutting him/her off on the second step.


Applying the skill vs. imaginary defenders
After having time to practice the skill at their own pace players are ready to apply the skill in a game like situation vs. imaginary defenders. This is an excellent drill to work on these the middle jump shot and baseline 1, 2 power lay-up off a dynamic 1on 1 from a wing catch.

The player starts on the baseline and passes the ball to the coach. Depending on the how the coach hold the ball the player either takes the ball baseline or middle. The coach controls the move. Mix it up.

If the coach holds the ball out to the side the player rips the ball and goes baseline. It is important to work on proper footwork to prevent traveling. A little skier hip turn put the player in a strong athletic position before the dribble.

If the coach holds the ball behind him/her the offensive player curls, takes the ball for the middle dribble jump shot. Try to take the ball from the coach with the outside foot down. This allows for a stronger and tighter curl. If the inside foot is used the next step will lead to wide turn since it is with the outside foot.

Coach as a guided defender
Once the players have the correct technique it is important that they apply the skill against a guided defender. Often the coach is the best person to do this at first as the other players may not have the body control to prevent rough or dangerous play. Eventually they will be able to assume this role if you instruct them the proper way to do it.

Apply the skill against a live defender
The offensive and defensive player line up on the baseline. When the ball is passed to the coach both players run to the coach. The offensive player must read if it is the lay-up or curl. The defender must slap the coaches other hand if it is the lay-up, and chase the offensive player if it is the curl. In both situations the offensive player has a brief one second advantage on the defender. If the player executes properly he/she should not lose this one second advantage and make the basket.

Dynamic start to 2 on 2
The players must now read what to do when the defense rotates to take away the one second advantage. By passing the ball to the open player the advantage is maintained. It is important that after passing the passer exit the key to open space. Too often players who penetrate stand after passing and clog the key.

This pass does not have to be a fast pass. This is where the player can come to a 1, 2 stop and pivot if need be. The accuracy and strength is more important when first learning than the speed of release.

The same is true when penetrating to the middle. If need be come to a balanced stop.
Dynamic start to 3 on 3/en/hm/imageDisplay.php?sid=113&id=1614
By adding another pair the offensive player who gains the one second advantage must read who is open when the defense helps. The coach controls if it is a baseline or middle penetration. We are working on defense and offense at the same time. These can be teaching or learning drills depending on
where the coach feels the players are in their development. Be sure to work from both ides of the court. It is also a good idea to let the players transition out of this drill. To turn it into a competing drill the coach can have the players keep score. Use a games approach.

Deload - 3 on 2 secondary cuts
Often as a coach we must deload and activity rather than continue to load it. Here we have eliminated one defender. The player who drives pretends that help has come and he/she must come to a 1, 2 stop. The other offensive players have moved on penetration. Once the offensive player pivots the other offensive players must make a secondary cut based on what their defenders have done on the original cut. By eliminating the on ball defender it gives the offensive players a chance to have some success early. Load the third defender back into the drill when ready. These are good learning drills. Allow the players to play through mistakes. To compete allow transition. Scoring occurs for making use of the desired skills and concepts.

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X's and O's By Mike MacKay - Athletic Stance

Mike MacKay - Manager of Coach Education and Development


In working with younger players one of the most important concepts that they need to learn is an athletic stance. This is a balanced position from which the player can move in a powerful and quick manner. Many players struggle to find this position. This may be due to poor strength or flexibility, but it is often because we confuse the players with instructions such as, bend your legs and keep your back straight. Here is a progressive way to help players discover an athletic defensive stance.


Head - the head must be up with the eyes scanning forward. If the head tips forward the player will be off balance in a forward direction.
Back – the back has a slight arch in the lumbar region. The shoulders are back pushing the chest slightly forward.
Elbows – the elbows should be bent and over top of the knees. When we straighten the arms we move our centre of gravity away from the centre.
Hips – the butt is back behind the heels. The hips are inside the knees.
Knees – the knees are flexed and inside the big toe of the feet.
Feet – the ankle is flexed. The weight of the body is on the ball of the foot.
When you look for the side a straight line is formed by the ball of the foot, knee and shoulder.


Pylon squat
Each player starts with two pylons. It works best with the cone type. If not, use empty pop bottles or milk jugs. Have the player assume a defensive stance (have a partner checks from the side). Taking one cone in each hand the player sits down in his/her stance and places the cones out to each side, reaching as far as he/she can without coming out of a good stance. We do not want the player to sway to place the pylons. The knees should not end up outside the feet. The key is to sit down on the leg. This way the player can still push off. Have the player move back and forth without moving the feet and touch the top of the cone 10 times. This is building strength , flexibility and muscle memory.


The next step is to have the players move the pylons out a little further than they can reach. Now we want the player to work on pushing to touch the top of the pylon. Return to a balanced position in the middle before moving to the next pylon on the other side.

Add two more pylons behind the original two. Now the players work on a quick hip turn and a push to touch the pylons. Again, return to a balanced position each time before going to touch the next cone.

These age good drills to do as part of a movement prep in warm up, especially if you are going to be doing defense that day.
We are building strength and flexibility in the core, legs ankles and hips. It is very important to watch for players losing the good athletic position. If they lose their good form they will not receive the training effect you desire.


Load in a guided offensive player
Have the player tart in the good stance. It is important that the defender moves off the line of the pylons to cut off the angles.

Load in a ball

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X's and O's By Mike MacKay - Asking the right questions

I recently completed the book, Starting With Why, by Simon Sinek. It got me to thinking about how I have used questions in coaching. In the past I have suggested to coaches that when asking questions of your players in a debrief, you should focus on 'how' and 'what' questions and limit using 'why' and 'who' questions. 'Why' and 'who' questions can often be seen as excuses and blaming by the athletes. This often has to do with the tone of voice used when asking the question;
"Who is responsible for helping on that drive?" "Why are we not rotating to help".
Said with a tone that implies punishment or guilt the players will be reluctant to answer sincerely. Once you have establish a positive relationship with the players, where they accept the fact that you are truly listening and want to know their honest answer, you need to ask the 'why' and 'who' questions to dig towards a deeper understanding.

When dealing with coaches and organizations, Mr. Sinek makes a strong case for asking "why" and "who" questions first. Too often we get caught up in the 'how' and 'what' questions and we lose track of the real purpose of the program. Who are we dealing with and why are we doing things this way? Would you like a doctor who jumps to diagnosing your aliment, telling you what and how to cure it without first finding out whom you are and why you are having the problem?

Why + Who = What + How
It is very important that your words match your actions. When why you do something, matches equally with what and how you do things people believe in you. You are a person of your word.

Why + Who < What + How
When what and how you do things is stronger than why you do things, your action are not congruent This leads to a lack of trust. The classic example is the coach who expounds on building character in his young athletes. When in the games his/her actions show he/she is only about winning the game. Athletes need to know that the coach trust them. This is especially true in skill development. Mr. Sinek used the analogy that trust is like the safety net for the trapeze artist. By using a safety net the athlete has no fear in trying to extend him/her self to push out of comfort zones. When no net is present the trapeze artist will stay with the safe routine, not willing to risk injury. If a coaches actions and word are equal we can act as a safety net for the athletes. In practice a coach preaches that it is ok to make mistakes and push out of your comfort zone. The same coach has to have the same safety net when the athlete attempts to use that skill in competition. Subbing the athlete out for the mistake means the player will no longer trust the coach and try to expand his/her game in competition.

Why + Who > What + How
Lots of talk, but no action. These people are often called dreamers who have a great idea, but there is no structure. I am reminded of the story of the building of the Panama canal. It was started by the French who had a great vision of a short cut to the Pacific. They clearly articulated why and for whom the canal needed to be built. When it came to the how and the what the solution was to just dig! Dig they did, fueling off the passion of the dream. After many years, high costs and many deaths the dream was abandon. Before the Americans came in they took a number of years to develop a plan. They still had the same dream, but needed to ensure that the how and the what matched. Coaches and players often have elaborate dreams of their future potential. When a realistic plan of action does not follow, the dream comes crashing down when the work required to achieve the dream fails to materialize.

I have always tried to take the time when answering questions to thing why and who first. It is not always easy as these examples below will show.

Question: How should I teach my players to pivot? Should it be a permanent pivot foot?
The easy thing to do is start giving a detailed description of how to pivot, but the first thing I need to do is ask Who and Why?
Who are the athletes? What stage of development are they playing at? How many years have they been playing the game? How many practices have you worked on the skill? Have you allowed them the proper amount of time to develop this skill? Is this a player with aspirations to play at a higher level or just a recreational basketball?
Why are the players having trouble pivoting? Is it because they are off balance or is it a coordination problem? Is core strength an issue? Is it because of the way the coach has taught them to pivot? Are they having trouble pivoting off a catch or to avoid pressure upon stopping?
Only after asking these questions can the coach properly address the 'what' and the 'how'.
Answer: (After finding out that the players are developmental athletes who have aspirations of playing at the next level) Pivoting to me is like shooting. When close to the basket, shooting layups, a good player needs to use both hands. The more that you can use both feet the more effective you can be, especially when playing inside and playing dynamic 1 on 1 on the perimeter. Dynamic means the offensive player makes a decision before the catching the ball. Upon catching the ball the player initiates an action without hesitation or delay. The player is already attacking before he/she completely squares to the basket. You need to use both feet when moving to attack the basket dynamically.
Having said that, if a player is shooting a shot from distance it is better to practice with only one hand. The player will develop more accuracy. The same can be said if playing static 1 on 1, most players have more success using one pivot foot when playing on the perimeter. They can be more accurate or efficient.
Questions: What rotations do you recommend for my team who is having trouble stopping penetration?

Again, can you see the trap! At first we want to start suggesting various strategies and schemes that have been used by coaches over the years, when what we need to do is ask 'who' and 'why'. The problem behind the problem is giving up penetration not the rotations used to stop it. Who are the players? What stage of development? Why are they giving up penetration? What part of the season is it? Has sufficient time been spent on teaching a proper stance?

If your team is not defending penetration very well do you go and work on your help rotations or stance and on ball defense? In general coaches seem to want to solve this problem strategically. Look at the issue another way. Ask yourself this question; if your team is not shooting the ball very well, what do you do when you go to practice the next day? How many of you said practice shooting? How many people said they would practice offensive rebounding? By practicing shooting you are getting at the skill that needs to be improved for future development. You may receive no benefit for the next immediate game. By practicing offensive rebounding you are conceding that shooting will not improve and looking at an immediate solution. Reality is that you need to practice both. The art of coaching is determining how much of each.

I have always believed that using questions is one of the higher levels of teaching/coaching. I know I will now pay more attention to making sure that who and why I am working with someone will match how and what I do.

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X's and O's by Mike MacKay - Act Locally, Think Globally

It was with a sad heart that I heard of the death of David Pecaut this morning. It was through his work with Canada Basketball's Board of Directors that I met him. Reading the many stories today in the newspapers made me realize what a legacy he has left. Building a strong community was one of his great passions. Reading this got me thinking about the slogan I heard on the CBC last night, in reference to the global warming conference in Copenhagen. Act locally, think globally. David Pecaut wanted to see the city of Toronto as one of the leading cities in the world. This would only happen if it started locally. This lead me to thinking about global warming and what we in the basketball community can do to help reduce global warming. The more I thought about it, the more “green basketball” fell in line with many of the issues we have been discussing in Canadian Sport for Life. In most cases, the green solution was also cheaper and built on the sense of community.

Act locally

One of the biggest ways we can reduce green house gases is by reducing the uses of cars and airplanes to travel to games and practice, especially at the Fundamental and L2T stages. At these stages there is no reason for children to be traveling long distances to play games and practice. Playing in the gym or play ground where the child could walk or take public transportation (with proper adult proper supervision) would solve many of societal problems:
o It builds a sense of community; you get to know the people who live in your community. You get to meet people in the gym, on the walk or in public transportation.
o It gets people active. By walking we promote activity that may reduce obesity in our children and the parents who walk with the child. Walking also give time to talk with your child.
o It reduces the need for cars to take children to activity.

If driving was needed it could be done in a car pool. There is no need for each parent to individually drive their child too and from practices and games. When children are developing into independent adults they go through many phases:
o At first it is all about “me”.
o Next they come to recognize that they exist in a “family”.
o Finally they need to learn that “me” and the “family” also fit into something called a “community”.

Too often we shelter children on this journey from being dependent to independent. It is ok as a parent to miss practices and games. As the old African proverbs says;"It takes a village to raise a child." My parents never saw me play basketball and only saw me play high school football once. It was the provincial championship game at the old Wanders Grounds in Halifax. My mother had no idea what was going on and had to keep asking my brothers where I was and what I was doing. My father didn’t like the crowd and skipped out from the game to go to the Nova Scotia Museum. I never once felt that they did not love me. They showed it in many other ways. They also allowed my teachers and coaches to have a hand in raising me.

At the physical literacy stages we should eliminate the adult 5 on 5 game. By playing 3 on 3 or 4 on 4 many positive things occur:
o The players actually get to touch the ball. This is how they develop the basketball and decision making skills they require.
o Individually each child is more active and therefore receiving a bigger fitness benefit.
o You can have more children active at one time. This raises the efficiency level of the facility.
o You do not require parents and fans to come and cheer them on. Since you are playing cross court there is no room for spectators. The children can learn in a safe positive environment. Each parent does not have to drive.
o You do not require officials. The players learn to officiate their own games or have the coaches teach/coach and officiate at the same time.
o When you practice you can learn to share the gym. Why only have one “team” of 12 players in a gym at one time. By changing the definition of a team to a group of players you can have more players being active at one time.

All of the above also reduce the number of cars required to drive people to the gym. It also makes more efficient use of the gym. You also build community because people get to know the other parents who will be involved in their child's life.

Building the Canadian basketball community

The myth exist that:
o I will have a better experience in basketball if I leave Canada
o The further the game is from my home the more valuable the experience;
o The more games we play at the tournament the better the games;
o The more “stuff” we are given the better the tournament or team we play on.

It is not a myth that we have seen a steady increase in the number of players who feel they have to be exported to play the game of basketball. It used to be only at the L2W (university) stage. Now we are seeing it happen at the T2C (High school) stage. If we do not solve this issue it will soon be down into the T2T (junior and middle school) stages. Should we export our raw materials to other countries so they can build the finished product? We don't want to do it in manufacturing so why should we do it with our most valuable resource, our children. We need to build a basketball community where all players feel welcomed and that they can achieve their needs. The amount of money invested by parents who have children making these trips is incredible. It is not a free ride as many are lead to believe. I am waiting for someone to show me the positive numbers on how this current method of exporting players is working.

Reduce the number of games

At the T2T, T2C and L2T stages reducing the number of games will reduce the number of planes trains and automobiles required to transport players, parents, fans and referees This is mostly because of the lack of practices and over abundance of games. The elite player in theses stages often goes year round without a single break. Simply by reducing games we greatly reduce the number of cars needed to transport people to the gym.

Some other things to consider at the Develop the Game stages of CS4L:
o League vs. tournament
Leagues mean local. Local means less travel. Also the dollars being spent are local. The amount of money being spent on gas, hotels and meals on weekends on youth sport is staggering. What if this money could be invested back into developing more local community facilities. These facilities are a legacy for the community.
o Tiering
Done on a local level, communities can help find the niche for each and every participant. Children who do not make a high level team can be directed to the local community league that provides an opportunity for the child to continue to grow and develop and not be excluded. Also those who may not be able to participate can become involved in helping out. This is one of the great strengths of the European club system. It is the local place where adults and children alike grow up.
o Billets vs. hotels
When I was a player in High school we used to be billeted rather than stay in hotels. Not every experience was great, but we learned a lot about the other players and came to see them in a different light. Somewhere in growing up children need to get out of comfort zones. Where do they get to experience cultural growth. If it is not with a billet what about sleeping together in the gym with sleeping bags. Anyone who has ever attended the Coal Bowl in New Waterford, Cape Breton know what I speak about. It is a cultural building experience.

The purpose here was not to have all of the solutions, but to get people to think. Change is inevitable. Why not be a leading sporting nation that builds a truly green basketball community. I know it is something of which David Pecaut would be proud.

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X's and O's By Mike MacKay - Coach Donohue

I was able to watch a lot of high level basketball this summer at world and national championships. Since only one team can win the championship, I often found myself talking with coaches and players after the teams had been eliminated. Many players and coaches often feel discouraged at this point in the season. So much energy goes into preparing to win the championship. Players and coaches alike often feel totally drained physical and mental. Anyone who is competitive wants to win. What surprised me was the number of players and coaches who did they not feel that they had learned or grew from the experience. Some even questioned if this was a worthwhile use of their time and energy.
This floored me! How could someone, who had just represented their province or country, not feel that it was a worthwhile experience? It started me to pondering; What can we do to help athletes feel inspired to continue to compete and learn after losing. If they don't learn this lesson their life expectancy in sport will be short lived.

I spent a good part of the fall thinking, talking and reflecting on this issue. It was a conversation I had with Coach Steve Knochalski (former National team coach and current head coach of St. FX University in Antigonish, N.S.) that strated to help me think of ways to help coaches on how to address this issue. Coach K was the assistant coach with Jack Donohue, our long time national team coach. He knew coach Donohue better than most.
I asked Coach K, "What was the best thing that Coach Donohue did, that made him special as a coach."
He thought for a while and replied; "The long walks."
My first thought was that these walks allowed Coach Donohue to reflect or spend quiet time alone, but this was not the case.
Coach K. filled in the blank; "Coach would take a player with him and they would go on these long walks and talk. Things always seemed to be better for the player after these walks." Having known Coach Donohue myself I remembered that it was never about the offensive or defensive systems. It wasn't his ability to scount and break down tape, it was about his relationship with his players. He got to know what they were thinking or feeling, he understood them.

This lead me to review my vast library of books on leadership. One I came across was called Quiet Leadership by David Rock. In it he used two models that can help us understand people;
• Iceberg model
• The Ask/Tell quadrants

The Iceberg

There is a visible part of the iceberg above the waterline, but the greater mass of an iceberg is below the water line and therefore invisible. When coaching athletes we often fall into the trap of directing our energies to what is visible. What we see are the players behaviours and the results of these behaviours (outcome). What remains invisible to us is what the player is thinking and feeling.




The problem with focusing all of our energies on the visible is that it is the invisible that controls the visible. In order to positively change the outcome we need to help the athlete change what they are thinking and feeling first.

The Ask-Tell Quadrants

The only way to find out what someone is thinking or feeling is by asking.




High level coaching usually takes place in (quadrant #4), this is where we ask the athlete about how to solve the problem. There are times when we need to be in the other quadrants. When an athlete has little experience you may need to tell them a solution (quadrant #2). Asking what the problem is can help find out what an athlete is thinking or feeling (quadrant #3). This should be converted into solution thinking where we allow them to take ownership and learn to think for themselves. Telling players what they are doing wrong (quadrant#1) is one we have to be careful not to dominate with our coaching, especially if we do not supply a solution with it.
Example:
• Tell the problem - "You're not hustling!"
• Tell the solution - "You need to sprint back on defense!"
• Ask the problem - "What's wrong with you?"
• Ask the solution - "What can we do to help you get back and stop your check in transition?"

The problem for coaches is that we often tend to dominate in the one quadrant. Like athletes, it is when we are under pressure that we revert back to our comfort zones. If your comfort zone is telling you, will do this most often in the heat of the battle. Now remember, no one is perfect! The key is awareness of what style you use and making a conscious effort to improve.

How does all of this relate to motivating players to work hard and continue to grow and learn after facing adversity? When we complete in the big games or the big tournaments we too often focus on the outcome. As coaches we fall into the trap of not taking into account what the players are thinking or feeling. A turnover is made, a player is not playing good defense we make a sub. During the heat of the battle we often do not have time to ask questions. We start to dominate with telling. After the game, we often need personal time to recovery from the stress of the game. The last thing we want to do is go and talk to a player who performed poorly. Especially if emotions are involved. It becomes easy to isolate ourselves from the players. We assume we know what the players are thinking and feeling. We go and spend countless hours watching tape or scouting the next opponent. We tell our players all about the tendencies of the opponent, but we have ignore the most important people, our own players. Over time this can have a decimating affect on a player. Young players especially, need to learn how to express their feeling and emotions in a positive way to enable them to grow. When we do not allow this to happen we are missing out on a valuable life lesson.

Like most lessons, I had to learn this the hard way. Early in my coaching career I was frustrated with the play of my team. My body language showed this to everyone in the gym. After the game I was approached by the mother of one of the players. Luckily I respected her and her knowledge. She told me that she could sense my frustration. I told her that I didn't think the players wanted it bad enough. I told them I had an open door policy and they should come to talk to me. Not one of them did. This just proved my point.
She looked me in the eye and told me "Mike, these young ladies do not know how to talk to you. They so much want to do the right thing, but are afraid of you." I was flabbergasted! but knew she was right. I immediate knew that it was me that had to change, not them. I had to learn how to become approachable and learn how to listen. I was the teacher, they were the student. I could not expect them to make the first step, I had to approach them.

Getting back to Coach Donohue. The art of his coaching came from how to ask, when to ask and where to ask. He could sense the right time and place for having a talk with an athlete. One of the best pieces of advice I ever got from him was to watch the players eyes when you first talk to them before practice. Try to sense what they are thinking or feeling. If you see someone who looks out of sorts talk to them right away. These talks could occur in a bus, in a hotel, at a restaurant or in the corner of a gym. Most often they were done in private. Often, to save time we try to cover off on issues by discussing them with the entire team. "Some of us are not hustling, we need to do a better job of getting back on defense." Sometimes we try to get to the team by calling a player out in front of his/her teammates. "John, if you don't start hustling back on defense you can just sit yourself down on the bench. "If you know how your players think or feel this strategy can work. If you don't it can explode in your face.

The key is to take the time to get to know what your players are thinking and feeling. This usually occurs by asking questions. Think about how you ask, when you ask and where you ask. The more caring and candor you show, the more sincere and effective you will be.

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X's and O's by Mike MacKay - Loading

One of my most asked questions is; “How do you load various games a drills to keep the players interest and development progressing.” What I want to do is show you a game and a drill and the types of progression s that can be used to load the activity.

10 passes



The basic game starts by dividing the group into two separate teams. Note: A way to add leadership is to allow one of the players to pick the teams.

Define the boundary lines for the game. The larger the boundary the more the advantage goes to the offence. In this example it is the ½ court. The object of the game is to successfully complete 10 passes in a row without a fumble or travel. Players without the ball can move. If the ball goes out of bounds, is incomplete or there is a violation the ball immediately turns over to the other team.

Vary the number of successful passes. With younger players you may want to use a softer ball that is easy to catch.

Move After Passing



The first load added is a mental and physical challenge. After passing the player must immediately run and touch a sideline or end line before being allowed back into the game. This promotes moving after passing and also encourages more players to be involved in passing and receiving.

Use of Colors



I have purchased a ball designed just for younger players (Rookie Gear by Spalding, it is 25% lighter than a regular size 5 ball. The children shoot it higher and pass and receive it better). There are four bright colours on the ball; red, yellow, blue, and green. Four pylons of matching colours are placed around the boundary lines. When the ball is received the players must call out the colour that the tips of his/her right (left) fingers are touching. This encourages the player to watch the ball into his/her hands. After passing the player runs and touches the pylon of the colour called. This encourages scanning and moving with a purpose.You can also mark numbers on a rubber ball and have them call out the number and touch a corresponding numbered pylon.

Call Out The Number of Passes



A mental load that encourages communication is having the player who makes the pass call out the number of the pass. We want everyone to have a voice. Very often only the loudest players will talk. Each player needs to learn when it is his/her time to lead with a leadership voice. If the number is not called with a leadership voice, it is a violation and the other team takes over possession.

Pass Off The Dribble



The physical load is added that the player who receives the pass must immediately dribble within one second of catching the ball. The player must also pass the ball within one second of picking it up. This encourages scanning while dribbling and making passes off the dribble. The other players must move in space in relation to the dribble.

Everyone Dribble



Every player is dribbling a basketball. The team must still complete the ten passes without a fumble or travel. At first use a ball that is easy to catch with one hand. As the skill improves move up to a real basketball.

You can load the passer by making him/her have to dribble both balls at the same time.

Four Pylon Drills

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I will use this simple agility drill to show how you can load one activity to the point of working on advanced basketball concepts.

Line up four pylons as shown in the diagram. One player starts at the front of the line near the sideline. A partner has a ball somewhere on the court ready to pass. The player without the ball zigzags through the pylons. Once exiting the pylons he/she receives a pass and goes and scores a layup. The partners switch places.

You may want to start by deloading the drill. You may find that you have to isolate the exact footwork required to manoeuvre through the pylons. I prefer to have the players work on sharp v-cuts or icky shuffles. You can use any footwork that you want to emphasize. The same is true of the finishing move. You can use various types of lay ups, shots or creative finishes. This is how a coach can individually challenges each player to met his/her stage of development or learning.

Keeping The Eyes Up



Once the player has reached the consolidation stage of learning the footwork you can begin to load the player mentally and physically. In order to force the player to keep the eyes up make random passes. After receiving the ball the player passes it immediately back to his/her teammate.

You could have the player dribble through the pylons after receiving the pass.

Find The Ball



Now instead of a pass, the partner tosses the ball to some place on the court. The player doing the footwork must explode from the pylons and get to the ball before the second bounce. In this example the player scores a layup after receiving the ball.

You could require a pass and cut before scoring.

Hustle



One common theme I hear from coaches is that they want their players to give effort. Often we do not define it for the players or make it a verb, an action.

In this example we have loaded in the ball being rolled on the floor. The player must break off his/her footwork and dive to regain the ball. It is immediately passed to the partner. The diving player must now quickly regain his/her feet and cut to score the basket.

Rebound



Here the partner shoots the ball at the basket. The player must go and jump to get the ball at its highest point.

Notice that the partner has moved to a new position. By having the partner vary his/her position you crate different load for the player.

Dribble Through The Pylons



Now we load in the ball. Can the player’s keep the same crisp footwork while dribbling? It is best to deload the other options when first adding the ball.

Show 10 Fingers



Here the dribble passes the ball to the partner when a target hand is shown.

Dribble Pass Cut



As the player is dribbling the ball is passed when 10 fingers are shown. The player continues to execute the good footwork until the end of the pylons. He/she receives a pass back for a score.

Note: for advanced players the partner could dribble at the cutter. This would initiate circle movement of penetration.

All we are using the pylons for is a way to begin a two player action. It allows us to teach a fundamental movement, basketball skill and basketball concept at the me time. Have fun and be creative.

Lateral Dribble



We now use the same set u to teach a specific basketball skill, the lateral dribble. By using the same set up the players do not waste time in learning the format of the drill. They are able to concentrate on the key learning points of emphasis.

The dribbler uses a bouncing lateral dribble. At anytime he/she explodes through one of the holes to score a layup. Note the dribble should be practiced with the ball in either hand.

Load The Finish



Here the partner stands in the most direct drive line to the basket. The player driving must execute a inside outside power lay up or a creative finish (zigzag). This is also a good position to watch the eyes of the dribbler.

Ensure Vision



The partner calls for the pass by showing 10 fingers. The lateral dribble must throw a pass and then cut.

Guided Defender



Now the partner slides along with the offensive player. The guided defender gives a read by stepping up into one of the holes. The dribbler must read this action and chose the open space to attack.

Two Guided Defenders



Here the dribbler must read and beat the first guided defender and then read and beat the simulated help defender.

Sometimes you want to have an offensive player with the help defender. We do not want to encourage bad shots. The driver must decide to score, draw a foul or make the pass to an open teammate.

Live One-on-One



We know let the players play live in a confined space. You can always load in the other players for decision making purposes. This may also be the way you initiate your 5 on 5 or 4 on 4 play.

Attacking Off The Curl



We can also use the same four pylons to work on another basketball concept. An offensive player and defensive player star in front of the middle two pylons. To unguarded offensive players are ready to receive pass.

On the pass the offensive player must touch the first pylon away from the direction of the pass. The defender must touch the second pylon. As the offensive player cuts back he/she must decide if a one second advantage has been created. Should he/she curl or straight cut for a shot.

Notice that the other perimeter player is also working on filling space after the cut occurred.

Initiate With a Lateral Dribble



Here the same action is started with the lateral dribble. After passing the offense touches the first pylon opposite the pass the defence touches the second.

Reading Help



Here we have placed another offensive pair in the low post position. The player who decides to curl must read the help and make the pass to the open teammate.

Initiate Penetration



Here we use the same four pylons to initiate a drill to work on penetration principles. The player behind the pylons passes the ball and cuts. He or she only goes until inside the pylons. The others players fill the open spaces.

Cutter Penetrates



The player who cut receives a return pass and immediately reads the first cutter, who is acting as a guided defender. The other two offensive players must respond to the penetration with the appropriate circle action.

Post Penetration Principles



We begin with the same action. The first passer becomes a guided defender.



We now feed the post player. The other players must make their appropriate movements off post penetration. The player at the pylon gets to work on secondary cuts based on the read of the guided defender.

You can load in as many defenders as you wish.

To summarize, the idea behind loading is to match the skill to the challenge. By continually loading the athlete mentally, physically and social/emotionally we can continue to set the appropriate challenge without wasting time in building new drills.

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X's and O's By Mike MacKay - Book Review: Basketball Basics - How To Play Like The Pros

When I was a youngster growing up in Cole Harbour, N.S., one of my fondest memories was when the bookmobile would arrive. This was an old school bus converted into a portable library. Once a month the bookmobile would journey out Caldwell Road and stop near our house. It was during one of these visits that I remember looking at book about basketball. For some reason this book sparked an interest in me. I had never played the game up to that point in time. In fact the only basketball I had seen was the Harlem Globetrotters, on Wide World of Sports.

Around the same time, my elementary school teacher gave us a flyer from Scholastic Books, where we could order little paperback books. I convinced my Mother to let me order a book called “How to Star in Basketball.” I loved that book! I practiced the skills using a playground ball and a toy can. When we moved to Truro, I attended North River Elementary school. It was here that I finally got to shoot on a real basket with a real ball. It amazed me that I actually knew quite a bit about the skills because I had practiced on my own from the drills described in my book. Over the ensuing years I have not seen many books that were written for the player.

That is until I read “Basketball Basics - How to Play Like the Pros” by Jay Triano. It made me want to go out and practice again. The book is written for players at the Learn 2 Train, Train 2 Train, and early Train to Compete stages.

What makes it player friendly?

· The ratio of words to pictures;
· It builds dreams
· The activities are stage appropriate and demonstrated by people players can relate too
· It promotes the idea that, working on your game is the key to success.

Every page has excellent colour pictures and each chapter starts with an image and quote from a pro. The pros are international stars (it even has a female pro!). This is part of building dreams goals for the players. Other pictures are of stage/age appropriate players demonstrating the skills. There are boys and girls of different body sizes and ethnic groups. Each player is introduced with his/her name. These are real people. This makes it realistic for the player; "I can visualize myself doing this activity". This builds internal motivation.

The descriptions are written in bullet form so that the player can quickly read the material and grasp the important key points. By reading the bullet and looking at the picture the player understands the key points of the skill. Players learn to coach themselves. Each page also has a pro tip that challenges the player or emphasizes the importance of the concept or activity being described.

The activities that were chosen are excellent for these athletes. They learn the basic skills, but are also challenged by some more advanced applications. For example in passing the last pass shown is the behind the back pass. This adds a bit of fun and adventure to the learning. It gives me something to work towards. The players learn about loading.

I like the fact that the players are also shown the proper way to warm up and work on conditioning. The players are shown some basic fundamental movement skills such as a lunge. The idea of core strength is also introduced to the players.

Finally and most importantly, the book addresses the number one problem we have with player development - the lack of INDIVIDUAL SKILL DEVELOPMENT. It starts with Steve Nash's forward and is reiterated constantly throughout the book, you need to practice these skills on your own, but it does so in a way that makes it seem fun. It does not promote joining a travel team and playing six games on a weekend. It talks about you getting better by loving to work on your game.

Great job Jay! I hope that all players, parents and coaches read this book and learn this lesson.


Canada Basketball is pleased to offer “Basketball Basics – How To Play Like The Pros” to the basketball community, just in time for the holiday season – shop online at shop.basketball.ca/. Only $17.95 (plus taxes/shipping), with 10% to benefit the Canadian Basketball Foundation. It’s the gift that keeps on giving!


About Jay Triano:


A native of Niagara Falls, Ontario, Triano has had a long career in basketball at both the amateur and professional level. At Simon Fraser University Triano set 11 school records, including the career scoring mark of 2,616 points. Triano was drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers in the eighth round of the 1981 NBA Draft and played for the Canadian national team for 11 years (1978-88). He was team captain from 1981-88.

Triano began his basketball coaching career as an assistant at Simon Fraser and was the team’s head coach from 1988-1995. In 1993-94 he was as the head coach of the Canadian men’s junior national team, before serving as an assistant coach on the Canadian men’s national team. Triano was the head coach of the Canadian men’s national team from 1998-2004 and is currently the head coach for the Toronto Raptors; the NBA’s only Canadian born coach. Triano was recently was appointed to Canada Basketball’s new Council of Excellence, a nine-member group developed to support the national team program’s strategic objectives.

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X's and O's By Mike MacKay - Teaching Conceptual Offence

In working with athletes at the Learn to Train and early Train to Train stages we need to continually review the basic offensive concepts. I have found through repetition that the use of a grid has been very helpful in teaching court spacing. I like it better than a spot marker since it is not an absolute. The court is divided into 12 spaces. They are not of equal size.

Use of the grid for spacing



I have found that when doing drills with these younger players they need to be able to quickly react to what the ball is doing. What follows are a number of drills that enhance the players ability to read the ball first and then there teammates and the defenders. At first the drills start in a static positioning. Once the players have mastered this we would quickly move into flowing into these spots from a non-static start. For easy of presentation I am starting all of the drills statically.

1/2 Court Teaching Drill



Two different groups of 6 players each can be working at both ends of the floor. The players fill the six spaces with the player under the basket having a ball.

It is this players turn to lead. He/she must use a strong leadership voice to communicate to his/her teammates the action of the drill.

For this drill I am using a group of boys.

Shot



In this example, the player with the ball (player #6) would call out; "Bill, shot! (I am assuming player #3's name is Bill). Bill steps into his shooting range to receive the pass. The other players must react to what the ball does. Those below the foul line extended go for the rebound, those above become safeties.

Note: in the diagram I have shown player #2 going for a rebound. I have tried to teach players at Train to Train that we want duck and dive on the weak side for a rebound. #3, the shooter would go back as safety.

The players rotate to different spots. You can also have the players make a number of passes before the shot occurs.

Pass, Cut, Fill



Here the player with the ball would call out; "Bill, pass and cut." Upon receiving the ball Bill makes an immediate pass and cuts to the basket. The other players must read this action and move appropriately.

The original passer, #6 can act as a guided defender. When Bill cuts he must decide if he has an advantage and stay with a good seal or should he exit to open space. We do not want to freeze the ball.

Dribble Penetration



Here the call is; "Bill, drive!" Player #3 drives the ball and the other players work on their penetration principles.

Again #6 can act as a guided defender. If he steps into a drive line the dribbler should think pass. You can also encourage multiple passes off the penetration.

Diagonal Cuts



Another load is diagonal cuts. I would never add these all at once. I would start with the first three only. The call here is "Diagonal Cuts". player #5 must realize that he has an open basket and cut to the front of the rim. Notice that player #1 and #2 are moving into the open spaces. This is especially effective if the pass is made to #5 on the cut. The other reason is that #5 can exit to the open space at the top vacated by #2 if no pass is made.

Load in #6 as a defender.

Pass, Cut, Fill to Post Up



At the Train to Train stage we add in a post up. The call is; "Bill, pass and cut to post up!" After passing Bill precedes to post on the other side . The remaining players must get the ball inside. They are learning who has the best angle for the pass.

Movement Off Pass to a Post



This allows us to work on our penetration movement off a post pass. The players must vacate the corner on the side of the post up.

Four Around One



The same concepts can be practiced from a four around one. Player #5 starts at the rim. Here the call was; "Tom (#2 )two passes for a perimeter shot!". The players move the ball for the shot and work on movement for rebounding coverage.

Penetration



Here the call was for penetration. Since we have an interior player he gets to work on his circle movement in the post on penetration.

Pass, Cut, Fill None Permanent Post



The call was for pass cut fill. Since we are not having a permanent post player, #5 exits to the perimeter as the new cutter goes to the rim.

Load The Drills

• No verbal call. The player who receives the pass can do what he/she wants. This means the other players must react to the action of the ball .
• Add in guided defenders. I have the defenders start in a line down the middle of the key. At first we play advantage where the offence has one open player. Eventually we play 5 on 5.
• Flow into the spaces
• Transition the other way. This is important because you want to see if the players can replicate the concepts done at one end to the other.

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X's and O's By Mike MacKay - Having A Ball

Here are a bunch of games that were inspired by reading the book; Having a Ball: Stability Ball Games by John Byl. I adapted and invented games to fit a basketball context. I also loaded the games in various ways. These are excellent for players at the Fundamental and Learn to Train stages. I would suggest that some could be used with Train to Train and Train to Compete. Remember when ever you use a games aproach it is important to ask what the saftey concerns are for the game. Also, debrief what the learnings are that can be applied to the game of basketball in the future.

Pressure Tag



The players partner up with a team mate. They place a ball on their backs and must keep it there with pressure. This does not have to be a basketball. Each player also has a ball that they dribble.

At first let them practice moving about, working together. When the tag game starts, one pair is given pool noodles. They are moving about trying to tag the other pairs. If tagged with the noodle, that pair now becomes “it”. No re-tags allowed.

Excellent game for leadership, who leads? Who follows?

Knock Out



Two players roll a stabilty ball across the floor. Other players practice chest passes or bounce passes to hit the moving ball. As they get better reduce the size of the ball and increase the speed. They could also pass off the dribble.

You could start with the ball being stationary in the middle of the floor and have the players try to knock the ball out of the court.

Safety is a concern with the looses balls. Have a way to deal with this issue.

Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars



The sun is the centre circle. You radiate planets (pylons) away from the centre circle. It helps if they are different colours. Each player (team) has a ball and lines up behind one line of pylons.



(Note: I am only showing one player for ease of understanding). On the signal to begin the player starts to dribble around the solar system (yellow pylons). The sceond time around he/she circles the green pylons. Finally the player reaches the sun. Since the sun is hot he/she cannot stay there for long and must retrace his/her path, dribbling with the opposite hand.



Another option is to have the player weave back to the starting point where the ball is given to the next player in line.

Players need to keep their heads up when doing this game as there are three other players going at the same time.

You can add in as many planets as you wish. The bigger the space the more it becomes conditioning.

All "it"



The players spread out around the gym and each player has a ball. On the signal to begin the players dribble trying to tag as many people as they can without being tagged. When you tag someone you must call out the number of tags you have. If two players tag at the same time a quick rock, paper, scissor to decide who gets the point. No one can tag these players when the rock, paper, scissors is occuring.

Some players will not try to score and take a totally defensive approach. You need to encourage them to take risks. By changing the size of the space you change the difficulty of the game.

This is a game where you could play three games at once:
- All "it"
- Dribble knock out
- Normal tag

The coach uses a visual signal to change the game on the fly. In dribble knock out the players knock the opponents ball out of the designated area. Call out the number of balls you knock out.When the ball is knocked out the player returns immediately.

In normal tag one or more players are designated “it”. They keep track of the number of players they can tag. No one gets eliminated. By changing from one game to the other it loads the players mentally. They must be able to quickly change their focus to the rules or concepts of the new game.

Help



Form a small diamond with four pylons. You want them close enough that the player in the middle can deflect the passes. One player has a ball and the other two players are at the plyons closest to the player with the ball.



The player in the middle is attempting to steal or deflect the pass. If this occurs, trade places with the passer. When the ball is passed the players must learn to fill the pylons closest to the the player with the ball.

Load this drill by adding a second defender. Increase the space.

Cat and Mouse



This is a quick passing game. The players partner up and stand in a circle beside their partner. You now have two teams the “cats” and the “mice”. The object of the game is for one of the teams to quickly pass the ball before the other team can pass the ball to the partner of the same player, who has the ball. Have the team count how many passs they make before the other team can catch them. The other way is to have a time limit.

You are not allowed to interfere with the other teams passes.

Load the game:
- Allow them to pass to other people in any order (not in a circle)
- Make them call the name to load it mentally
- The receivers can move and the person with the ball can dribble
- Start with a toss off the back board for a rebound

Fitness



Here is a fun way to add some core strength to a practice. Have the players lie on the floor in a group of four in circle (it can be more or less you decide) with their heads next to the players feet. One player has a ball. This player does a sit up and passes the ball to the next player. The ball moves around the cirlce.

Load
- It can be a race vs. other groups.
- Add a medicine ball
- Have them do a back plank to move the ball under their body followed by a sit up.
- Do a reverse sit up by placing the ball between the feet.

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X's and O's By Mike MacKay - Why We Do What We Do

When I took this job with Canada Basketball the hardest part was losing contact with the players. I always felt my mission was to teach children life lessons through sport. The fear was that when I did not have a team I could no longer impact the lives of our youth in a positive way. Today, I received an email that validates why I do what I do. Through coaching education I can indirectly impact the lives of our youth through the positive coaching of others. I am going to let Coach Mark Baker tell you his story with the grade eight girls from St. Peter's Junior High, Mount Pearl, Newfoundland.


Hello Coach MacKay

I wanted to let you know that last night I had a chance to apply some of the things you taught me during the try-outs for the Grade 8 Girls Basketball Squad at, St. Peter's Junior High Mount Pearl.

This is a new squad to me and I was asked to Coach as they have not been having a good time the past few years, underachieving and losing their love of the game.

At this school I am given a 1.5 hour slot and it is important that time is not wasted! However, I called everyone in when the learning session started and, like you suggested, told them to take 10 minutes to shoot around, chat with each other, catch up or do whatever they wanted.

Well, they obviously had never had anything like that happen before because they all smiled from ear to ear and the gym was full of “happy sounds” while they all enjoyed their 10 minutes.

Great advice! It made a difference in the level of fun and energy that carried through the whole learning session. There was “no” negative impact. I didn’t feel like I lost time I could be using to teach but rather felt like I was investing time into team chemistry & bonding.

The next thing I did that you taught me was to keep the introduction short. Even though this is a new team and many of the players didn’t know me, I stuck to your advice & resisted my temptations to drone on about all the things I just "had" to cover.

I got to the point and then got started. I could tell they really reacted well to this. Yes, there are important things to go over and I do need to speak to them to teach them, however, they learn “lecture style” in school all day and these kids really wanted to get their bodies moving and have some fun!

One of the parents of a child I coach from a different team was present and even came to me to tell me that something about my coaching style had changed and that she could really tell the kids were having fun because they were smiling and laughing and making lots of fun noises. Moral of the story, teaching with less talk and more movement is crucial to keeping the players wanting to come back next time!

I could go on and on and on about all the things I was able to employ that you taught me but this e-mail would get even longer than it is already. With that said, there are two more things you taught that were crucial to what I believe was one of the most successful learning sessions I have ever held.

The first was being creative on the drills and using props. I cut up an old purple curtain, red towel and paisley pillow case and made ribbons and we “played” a game called ribbon dribble. The team had a blast and I still had key times I was able to take advantage of a situation to “teach” certain skills. They were having fun and learning fundamental basketball skills all at the same time! What more could a Coach want!

Finally, I used the concept of loading with the drills. I found that I had great success using this technique versus the “old” way of explaining how to do a drill from beginning to end (to bored eyes), going through all the learning points and what was expected, so on and so on. Instead I set the drill up quickly and kept it really simple. The team got started right away and were happy to be moving their bodies.

I watched as they had fun and when the right moment presented itself I “loaded” the drill by adding a rule. It went over really well and I was able to stop the drill and ask them a question regarding what had just happened (another technique you taught me) and then ask how they might be able to avoid that. All their answers were good and they were really close to getting the point. I stayed positive and validated their answers (like you did when you taught us at the Coach course) and then showed the a jump stop and asked them questions about a jump stop. Next I added the jump stop as a rule for the game when they caught the ball.

Next a player was crowded and I had a chance to teach them to pivot to create space using the same method of asking questions, etc. The drill progressed like that and I could not believe all I was able to teach them while still keeping the drill going and the flow good. I got a good feeling that what I taught them is really going to stick!

This particular Grade 8 Squad lost their love of the game and are at the drop out stage and have never had that special feeling you get when you belong to something special so next Tuesday after school we are meeting at the home economics room to bake muffins for the schools breakfast program. I am hoping it builds chemistry and is just fun. Also, hopefully teach some community/social responsibility. I am going to take some pics and maybe you might consider a post on the Canada Basketball website somehow. Also, I'm going to send the pics to the paper and the school board and maybe this will help them to feel special and get them off to a great start.

Thanks you on behalf of the Grade 8 Girls Basketball Team at St. Peter’s Junior High because I think they had the best time this particular team had at basketball in a long long time and thank you from me because I too had the best time I had Coaching in a long time too. I could tell the team was excited about the next learning session and that they can't wait to come back, which is the exact way I feel too!

Sincerely

Mark Baker

Well done Mark! You have made a positive influence on the lives of these young ladies. No one knows where basketball will take them, but they are all better people for the experience.

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X's and O's by Mike MacKay - Basketball Cricket

While attending the Physical Education conference in St. John’s, Newfoundland, I happened to see a brief portion of a presentation on Teaching Games for Understanding. It sparked my memory of an old cricket based game I used to play. I have always liked the concept in cricket where a player had to gamble on how many runs he/she could score. What follows are some basketball games that use the cricket concept. They work on quick and accurate passing and shooting, agility and of course some strategy and teamwork.



Each player has a home base (pylon). One player steps up the shooting spot to shoot. You decide where and what type of shot. In this example it is a foul shot. Off to the side is another receptacle that contains bean bags, or some kind of marker. You will have to ensure that this receptacle is an equal distance from the homes bases. It is best if it can move.



After the player shoots he/she starts to run between the bean bag receptacle and his/her home. Taking one bean bag at a time. He/she goes until the other players complete their task. The other players must race in from their homes and retrieve the ball (pass from out of bounds if it went in), The ball must now be passed to each player and a bucket scored. If the shooter is not at home or at the bean bag receptacle the last bean bag does not count.

This requires a strategy by the passers. You may designate a distance of the passes. I also recommend that it is not the same person to score each time.

For younger players I sometimes do not require a basket to be scored. They must pass the ball into a box or bucket on the floor. Use a soft ball when first playing with players at the fundamental stage. Each player is given a chance to be the shooter.

You can also do the same game and have partners. Now the two players must work together to steal as many bean bags.



When all of the bean bags are gone you can now have the player steal from the other player’s home. You may want to put in rules as to how many times they can steal from the same home. Notice that the players had to make the passes outside the key and the shot also had to take place outside the key.

This game works best with the Fundamental and Learn to Train stages.



Here is a version I have used at the Train to Train and Train to Compete stages. Three players line up read to rebound the ball. Player #1 and #2 are partners and ready to run back and forth between the pylons.



On the shot the ball must be rebounded and reversed around the floor to be scored from the other side. If the ball went in the ball had to be inbounded. As a coach you get to designate the shot taken.

The first shot does not have to be a foul shot. Give some reward for making the shot. I have found that these players love to grab bean bags also.

The rebounding team must exit the three point line for all passes.

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X's and O's by Mike MacKay - Stagger Screens

One of the most prevalent straegies used at the U19 World Championships was the stagger screen. Almost every team had this strategy somewhere in their bag of tricks.


The most common stagger was where a perimeter player would come off two consecutive screens by bigger players, to receive the ball at the top.


Out of the 1-4 set many teams used the over under action by the perimeter players where the player going over the top received two screens from the high post players.


Another angle for the stagger was the diagonal cut from the ball side block to the top.

Many teams made use of the double stagger. The first player would curl the last screen. This usually made it difficult for the defence to hedge out or switch on the second player using the stagger.


Teams also ran staggers where a player would run off two consecutive baseline screens.

One of the most popular moves to use off the stagger was an immediate ball screen. Since most teams would have the player defending the cutter tail the screens it made it very difficult to be in position.


One of the unique concepts used by many teams, especially Argentina, was the pass pass to flare. The player coming off the stagger would receive the pass and immediately pass the ball back to the original passer. This passer would receive a flare screen from the player who set the last screen. The pass back was almost always open since the defender would jump to the ball.


Another concept that many teams ran was to invert the stagger screens. When the players defending the screens started anticipating too much the offence would throw in back screens, where the first screen was initiated by the player who the defence was expecting to use the stagger. This was very effective early in the tournament.

The teams that were most effective with their strategies were the ones where the players read the defence and reacted to what they saw, as opposed to the teams where the coach would read the defence and then call a counter. If the players saw a defender extending too much on a screen, they would slip it. If the defender did not extend enough they would curl. One of the most important reads is when teams switch screens. It is imperative if you run any kind of screen action that you teach your players what to do vs. the switch.

Now, a good coach is always helping his/her players with these reads, but we as coaches must transfer the responsibility to the players eventually. The problem with the coach calling the counters is that the defence will always adjust. By the end of the tournament you run out of counters. Everyone knows your calls. There is no defensive adjustment to a proper read by the offence.

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X's and O's by Mike MacKay - Cool Hand Luke

One of my favourite movies is Cool Hand Luke. In the movie Paul Newman plays Luke, a young man who just can¡¦t stay out of trouble. He ends up in a prison in the southern, USA. During one scene the prisons are out on the highway doing roadwork. It is hot dirty work. A truck lays down a layer of tar and then the prisoners throw sand on top of the tar. The guards continually try to motivate the prisoner by threatening them. This does not work. Luke, for some unknown reason, takes it upon himself to motivate the other inmates to work harder. He encourages and cajoles them into giving their all. The inmates work so hard that they eventually run out of road. The guards don¡¦t know what to do with men for the rest of the day. They have no more work for them to do. How did Luke convinces these men to work hard? He didn¡¦t threaten them and he had no way to reward them. It was totally intrinsic. They did it for the pure joy of doing the job well.

My wise friend Sefu Bernard keeps me up to date with sites off the internet that he knows may spark my interest. One that I do enjoy is the Ted Talks. Sefu recently sent me the link for a talk by Dan Pink on motivation.

The essence of the talk is that the old idea of motivating with the carrot or the stick does not work as well today as it did in the past. The carrot and stick comes from the idea of how a farmer would motivate his mule to work. Sometimes he would coax the animal forward by dangling a carrot in front of the animal. This is a reward for doing your job right. Other times the farmer needed to beat the mule on the rump with a stick in order to make the animal move. This was punishment. If he only used the carrot, reward, the animal would become use to it and no longer be thrilled by another carrot. If he only used the stick eventually the mule would get stubborn and not move. The art was to blend the carrot and stick in just the right amounts. This method of motivation has been used in business, school and sports for years. It was also the prime motivator used by the guards in the prison in Cool Hand Luke. Put them in the hot box when they messed up. Give them a drink of water if the worked hard. The problem is that research shows that reward and punishment do not work in many of the task that we find ourselves doing today. This is not an example of one independent study. In study after study the results are the same. Rewards and punishments reduce productivity in certain types of tasks and enhance it in others.

When a job is simply to dig a ditch, 12 feet long by 3 feet wide; reward and punishment works. If you complete the task you get rewarded, usually by getting paid. If you don¡¦t you risk being punished, fired or less pay. To get people to dig faster you offer more pay or threaten them with being fired. People that do tasks that have a narrow focus, a clearly defined way of doing the task and only one possible outcome can be motivated by rewards and punishments. There are not many of these jobs left. Most of the tasks that we must perform today are more of a creative nature. They involve many possible solutions and working with other people. By adding a reward or punishment to these tasks it narrows the focus. This is counter productive to the method needed to solve the problem.

From a young age children are still being motivated with reward and punishment. School is a great example. During my fourth year of university I took my Bachelor of Education degree. By the second semester we had already been out practice teaching. In fact some of us already had job offers. In one of our courses the professor told us he would mark us by using a contract system. If you did this much work you got a D, do a little bit extra you got a C¡K all the way up to where you could get an A+. This was clear example of reward/punishment at its finest. We were being motivated to do well in the course with a mark. Needless to say the majority of the class opted for the lowest mark that got the credit. There was no reason to go for the top mark because that class was not important at that point in our new careers. Not once did the professor try to motivate us intrinsically by showing how this material would impact our lives or the students we would teach.

Some of the rewards/punishments that we use as coaches are subtle in nature:
• If you play on this team you will get rewarded with this pair of sneakers.
• If you come to my school I promise you…
• If you try out for that other team I will not work with you any more
• If you miss this practice to go to your family reunion you will not get to play the next game
• If you don’t complete this run by a certain time you are off the team


By the time many of our players reach the Train to Compete stage they are no longer impressed by the promises, gear and trips. They have also heard the threats so many times or they have so many options that the fear of punishment does not motivate them. Now! Remember, reward and punishment does work for simple narrow focused task with one outcome and at certain stages and times it has its place. It is when it is used constantly as the method for motivation. One trend that came into coaching during the 1980¡¦s was peer pressure punishment. If one player messed up the whole team was punished. I found that it worked in the short term, but over the long season it created fearful players who had no sense of autonomy. They were not willing to take risks.

We need to think like Cool Hand Luke. He got a group of prisoner to work harder than they ever did before without and reward or punishment. He relied on intrinsic motivation. The prisoners were in control of what they did, they got better and better and they had a purpose They felt like they were part of something special.


Dan Pink claims that the three biggest intrinsic motivators are:
• Autonomy – the urge to direct our own lives
• Mastery – the desire to get better and better at something that matters to you
• Purpose – the yearning to do what you do in service of something larger than ourselves

What do we do as coaches to develop intrinsic motivation?

Autonomy - I was once asked by a parent how I could get his son to stop spending all of his time skate boarding. My quick response was that I would coach him in skating boarding. I would tell him what time to practice and which moves he could practice. I think one of the main attractions of skateboarding is intrinsic. The skateboarder is in control. In a coach centred team the athletes have little or no say in what happens. The coach makes all of the decisions. The more we as coaches start to empower our athletes the more they will feel like they have some control.
• Give them simple choices - Would you rather do the chasing lay up drill or the speed lay up drill. In either one they are doing lay ups, but they feel as if they have had some control. The same can be true for which restaurant they eat at or the time for practice.
• Ask Questions – ask the players how they feel, what they see and what they think they should do.
• Build in decision making – players need to learn to read the defence. This gives them control.
• Build in free gym time – Whenever I knew I was going to be at the gym, and it was open, I would let my players know. If they wished, they could come in and work on their game. It was not mandatory and I did not hold it against them if they did not come in. They had control.


Mastery - I have had a number of coaches ask me this summer about how they can get better. My response has been; the same way a player gets good at shooting the ball. You need to do your reps. There are no exceptions to this rule. Players and coaches a like must spend the time in deliberate practice. It is usually done on your own. You put your time in because you enjoy the thrill of learning more and being able to do more. A coach helps players learn that there is always something else to learn or mastery about the game. This is not a bad thing it is what motivates the great ones to continue to improve. As coaches we can also help by making it fun. There are many ways to take the drudgery out of drills work.

Purpose - In a team sport like basketball playing with purpose is crucial to the success of the team. Being part of a group and contributing to something bigger than I could ever achieve on my own is a special attraction of team sports. The same holds true in an aligned developmental system. Being part of something bigger than my own team gives me a greater sense of purpose. The success of our age National group teams, cadet, junior, this summer is a direct result of many individual who have given the players the idea of playing with a purpose. Our Centres for Performance have had an impact in preparing the players, but a lot of the credit needs to go to the club/high school coaches who have spent time in the gym working with these players. These coaches and parents have understood the purpose of CP¡¦s; the yearning to be part of something bigger than ourselves. When people try to isolate players, put them away in a castle and lock them up so no one can see them or work with them they are taking away one of the strongest intrinsic motivators, the sense of purpose. No one player will play his/her entire career for one coach, unless that coach does such a terrible job and the child quits the sport for life. Coaches at all levels need to build dreams and a sense of purpose in their athletes.

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X's and O's by Mike MacKay - Paint A Picture

One of my travels this summer took me to London, England. I was lucky enough to have one day in which I could enjoy the many sights of the city. I decided to visit the National Gallery of Art, which is at Trafalgar Square. I asked at the information desk, which was the most popular painting to view in the entire gallery. Without hesitation I was told that Van Gogh’s Sunflowers were not only the most popular, but the most expensive. One of the set of seven had recently sold for $40 million dollars. Normally I am into realistic art, but on seeing the painting I had a whole new appreciation for the artistry of the post-impressionist painting. Many people can paint a picture of a pot of flowers, but few can capture the textures and variations on the colour yellow that were on display in this picture. There are many artists who know WHAT subject to paint. It is HOW the artist paints that defines his/her greatness. The same is true in coaching. Coaching is an art and a science. The art is the ‘how’ and the science is the ‘what’. Most coaches know ‘what’ to coach. They know they need an offense and a defense. They also know that the players need to work on certain fundamentals. It is the ‘how’ where most coaches need help. One reason is that most coaching clinics and resources stress ‘what’ to coach. Very few show the coach the ‘how’. The beginning coach is often left to figure out for him/herself how to teach the strategies presented to him/her. What I try to do is help coaches become aware of the ‘how’. Many coaches do great things subconsciously. By highlighting some of the how’s of coaching, and giving a name to the action, it brings to light various techniques for those who are unaware. Coaches can now pay more attention to these coaching techniques and monitor their effectiveness.

To become a great artist in teaching the “how”, the coach needs the ability to paint pictures. If you were a coach from Southern Ontario and asked a player from Nova Scotia, Saskatchewan and British Columbia to draw a picture of a mountain, the pictures would look quite different. In Nova Scotia it would be a round hill, in Saskatchewan it would be the slope on the side of a river bank and in British Columbia it would be sharp peaks with snow caps. Which one is correct? The answer is none of them. A mountain to you looks like the Niagara escarpment. It depends from whose perspective you are judging the drawings. When we as coaches use generalizations we are likely to have players paint different pictures in their minds. This is based on their previous experiences. Two examples of generalizations are as follows:
• Using words like, tough, hard and focus. What does tough look like? Each player will paint their own picture until we as coaches clearly define it.
• Speak to the collective group rather than the individual – “WE are not hustling.” Is it the whole group or does the coach not want to single out one player? There are always two sides to the coin. If you only speak to the individual often the other players will tune you out since they do not think it applies to them. When you coach one you coach them all. I have also found that when you generalize with a statement like; “Some of you are not hustling.” a team of females has a tendency to think the coach is talking about each and every one of them. A male team tends to think that the coach must be talking about someone else, because “I know I hustle.”

What follows are some examples of coaches painting pictures.

The coach is not pleased with the team’s defense and calls a time out.

Coach #1: "WE are not playing TOUGH enough.” If WE do not get TOUGHER, WE are going to lose this game. Now let’s smarten up and get TOUGH.”

You can sense the coach’s frustration. The picture the players get is that every one of them is not tough. The coach has brought the focus to the outcome by mentioning losing. This is not the place we want the players mind. They should be focusing on the process, the things they can control in the moment.

Coaches often speak like this because they do not know what that actual cause of the problem is. They know the defense is not stopping the opponent, but what is the detail? It is important that the coach make use of all available eyes during the game to see the detail. When everyone on the bench watches the same thing details often get missed. Assistant coaches especially need to be trained to watch for detail off the ball. If something is considered important it should also be charted by someone on the bench. This helps provide the detail to the players.

Coach #2: "Our defense is terrible right now. WE have got to get back on defense. THEY are just sprinting down the floor and scoring lay ups. Now! Everybody understand? Get back!"

This coach has started to paint a picture. At least the players know that getting back is part of playing better defense. He still has not identified who and where they need to get back too. This coach needs to work on increasing the clarity of the picture. Te rhetorical question; Everybody understand? Is a common closing remark we make as coaches. Very rarely do the players respond to this type of questioning. In the coaches mind he/she has explained the problem now the players should be able to fix it.

Coach #3: “#12, the blond guard, is not boxing out when we shoot. He is sprint down the floor. When #15 rebounds for them he is throwing the long outlet so #12 can score a layup. Sam, you need to sprint back to the centre circle as our long safety. Read the eyes of the rebounder and drift over to #12’s side. Bill, #15 is guarding you; if he gets the rebound you jam him. Remember how we did that to the player from the Warriors in our last game. Now, Pete, George and Steve you have to sprint back to get in front of the ball, turn and face the ball and stay between your check and the basket.“

This coach has given the players a detailed picture of what has happened. He uses names and specific actions in the description. By bringing up a past performance he is helping the players make use of their personal highlight reel. This is an effective technique in building and maintaining confidence. He has also used very specific words to describe the solution. The problem is that it is very verbal. The coach is making the assumption that everyone understands.

Coach #4: “Ok, everybody take a centered breathe right now.” The head coach pauses while getting a coaching board. “Coach Bill, what has happened the last three possessions on defense?” the head coach asks the assistant coach.
“Coach according to the defensive possession chart it says that #12 has run out and scored a fastbreak lay up the last three possessions.”
“Well boys the stats don’t lie. Now, remember our plan? We knew that “#12, the blond guard, is not boxing out when we shoot.” as the coach draws on the coaching board exactly what is happening. “He is sprinting down the floor. When #15 rebounds for them he is throwing the long outlet so #12 can score a layup.” What do you think we can do can do to stop this?”(Pause) “Sam, What can you do to help stop #12 going long?”
“Coach I can get back as deep as him when we shoot.”
“That’s great, Sam you’re the long safety. Bill, How can you help us out?”
“Coach, the guy guarding me is the one throwing the ball long. If I put pressure on him he won’t be able to make that pass.”
“That is right, we call that jamming, and it gives Sam and our other three players’ time to get back in position. Now remember you guys on the bench, especially Chuck and Tom, you will have to be long safety and jammer when you sub in for Sam and Bill.”
First, this coach recognizes the frustration in the players. By asking the players to take a centred breathe he is helping the players control their anxiety. It also gives him time to collect his thoughts.

Secondly, by asking the assistant coach about the stats he is giving the players an accurate picture of what is actually happening. It is not a mirage, something that we assume is happening. You often see mirages when you are frustrated as a coach. Your mind plays tricks on you when your emotional level rises. Also by engaging the assistant coach he is validating his position on the team. The players and the assistant coach both now know that the role he plays in the game is important. The head coach has trained the assistant coach to watch for specific things that are important to the success of the team.

Thirdly, the coach refers the players back to the plan. This helps their concentration and can build confidence because it is something they know they have practiced.

Next he paints a picture of what is actually happening. He uses specific player’s names rather than generalities. He uses a white board for those who are visual learners. Be careful of using a white board with player in the FUNdamental Stage of development. They do not know that the circle on the board represents them. Notice that he is not making any comments at this stage. He is just painting a picture for the players.

Finally, by asking the players what they think he is empowering the athletes to think for themselves. By pausing he allows all the players to think. He is testing their knowledge of how to solve this particular problem. He also gives the proper name to the action. This helps all of the players understand what that action looks like for the future. The word should create the picture. This method cannot be used all of the time, especially with a 50 second time out, but is very effective at ¼ time, ½ time or when debriefing a player or team on the bench. It is also one of the main ways we can teach in practice. The pictures are created for actions in practice. Now the coach can use the word as a short cut in the game.

Each day in practice a coach must work to clarify for the players what the final picture should look like. Vince Lombardi, the former great football coach of the Green Bay Packers once said that a coach had to see in his mind eye what the final version of his team or play should look like. His job each day, whether in a practice or game was to continue to add the details that would help the team reach this vision. That is true artistry in coaching.

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X's and O's by Mike MacKay - Building Dreams

Canada Games

As a basketball coach you have three major tasks:
•Improve the individual skills of each of the players on the team. This is not only the basketball skills such as dribbling, passing and shooting, but also their physical fitness, mental skills and life skills such as leadership.
•Get the 12 individuals to work together as a team. This involves the various systems you use on offence and defence. The great coaches make sure that these systems play to the strengths of the players and hide their weaknesses.
•Build dream and get them to believe in something bigger than themselves. This is about getting players to believe in themselves and each other. It involves self-confidence and the power of the team.
As the basketball competition wound down at the Canada Games, in Summerside, PEI, it was very apparent that these three tasks were on display. It speaks highly of the quality of the coaches working with our athletes at the highest level of the Train to Compete stage of development.

Individual Improvement
Many of these players have been involved with the various provincial programs for four years. Many started at the U15’s in Sherbrooke, QC or Vancouver, BC (depending on if they are male or female). The improvement in core strength and overall fitness has vastly improved. This has allowed the player to play a more physical brand of basketball. It is great to see the shot form and dribbling ability improve. Especially against pressure! The Alberta girls who won the gold are an excellent example of a group of players who have improved their skills. There interior passing, great defence and ability to make the three point shot put them ahead of the of competition. Congratulation to the team and to coaches Scott Edwards, Karla Karch and Christie Darius. A job well done! This staff has put four long summers into the program. It takes time to develop your players.

Work as a Team
Getting the 12 players to work together is an art. The coach has to find the system that highlights the strengths of each player. The coach must then convince the players that this style will work. In Provincial programs this can often be a problem since all of the players are stars in their own communities. Some must sacrifice individual glory for the good of the team. Coaches Pascal Jobin, Martin Dusseault and Guy Pariseau of the gold medal winning Quebec men’s team did an outstanding job in finding a style of play that fit the skills of the players on the team. They maximized the time in training to build a style of play that led to success. They kept the game simple for the players by playing to their strengths; therefore the players were able to play with instinctively with confidence. Congratulation to the team and staff.

Build Dreams
There was no better coach at building dreams than Tim Kendrick’s of the Nova Scotia boys. This started last summer when he took a group of boys to the U17 Nationals in Charlottetown, PEI. Tim is a master motivator who can get players to get work hard for a common dream. Ever since last summer he started to go to work on the player’s minds, getting them to believe. Each day in practice the players had to back up the belief with the work required to make it happen. In their semi-final game against Ontario, Tim made sure that each and every player believed they could win. Most of the experts did not think this could happen. Tim and the team proved the experts wrong. In the final vs. Quebec, Nova Scotia went down by 17 points early in the first quarter. They fought back and with a fantastic third quarter, eventually led by as many as 10 points. They lost the game on a shot with 0.1 seconds on the clock. These types of losses are always the most devastating. One of the greatest displays of coaching in the entire Canada Games was display as soon as Nova Scotia lost. Tim immediately grabbed the boys into a tight personal huddle. He wanted to make sure he debriefed the boys first. He wasn’t worried about himself, he was concerned for them. He spent time individually with each player’s after the game. This is why players love to play for Tim Kendrick’s. They know he cares for them and he shows it. The silver medal is quite an achievement, well done Nova Scotia boys and the staff of Tim Kendrick’s Shawn Mantley and Marvin Rhyno.

Paul Langford should also be congratulated for continuing to motivate and coach his BC girls. All week long the team played a great brand of team basketball. In last game of pool play vs. Alberta they met their first test. Alberta won the game convincingly although BC’s pressure made it a 10 point game at the end. The rematch in the final could have been over quickly as Alberta went up by more than 20 points in the first half. The BC girl’s never stop believing and through some great adjustments and hard work they crawled their way back to make it an exciting final. Congrats to BC on winning the silver medal. Well done coaches Paul Langford, Sandy Chambers and Anthony Beyrouti.

To all of the other teams and coaches I hope you will have some stories to tell about your time in PEI. Some will be happy others may be sad, but hopefully there will be a lesson you have learned for the future. The most important thing is to take some time to recover. We don’t want you losing the joy of the game because you do not take the time to recharge the batteries. Physically, mentally and social/emotionally you need a break.

To the host committee, volunteers, officials and minor official a job well done. Thanks for making it a special time for the players and coaches.

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X's and O's by Mike McKay - Building Confidence

One of the stories I want to share from the Canada Games is the one involving Hannah Jardine. I fit met Hanna two years ago when she attended her first CP session in Moncton, New Brunswick. It was one of her first times away from home on her own. She was rather homesick and her confidence was waning. Not uncommon for a 12 year old. I remember spending a lot of time with her in 1 on 0 situations building her confidence through working on her shot form. I have always believed that the best way to build confidence is through individual skill work. It gets the player to understand that he/she can change through practice. The player begins to believe in him/herself. I know Hannah has spent a lot of time with her dad working on her skills. This helped her confidence grow. There was an interesting study done at St. FX University, on the confidence of young girls and their involvement in sport. One of the findings was that girls who had someone spend time with them on learning the proper fundamentals of throwing a ball, were more confident and less likely to drop out of sports at a later age. My interpretation was that these girls learned valuable lessons on;

1. How to deal with adversity.
2. By working at something I can improve.
3. If someone works with me I can improve quicker.

Fast forward to this summer’s Canada Games. Hannah was the youngest player in the basketball competition at 14 years old. For most players this age they might be a first time player at the U15 level. Since Hannah comes from a smaller province, Newfoundland, where taller players are not as common, she was asked to play for the U17 team, in order to bolster their lineup. I love how Hannah kept the game very simple:

• She runs the floor from circle to circle every time. Her goal is to beat her check down the floor on offence and defense.

• She goes after every rebound on offense and defense. She is very good at jumping laterally to get the ball at its highest point. Once rebounding the ball she knows how to make an effective, quick, outlet pass to teammates who are better dribblers than she is.

• She only takes the shots she knows she can make. This is mostly right hand lay ups or turning right for a close in jump shot. She does not force bad shots and quickly passes the ball to someone who has a better shot if she is off balance or double teamed.

• She keeps her emotions under control at all times. No one knows what is going on inside because she shows the same emotion. This allows her to give energy to her teammates.

• She is a very good help defender. She lets her teammates know she is there, and protects the basket without fouling. She changes opponent shots.

• Because she plays close the basket she often gets fouled. For this reason she has worked on her foul shooting.

When I think of Hannah I cannot help but reflect on the clinic I attended by Ettore Messina. He asked the question of the coaches in attendance;

“How do we develop the young big player? Very often this player is not as skilled as his/her shorter faster teammates, who tend to dominate at younger ages. To feel good about themselves they have to contribute something positive to the team. It takes longer for the young big player to develop. Eventually with patience, he/she will dominate the game. Many coaches will not put the young big player on the court because he/she may hurt the team’s performance. For this reason, it is crucial that we find ways to assist the young big player in developing certain key skills. This growth in confidence to play sends a strong signal to his/her teammates and coach who will also have confidence in his/her abilities.”

The coaches of the Newfoundland team, Frank Foo, Doreen Pond and Randy White should be commended for doing this with Hannah.

One of the areas that I have been observing all summer is shooting percentages and shot selection. One of our points of emphasis has always been the development of the multi-skilled athlete. Part of being multi-skilled is the idea of been able to finish in more than one way. Some call this creative finishes. There is some confusion between the idea of multi-skilled, creative shot s and shot selection in competitive situations.

At the Train to Compete stage of development a competitive game is not the time to experiment with a creative shot for the first time. The first time you take that shot should be on your own in a gym or on the play ground. Through repetition the player develops confidence to use that shot. Next the player experiments with the shot in competitive situations in practice or small sided games, like 1 on 1, 2 on 2, or 3 on 3. On the play ground you stayed on the court only if your team won. You learned what shots worked best. You did not make use of a shot until you mastered it. In recreational games such as summer leagues it is ok to try out these shots for the first time. Once you have shown your coach and teammates that you can make the shot in practice you then get to take that shot in the competitive game. Players who play numerous games often lose the importance of each possession. “We have another two games today, why is the coach so upset about this shot?” The problem with these players is that they often do not have the individual or team practice time to work on developing their skills. Everything is trying to be learned in the course of the game. Very often the coach and teammates lose confidence in the player for trying out these new skills in the game. This often results in the loss of playing time.

One of the things I do at games is shot charts. I use the label NP (non practiced shot) This is a shot that you know the player has never taken in a practice situation. It may be because of:

• The speed at which the player is shooting.
• The angle of the shot, particularly lay ups.
• The degree of difficulty, how many pump fakes, scoops and spins.
• The balance of the player.
• How contested by the defense is the shot.

This is one of the main reasons for a low shooting percentage, the number of high degree of difficulty shots we continue to take.

If you only have one shot you are easy to scout. This is true, but you are also a very effective scorer. This summer I had the opportunity to talk to one of the assistant coaches at the University of Oregon. Paul Westhead , the new University of Oregon coach, runs a shooting drill in practice called ‘go to’ shooting. The players spend five minutes working on their “go to” shot. This is the shot they would take to win the championship if there was only one shot left in the game. When first putting in the drill the players would be practicing five different shots. He had to instruct them that they only had one ‘go to” shot. It had to be done at the same speed and intensity that would occur in the game. Once you can make it regularly, you may have the one counter.

Hannah Jardine was the living example of this simplified approach to the game. She only played to her strengths and avoided her weaknesses. Since she was a weak dribbler she avoided this skill if others around her were better at dribbling. This allowed her to maintain her confidence at all times in the game. She has plenty of time, as she is only 14 years old, to continue to add things to her game. By keeping this simple approach to the game here were her stats for her last game of the tournament:

• 40 minutes of playing time
• 32 points - 8/14 FG - 57%, 16 /22 FT- 73%
• 20 rebound - 8 offensive 12 defensive
• 3 steals
• 2 assists
• 2 turnovers
• 2 blocks
• Numerous – changed shots by the opposition ( This is not an official stat, but one that reflects a big players impact on the game)
• 2 fouls

This might have been the most impressive stat line for any player male of female for the entire tournament. Way to go Hannah! Keep the game simple by playing to your strengths. Use your time in practice to polish your strengths and continue to add new strengths that can be applied to your game.

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X's and O's by Mike MacKay - Subs

One of my observations from this summer is the various ways in which different coaches make use of their subs. One must remember the context in which a team is playing when considering the substitution pattern. Playing in an international tournament is often a matter of survival. You may be playing eight games over ten days. It is often three separate tournaments as you progress through the various rounds. Contrast this with mini basketball where the playing time of the players is legislated by the rules. Let’s look at some of the various substation patterns.

Mini basketball
At this level five subs are made after a specified period of time. It is an actual rule of the game. It was made a rule to ensure that coaches would play all of their players at this stage of development. One cannot call this equal playing time since players who play the first shift often receive more time than the other shifts if there are more than 10 players on the team. Some coaches always ensure that the perceived best players get the extra shift. If this pattern exists in every game that is played it can add up to a significant difference over the course of a season. Other coaches ensure that everyone gets a chance by using a rotational system that continues throughout the entire season. The players are numbered 1-12. On the first shift the first 5 players play. On the second shift players 6-10 play. The third shift is player 11, 12, 1, 2 and 3. This pattern is maintained throughout the entire game. When the next game begins the sub pattern resumes from the last game, not starting over with numbers 1-5. The key at this stage of development is to remember the intent of the rule; ensure that each child receives quality playing time. Some coaches have played on the edges of the rules by manipulating the rule to keep their perceived best players on the floor more often. I have witnessed coaches telling players that they are injured or sick so they would not have to include them in the substitution pattern. These coaches will argue that they are helping the team by giving it a better chance to win. They forget that at this stage, winning on the scoreboard is not the primary purpose of the game.


Passerelle
This is an old classification used by FIBA. In it the players played equal shifts for the first three quarters, and then it was the coach’s discretion in the last quarter. In many jurisdictions this is the substitution rule for players at the Train to Train Stage of development. It guaranteed each player quality playing time at sometime during the game, but also gave the coach the flexibility at the end of the game to play the line up that would assist in winning the game. Most coaches who understand what sport is all about at this stage use this type of sub pattern. It impossible with children going through puberty to identify who will be the better players post puberty. By playing only the top five players, coaches often turn the future best players off the sport. The reason that it has to be legislated is that there is a minority of coaches who refuse to allow children an opportunity to play. This is still a stage where we need to keep as many children as possible playing the game. Not just for the sake of basketball development, but for the health of the nation.


Top Five Play
In general, coaches who are focused mostly on winning on the scoreboard favour a substitution pattern where the top five players play the majority of the minutes. The only subs are when someone is in foul trouble, injured or tired. If the game is safely under control and limited minutes are left in the game the coach may go to the bench. This type of substitution pattern is a remnant of the game when no shot clock was in use. It was very easy to rest your players on the court by slowing the game down. The problem with this pattern is that it does not work very well when:
• Trying to develop players for the future. If an injury or foul trouble occurs you may not have anyone ready to take that player’s place.
• Playing multiple games over an extended period of time leads to fatigue. Fatigue leads to fouls, poor execution and possible injuries.
• In a game with a short shot clock and the other team is using multiple players. Your five will get worn down.

The FIBA game does not lend itself well to this type of substitution pattern. Coaches have learned that they need to play more than five players. Here are some of the patterns I have seen used by coaches in getting more players into the game:

• Second unit - this is very prevalent in the NBA. A second unit of five players comes on the floor and plays a reduced amount of minutes to allow the starters valuable rest. At the NBA level this unit is subbed on the floor gradually. There is usually a back up player for each position who is subbed in to play at a certain point in the game. At the Train to Compete Stage some coaches will make use of 5 subs at one time. Some coaches give this unit a unique name to build an identity and pride. One example was the “killer bees”. They would be subbed in during a time in the game when the opponent’s starters were beginning to fatigue. Their purpose was to press like crazy to magnify the fatigue of the opponent’s starters. This also allowed the coach to get meaningful minutes to more players.

• Rotation – In this situation coaches will have one sub at the guard position, one sub at the forward position and one at the post spot. This allows the coach to rotate players through while always keeping a certain number of starters on the floor. This rotation allows coaches to make use of 8 players. The number of players involved in the rotation is determined by the number of players the coach has confidence in playing. If a coach is using a short rotation it can still hurt in developing players. You also face the problem of playing inexperienced players when faced with injuries, foul trouble or fatigue. Another problem is that the coach may not be able to get the five best plays on the floor at one time. If your back up post can only play behind the starting post what happens if that player improves to the point where he/she is better than one of the forwards. This often happens when coaches use the numbering systems for players. The backup number four can only play the four spot.

• Specialized units – The classic North American way to sub is to play your best players until the game is secure. Then and only then do the weaker players get a chance to play. They are usually subbed into the game as an entire unit. It is difficult for this group to maintain the intensity and execution of the previous players. One reason is that they have usually been sitting for over an hour. A different method of substitution has been observed in international tournaments (I have observed North American coaches using this sub pattern, but it is very rare). The coach has a very good idea of the strengths and weaknesses of each player. Throughout the game the coach puts combinations on the floor that take advantage of the player’s collective strengths and hides their weaknesses. For example; if the second guard is not as strong of a ball handler, but is a good full court defender, the coach makes sure that this guard is paired with good ball handling forwards. He/she also may press with this line up because it plays to the strength of the players. By finding units that complement each other the coach is able to give each player some quality playing time sometime during the game. This builds team confidence and reduces the fatigue on key players over the long haul of a tournament. At the end of the game the coach can then play the finishers he /she want on the floor.

• Sixth Player – This was a trend started by Red Auerbach with the Boston Celtics. He convinced one of his best players that by coming off the bench he would be more effective for the team. The reasoning is that this player would be either playing against a fatigued group of starters or against a weaker bench player. It was a method I personally used for years. I would usually start a grade 12 player who for social /emotional reasons felt it was important to start. If this player played well it was a bonus because I always had a stronger offensive player coming off the bench. I also believed it was important to convince players that it was more valuable to the team be a strong finisher than starter.

• Rest – This is another area in which the NBA excels. Very often you will see the coach sub a key player just before the ¼ time. The player is subbed back into the game just after the next ¼ begins. In playing time on the clock, the player may only miss a couple of minutes. In real time the player may get five minutes of rest.

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X's and O's by Mike MacKay - How the Three Point Shots Influence Lay Ups

One of the things I like to observe at World Championships is the skills and concepts that the top players and countries are using. I then like to project if it is a trend or just a fad. I have already mentioned in a previous blog the importance of the three point shot. It cannot be emphasized enough how the ability of players to make this shot has changed the way many teams now play the game. The threat of the three point shooter has impacted the way in which teams defend on the perimeter. Because of this, the type of lay up that teams get has changed. Teams will not give you the open lay up or the open three point shot. They want to force you to score an odd angle lay up or over the top of a big help defender.


This angle of lay up is most prevalent in the higher levels of play. The player cannot turn the corner to get to the rim.


The reason is that teams will not help off the shooter in the corner. Usually a help defender slides over to take away the front of the rim. Another player drops to help the helper.


This is the other angle lay up that you will get. You are going across the face of the basket.


Again, it is because teams will not help off the three point shooters, but will slide a helper to the front of the rim.


The player defending on the wing or corner offensive player very rarely plays a deny position. In most cases he was in a sag open stance. The purpose was to be in the drive line and discourage penetration. If the pass was made to the wing it was a short close out to be in position to take away the shot and also to force the ball in the desired direction.


The offensive player was not discouraged by the sagging wing defender. He would start his drive to the basket. As the wing defender came, the offensive player would protect the ball like a running back in football. This prevented the ball from being stripped. He would split the defenders with his first step in the lay up. It was important to pick the ball up at the right time to prevent the travel.


With his second step the player is by the defenders and into the air. From the position he can shoot a runner, extend for the underhand scoop lay up or pass to an open player. Yes, he jumps in the air and then makes a decision. Now, I now this goes against every TV analysts in North American basketball. They are always quick to comment when the player commits a turnover when jumping in the air to pass. They never comment on the ten other times when the player makes a great pass by using this manoeuvre.


In every team sport the defence will always adapt to the offence. Luckily, there are some coaches who allow players to experiment with new found ways to break down the defence. In most cases it goes against conventional thinking. The old guard claims that they would never allow their players to use such a careless and high risk manoeuvre. I still remember watching a player from the University of Manitoba use a spike serve in an exhibition match against Dalhousie University that was hosted at my old high school. This was back in the early to mid 1980’s. He was one of the first players in the world to perfect the technique. In fact we were advised to come see this unreturnable serve. Yes, he did hit it into the net on occasion, but more often than not he scored a point or forced a poor return. All I know is that after watching that performance every male volleyball player in our school was practicing that serve when the coach was not watching. Now a day you would be laughed out of volleyball if you do not use a spike serve. In order to score points the servers had to learn to take a greater risk. Just by putting the ball in play you allowed your opponent to set up an easy attack. The same was true in basketball back in the 1940’s when players started using the one hand shot as opposed to the two handed shot. In the 1950’s it was the jump shot. These changes were risky at first, but as players practiced and perfected the technique they became the norm. As defence improves offence is always forced to find a way to beat it. We would have been subbed out to the game, when I was in high school, if we had put the ball between the legs when dribbling. It was only after a player named McGee showed up at UPEI, for one brief year, were players in the Maritimes allowed to use a spin dribble. He showed that it could be an unstoppable offensive weapon. You must remember that there was no basketball on TV during this time. When I first started coaching girls basketball in the early 1980’s I was told that girls could not shoot jump shots or block shots. This was not the case, it was just that no one had showed them how and there were no role models to show the way.

Getting back to jumping to pass. I am not saying that we should have every young player jumping to make passes. Younger players need to learn the basic fundamental skills. As they grow and become stronger there are times when the only way to make a pass is to jump. It is very difficult to defend when the player making use of the skill has the strength and decision making skills to go with it.

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X's and O's by Mike MacKay - Three Point Shot

One of the major things that stood out at the Junior World Championships, in Auckland, New Zealand, was the importance of the three point shot. The USA team that won the championship was one of the best at making use of this long distance weapon. All perimeter players need to be able to shoot the three. In fact on many teams all five players were capable of shooting the three point shot. We could see the evolution of the multi-skilled forward from a back to the basket scorer, screener and rebounder into a player who can:
• stretch the defense with his ability to shoot the three
• take a player to the hoop off the dribble
• post up an score the tough basket inside if necessary
• handle the ball vs. pressure

The four teams that made the semi-finals were the USA, Greece, Croatia and Australia. Their four man was often the best three point shooter on the team.

USA – 6’8” - shot 41.4% from the three point line
Greece – 6’7” - 3pt FG%- 47.1%
Croatia – 6’11” – 3pt FG% -45.1%
Australia – 6’8” – 3 pt FG%-56.5%

Many key games were decided in the late stages of the game by the ability of these players to make a big three. One must remember that this is the junior level and what happens here does not always apply at the senior level, but this trend is already seen at the highest level of the game. Dirk Nowitzki with the Dallas Mavericks is the best example. In order for us to stay competitive on an international level and to give our players a chance to play at the highest levels of the game we need to do a better job of developing this multi-skilled big man. Just as importantly your big player has to be able to defend this player. If you are use to sagging into the key to clog up the lane your check is out at the three point line nailing the game breaking three.

Is very difficult to play as a perimeter player at the elite level if you cannot shoot and defend the three point shot. Teams very quickly figure out who can and cannot shoot the three and do not guard you if you can’t. If you cannot defend the three there is no help defense in the world that can prevent it.

What follows are some observations about the three point shot.


Shot ready
In order to shoot this shot the player must be both physically and mentally ready to shoot. The hands have to be up and the hips down. I like to say that the ten fingers, the ten toes and the eyes have to be ready. You have to be thinking shot. When players think pass or drive first and then shoots as an afterthought, their shooting percentage goes down.

Just as important was the ability of the other players to find this player when he was open and ready to shoot. The good teams had a knack of always finding the man when his defender cheated on help. The psychological lift given to teams by nailing a big three point shot cannot be mentioned enough. A team could be struggling for the longest time on offence. Allow them to hit the three and it was if life had been restored.


Hop vs. set up
The majority of the top shooters hopped into their three point shot as opposed to the inside pivot step. They often start with the feet in a stagger position. As the pass is in the air they hop on both feet to catch the ball. This allowed them to drive upward into a jump shot as opposed to a pushing action which often comes from stepping into the shot. Also, they were much more able to react to a bad pass and maintain their rhythm into their shot. The players who anchor one foot into the ground sometimes refuse to give up their position to maintain possession. This leads often to one handed catches and a loss of rhythm in their shot.
The other benefit was that they could use either foot as a pivot foot if they decided to drive.


Jump shot vs. set shot
The ability to rise up over the defence had a tremendous impact on the number of uncontested three point shot a player could take. The traditional close out, with your hands up to the three point line, had no bearing on these players ability to get an open look; where as the player who wanted to step into his shot, with a low release would not even consider shooting the ball.

The three point jump shot forced very long close outs by the defence. This had a huge impact on how far off a help defender could sag.


Spacing
The majority of teams ended up with four perimeter players in a late clock situation. By spacing four players who could all shoot the three point shot at the three point line it made it next to impossible to build the traditional ‘I” on defence. Teams were too good at making the cross court pass and forcing a long close out. If you got up and applied extreme ball pressure all perimeter players could also put the ball on the floor and force help rotations. Once teams started chasing in rotation it usually led to an open uncontested three.


When using the traditional defensive “I” on defence, where the bottom player on the help side rotated over to help on the drive and the top player dropped to cover the basket, teams were very vulnerable. The defenders had too long of a distance to recover once the ball was passed.


Many teams modified their help side defender by playing with a wider defensive “I”. This allowed for an easier close out when the skip pass was made.


No help by the perimeter players
One solution that teams used was to not help off the perimeter players. The help came from the post player. The post players were very good at protecting the front of the rim and forcing the player to score over or around the help. They would also fake help by stunting into the drive line and recovering back to their own check. They never wanted their check to be more than an arm’s length away.

This brings out the importance of perimeter defence. The teams that played the best defence were the once that did not have to help. They did not get beat and allow penetration.


Modified “I”
Another solution was to modify the way in which the teams rotated to help. If a perimeter player did help the person who was at the top of the defensive “I” dropped pick up the next perimeter player and not to the basket. The other perimeter player rotated to the top. This meant that for brief moment these two players were responsible for three perimeter players. This method worked very well against teams that stayed static on the perimeter. If a perimeter player dove to the rim when he saw the basket unprotected it caused problems.


Sag on the ball side
Instead of the traditional, deny the ball one pass away, many teams would sag the ball side wing defender. By being in the drive line it discouraged penetration. It is also much easier to help close out on the pass. You do not have to help in and then recover back out.

These short close outs to take away the three point shot are a crucial defensive skill.


Long rebounds
With the long shot comes the long rebound. This creates some interesting situations for the coach. Many teams do a great job of sealing in the help defenders on the weak side. Forwards need to be mobile and go get the rebound. Very few missed three point shots rebound by just falling of the rim. Defensive rebounders need to work to escape the paint and to push the offensive players further out to make space.

Defensively your perimeter players need to be involved in defensive rebounding. In a game with a lot of three point shots your perimeter players may have to be your leading rebounders.


The tip rebound
An over the back call was a very rare call in the tournament. Offensive rebounders have developed the technique of tipping the ball out to another offensive player. Very often the player takes off on one foot, this allows him to jump and reach higher with one hand than the defensive rebounder who is trying to secure the ball with two hands.

How are the three point shots created?
The majority of the three point shots came from the following situations:
• pick and pop –off the side or top
• pick and roll – hit the perimeter shooter when his check helped in on the roller
• pass out of the post when double team occurred
• penetration and perimeter player helped
• trailer walking into a three point as the defence flatten out to stop transition
• one on one late clock, when a switch created a mismatch or at the end of quarter.
Although a lot of teams ran stagger screens these were rarely used to shoot the three point shot. Staggers were mostly used as a way to create a mismatch or penetration.

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X's and O's by Mike MacKay - Pre-game/Post-game

At the recent Junior World Championships in Auckland, New Zealand, I was fortunate enough to watch 16 different teams from 16 different countries. I always watch for similarities and differences between the teams. I also look for skills and concepts that we can use within our development system. What teams do pre-game and post game is crucial to their success during the game.

Warm up
I was pleased to see that every country made use of fundamental movement skills in their warm up. Even the USA had a full regimen of form running, balance, coordination and dynamic stretching. In fact you could see the players improve over the two weeks. From the first exhibition scrimmage we played against the USA, to the final gold medal game there was a big difference in the quality of their warm up. One of the main reasons, a coach led the warm up that made the players pay attention to detail. At this age, if left up to the players, warm up usually becomes dunking lines and bad shots. Every team had a coach monitor warm up. Too often I find warm up is the time when coaches letdown their guard. I have heard coaches say; “I let the players figure out their own warm up. They let me know when they are ready.” What players figure out is that the coach does not put much stock in warm up. They put the same amount of attention to the detail in warm up as the coach does. Attention to detail is magnified when you only have a short warm up and limited practice time. In youth programs where you may one have one practice a week, the10-15 minute warm up is an excellent teaching time.

Coach Fabian Mackenzie, who was an assistant with our FISU games team, had the following observations about warm ups:

Before we played Japan they had a very structured dynamic warm up, but also did a few specific mental exercises during the 30 minutes before game time. After the game they also went to the crowd and bowed to their supporters and applauded them. Most teams thanked the fans in this manner.

During our game vs. Turkey, the power went out with 45 seconds left in the first half. The ref didn’t let us go to half time and the players waited. A few of our players mulled around the bench and then went out to shoot in a typical North American warm up. 2 or 3 balls with 2 or 3 people shooting. Make it, keep shooting, miss it and battle for the ball so you can shoot; like a high school halftime show. The players from Turkey did a section of their warm up which was very spirited. They did a number of exercises and then did a unique part of their dynamic warm up that had them paired up in a line. Lots of energy and they continued to play that way when the lights came back on. We, on the other hand, weren’t very energetic and we noted the difference.

I watched Russia do their warm up and it was very specific and climbed in energy as the horn approached. I noted this with a few other teams as well.

Watching the Serbian men play was a treat and a half. Partly because they were pretty to watch on the court, but mostly because of the passion displayed in the stands. At the time I noted how positive they were. Not many were calling for subs or going crazy at the refs. A few showed disappointment but not in an overly bad manner. (I asked someone who was with us that spoke Serbian to verify this for me). The songs and chants were amazing. The pride they displayed in their basketball team was incredible. The fans in the NBA are not this passionate. We went to the 9PM tip-off at 7:45 and it was filling up. By 8PM the lower bowl was pretty much full in a 20,000 seat arena. For the last six minutes or so of warm up everyone was on their feet singing along to Serbian songs and chanting. I filmed it because I couldn’t believe it. I can only hope that someday our players could experience that.

I enjoyed watching the teams in the village and in the gyms. Wherever we went there were Ipods, but I didn’t see a ton of them with other teams. I certainly didn’t see the other teams wearing them in the pre-game shooting warm up like our team and the Americans. Heck the American men didn’t eat with the rest of the village for the most part. They wanted the comforts of KFC and McDonald’s in the food court in the mall. It was so clear that we had a different mentality. The Aussies even took it further off the court as they had a team ice bath after one game.

Post game recovery
For the first time recovery was actually visible by a number of teams. In the past I would have to sneak around in the back hallways to see what the teams were doing. This year teams actually did recovery activities on the court when time permitted. Teams did some light jogging and static stretching. I was very proud of Canadian boys as they bought completely into the concept of recovery from training camp right though to the final game. They were very good at static stretching, having a snack, rehydrating and icing. This did not happen by accident. We did not suggest it, we made them do it. It is like getting in a defensive stance. No players does it by suggest it, you must demand it and make it a habit. Eventually they saw the importance of doing it. Our FISU boys’ team made use of ice baths for their legs after training sessions. You would see them putting their legs in plastic garbage containers that the trainer had filled with ice water. The key is if they continue to do it on their own when they go back to their home programs or are training on their own. In the past we saw our teams break down over the course of the two weeks. This year it was not so. Now, you never have the same amount of energy as when you started the tournament, but we were not visibly fatigued in comparison to the other teams. This has been major hurdle to overcome in male basketball. Too often the boys don’t want to do it because it does not look cool. Younger players do not get to see the pro players doing recovery so they do not know it exists.

Debriefing
This is another area in which there was a vast improvement. Teams always took the time to meet and go over the game before coming out. Now granted teams like Croatia would go to the crowd and thank them first before going to the locker room, but no team allowed the parents and fans access to the team before the team met to debrief. This is a dangerous trend I see creeping into our youth basketball. As soon as the game is over the parents want access to their child. They want to be the first one to plant the seed of how the child played and to add their analysis on the game. Some parents are making use of text messages and cell phones. As soon as the game is over the parents are text messaging the child! The first one to debrief should be the players themselves. Players need to learn how to analyze their own play without the filters from others. The coach can encourage this by asking questions. The players are allowed to think for themselves on how they played. The coach can then add anything that may have been missed.

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X's and O's by Mike MacKay - Taking the Initiative

I was very fortunate to attend the 2009 FIBA U19 World Championship, in Auckland New Zealand. Over the next couple of weeks I will share some of my observations and learnings from the event. The people of Auckland did an excellent job in hosting the event. Lubomir
Kotleba, the technical director for FIBA, said at the first technical meeting; “Many people want to play, but few want to host.” To look after the accommodations, meals and transportation of 16 teams is not an easy task.

I was very impressed with how the teams took the initiative to win games. They were the ones that took it to the opposition. They determine the tempo of the game. The players acted with confidence and this allowed them to dictate play. No one won a game hoping that the opposition would make a mistake so that they could win.

How do you gain the initiative?

Pre-game preparation
In order to play with confidence players need a good warm up that looks after the physical, mental and social/emotional aspects of the game.
Physical
– the body needs to be warm.
- Dynamic flexibility.
- Nervous system – fully excited and ready to go. At some point in the warm up you need to do something with speed. This fully excites the nervous system. Too often players walk through the warm up saving themselves for the game. It then takes them the first part of the game to be ready to play. The USA did just this in their semi-final game. They players looked like they were warming up for an NBA game. It seemed like they were trying to let on that it wasn’t a big deal. Their opponent, Croatia, on the other was both physically and mental warmed up. It didn’t hurt to have a strong contingent of fans cheering and singing for them as they warmed up. Croatia quickly went up six nothing and the USA had to call time out. It still took them another few minutes to be ready to play.
- Basketball skills – simulate the skills you are going to use. Dunking a basketball for the complete warm up does not prepare you to shoot, dribble pass or play defence.

Mental
– Establish pre-game routines that funnel down to the tip off. This helps ensure the proper focus and arousal level. I would say that the biggest weakness of players at this age is focus. They get easily distracted, losing focus at key times.

Emotional / social
- Team bonding was important. Most of the teams had some sort of cheer or chant that they did before coming on the court. Also, during the national anthem the majority of the teams locked arms to feel bonded. Many sung their anthem as the music played.

Strategies and tactics
A number of the parents from team Canada made the trip to New Zealand. Some were bold enough to rent a car. One evening at super they were commenting on the experience of driving on the left-hand side of the road. The comment was “I had to think about what I was doing. I also made a number of mistakes. Especially when I was turning on the wind shield wipers instead of the signal light.” The same is true for coaches who change the strategies and tactics of the team just before the big game. The players need to play instinctive. If your systems of play are new and do not fit the skills and concepts of the players they will be thinking and therefore bound to make some mistakes.

The pattern needs to fit the players
• Does the coach choose players to fit his/her style of play or do you build a style of play that fits your players? As in most things it is usually a combination of the two. One of the NBA scouts answered, when asked what was the main thing he looked for in a player; “Does he have a natural position.” This points out that in the NBA they look for players who can fit their style of play. This makes sense since they can choose from a pool of all the best players in the entire world. When drawing from a smaller pool of athletes you often do not have this luxury.

Taking the game to the opposition
• Imposing your style on the opponent –stay with what works; know your point of attack.
• Having a defined pattern of play so the players can focus on playing the game.
• Speed of play – The teams that could execute at a higher speed changed the game. Sometimes you could see this when teams came out of a time out. Knowing when to speed up or slow down the game shows initiative.
• Attitude of the players
o Offensive vs. defence – an attack mentality vs. playing not to lose
o Not afraid to make mistakes. If the Bill Packer or any analyst for an NCAA game had been present they would have been floored by the number of passes made by jumping in the air and the number of rebounds that were tipped and not secured with two hands. I can hear them saying; “You should not leave your feet to pass the ball.” The type of cross court passes the players were making in penetration could never be made by staying on the ground. For every ten times they through this pass they would have one mistake. They did not fear the mistake because the reward for making the pass was usually a good open shot.
• Getting your opponent to hesitate – vary your offence and defence. Mix in some pressure. A press often takes the focus from score and puts it on not turning the ball over. Coach Steve Konchalski made the comment that if you are changing defences or offences you should chart their effectiveness on the bench. This way you have immediate feedback. If the opponent scores or stops your team three consecutive times you should consider a change.
• On the court – taking care of the ball. The other team cannot score if they do not have the ball.
• Increased physical play - disrupt or bump cutters, increased ball pressure.
• Make tactical adjustments to how the opponent is playing i.e. slip screens if the defences hedges too soon, switch a screen defensively.

Concentration
Coach Dave Deviro made the comment to the players. “You have done all of the right things to make it to the top eight, are you now going to have the discipline to do the little things required to take you to the top.” In talking with the coach from Australia he made a similar comment. What separates the players and teams at this age is the ability to concentrate. The missed box out on the foul line because the player is thinking about the foul call. The missed rotation in your defence because the player is still thinking about the turnover at the offensive end. The poor close out on the shooter who nails a three because the player forgot the new sub came into the game.

Transfer of Responsibility
In order to perform well on the court you need to perform well off the court. It is not the team that has the most elaborate rules in place that does well in this regard, it is the team where the players take ownership for their actions off the court. Age group athletes are used to having things done for them. Mum and Dad cook the food, tell them when to get up, make all of their appointments etc. As these athletes move into adulthood one of the main things that happens is the transfer of responsibility to the child to become an independent self-reliant adult. The same is true in coaching. There needs to be a shift in coach dominated environment into an athlete responsible environment. This allows for a partnership to occur. At the junior level is where this really occurs. Athletes want to be independent, but many have not gained the maturity to be responsible.
• Nutrition - when presented with an all you can eat buffet do you take a meal consisting entirely meats and deserts or do they take responsibility to get some fruits and vegetables.
• Sleep – do they get the required amount of rest?
• Use of down time – do they partake in actives that enhance recovery and team building or hinder it.

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X's and O's by Mike MacKay - Teaching Close Outs With a Game Approach

Here is a little progression I have used for teaching players the concepts of closing out and protecting the basket. The players start in a group of three with one ball (Fig. 1). Two players pass the ball back and forth. When the third player shows “ten fingers” the ball is immediately passed. The player who did not make the pass must run and square up in a defensive stance to the player who now has the ball. The player with the ball does a few fakes moving back and forth. The defender mirrors this movement. Don’t worry about traveling at this point. The key is to get the player who is closing out to come under control so he/she can move. Load it by having the players move around as they are passing it back and forth.



Box Tag (Fig 2)
Each group of three has a defined safety area. Be sure to stay away from the walls or too close to another group for this one. The ball is again passed back and forth between the two players. When ‘ten fingers” is shown the ball is passed to the third player. The player who did not make the pass must try and tag the player with the ball before he/she can run through the end of the zone. The player with the ball must run through the zone the passer has his /her back too (Fig. 3).

Load this by making the player with the ball dribble through the end of the zone. The defender works to turn and contain the ball handler. Load it a second time to have the other passer become a second defender who is working on trapping or shadowing.




Now apply the concept on the court. Two players pass the ball back and forth (Fig. 4). When the “ten finger” signal is made the ball is passed. The non-passer must now close out to the player who received the pass (Fig.5). Note that the player closing out belly’s into the drive line of the player with the ball. This is to prevent the open basket (Fig. 6).





Now start the drill with a penetration pass pass. The first player drives the ball to the basket (Fig. 7). The other two must react with proper penetration principles movement. The pass is made to one of the two players. The second pass is immediately made. Note that the player receiving the second pass had to move to shorten this pass (Fig. 8). The player who made the original penetration has to close out to defend the player who received the second pass (Fig. 9). To load the drill even more:
- Have the player who made the second pass become a help defender. This overloads the offensive player.
- Have the player call for a return pass. This makes the defender work on jumping to the ball and defending cuts.





The same concept can be used in the full court. It starts with the ball being passed back and forth.



On the pass the player who did not make the pass must contain the ball (short safety) The passer becomes shadow (long safety).



Full Court Contain
The players line up on the sideline and number off, 1, 2, 3. Notice that the #1’s for each team are not directly across from each other (Fig. 12). The coach has a ball in the middle and turning pylons are set up at either end. The coach calls out a number. In this case #1. Both #1’s must sprint around the designated pylon and into the middle. The coach will pass to one of the two players. The player who does not receive the pass must contain the ball and play defence. In the second example (Fig.13) the coach called two numbers, #1 and #2. The players now play 2 on 2. You could also call all three out.




Remember, when using the games approach it is important that you the coach emphasize the key teaching points;
- Protect the basket first,
- Run at the player with the ball under control,
- Contain the ball.

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X's and O's By Mike MacKay - Improvement Stairs

The other day I was watching Christine Stapleton¡¦s daughter playing in the gym. I am always fascinated by young children and what activities catch their interest. She now has a tennis ball that has become her favorite toy. So much for those expensive stores bought ones! She loves to throw the ball, run, stop and pick it up. Now, when I say throw it is her version of throwing. A baseball coach would not pick her as a pitcher for his/her team. The same can be said for the running, stopping and the picking up. They are very rough version of what we would expect an adult to do. Her throw is more like a push with a drop of the ball. The running is a side to side waddle. The stopping is sometimes a fall down to ground. She is so engaged in this activity. She is totally oblivious to anything else that is going on. She is totally in the present. What caught my eye was how she changed direction. This was a new experience. She was facing forward and in attempting to throw the ball forward it went behind her. She did not do a pivot to change direction she started by pushing and stepping backwards. This was followed by a number of small choppy steps to turn herself around. Even at a young age she naturally understands the importance of pushing to move rather than pulling.

What does this all have to do with playing basketball? As coaches we must understand that when players are first learning a skill it will not look like the final adult version. In fact it might not be close to it at all. The key is that:
- The child¡¦s rough version will lead eventually to the adult version.
- They need to have some success.
- It should be fun so that the child will stay engaged in the activity long enough to improve.
- Give them time!

Too often we make the skill impossible for the child to achieve success. Shooting an adult sized basketball into a 10 foot hoop is a good example. If we expect a child to use the form of a Lebron James it will not happen. We need to give the child a basic form that he/she can be successful at for his/her stage of development. Also by having some success the child is more likely to stay engaged and work at the skill to improve.

I want to return to my improvement staircase. I have had a number of coaches ask me to expand on the concept. Basically it starts at the bottom of the stairs with the starting point. What is the athlete capable of doing now? Somewhere in the future is the desired outcome; this is what the athlete wants to accomplish. In between are various steps that must be taken to achieve the outcome.



The first thing that needs to happen to begin to climb the stairs to improvement is some action. This is the process or how the goal is going to be achieved. I have always gotten players when first beginning to write goal statements to use one of the following actions:
- Start / Stop ¡V This is where the risers and treads meet on the staircase. The player stops a behaviour and starts another. For example; ¡§I will start to dribble with my left hand.¡¨ ¡§I am going to stop missing workouts¡¨. We prefer that they are started in the positive but sometimes it is less confusing and fewer grey areas when stated in the negative.
- Increase / Decrease ¡V This represents the risers on the staircase. By increasing one¡¦s action it usually decreases something else. For example; ¡§I want to increase the speed at which I can dribble the ball under control with my head up.¡¨ ¡§I want to decrease the number of dribbles I use when going for a full court lay up.¡¨
- Maintain ¡V This represents the treads on the staircase. This is the time needed to complete the repetitions needed to move the skills from the conscious incomplete state to the unconscious competed state. The size of this tread will vary with the athlete and the skill being learned. The more the athlete is:
„X Engaged and having fun in the activity,
„X Focused on the proper details,
„X Matched to his/her learning style,
„X Loaded mentally, physically and emotional as required,
the quicker the athlete will move up to the next step.



The improvement staircase is not only for the physical side of the person. It also can include the mental and social emotional. We often say that the only things athletes can control in a workout are their effort and attitude. The effort reflects the physical side while attitude falls under the mental / emotional.



Finally, an athletes concentration plays a big part in their improvement. As with Christine¡¦s daughter, the more she stays in the presnt the more focused she can be on the detials that will lead her to the next step. We learn from the past, prepare or plan for the future, but we must play and train in the present.

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X's and O's by Mike MacKay - Lateral Dribble Moves

Rich Chambers our Junior Women’s coach did an excellent progression with the players at try outs on the use of the lateral dribble. It is something we have been working on with our NEDA players also. The lateral dribble is excellent for moving the defender while keeping the eyes on the basket. Once you put the defence in motion you often have an easier time beating him/her to the basket. As an old football coach who taught running backs how to avoid tackles, we often wanted the running back to move the defender laterally and then either cut back or explode the outside. The same action applies to dribbling.


Static Dribble

Key teaching points
- The eyes are up scanning the floor
- Bent athletic stance, on balance
- The ball is being absorbed into the hand as it is dribbled. This keeps the hand in contact with the ball. No slapping or carrying the ball. The shoulder joint is involved in the dribble.
- The ball is being dribbled outside the toe.

Add some rhythm to the bounce
Add some “shimmy shakes” (little stutters)
Break the rhythm by varying the height of the dribble



Mini Inside / Outs

From a static position the ball is dribbled the same as above only the hand rolls over the ball from the outside to the inside.
- Add in a step with the opposite foot and shifting of your weight as you dribble
- Do the same action only in a more front to back movement.

This is a key dribble in performing effective lateral dribble moves. You will need these when you want to fake or explode vertically.



Lateral dribbles

The player dribbles sideways rhythmically in a skip like motion. This needs to be done four different ways so that the player learns to push and pull the ball while going left and right.

The final time the player goes, he/she breaks the rhythm. Add little stops and starts. High and low dribbles. Good defenders will start to time the rhythm of the dribbler. Learn to off-speed the defender.



Lateral dribble to forward

Using a line as a guide, the player starts with the ball in the right hand and lateral dribbles to the left. When he/she reaches the line the left foot is planted over the line, a mini inside out dribble is used and the player explodes forward straight down the right side of the line.

The same dribble must be done moving left with the ball in the left hand.



The player also does it with the broken rhythm dribble.

This time the ball is in the left hand. The player lateral dribbles moving left. When the left foot crosses the line the player exaggerates the step pushes back to the right. The ball is crossed over and pushed forward up the right side of the line.

The same dribble must be done moving right with the ball in the right hand.

The player also does it with the broken rhythm dribble.



Another progression is to use a chair and two pylons. The player starts outside the width of the pylons and begins to lateral dribble. Using one of the moves he/she explodes vertically between the chair and the pylon. The shoulder should be low and brushing the chair as the player goes by. As I coach you should stand where you can see the eyes of the dribbler. Show ten fingers for a pass.

The drill is loaded by having someone stand behind the chair. The defender shows on one side or the other of the chair as the dribble reaches the middle. The dribble must explode to the open hole.

The final load is to remove the chair and have the players work on the lateral dribbles to beat the defender.




Using lateral dribbles in the game

These dribbles are used most often when the offensive players is moving with the ball to create better spacing. Often the wing player may catch the ball too deep or too high to be in a good passing position. A player at the top is moving to a wing area. As the defender is being moved laterally it sets up opportunities to explode to the basket.



2 on 2

Here is a drill we have used at NEDA that gives players an opportunity to practice their lateral dribbles. There are four lines on the baseline with four pylons set up as shown in the diagram. The coach passes the ball to one of the players in the outside line. The two outside players must circle their pylons and they become the offence. The two inside players circle their pylons and become the defence. The offence very rarely has an advantage. It is an excellent time to lateral dribble for timing and spacing. If an opening appears the ball handler attacks.

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X's and O's by Mike MacKay - Development

I had the opportunity to attend the development men’s training session the other night. Coach Leo Rautins and his staff, Sam Gibbs, Renato Pasquali and Steve Mix, are doing a wonderful job of preparing the players to play international basketball. The attention to detail is very refreshing. As part of the skill break down work coach Pasquali did some great drills to work on quickness, proper footwork, contested lay ups and recovery on defence. Also, because they were competitive and a little different they sparked the interest of the players. They are drills that can be used at the Learn to Train through Train to Win stages of our LTAD.

Sam Gibbs, who is the strength and condition coach for the Senior National team, started with a warm up game. The players played ball tag. Basically two players are “it”. These two players can only move by passing the ball back and forth. It is this way they attempt to tag the other players with the ball, while the ball is still in their hands. Once tagged that player becomes part of the group that is “it”. Eventually you work it down to one player left. The players love it! It basically works to increase the body temperature, but importantly it is FUN! This was then followed by a movement prep warm up which was a combination of form running and dynamic stretching. Sam ended the practice with a proper cool down stretch. It brought a tear to my eye. For some of these players it was the first time they were involved in a proper warm up and cool down.

Contested lay ups
The defensive player starts facing the basket somewhere inside the three point line. As a coach you can vary the distance and spots based on the player’s abilities. The offensive players lines up behind the defender with a basketball. The offensive player starts in a good triple threat stance with the ball. The offensive player drives to score a lay up. The defender plays defense when he/she detects the offensive player with his or her peripheral vision. This gives the offensive player a distinct advantage if he/she
- Makes use of proper footwork,
- Goes by the hip of the defender,
- Cuts the defender off so he/she cannot recover and force a contested shot.

The defender may start to peak. As a coach you must decide if you want to allow this to happen. It does mean the offense has to be quicker and work on a fake first.

The development men were working on using a crossover step to start their drive. When playing internationally North American players very often get called for traveling when taking the long first step.




Attack the basket
This drill was great for:
- Making a quick cut to get the ball,
- Changing direction under control with proper footwork,
- Ripping the ball hard with a cross over step,
- Driving to the basket and cutting off the defender.

The defence is working on a quick change of direction and choosing an angle in which he/she can cut off the driver or at best contest the shot without fouling.

The coach (or another player) stands at the three point line. The offensive and defensive players line up beside each other on the baseline. The defender is closest to the basket. The offensive player has a ball. The offensive player passes the ball to the coach when the coach shows “ten fingers”. The offensive player runs out and takes the ball from the coach, rips it across his/her body and attacks the basket for a score. The defender must come out and slap the hand of the coach before recovering to play defence.








In closing, I want to send out a congrats to coaches Roy Rana and Kirby Shepp for the great job they did in having our Cadet men qualify for the World Championship next summer. I was privy to seeing the team practice and know the short time frame in which they had to prepare the team to compete. As those invovled with basketball development in this country know, the success of the team also has a lot to do with those coaches in our Centres of Performance, Provincial teams, clubs and schools who have worked with these players. We are starting to see the results of an integrated system of player development that is focusing on athlete development rather than syetems of play. We leave this week to head off to the Junior World Championship in New Zealand. Lets us hope for more success. The players and coaches are work smart!

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X's and O's by Mike MacKay - Speed vs. Quickness

I recently was in Victoria training learning facilitators in the new Introduction to Competition modules of the new National Coaching Certification Program (NCCP). When doing the section on fundamental movement skills we had a great discussion about the difference between speed and quickness and the importance of each in the game of basketball. I also had a number of coaches ask about speed development after my last blog, where I shared some of the speed work Christine Stapleton has been doing with our NEDA players. There seems to be confusion around the relationship of speed vs. quickness and how this relates to training for basketball.

Let us look first at an athlete who is starting from a static position. The athlete must push off to accelerate the body. This acceleration is often what is called quickness. As the athlete continues to accelerate he/she reaches their operational speed. This is a speed at which the athlete can operate; i.e. change direction, dribble a ball etc. The changes of direction under control are referred to as agility. If the athlete keeps accelerating he/she will eventually reach their maximum speed.




Speed is described in the new NCCP reference material as the highest rate at which a movement or series of movements can be executed or the ability to cover a given distance in the shortest possible time during an all-out effort of very short duration (8 seconds or less). For basketball players we are usually dealing with very short distances and most often the acceleration phases. Basketball players very rarely use maximum speed:

- The court is not long enough for a player to reach the highest rate of movement.

- When moving at this rate the players cannot change direction quickly. It is impossible to react to another player when moving at this speed.

- It is near impossible to involve the ball when moving at this rate.

The only time a player may use maximum speed is when chasing down a player from behind in a full court sprint. If we do not use it why should we train it? This was the point one coach made to me. “Why waste my time on something I will never use in a game?” The example I use is strength training. No professional athlete is out on the court carry 100 kg weights on his/her back, but we acknowledge the fact that doing weight training improves an athlete’s performance. By training with a heavier weight the athlete is more explosive with lower weights; i.e. body weight. The same holds true for speed training. By training to improve maximum speed we push all of the nerves and muscles of our body that produce speed to greater heights. Therefore the athletes can accelerate quicker and push their operational speed to a higher level. This helps them with their quickness and agility.

Quickness is a combination of speed-strength (power), coordination and attentional control.

- Speed-Strength: The ability to perform a muscle contraction or overcome a resistance as fast as possible (normally, very brief efforts of 1-2 seconds).
- Coordination: The ability to perform movements in the correct order, and with the right timing.
- Attentional Control: The ability to pay attention to what is important in a given situation and avoid negative influences or distractions.

Obviously some athletes have superior quickness because of genetics, but like anything it can be improved with training. Genetics helps mostly in the area of power. The greater the quantity of fast twitch muscle fibers, the quicker the athlete will be. By improving strength, coordination (which involves technique and the proper sequencing of movement) proper body position and attention to the proper cues to initiate movement, any athlete can improve their quickness.

Let’s use a close out as an example. The athlete is in a static position on the help line in the middle of the key. In order to start quickly the athlete must be ready both physically and mentally.

Start


Mentally – Is the player scanning the floor for the proper visual cues that will signal when he/she should move? Is it the movement of an offensive player or is it sighting the ball in the air? Players can become quicker by anticipation. This can often come from knowing the tendencies of an opponent. If the passer starts to bring the ball up to a passing position the defender can anticipate the pass and start to close out sooner.

Physically – The ready defender is in a bent athletic stance. This is a stance from which you can push in any direction? The ability to stay in a stance is one of the biggest things you can do to become quicker. This requires strength in the legs, butt and core. It also requires endurance to be able to stay in this position over an extended period of time. If the player is out of stance he/she will have to lower or shift their centre of gravity first, before he/she can move. If off balance he/she will have to shift to a balanced position, getting their centre of gravity under control, before being able to push in the desired direction.




Operational Speed



Players need to accelerate quickly into their operational speed. Often you will hear coaches tell the athlete to coast or maintaining their speed. A relaxed and proper running form is crucial. From this speed the player can control his/her body when cutting or decelerating. The faster you can make cuts/ decelerate at speed the bigger the advantage you will have. You are considered to be more agile. This increased operational speed is one of the markers of an elite player.

Going back to the close out, the player who get to the defender quicker, but also in a good balanced stance, ready to move again will be the best. Some coaches focus on the being able to move again once you arrive. These coaches tend to teach a slower operational speed, but emphasize proper position and anticipation when arriving to defend. They may even teach sliding over running as it makes the player better able to change direction or stop. Other coaches focus on getting their as quick as possible. This involves sprinting action. These coaches are more concerned about the open three-point shot. They are not as concerned about the offensive player driving.



In a close out players never reach their maximum speed. They would never be able to stop and change direction under control at the end of the close out. In transition defence there may be a time when a defender is sprinting all out to get back and cover an open player or protect the open basket.
In summary:
- We need to train maximum speed since it improves our quickness and operational speed.
- Players need to be taught a proper balanced athlete stance.
- Strength training improves a player’s ability to be quick and agile since it allows for body control and the generation of more power.
- By improving a player attenional control we can assist him/her in anticipating movements and thereby making him/her quicker.

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X's and O's by Mike MacKay - Christine Stapleton

Over the last five years I have had the distinct pleasure of working closely with Coach Christine Stapleton. This past week was the last time she will be coaching for awhile. She is moving on to a job with the University of Waterloo, where she will be helping coaches instead of coaching athletes. She has been a great role model for many young women and has done an excellent job in preparing them for a future in basketball and life. Over the time I have known here I have learned a lot from Christine. As a tribute to here I thought I would share one of her greatest strengths as a coach, her ability to train through the energy systems and not the basketball systems.

These last few weeks the players in our NEDA program have been getting prepared for the try outs with their respective national teams. Coach Stapleton has done an outstanding job in preparing these athletes. Christine understands that peaking is more about the energy systems, than the basketball systems. Too often coaches make the assumption that to be ready means spending extra time on ensuring that the players have their tactics and strategies down pat. I am not saying that this is not important, but I have seen more players fail at try outs and big games from the lack of proper conditioning than from not knowing some pattern of a play. What good is it to know your plays if you are fatigued after the first couple of trips up and down the floor? There is a high positive correlation between fatigue, anxiety and concentration. When focusing on fitness Christine has also been able to talk to the players about the mental side of the game. What better way to talk about pushing through adversity than after training your anaerobic lactate system. Your body is full of lactic acid and your lungs are screaming for air. You cannot achieve this sensation running your plays 5 on 0. Now, I am not talking about running suicides at the end of practice. I am talking about integrating the concept of training the energy systems throughout the entire practice.

What follows is an example of a speed practice that Christine has done with the players. We have seen the results of this type of training as the players are able to now apply the speed into the basketball part of the game. This would never have happened without this concentrated training.

Practice starts with some activity to raise the body temperature. Christine often uses hurdles or an agility ladder to accomplish task. There are lots of websites that can explain these routines to you. Christine has the players do a layup after going through the hurdles or ladder. With younger players I suggest you use some fun low organized game. Dribble tag or twenty passes are good examples.

After the players have warmed their bodies they move into the movement prep work. This is a series of dynamic stretches and balances. These build core strength, balance and dynamic flexibility in a number of planes. We always finish the warm with speed. This ensures that the muscles and nervous system are completely firing on all cylinders.

Arm Action
Have the players sit on the ground. Work on pulling the elbows back as they run. The elbows should stay bent at 90°. When pulling back the elbow stays high and the hand comes through to the hip. On the forward movement the hand should come to head height while the elbow stays bent. Too many player run like they are beating a drum. The arms go up and down in front of the body. For the legs to move faster the arms must work.



Fall into sprint
Players need to learn to feel the lean need to accelerate when sprinting. One way to practice is by having the players stand straight. Start to bend forward from the ankles. When the body falls over they will know when it is time to put the legs out to run. The eyes should be scanning to gradually look up down the floor. Use your arms also.

We work on starting from various positions. This helps the athletes’ learn how to generate speed in many different ways. It is also not as boring!



• Sitting straight ahead with the legs straight.
• Lying down on the stomach (can also go from lying on the back)
• Sitting with knees back facing backward.



• Starting in a defensive stance facing sideways. The player can start with a crossover step, hip turn or an open step pivot with the lead foot. Experiment!
• Jump with back to the court, like getting a rebound. Land and sprint. They can land and then turn or turn in the air and land facing up court.



• Power hops. Bring the knees to the chest. Do these three times, land and sprint. Hop quietly! Have them face different directions.


Speed not endurance

When we are doing these drills we begin by working on the first three strides. We want the players to learn to explode. We emphasize acceleration to half, carry your speed to the three point line at the far end and then coast to a stop. It is important to give the players rest when working on speed. If it takes 5 seconds to go the length of the floor they need about 15 seconds rest (1/3 work to rest ratio). Put them in a group of four is one way to do this, you work once, rest three times. After doing a set, usually about 5-10 sprints they will need a about a two minute rest before you start another set. Shoot foul shots for an active rest.



Lee Taft, of Basketball Speed fame is a big fan of using low energy activities to develop skills during the rest period between sets. Here is a list he recently suggested from his electronic news letter:

1. Tennis ball catches and tosses with non dominant hand. Also can be while balancing on one foot.

2. Hand slaps- one partner places his or her hands on top of the partner’s palms. The bottom partner tries to slap the top of the hands of the partner before they can pull away

3. Ball drop and snag- one partner holds a ball in the middle of a partners hands that are at chest level. When the ball is dropped the second partner must catch it with one hand before it hits the ground.

4. Partner balance challenges- partners face each other and try to knock the other off balance by pushing against or giving with the hands. Great for teaching balance and control.

With the NEDA girls we have also done foul shooting as a great way to actively recover when resting between sets.

Speed in drills

We now want to see the speed we have worked on carry over into our basketball skills. One drill we like to do is Korean passing into small space 2 -1. The players line up as shown in the diagram. The ball starts in the corner. The player starts with a high shoulder football pass. This player now uses speed to sprint to the centre circle. The middle player makes a pass to the player at half and sprints to the foul line to play defense. The player at half passes to the player who sprinted to centre. This player now sprints to the wing after passing.

Note: The speed is not only in the running, it is in the passes. The pass to the player at half should be made as he /she turns.



The next most important pass is the return pass back to the last passer. We do not want a dribble here; we want a quick crisp pass at speed.

We time the players on how long it takes to score. They should be able to do it under 6 seconds. Remember these players are getting ready for try outs at a high level. You must judge where your players are in their development.

The defender is trying to slow the offence down by stunting into the drive lines.



The second drill we do is partner passing to 1 on 1. Two players partner pass while running at speed. When the player in the corner shows “ten fingers” the player who has the ball passes ahead. This player continues at speed getting a return pass for a layup. The other partner sprints to retrieve the ball off the make or miss.



The ball is passed to the player stationed out of bounds at the foul line extended, then to the player at centre and finally to the player at the far foul line extended. The player who shot the ball must sprint back to guard this player 1 on 1.

This is a great drill because it makes players use speed in running and passing and transition defense. The player must also come under control when he/she gets there.




By constructing this kind of training session one can very quickly see the improvement in the player’s use of speed over a very short period of time. As their skill improves their confidence also increases. What better way to go into a try out than being fit, confident and fast.

Thanks Christine and all the best.

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X's and O's by Mike MacKay - Sweat Equity

When I was growing up my favorite sports was baseball. It was and still is a great sport for youngsters. You learn many fundamental skills that can be easily transferred to other sports. Hand eye coordination is paramount. I also like the fact that you have time to think ahead. While waiting for the ball you could plan your next move; “If the ball is hit to me on the ground I will throw to first, if it is in the air I will throw it home”. Sports that flow often are too fast for younger players to plan their actions. You also learned that it was ok to make a mistake. You got another chance. You had three strikes get a hit. If you messed up the first time you still got another chance to bat later on. I also loved the fact that I could play by myself or with another person. One of my favorite pass times was to throw the ball up on the roof and catching it as it rolled off. It was challenge not to throw it too hard so that it would roll off the other side. My father got a load of gravel for the driveway and I proceeded to hit the rocks with my old bat. Needless to say I often got myself in trouble when some of the rocks would go astray.

The one disappointment I had was my glove. I had an older cousin who handed down his old glove. I am sure he had gotten it from a friend of Babe Ruth. It was a three fingered glove that looked more like a hockey goalie’s glove than a baseball glove. It was an embarrassment as far as I was concerned. I would try to lose it by leaving it at the ball field. I hoped my father would by me a new glove. This never worked as he would just tell me to go back to the ball field and look for it. It was always there because no one would steal it. When we would go to town on Friday night, often we would go by the Dartmouth Sports store. Inside was the glove of my dreams. It was a Cooper Weeks glove that fit my hand perfectly. The cost was $14.95. On a 25¢ a week allowance I was never going to be able to afford it. Actually, it would have taken me over a year of saving, but you could not ask a young boy to go a whole year with out buying some comic books and baseball cards.

That summer we were going to spend some time at my grandmothers. My father suggested I could earn some money picking strawberries for my uncle. Here was my chance to earn the money to buy the glove. The problem was picking strawberries was hard work. We were paid 5¢ a box. It was hot, backbreaking work. I also tended to use the pick one, eat two picking method. This meant it took me longer than most to fill my box. The other problem was the idea of delayed gratification. With a little pocket money in hand it was very tempting to spend it. My uncle would take us to town at the end of the day to sell his berries. The thought of a cold pop and ice cream was very tempting. Somehow I persevered and saved the money. When we got back to home I could not wait to buy the glove. It was one of the happiest days of my life when we went to the store and bought the glove. I would spend hours oiling the glove, (that was what you had to do back then to break in a glove). I would wrap it with a ball over night forming the pocket. I would sit with a ball and pound it into the glove making sure the pocket was just right. I would not let anyone else use the glove. That glove served me for many a year. When I moved to Truro I was often made fun of because of the small glove that I used. They played softball in Truro while I grew up playing baseball. I continued to use it until one game the webbing in the pocket exploded on a line drive. It was time to move on. I could not part with that glove. In fact I still have it today. One of the only times in my life when I was upset with my mother was when she loaned the old glove to a cousin who had signed up to play ladies business league softball. My mother said I never used the glove and could not understand why I would be upset. It reminded me of my childhood, but more importantly it reminded me of the sweat equity I invested into the glove. I worked long, hot hours to earn that glove. I did nothing to earn my old glove; therefore I mistreated it and took it for granted. Not so with the new glove.

I relate this concept of investment in sport to youth sport today. With many children no investment is made into the sport. It is like my old glove. They do not treat it with respect because they have not had to work for it. They show up when they want, often missing practices or not investing in their own training. The other investment is of a monetary value. Parents sign their children up to play on a club. Many junior high and middle schools have a no cut policy. Parents feel that since their tax dollar supports the school the child has the right to play. With this monetary investment comes the expectation of playing time. Players and parents assume that they are entitled to playing time. The parents want the outcome without the process. I also see players who feel that since they become a year older they are entitled to now be the best player on the team the next year. The amount of work put into the sport is not important in their eyes.

No sweat equity was invested into the sport. If players just want to play the games this is ok. That was what intramurals were for; we never practiced for these games. We played for the sheer fun of it. The problem is when parents and players expect they will improve as players and move on to an elite level with this type of investment.

I do not remember playing on teams where you showed up and got to play. This only occurred in intramurals at lunch time. We had to make the team and we had to practice. Games were a rare occurrence. With the plethora of games played today players often do not learn the concepts of delayed gratification and perseverance through the sport. If we are going to use sport to teach life lessons, we need some sweat equity involved. Just because you are on a team does not mean you will improve, You have to make the investment with sweat.



I often use this diagram above to explain to athletes the concept of sweat equity. The athletes start with a current skill set. This is their starting point. The athletes have an outcome in mind; it might be a team goal like winning the championship or an individual performance goal like becoming a better dribbler. Both of these are a type of outcome goal. What we need to get the athletes to focus on is the process that will lead them to the goal. These are the tiny steps the athletes take each day to move one step closer to the outcome. These processes or steps involve the athletes attitude and or effort since is the only thing within their control. It requires work because you must challenge yourself to move out of your comfort zone to the next level. When an athlete decides to skip a day all it does is make the effort required the next day a little bigger. If you take too much time off you eventually get to the point where you run out of time or the steps needed to reach the outcome are too big.

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X's and O's by Mike MacKay - Who Designed Our Sport System?

For the last five years I have been faced with looking at the Canadian sport system, in particular basketball. Because of the Canadian Sport for Life (LTAD) initiative all sports have been put under the microscope. We have had to ask ourselves, what is the purpose of our sport? In general, sport can have different goals:

o Provide opportunities to compete at varying levels of competition;
o Provide an avenue in which people can be active for life;
o Provide opportunities for development – physically, mentally, and socially/emotionally.

Strides have been made in achieving these goals, but the configuration of our competitions continues to cause major problem for the entire system. If we do not change our competition structure, the sport of basketball will never be able to achieve the three goals through planned success. Success will be sporadic and in spite of the system.

Currently the statistics support the fact that our current system is not achieving the above goals:

o We have a large enough number of players playing basketball, but we have yet to have a significant number be able to play at the highest level. Statically, with the basketball population we have playing the game (compared to other countries and cities in the USA) and the amount of resources, time and effort we devote to the game; more players should be making it to the top. Something must be preventing this from happening? I would suggest that our lack of a comprehensive development system and the number of games we play has a lot to do with this fact.
o More children are playing organized basketball then at any other time in the history of the sport, yet childhood, adolescent and adult obesity is at its greatest level. Obviously we are not active enough.

How did we get where we are today? It was not by designed. No one person sat down and came up with the plan. No one person or organization is to blame. A lack of system alignment and integration has allowed our sport to morph into its present form.

Red dot
Stare at a red dot on a blank piece of paper for thirty seconds. Immediately after doing this look at a white wall. What do you see? You will still see the red dot. Even though it is no longer there, subconsciously we cannot let it go. This is the same for most of us when we are faced with new or different ideas. Since we are used to seeing things from our own perspective when presented with another view point the red dot impacts our acceptance. If we are going to work together to fix the competitive basketball system we have to stop seeing the red dot of how we currently do things. We need to look at things with a clear and open mind. This way when the right idea presents itself we recognize it. Listen to understand, not to defend.

For now I want to look at the system of competition for our developmental players in the Train to Train (T2T) stage (junior high/midget) and Train to Compete (T2C) stage (high school/juvenile).

How many legs does the dog have?
If we call the tail a leg, how many legs does the dog have?

FOUR!
Calling a tail a leg doesn’t make it a leg.


Very often when we get into discussions about competition and youth basketball people will call a tail a leg. We must be clear on our definitions:
o Elite sport – this means when we have cut players from participation. We usually travel to play other elite teams outside of our immediate area.
o Elite developmental sport – The major goal is to improve the player for the next stage. Competition is used as a test to see where players are in their developmental pathway. The coach ensures that the players have a season that includes: general prep, specific prep, pre-competitive, competitive, transitional and an off-season. There is a premium placed on training the physical, mental, social/emotional and technical tactical skills of the player. They are more practices than games.


Note:
• General prep – minimum of four to five weeks, with no games. The focus is on building the capacity to train. This can occur by playing another sport such as soccer or cross country running. High volume, low intensity.
• Specific prep – minimum of two to three weeks with no games. Building the power of the energy systems. The intensity is increased.
• Pre- competitive – exhibition season – the goals is to test out the systems of play and to gauge all players abilities, not just the starting five.
• Competitive – league games. This can not go on indefinitely. Players will break down.
• Transition – one week where we move from the competitive season to the off- season.
• Off season – should include minimum of three weeks active rest. The players need to be active. It may be in another sport or it can be working on specific deficiencies in his/her game.

Recreational sport
The goal is to be active. The player takes his/her own initiative in setting up the opportunity to play; i.e. shooting hoops in the backyard.
Competitive Recreation – This has a little more structure. No one is cut from participation. The structure and commitment levels are at a reduced level.
Elite Competitive Recreational sport – Players are cut. The premium is on playing games. The number of practices do not allow for development, usually a one practice a week with competition during the week or on the weekend. If the ratio of practices to games drops below 3/1 you are not even maintaining what the players already have. The majority of organized basketball in this country falls under this definition.

I will argue that they are very few elite developmental basketball programs being run at the T2T and T2C stages. The reason is because the athletes are playing on too many different programs; therefore the athletes do not have the proper time to go through a general prep, specific prep, pre-competitive, competitive, transitional and off season.

My favorite Pizza
My favorite pizza was a pepperoni pizza made by Louie’s Pizza in Wolfville, Nova Scotia (The Wheel in Antigonish was a close second). One of the students on my floor in Crowell Tower, at Acadia University, used to order one every night at around 11:00 PM. It always took 50 minutes to make. We all loved this pizza! What would happen if we could have pizza everyday for breakfast, lunch and supper?

Eventually:
• You would grow tired of this menu choice.
• You would become lethargic and your immune system would be less effective.
• Your performance would go down because of the lack proper nutrients and poor psychological readiness.
This same analogy holds true for children in sport. We are feeding them too much pizza, which is the number of games they are playing. Especially, if we expect the players to peak for every single game. Because very few athletes play for the same coach for the entire year (With our elite players they may play on four or five different teams over the course of a year) each individual coach does not see the accumulative effect of the number of games. Each coach just keeps feeding the players more pizza. As a result:
• They get bored
• Their bodies start to break down (overuse, injuries, do not heal from old injuries)
• Missing some essential nutrients – skills, rest, and recovery.
I have heard many coaches argue that the best way to get in shape and learn is by playing the game. I will agree if it is pick up, but not an official game with referees and a coach who’s only goal is trying to win.
• You do not develop a new skill within a game. In a 40 minute game how many times do you get to shoot the ball? What if your coach does not allow you to dribble? When does this skill develop? What if you are unfortunate enough not to be a starter, maybe you are a late maturing athlete and are not strong enough yet. Your coach says you will learn from watching. What does this do to your fitness level? Your confidence? Your love of the game? Will you be ready when your time comes?
• Without proper training you do not maintain your existing skills. They break down.
• It is impossible to properly overload the body and developed the movement patterns, strength, flexibility and energy systems of all players on your team by playing only organized games. You cannot control the volume and intensity of the work outs.
• You do not get to experiment in a new position and learn from mistakes if the goal is for the team to win.
• If you took the hours you spent in the car driving to the game and used it to work on developing your skills or fitness, you would be far better off in the future.
Children want to play, just as children love to eat pizza. We as caring adults are smart enough to realize that too much of a good thing is bad for you. We must look out for and teach children what the right amount of play is for them. We want them to enjoy pizza for the rest of their lives.


Catch the cheat
Many of the rules of competition that are in place, whether it be at the school level or club level, were put there to catch someone or a team that was perceived to have gotten an unfair advantage. The impact of the rule often had an impact dramatically different than what was anticipated. In Nova Scotia in the early 1990’s it was thought that too many graduates where coming back for an extra year and taking away the opportunity for younger players to play. The championship teams, especially in boys’ basketball and football were dominated with returning players. No team won a championship without this phenomenon. The new rule stated that graduating players could not play. This rule was passed in the spring. That June there was a huge influx of athletes failing grade 12 English. The students had figured it out. Fail grade twelve and you get to play. It had no impact on the number of returning players. All it did was promote failure.

Many school districts also have seasons of play. This was often brought in to prevent overzealous coaches from dominating the athletes and facilities within a school. The impact in many provinces has meant a loss of developmental sport. When the seasons were shortened coaches did not cut down on the number of games, they removed training. Very often teams play a game on the first day of the season.

Seasons of play was also designed to promote a well rounded student athlete. I agree with this idea, but I am not sure mediocre well roundedness is a good thing. Average means the best of the worst and the worst of the best. In a school of 100 students a core of 10 boys and girls can make up the core of all sports if the school follows the seasons of play. This means that 10% of the student population is involved. The top athletes will move seamlessly from one sport to the other. If we now move to a school of 1000, seasons of play means that the top 10 can still dominate. This is only 1% of the student population. What does this do for participation and creating a well rounded student athlete? I would also argue that no one is getting to experience true development. Since the students jump form one sport to the other in artificially shortened seasons the players never get a chance to do the various preparation phases. All they do is compete. My argument has always been that larger schools should be able to enter more than one team, if the coaches and facilities can be found. This was rarely allowed to happen because the play- off structure was set up for one school, one team. The argument was that you were taking away opportunities from other schools to win. I was looking at it from purely participation and giving more students a meaningful sport experience.

The other problem is when the financial models that are in place dictate competition. We need look no further than Sport Canada. To receive excellences funding you must be able to win medals. It forces sport to focus on the outcome and not the process. Too often this same model is repeated by the provincial sport organizations. I call this the consumer model of sport. Everyone is willing to play for competition, but no one wants to give money for development. At a local level I could always find sponsors for tournaments. I could never find someone to sponsor my practices. Parents who pay registration fees want to see a return on the investment. This means playing time in games.


High Performance Car
Many organizations feel they have invested in the development of the athletes and they now need that athlete to pay back by playing in the games. This is true, but we must be careful in what we are asking. If you invest in a high performance car you expect it to perform. If you drive it into the ground by going at high speeds all the time and never do any maintenance you are taking a huge gamble as to when it will break down. It might be at the moment when you want it to perform at its’ peak. Before you bought the car you would want to know what the previous owner had done. I suspect you would inspect the car and fix any problems.

The same is true with the athletes under our charge. They can perform at a high level, but not with out proper care and maintenance. You must be aware of what the previous coach had done with the athlete. You cannot look at your program in isolation. It pains me to think of the number of elite basketball players in this country who have suffered serious injuries because coaches will not consider what the athlete had done with a previous coach or program. This summer we have Canada Games being played in late August.

For most of these players they will have been playing basketball without a significant break for up to three years. (Two years of U15, one year of U17). If their high school or club coaches refuse to honor this fact we will have a significant number of tired athletes moving into the new school year.


P+I+T=PE (P+I+T+PE)E =NP
Planning + Implementation of the plan + Training = Performance
(Planning + Implementation of the plan + Training + Performance) Evaluation = the new plan for next year.
Imagine you have three coaches with 10 years of coaching under their belt.
• Coach #1 = has one year of experience repeated ten times. Does the same thing over an over.
• Coach #2 – has ten different experiences – does what ever is new and hot that year.
• Coach #3 – has tens years of experience by reflective and evaluating all facets of the program. This coach has adapted ideas from other coaches, sports and also his/her own learning’s. We consider his coach a life long learner. He/she has adapted the plan each and every year.
We cannot just keep repeating what we have done in the past. We must ensure that what is effective is maintained, but implement any good ideas when presented.


Getting lost
When driving my car and I get lost, which often happens in Toronto, I have had to learn the hard way that you will not solve the problem by continuing to drive. When faced with this situation the first thing to do is stop making a bad decision. Stop the car! Eventually I will solve the problem by reading my map or asking for directions. The same is true with our competitive structure. I do not think any one person has the right answer. We are all lost, but we can all stop making bad decisions. Stop playing so many games without considering the accumulative effect on the athletes! Eventually we will find the map that will lead us to the chosen destination. Let us hope that we are not too far away and we still have enough athletes able to play when that time comes.

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X's and O's by Mike MacKay - Mental Toughness Part II

This past weekend was one of the best examples of why mental toughness is so important in sport. On Easter Sunday I took time out to watch two major sporting events, the Masters and the men’s World Curling Championship.

What happened down the stretch of each event solidified for me the importance of mental training. In both sports you get close up cameras of the player’s expressions, before, during and after a shot. With today’s technology we also get to listen in on a lot of the players talk. In case you did not see either event , here is a brief recap.

The Masters
Kenny Perry, who is 49 years old, was leading the tournament going into # 17. He had a bogey free round up to that point and a two stoke lead. All he had to do was finish, at worst 1 over par, and he becomes the oldest player to ever win the Masters. He proceeded to bogey the next two holes. The change in his demeanor was astonishing. No one else really stepped up to win the tournament it was more a comedy of errors. The tournament finished with three players tied at the end of regulation.

Angel Cabrera, from Argentina, now stood on the first tee of the first play-off hole. He hit his worst tee shot of the entire tournament; a slice into the trees. It reminded me of a shot that I would hit when the pressure is on. The other two players found the fairway. His next shot out of the trees Cabrera, benefited from a fortunate bounce off a tree while trying to hit the green. He was now hitting his third shot form roughly the same spot as the other two players were hitting their second shots. He collected himself and hit a great shot on the green and made the putt for an extraordinary par. In the next play-off hole he won the hole outright and with it the green jacket.

Play in the moment
It is so hard in major events like this to stay focused on the task at hand. Our mind becomes filled with all of the wrong thoughts. We magnify mistakes and start thinking about the outcome. Simple skills that we execute everyday with precision become flawed.

On #18 all Kenny Perry needed to do was hit his 8 iron on to the green and two putt for par to win the tournament. His 8 iron had been his go to club all tournament. It was his favorite club to hit. What did he do, pulled it into a spot that was next to impossible to get up and down from in two. If he hit that shot 100 times on the practice range he would make 100 of them.

All of the top golfers have mental coaches. Very often one of the main roles of the caddy is to assist them in making positive self-statements and to visualize a positive result. You could hear theses discussions going on constantly during the tournament. Even with all of this knowledge and planning of what it takes to be mentally tough it is so easy to succumb to the pressure and allow our negative thoughts and body language to take over.

Cabrera was an excellent example of how you are never out of it if you can let go of your past mistakes and stay in the present. If you can maintain your focus at the most important times amazing things can happen. I am sure after hitting his two terrible shots on the first play-off hole it was easy to say it is over. He somehow found a way to regain his focus and make two incredible shots at the right time.

Sometimes you just have to grind it out to be in contention to win. You are never out of it, if you can rebound and play in the moment, often all it takes is one great shot or play.


World Curling Championship
In the World Curling final Kevin Martin of Canada had a two rock lead going into the ninth end. He proceeded to give up two points to Scotland to allow a tie heading home in the tenth end. He still had last rock which is a huge advantage.

With only three rocks left to play, Canada was had shot stone, but Scotland had the angles for a raise. After a lengthy discussion, Martin decided to throw his stone through the house. His logic was that he didn’t think there were any shot that he could make that would give him the advantage, or inhibit Scotland’s chances. I have never seen this before. Especially in last end of the world championships.

It would be similar in basketball to your team having the ball with 40 seconds on the clock and a one point lead. Coming out of the time out, you the coach, decide to have your team roll the ball out of bounds. You want to ensure you have the last possession of the game. Your reasoning is that you want to force the other team to make a play. You will then decide what to do on your last possession based on the result of what your opponent did.

Kevin Martin has vast more experience at curling then I have or will, but I find it a bizarre call. As a football coach I used to hate when my defensive coordinator would go into his prevent defence. All it every seemed to do was prevent us from winning. To win you need to make plays. Hoping that the other players will make mistakes and mess up is not a good strategy.

Great players make great plays under pressure. Needless to say Scotland made a great shot and left Kevin Martin with a near impossible shot to win. His team’s body language and bearing on this shot was entirely different than they were throughout the entire tournament. A steal of one by Scotland gave them the championship.

These are the mental skills that I have used with athletes over the years I have coached.

The Mental Skills
1. Composure (Relaxation / Arousal level)
o How to relax – centered breathing, imagery
o Dealing with stress
o Knowing the proper arousal level at which to compete
o Emotional control

2. Concentration - time and place
o Visualization – knowing which TV camera to watch - the five senses (smell, sight, hearing, touch, taste), imagination (past or present), self talk (positive or negative)
o Dealing with distractions / adversity

3. Confidence
o Self talk - Positive vs. negative talk
o Body language
o Build confidence through skill work
o Communication

4. Commitment
o Motivation
o Love of the game
o Willingness to train
o Routines – practice / training
o Pre game
o Games
o Down time
o Other areas of their lives

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X's and O's by Mike MacKay - Renovations - April 8, 2009

One of my favorite shows to watch on HGTV is Holmes on Homes. The basic premise behind the show is the same every week. A home owner has a dream of building a new part, making an improvement or upgrading an already existing piece of their home. A contractor is hired to do the job. Shortly there after, the dream comes crashing down. The workmanship was either shoddy; the project ran over budget or after a short period of time problems started to appear. This is when Mike Holmes comes into the seen.

His job is to do it right and make the dream come true. They then proceed to tear apart the part of the home needed to be repaired. Finally they show the care and dedication to detail that is required to do the job right. All of the workers take pride in gong the extra mile to make sure it is a quality job. At some point in the show he has a rant. The message is always the same; he just says it in different ways. If you have a dream home in mind here are some things to consider when doing renovations:

Start with the dream. Have a picture of what you want it to look like.

You have to analyze the situation – look behind the walls under the tiles, you can’t just look at the exterior to solve the problem.

It starts with the foundation; you cannot build on top of something that will not support it.

It takes time, hard work and dedication to the small details.

If you don’t know how to do it yourself find someone who does.

Ask question

Build dreams
Of course by now you know I am going to relate this to coaching. This is the time of year for many athletes to renovate their game for the next season. It starts with a dream or the desire to become a better player. They need to have a vision of what they are capable of becoming in the future. This is why I always liked to take players to watch games or have them over to watch games on TV. Simple statements like; “You know if you worked at your shot you could be like… “


Analyze the Situation
Players are looking to build on their existing game or improve some details of what they already have. For this reason I get many coaches who ask me to send them an off-season workout for their athletes. I am very hesitant to do this for a number of reasons:

What are the players involved in besides basketball: school. Provincial teams, camps, other sports, other activities? These need to be considered when planning a program.

Individual vs. team approach – do they plan to work out on their own, do they have a training partner or are all 12 players going to train at the same time (in my experience this rarely works)?

What injuries did they have during the season? Where are they in their rehab?

What are the results of a fitness test? Has a kinetic chain assessment been done? This is testing basic movement pattern such as squats and lunges. Very often the same deficiency that were present when the athlete was 12 years old is still present when the athlete turns 18 if it has not been addressed. For example; the inability to get low in stance is because of hip, hamstring, or calf inflexibility.

What equipment, space, time does the player have available?

When or what is the athlete peaking for?

What about the mental, social emotional side of the game? Has an assessment been done in these areas?

And most important of all, is the athlete motivated to work on his/her game. We are deceiving ourselves if we think that by handing out an elaborate off-season workout plan our players get better. All self improvement starts with self-awareness. The athlete has to be aware of what it is he/she is trying to improve. The next step is for the athlete to take responsibility for this improvement. They have to work the plan.

It is recommended that you begin with some form of self-assessment sheet. Let the athletes rate themselves on how well they are doing. Here is example for defensive fundamentals from Dave Malowski from Manitoba.

Rating Scale:
1 – Below Average Skill Level
2 – Average Skill Level
3 – Above Average Skill Level
4 - Highest Level in the Province


DEFENSIVE FUNDAMENTALS
Rating Comments
1. Stance / Footwork _____
2. Closeouts _____
3. Defending the Ball Handler _____
4. Defensive Rotation/Jump to Ball _____
5. Rebounding Contact _____
Ball Pursuit _____
6. Transition Defense _____
7. Communication on Defense _____

It is best to meet with the players after to discuss their rating. Ask questions or look for specific examples to make the athlete dig deep. Remember we need to look under the walls and floors to see what is really going on. The next step is for the athletes to choose which areas they are going to maintain or develop. From this an action plan for workouts can be developed. The key is to get a “commitment to the commitment”. It is easy to say all of the wonderful things we are going to do to improve. The important step is keeping that commitment. Your job is to keep the athlete to his/her commitment.

It Starts With the Foundation
If you build something on top of a weak foundation eventually the structure will fail. What is true for a house holds true for a player. Giving a player a workout that involves jumping up and down with a weighted vest is asking for disaster if the player has poor jumping form (the knees bend in on landing). All you are doing is speeding up the time before the major injury. The same is true for basketball skills. If the player has poor shot form and spends hours working on a poor shot this does not improve their ability to shoot in a game.

It Takes Time, Hard Work and Dedication to the Small Details
I have always used the idea with my players that it takes 21 days to change a habit. If the truth be known we are not changing a habit we are replacing one with another. This again emphasizes the need for awareness. In working with a player on improving shot form I will often ask the player what the detail is that they are focusing on. They should be able to describe it in detail. For example:

Player: “I want to maintain a low, loaded stance when I catch the ball so I can explode into my shot.”

Coach: “I want you to rate your self after each shot on how well you did on staying low and loaded.”

What does this do? To be a great athlete you need to take a skill to the unconscious compete stage. This means that you do not have to think about it. In order to improve we need to become conscious of our actions (Awareness). By constantly rating the action the player is now in the conscious competent stage of learning. Over time the player will drift back into the unconscious competent stage with out even knowing it, but the skill will have improved.

As coaches we need to be careful of evaluative comments when working on skill improvement. So often we use words like good and bad when working with athletes. For example: The athlete is working on shooting. After the shot the coach says; “That was bad.” The athlete must now decipher what this means. What exactly was bad about the shot? More importantly can the athlete detect for him/her self what made it bad? If the athlete is having troubles with awareness it is better if the coach gives a description of what happened to the athlete. Let’s return to the athlete shooting. After each shot the coach gives a simple cue; “low or high”. Overtime the athlete will start to be able to feel the difference. Notice that you are not evaluating the shot.

If you don’t know how to do it yourself find someone who does.
The off-season is a great time to have other people work with your athletes. A fresh face or hearing something said a different way is always good. This can really help with motivation. If there is an area you are weak at in bring in someone who can teach both you and your players. Showing that you are still learning is important for your players to see. It makes it easier for them to see why they must continue to improve.

Ask Questions – Coach like your coaching bobsled
Don Watt, with the Coaching Association of Canada, shared with me this story from when he went out to evaluate a bobsled coach. They decided to stand at the second turn of the run. It is physically impossible to find one spot, where you can see the whole run. When the bobsled went by all they did was turn their head as it sped by at over 100 km/hour. When they final caught up with the athlete after the race the coach used questions. “How did you set up for turn number one?” “How was your line when you exited turn two?” “Describe for me the start?” Can you imagine the coach trying to tell the athletes what to do? “You should have leaned more to the right when you were in turn two?” It is impossible to see what is happening even when you see the sled go by. I would argue that it is impossible for basketball coaches to see all that is happening on the basketball court. Even when watching an athlete shoot in a training session you need to spend a lot of time to watch the shot. You need to look at the shot from a variety of angles. You then need to ask questions. This helps improve the athlete’s awareness and your awareness of the athlete’s awareness.

Good luck with your renovations!

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X's and O's by Mike MacKay - Good Strategy? - March 18, 2009

As Jim Thompson clearly states in his book the "Double Goal Coach¹" there are two purposes of youth sport. One is to win games and the second is to teach children life lessons through the sport. The key is to know which one is the most important. In too many situations adults have applied their definition of winning or competition to youth sport. Children do not see competition the same as adults. Having fun is the number one reason children play sports. Striving to win on the scoreboard ranked 11th².

Youth sport should be child centered. The most important thing is the well being and safety of the children. Parents of children in youth sport expect a coach to build self-esteem, make it fun and to teach skills to their child³. This is the youth coach’s most important role. When decisions are being made about youth sport this basic premise must always be at the forefront. “Is this what is best for the child?” is the question that should always be asked. It should not be based on what is easier for adults or to allow a select group of adults to satisfy their own needs.

Why do we make rules? Rules are to regulate human relationships. If we would all follow the golden rule, “do unto other as you would have others do unto you” we would probably need fewer rules. When rules are made in sport it is to allow the competition to take place in a fair and meaningful way. If we are to teach children lessons through sport it is important that everyone involved in a competition fully understand why the rules are there. It is not for people to make an arbitrary decision that the rule does not apply to them or that it is a stupid rule therefore I will not follow it. By making decisions like this, one is showing the utmost lack of respect for the other people involved in the game. If one disagrees with a rule there are proper channels to go through in order to change them. Coaches who like to play on the edges of the rules show an equal lack of respect. What lessons are being taught to athletes when a coach spends an excessive amount of time devising strategies that take advantage of loopholes or shades of grey in a rule? Do they not know that athletes see through their attempts to justify this as great coaching strategy? Again these coaches have applied a different value to the competition then the children have.

Let’s use a hockey example. Heading into the championship game Coach A, who considers himself the dean of youth hockey coaches because of the number of championships he has won over the years, realizes he must devise a strategy to stop Team B. Team B has steadily improved all year. Coach B is known as someone who prides herself on the ability to teach skills and prepare her players for the next level. She also focuses on developing the players to be well rounded people. Each player plays every position at some time during the year. She does not specialize by position at this age because she knows from coaching courses she has taken that we cannot determine a child’s future size and abilities at such a young age. In the practice leading up to the championship game Coach A spent the whole hour working on his strategy. He drilled the children in all variation of his strategy. He went to bed that night confident he had discovered the secret that would bring success in the championship game. The next day is one that Coach A will never forget. His team wins the game by the incredible score of 1 – 0 even though his team was out shot 50 – 4. In his own mind he sees himself as a coaching genius, who will shortly be elected to the hall of fame. What was this incredible strategy? Did he spend the hour to practice skills the players needed to refine or improve? Did he make each player a better person? Did he practice team building or mental training? No, he chose the biggest kid on the team and made him lie down so he completely covered the net. He spent the whole practice making players shoot the puck from all angles. No one scored. Why? Because none of the children at his level of hockey had the strength or ability to lift the puck!

His team was declared the champion, but did everyone go home happy? Remember children have different definitions of success. Parents also have different expectations. The children want to have fun. The child who was forced to lie in net was distraught. He was seen to be shaking with tears as he lay on the ice during the third period. In fact he was so embarrassed he decided not play hockey next year because of the severe scar it left on his self-esteem. Many of the other children felt so sorry for the goalie that they threw their medals away. Many left the sport. The parents of the goalie were furious. Other parents we also concerned and decide that they would not sign their children up again next season. The other team was very upset. In fact the police had to be called to prevent one furious parent from attacking Coach A during the game. Coach B, decided she would not coach next year because she was so frustrated with this type of behaviour in youth sport. At the league meeting many hours were wasted debating if this was good strategy or poor sportsmanship. The association dropped the issue when Coach A threatened with a lawsuit if the new rule passed (a tactic he used in the past). Coach A, who “won” the game, put an adult definition of winning ahead of learning life lessons. Did he really win? Did the sport of hockey win? Was hockey in that town better without Coach B? Another question we need to ask is, “Was the goalie learning how to be a good goalie?” They won the league championship and the child never let in a goal. Did the child learn the skills that will make him a hockey player at the next stage of development? Are the coaches of the next level of hockey jumping in anticipation of acquiring this great goaltender? NO, because they know at their level of play the children can lift the puck. They have acquired the skill set and strength that will allow them to defeat this strategy. One of a coach’s greatest jobs is to teach the skills of the game. The children who leave a coach’s program should have the skills necessary to play at the next level, if the child so chooses. The child should not be limited in their choices because a coach has decided to use a strategy that will limit skill development

What does this have to do with basketball?

All this has been a preamble to an age-old discussion. At what age should we allow athletes to play a zone defence? The answer to me is very simple once you have answered the simple question of which is more important; to win games or to teach life long lessons. If it is to win games then the answer is to allow zones at all age groups. There is no question that by playing a zone with younger children you will reduce the chances of the other team from scoring. The reason is the children do not have the skill set, the physical strength and fully developed cognitive abilities to attack a zone. It requires great strength and manual dexterity to shoot from a long distance. The number one score in youth basketball is the lay up. Zones prevent lay ups. Children do not have the strength and the 100,000s of repetitions to develop good shooting ability. Also a zone means there is usually someone in the child’s face upon receiving the ball close to the basket. Shooting vs. defence is a higher level skill.

Second it requires strength to skip pass a basketball or to quickly reverse it from one side of the floor to the other, two important skills in attacking a zone. Catching a ball that is thrown quickly or a long distance is also a difficult skill for beginning players. Many are afraid of the a ball coming at them with speed.

On the cognitive side children have a difficult time dealing with multiple stimuli. Children under the age of 12 -14 do not have the cognitive development to play continuous motion sports (hockey, basketball, soccer). This is because they must be able to process upwards of 2 to 5 pieces of information a second! The 5% who have developed this ability early get labeled athletically ‘gifted’. It is just that they have had a head start on others. Too often our youth sport systems are set up for this 5% rather than the 95%. To attack a person-to-person defence a child has simple decisions. When receiving the ball should I pass, dribble or shoot. This player only has to initially read one defender, the person guarding him/her. Once he/she beats this player there is usually only one other player to read; a help defender who is in their sight. Against a zone a child must initially read up to three defenders. Another reason children have problems with zones is that their peripheral vision is not fully developed. This makes it difficult to see teammates and the other zone defenders. It is also a reason why young children have problems playing help side defence in person-to-person defence. They cannot see both player and ball. A zone solves this problem. If you play zone the other team will struggle to score.

The use of zones reminds of the use of steroids. When I was first involved in coaching and steroids came on the seen we were advised to tell the athletes that they did not work. Steroids made your body retain water and therefore look big, but you did not get stronger. The problem with this approach was that it was a lie. Steroids worked and the athletes knew it. The medical and coaching community had to come to grips with this situation. Now we emphasis that they do work, but the long term effects on the athletes is not worth the risk. The same approach happens when discussing zones. You can try to appeal to coaches on the philosophical approach, but zones do work in preventing the other team from scoring at the younger ages. If I only have one practice a week and I can win by putting my players in a zone why would I not do it. The reason is that the long term development of the players can be impaired. Coaches need to be thinking of the process of development and not the outcome of winning. I have often said that coaches who do not think development, the basic principle of coaching at this stage of a young athlete’s career, should find another stage to coach. I am not saying that this person is a bad coach; I am saying he/she is in the wrong stage of coaching.

If youth sport is to be child centered, teach lessons through the sport and if we use a child’s definition of competition there is no discussions. We should not play zone defences until a child has the skill set, cognitive ability and physical maturity to do so.

It is not easy to enforce this rule sometimes, but when has teaching children been easy. It is easy to let children watch TV all day, but is that what is best? No, it requires the adults to work together to accomplish the goal. All people involved must understand the purpose of the rule. This means players, coaches, parents, officials and league administrators. It will have to be constantly monitored and adjusted. Careful attention must be paid to those coaches who flirt with the edges of the rule. Watch out for coaches who on the offensive side of the ball run clear outs to take advantage of the rule. These coaches need to be talked to about what is the underlying purpose of the rule.

Below is a list of associations who do not play zone with younger ages. The only organization I could find that had no restriction on zone defence was the AAU. When I contacted them about this the answer I received was that their organization was a competitive group that provided the highest level of competition in age group basketball. It is designed for teams who only want to play the best. They did admit that it was a somewhat controversial issue within the organization. Does the emphasis lie on winning the AAU Championship or the development of future players? That is one we can leave for the AAU to answer.

1. Canada Basketball’s Athlete Development Model (see our website for the complete document) recommends that zones should not be used until latter stages of the Train to Train Stage of development – 15-16 years old

2. FIBA – "Basketball for Young Players – Guidelines for Coaches"
Endorsed by: European Association of Basketball Coaches
World Association of Basketball Coaches
Recommends zones not be Introduce zone to 15-16 year old players

3. Basketball Australia – no zone until – 15-16 years old

4. Israel - introduce zones at the 16 years old

5. "Baffled Parents Guide to Coaching Youth basketball" – no zone defence 6-12 year old

6. "Coaching Youth Basketball" – American Sport Education program – no zone (6 – 14 year olds)

7. "Rookie Coaches Basketball Guide" – American Coaching Effectiveness Program (6-14 olds) – no zone

1. Thompson, Jim. "The Double Goal Coach" (HarperCollins Publishers. Inc. 2003).
2. Sport Parent Survey. Ministry of Government Services, Sport and Commonwealth Games Division, Government of BC. (1994)
3. Sport Parent Survey. Ministry of Government Services, Sport and Commonwealth Games Division, Government of BC. (1994)

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X's and O's by Mike MacKay - Mental Toughness - March 18, 2009

Congratulations go out to Coach Dave Smart, his staff and the players of the Carleton Ravens for winning the CIS Men’s Championship this past weekend. To win in front of the home crowd makes it special.

The last minute of the semi-final against Western Ontario was one of the best examples of mental toughness I have recently seen in basketball. With Carleton up one point and less than a minute to go, one of Carlton’s fifth year players was sent to the line for two foul shots. To the shock of everyone he missed both shots. In the pursuing possession Western’s fifth year guard was fouled with the chance to make two foul shots for the win. The problem was he was shooting under 50% for the year. Their team had also been struggling with consistency from the line for the entire game. With a wink in his eye he calmly knocked down both shot to give Western the lead with seven seconds. Shooting percentages go out the window in crunch time. Most people get worse; the mentally tough ones get better. Carlton used its last time out to advance the ball to half (Great job by Coach Smart to save those precious time outs!). Western did super job of forcing the inbounds pass deep into the back court. The ball was given back to same Carleton fifth year player, who had just missed the two crucial free throws. Was he thinking about the two missed fouls shots? How this would be his last game as a university player? Was he thinking about how agonizing it was to lose in last year’s semi-final? Déjà vu! All the work he and his team had put in this year to redeem for that painful memory. No! He was staying in the present. He pushed the ball up the floor gave a little hesitation and came to his left for a pull up jumper at the buzzer. Carlton wins and advances to the final. The ability to play in the present is so important for success in pressure situation. He doesn’t happen by accident.

If you were heading into the biggest game of the year, would you bring in a shooting specialist to do a presentation to your team about shooting, the week before the big game? This specialist would do a lecture for one hour on what a great shooter does. He would do a few activities with the players off the court. This would be the only time all year you ever talked about or worked on shooting. Do you think your players would shoot well if this was the only exposure they had to shooting all year? No I don’t think so! You would have started practicing shooting from day one of your season. Early in the season you may have made use of this professional’s knowledge, but you would have backed up it up with daily focused practice. Smart players and coaches also realize that you need to individualize this practice; working on maintaining strengths and polishing weaknesses. Some players/coaches log the number of shots attempted and made. This way they increase the awareness and responsibility for their own of improvement. The great shooters also spend time each day shooting on their own.

Would you bring in a trainer to talk to your team about fitness, the day before the big game? He could go over what was involved in being fit for basketball. He could give each player an individualize workout. This would be the only time you ever did any fitness work all season. Again, every coach realizes that to become physically fit you need to start from day one. Over time, by constantly overloading the athlete you gradually improve his/her fitness. The same as in skill development most coaches today realize that this fitness work needs to be individualized to have the greatest impact. Most athletes have logbooks of their workouts. Similar to skill work many athletes supplement the workouts done by the team with their own special workouts.

My question is this? Why is it that we start working on skills and fitness from day one, but often ignore or refuse to do anything about the mental / emotional until it is too late? For many coaches mental training involves having someone talk to the players about mental training. This could be the coach or a sport psychologist. This is usually done off the court in a classroom session. Often it is a former player who gives a motivational talk about being mentally tough in crunch time of a big game. This is usually done late in the season. Most often it is flowed up with watching a motivational sport movie like Hoosiers or Rudy (Please note: I am describing myself in my early years of coaching).When the team moves unto the basketball court there is rarely any follow up with the material discussed. The concepts have not been broken down into practicable skills. No logs are made to assist the athlete’s awareness and responsibility. Often this late attention to mental training magnifies the problem and brings out a poor performance because the athletes have not had sufficient time to practice their mental skills. The coach usually complains after the big game; “That mental stuff just doesn’t work. It was a waste of our time.” Next season when someone suggest he/she tries implementing a mental training program he/she complains; “We tried that stuff last year, it actually made us played worse.”

In order to create mentally tough athletes it must be addressed on day one just as we do skills, and fitness training. Players need to:
• Become aware of what is involved in mental toughness.
• Be given skills or drills to use in practice and in competition.
• Keeps logs. This assists them in being responsible and monitors effectiveness of the program.
• Practice on their own.

When I broached this subject with a coaching friend he said that most coaches don’t do anything about mental training because they don’t know enough about it. I agreed, but countered: “If your team is struggling with and you don’t know enough about attacking zone defence what do you do? Do you keep doing the same thing over and over or do you go and get more information?” Two books out on the market right now are excellent for coaches learning about the mental side of the sport. 10-Minute Toughness: The Mental-Training Program For Winning Before The Game Begins by Jason Selk is an excellent book for beginning coaches. It gives you practical skills and drills that can be used with athletes of all ages. Igniting the Third Factor: Lessons from a lifetime of working with Olympic athletes, coaches and business leaders by Dr. Peter Jensen is his second book on the subject of mental toughness. It is more philosophical in nature, stressing the importance of having a developmental bias. I will make you refect on your current coaching habits.

Getting back to Carleton, it was a pleasure to see their effective use of spacing and penetration principles on offence. The majority of their scores came from penetration into the key and a diagonal pass to the elbow area or a dump to the post in the short corner. (NOTE: The other way they scored was from their numerous offensive rebounds, especially by their guards, which gave them a tremendous advantage in second chances). Carleton used the post as a way to penetrate into the key. How often did we see the ball passed into the post? If the double came the pass was made on the diagonal. If not the post used his back down dribble to penetrate to the rim. What I especially liked was the use of the pass pass. By passing to the player on the diagonal he now had great options for the next pass or shot. He could pass to the top, to the corner or to the other post that often sealed in the help side defender. Very rarely did this player drive upon receiving the pass. There was no sense driving into an already collapsed defence. The movement by the post players on penetration into the key was crucial. By sliding to the short corners on penetration it made for easier passing angles. The Carleton players are always ready for this shot or the power move to the rim. Similar to SFU in the women’s championship game you rarely saw a Carleton player take a bad shot or one that he had not practiced. Each player understood his role within the team. More importantly than understanding it, he applied it. This doesn’t happen by accident. It is enforced from day one in practice.

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X's and O's by Mike MacKay - Peaks and Valleys - March 11, 2009

I want to say thanks to the host committee of the Women’s CIS Championship for putting on one of the best championships I have ever attended. The community of Regina went out of its way to make the teams and guests feel welcomed. The crowd was electric. I have never seen so many young girls in attendance at a women’s CIS game. The idea of having local youth teams adopt one of the university teams was brilliant. I was pleased to see the CIS teams embrace this idea. Also, the committee involved over 160 girls and 40 coaches in clinic over the weekend. These girls all attended the games.
I also want to congratulate the Simon Fraser Clan on winning the 2009 CIS Women’s National Championship. They proved that they deserved to be the National Champions with their solid play all weekend. What impressed me about SFU was:
• The skills of all of the players,
• Their understanding of roles,
• Their ability to handle the peaks and valleys.

Spencer Johnson has a new book out called "Peaks and Valleys: Making Good And Bad Times Work For You – At Work And In Life". I have always been a fan of his books. He collaborated with Ken Blanchard in writing the "One Minute Manager". He also wrote "Who Moved My Cheese" which is about dealing with change. All of these books are simple reads about simple principles that we can apply to all areas of our lives. I found it interesting to apply the principles of the Peaks and Valleys to the CIS Championship and coaching.

As coaches we know that a game is made up of peaks and valleys. When we are at the peak our team is performing well. Spencer Johnson says the peak is where we celebrate life. All of the things we have practices is paying off. As a coach there is no greater thrill than to see you team putting it all together. The valley is the opposite. Nothing we seem to do is working at the moment. The other team is on a run.

"The bad decisions made in good times are often the start of the slide in to the valley. The good decisions made in bad times are what start the climb out of the valley."
Spencer Johnson

There are two important points for coaches:
• What can I do to get out of the valley?
• What can I do to keep my team on the peak and not start the slide down the slope?

Preventing the slide into the valley
• Keep doing what we have been doing - We often talk about the difference between a veteran team and a young team. This is one place that we often see the difference. Sometimes when a player is inexperienced or subbed into the game they forget what has been working. They feel it is their turn to shoot or we should run this play because we haven’t tried it yet. They go away from what works. Simon Fraser was the best team at the CIS championship of doing what works. It was very rare for players to take shots that were not their shots. Their subs coming off the bench knew what shots they should take. The number of timely big shots hit by so called role players was uncanny. The only time I can remember Matteke Hutzler taking an outside shot was late in the shot clock, when all bets were off. She won the MVP award because she knew her role. Run the floor, rebound, defend and set screens. No one did it better. She also rarely came off the floor. You would see many SFU players passing up wide open shots early in the clock. Why? It was not their shot. They had the discipline to know that a shot is not an individuals shot, it is a shot for the team. In order to win we need to take the shots that we have shown we can make throughout the entire season. The championship tournament is not the place to experiment with shot selection. There is a reason why some players are open in the big games!

• Maintain our focus – When we get the lead we often lose concentration. We stop paying attention to the key points. We no longer call screens or shot, we no longer make note of when the three-point shooter subs into the game, we stop communicating with each other. We also start concentrating on the wrong things. We start thinking about the outcome and not the process. We start watching the scoreboard. The players on the bench start to talk about the party we are going to have after the game. More often than not the players or coach get caught up in the “other game”. They over react to the officials and forget to concentrate on what they can control. The players and coaches have to avoid getting too emotional over mistakes.

• Avoid Complacency – Players lower their intensity level. The players forget what got them to the peak. They start to relax. They no longer cut as hard to get open, they don’t work to get around the box out. Sometimes players get too intense. Often when starting the game the team comes out to excited and tries to hard. They force passes, take fouls. The players will often be fatigued two minutes into the game.

Start the climb out of the valley
The path out of the valley appears when we change how we see things. As a coach you need to take off the blinders and not let your emotions or your perfectionism blind you to reality. You may need to calm yourself and really watch what the other team is doing. One time I had a player not curling off the screen to the basket in a regional championship game. All season long it was a key to our success. During a timeout I was mad at the player and challenged her to cut harder. She quickly pointed out that the reason she could not curl was because the other team’s biggest and strongest player was stepping out and rocking her on the cut. I had not seen this, because I was so focus on being a perfectionist. I did not give the other team credit that they would take this away. Luckily I was willing to see things differently and not get caught up in the “do what I say attitude” that we sometimes take as a coach. Often we need to listen to understand and not listen to defend our opinions. We made a simple adjustment that we had practiced, and took advantage of the defender extending the screen.

This is why I always wanted stats being taken on the bench. It gave me an accurate picture of what was really happening. In times of stress I did not want to let my perception of reality to taint my decision. I always had my “ready card” handy to remind me of what was prepared in the unstressed time before the game or the night before. This was my plan for how to deal with the valley. It listed the entire offensive and defensive adjustments we would make based on what the other team did. It listed possible line ups for certain situations; if we saw zone, foul trouble, pressure, or best foul shooters for late in the game.

For most coaches we try to solve the valley through time outs and subs. In the FIBA game you cannot always use timeouts, there are not enough available. What happens when these don’t work? Very often it is because we are not addressing what is really needed to start the climb out of the valley.
• Paint a clear picture of what is actually happening. The coach must be able to describe to the players what is actually happening. We cannot talk in generalities at this time. “We are not working hard enough, were too soft, and were not moving” do not paint a picture. “They have taken 10 shots and have 6 offensive boards. All of their points have come from these offensive boards. We also have our two post players with two fouls each.” Truth over harmony.

• Describe the future – Use sensible goals not fearful goals. Build a clear visible path out of the valley.
o Fearful goal - If you don’t start boxing out we are going to lose this game. You will have more to worry about than simply losing if we don’t box out. You will have to deal with me.”
o Sensible goals (describe the future using all five senses: taste, touch, smell, sight and hearing). - “When the ball leaves the shooters hand we need to hear you call ‘shot’. When that happens everyone has to look and find their check. You then step and feel the contact of their solar plexus on your friendly forearm. You will be so close you can smell what they had for lunch. When you do that you will taste their fear to go after the rebound.” (Note: I was stretching on this last one; I hope you get the idea. It doesn’t always have to include all five senses. The more you make it come alive the more the players can believe in it happening.)

• Focus – Narrows your focus to what is important. Cut out the fluff. “Forget the crowd, forget the score, and forget the referees. All you have to do is what we said we were going to do. Take care of the ball, take our shots and rebound the ball at both ends.”

"The valley is where we learn. If you don’t learn from the valley you become bitter. If you learn you become better."
Spencer Johnson

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X's and O's by Mike MacKay - The Lessons Learned From Others and Experience - March 4, 2009

There are two basic ways that we learn things in life; through experience or from the lessons passed on to us by others. This could be through a conversation, by reading or watching a TV or a movie/ DVD. There is no question that the most meaningful and powerful lessons are the ones learned from direct experience. Especially if we take the time to reflect on the process we used to achieve the outcome. The problem with experiential learning is that we do not have enough time in our life to experience everything in order to learn about it. Also, some lessons only get taught once. You do not get a second chance or can be permanently scared from the experience. I used the example with my students that it was a bad idea to lie down in the middle of a dark road late at night. You can learn form me giving you this advice or you can try to learn from the experience. They could easily see that the experiential lesson would be too painful or permanent. It is easy to accept advice when the lesson is this harsh. Uncertainty on learning from other comes when we know the experience may not be harsh. I have always believed that it is better to combine both methods.

When I qualified for my first provincial championship as a young inexperienced coach I sought the advice of the most experienced coach in the province. I had no experience in coaching in a provincial championship. I asked him if I could take him out to supper and pick his brain about coaching at a provincial championship. He agreed and candidly shared with me many thoughts on how to be successful in the “Big Game”. My definition of the “Big Game” is the one you arrive at in your season that if you lose you go home, if you win you move on. What I want to share with you are my top ten lessons I have form coaching in the “Big Game”. They are a combination of the ones Coach Keith MacKenzie passed on to me, the ones I gained from my many conversations and reading with coaches over the years and finally the ones I learned from competing in “Big Games” in football, basketball, and track.

1. You cannot prepare for the “Big Game” the day before the “Big Game”
The habits and routines that you start to develop at the very first session of the seasons are the ones that will make and break you in the “Big Game”. When in high pressure situations, like the “Big Game”, you and your players will choose your comfort zone. Drawing up plays in the sand, using some pre- game pep talk, asking players to execute a skill they have never mastered will not cut it.

2. Play to your strengths
As a coach we are always working with players to develop their weaknesses. In order to improve the player must continue to grow. At some point you need to convince the player to play to his/her strength. The best example is shot selection. You know a player must develop his/her outside shot to improve. The “Big Game”, is not the time to start working on this weakness. Confidence to do this had to be demonstrated in practice and previous games. On the other hand players need to take their shot when it appears. I have always told players that a shot in basketball is not their shot, but the teams shot. You are expected to take the shots we know you can make. We will never be upset with you shooting your shot, even if it misses. Every player must have a shot. In today’s game you cannot put players on the floor that cannot score. Defence is too good if allowed to cheat off one or two players.

3. No Excuses
This starts when you receive your draw for the final tournament. Too often I see coaches complain to their players or worse, do it in public about how they have be robbed by being given such a difficult schedule. To me you are building in an excuse for failure. No matter what the schedule tells your players how lucky you are to receive such a great schedule. Start to build in them the picture of how it will all unfold. Build dreams. When times get tough in the “Big Game”, will you continue to fight and strive to play as a team or will you give in? If the excuse is already in place it is easier to quit. I have seen this happen so many times at all levels. Coaches warn their players that it is going to be hot or noisy in the gym. Soon as the players feel the first drop of sweat or hear the first trumpet play they start to play mind games with themselves. They miss the first shot and think it must be the heat or the noise. They lose control of their own actions and give it over to something they cannot control. The key is too in developing a distraction control plan. The earlier this is developed the better it will be since you can use it at all games as a way to practice the plan.

I would sit with my team and brainstorm all possible things that could affect our performance. Some may sound silly to you, but you must honor their suggestions. We would then divide the list to things we could control or not control. The key was we developed an action plan for each and every item on the list. My job as the coach was to create situations where theses distraction may occur. Also I would store up examples from the season where the players had successfully overcome these distractions. An example might be that a key player picks up three fouls in the first half. I would remind the team and player that we have been here before. In a previous game the player had sat for awhile and we were successful because we did not panic and stayed with the game plan. Other players had to step up and look for their shots.

4. Enjoy the day
On a trip to a football championship game one time our bus broke down half way to Halifax. My assistant coaches where very anxious. “We are going to be late; we won’t get a proper warm up.” They were spewing forth every possible negative factor or consequence of this unfortunate incident that was really beyond our control. The players on the other hand were very relaxed. They had remembered what I had taught and reminded them of the night before. Enjoy the day!

I wanted them to get a good sleep, awaken and have a great breakfast. Enjoy the taste of the food. Enjoy the time you spend with your mom and dad before heading off to the school. Enjoy the ride to the game with your teammates. Enjoy the experience of putting on the uniform, for many the last time in their career. Enjoy the feeling of running out on the field before a large crowd. What I was doing was getting the players to play in the moment. Being present is a very important concept in any endeavor in life. To sit around all day thinking about the “Big Game” is very draining. Yes, there were times we want to think about the game, but this is part of our planned routine (see below). I don’t know where I heard it first, but I always believed in the idea:
Learn from the past
Prepare for the future
Play in the present
By getting the players to focus on each moment of the entire game I found that it carried over to the game. We never got caught up in watching the scoreboard. We were able to focus on the process and not the outcome.
So, seating in the parking lot of the Irving Big Stop in Enfield, Nova Scotia 60 players and I had story time. I told them thrilling stories of past games and past heroic players. Some where actually disappointed when the new bus came to take us to the field.

5. Plan A vs. B
You must have a game plan. This is playing to your strengths or plan A. Every player and coach needs to know what this is; it cannot reside only in the mind of the head coach. Players need to know how they can demonstrate plan A.

A great coach or athlete though needs a plan B. What do you do when things go wrong? This is putting your distraction plan in action. Can you actually apply what you said you are going to do? It fascinated me listening to the debriefs of athletes and coaches coming home from Beijing. Very often the poor performance was the result of not being able to go to plan B when problems occurred. Often it is was the coach who forgot plan B or went to plan C which was never discussed or practiced.

6. Emotional control
I heard Chris Evert, the great female tennis player, being interviewed one time. She said that she had won championships when physically she was on her game, but not mentally sharp. She also won matches when she was under the weather physically, but mentally just right. She never won when emotionally she lost her control. This has been a credo of mine ever since. Emotions are a delicate thing to play with. The Goldilocks Effect is crucial to your success. Too little and your not “up” for the game, too much and you lose focus. Player need to know what is “just right” for them. This again is something that needs to be practiced through out the entire year.

I am very diligent in looking for “Charlie Browns”. These are the players who say; “Whoa is me, I just missed a shot.” They hang their head and show a dejected expression. We now have a generation of players who want to celebrate for making routine plays. I always liked the idea that when you score act like it is what you expected to do not some once in a lifetime experience. Even if you are upset you need to fake it until you make it. By pretending you are positive you eventually will. It is the reverse of this little cartoon that I have always enjoyed.



You also have to let sleeping dogs lie. Too often players do things to the opponent that wakes the sleeping giant. They will trash talk or taunt an opponent. This can backfire if it puts the opponent in the just right stage of emotional control. I still remember a player saying before a Big Game, “I want you”, at the jump circle. Well she got her, as the player had a career game. My greatest friend and rival in coaching was famous for trying to get me to make a casual statement before a game that she could then turn into a fiery locker room pep talk about how coach MacKay already thought he had the game won or he did not respect a certain player. By the end I am sure she just made them up because I had probably supplied her with enough ammo to last a lifetime.

We must also be in tune to the emotions of the people within the player’s circle of influence. I have seen assistant coaches, student managers, trainers and parents have a huge impact on the “Big Game” by losing it at the wrong time and place. Look for little warning signs as the season goes on. If you do not deal with it early, the “Big Game” is too late.

Finally, and most important of all emotional control is not just the players. It is us, the coaches. I knew that my poor emotional control could do more to upset my team than any signal factor. The best advice that Keith MacKenzie ever gave me in coaching was…

7. Be their friend
Early in the year I could be the bear. I would a perfectionist demanding that they focused on doing the little things right. I would use the pine slide. If you made a mistake, like missing a box out, you were going to get a sub. Being the bear in the “Big Game” did not work. There is already pressure placed on performance. You create hesitant players who are constantly looking over their shoulder. The focus is on coach not on playing. This may work in the sort term or in no pressure filled games, but very rarely in the ones that count. I was always very positive and encouraging. I would try not to sub players for mistakes. Especially if I knew they needed to play at some later time. I would be very upbeat in timeouts saying things like; “This is just like we thought it was going to be.” “Isn’t this fun!!!” “I love this.!!” “I am glad the other team is playing well so we get a chance to show what we are made of.”

Off the court we need to let go of games after we have completed our debrief. Making players think about the game for hours and hours is too emotional draining. In my misplaced youth as a coach I remember stopping the bus on a ride home and getting after the players because they were laughing after a loss. You must understand that this was after driving in complete silence for an hour. The embarrassing part was when a parent who was following the bus politely tapped on the door and asked if everything was alright. No it wasn’t. I was the problem. I was humbled and learned from that experience. Once we leave the locker room we need to let it go.

You will always have some game in your strive to become a champion where you have to win ugly. You win, but you struggled to do so. Maybe it was a team you have previously beaten. The key is to forget it. Don’t dwell and over analyze it. Move on.

8. Routines
In one of my previous blogs I talked about the funnel and routines. I cannot emphasize the importance of establishing positive routines early on in the season. Every game is a chance to practice your routines. Once you get to the “Big Game” you have it down pat. You need to plan meals, practice, meetings, travel to and from the gym (take into account rush hour), and down time. Players need to know what activities help and hurt performance.

9. Tournament Hotel
One of the most important points is the effective use of down time. If you are lucky enough to travel and stay overnight with your team when you compete for a championship you need to address this issue. Your choice of hotel and your rooming list is very important. All year, with my teams, we roomed with the idea of getting to know each other. I wanted the seniors to teach the younger players what was expected when we traveled. Rooms were for rest. Not a place to socialize with strangers. When the time came for provincials, this changed. First of all I wanted everyone to have their own bed. A good night sleep was important. We would raise the money to ensure this would happen. Second, they roomed with people that were compatible. I think it was Casey Stengel who said that a coaches job was too keep those players who play well and support the coach away from the ones who complain. Third, I tried to find a hotel that could guarantee quiet and had security. I wanted the rooms together on the same floor. When you get the cheapest hotel you sometimes get what you pay for. This is your home away from home. Fourth, I wanted good meals close by. If there was a restaurant I would have them prepare meals a head of time so we could eat on schedule. Nothing worse than waiting for a meal and you know you should be leaving for the gym. Finally I always let them know if they wanted to talk I was available. You never knew when stress would take hold. I can remember on of the best players I ever coached breaking down the night before the championship game. The pressure too perform was too much. After an hour of letting her unload she was fine. Be available. It is not about you it is about them.

10. Nervous vs. anxious
On the eve of a “Big Game” coach Dave Nutbrown was asked if he was nervous. His answer has stuck with me all these years. I paraphrase;
No, I am not nervous. Nervous means you are not prepared. I am anxious. Anxious means you have the butterflies of anticipation. You just can’t wait to play.
The old Celtic teams of the Red Aurebach era knew when Bill Russell was ready to play; they heard him throwing up in the washroom before the game.

If you have
o Prepared
o Developed a solid plan A and B
o Practiced your positive routines.
o Made proper use of downtime.

All you have to do now is go and play the game. Play for the moment and enjoy every second. No matter what happens we will end the season in tears of joy. Joy in having achieving our dreams or tears from having done everything possible to play our best. This is the last day that this group will compete together. Let’s make it special.

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X's and O's by Mike MacKay - The Relationship between Volume and Intensity - February 25, 2009

Coaches need to understanding the relationship between volume and intensity when developing season and daily practice plans. There are some basic principles that if applied, will aid the coach in enhancing the development of the athletes. When I recently attended the Canadian Sport for Life Conference in Ottawa and the Ontario Basketball Talent ID Sessions I was reminded of this fact.

Istvan Balyi, an expert in periodization, made a presentation on planning and tapering. He pointed out that the given workload of a practice session is made up of two essentials ingredients:
o intensity ¡V how hard the athlete pushes him/herself
o volume ¡V how long the athlete works



The key relationship that coaches must remember is that:
o Early - high volume / low intensity
o Late - low volume / high intensity

Season plan / weekly plan
Early volume
Length of practices - long
Build capacity of energy systems

Late intensity
Length of practice ¡V short
Build power of energy systems

Daily practice plan .
Early volume
Start with activation of the aerobic system (long slow activities).

Late intensity
Finish with higher intensity activities that use the anaerobic lactate system

Age of the athlete
Early volume
Young players need a high volume of activity in a variety of sport. This allows them to learn the fundamental movement skills such as, running, jumping, pushing, pulling, twisting, bending and coordination.
Young players cannot handle activities that produce lactic acid. They will stop and have to rest.

Late intensity
As players mature they do not need to spend as much time, or quantity, of practice on repetitive situation which they have already mastered. What they need are quality experiences at a high intensity.

Acquisition of a new skill / concept
Early volume
When first learning a skill/ concept players need lots of repetition at a slow pace.

Late intensity
Once a skill has been consolidated the challenge is to apply the skill with greater speed and variation (decision making).

Concentration
Early volume
Players need to be taught the importance of many different factors that may impact their performance.

Late intensity
To reach the high performance zone athletes need focused concentration on the key elements that are important to them.

Team building
Early volume
Players need to spend time together in order to get to know one another.

Late intensity
Players need to be able to honestly communicate with each other. Truth over harmony. Need time to him/her self.

Remember that this is not a pure science. We must always apply the Goldilocks Effect when dealing with people. This means is that too much or too little of something has the power to do harm. The key is to find what is just right. Be careful using principles as an absolute. Coaches must learn to pay attention to the subtle signals that their athletes will give, when making the final determination of what is just right. I do suggest that coaches log their practice plans and make use of field tests to judge the fatigue of the athletes. Some examples of things I have used or seen done:
o Always be alert to what is happening in their life outside of basketball. Exam time or monthly test week can be a time of more stress.
o Watch out for flu and colds on the team. Too many people at one time may indicate you have crossed the barrier. It is interesting to note that after you train your immune system is more vulnerable to disease. Athletes should be particularly alert to washing their hands and not sharing water bottles, or putting their hands in their mouth or nose. A basketball that has bounced on a dirty floor is a great way to spread germs.
o Jack Donohue taught me to watch the eyes and body language of your players when you bring them in at the start of practice. If you see a lot of tired people you may have fatigue on your hands.
o Record morning heart rates. If you notice a raised heart rate it can be an indication of fatigue.
o Talk to your players. Ask them how they feel.
o Field tests
o Istvan Balyi used to have players perform five consecutive long jumps at the end of the warm up. By comparing the distance covered with previous jumps in other practices he could judge the fatigue of individuals and the team. Note: You do not have to tell the players what you are doing. Some players can get very smart at figuring out how to get out of working hard.
o I had certain drills that I did where I could judge our fitness. One was called bursts. The player went for 30 seconds alternating right and left hand lay ups. One worked while the other rested.
-Dribbling from the foul line and back
-Mikan
-Block to block power
We recorded the makes and misses. I was primarily concerned with the number of attempts. If I saw a drop off I knew the players were fatigued.
o Mark Walton does and excellent drill, fastbreak shooting, with our NEDA girls that again, allows you as the coach to judge fatigue.

All the player line up at half with their own ball. On the signal to start the players dribble to one of the main baskets and shoot a shot. The players are working on their shots off the dribble.


The player gets his/her own rebound. If the ball went in the player can dribble to the other end in the middle lane. If the shot was missed the player must dribble to the other end on the outside of the court. Have a coach or a pylon at half to indicate where to dribble.

The players will go for back and forth for two minutes. Each player records the number of makes and misses. At the end of the two minutes the players rest. I suggest you do an active rest and shoot foul shots for one minute. They now go for one minute. The goal is to get half of the number of reps plus one that they did in two minutes. For example, if they had 14 attempts in two minutes they are trying to get 8 in the one minute {(1/2 of 14) +1=8}.
Variations:
o Go for one minute, rest 30 seconds and then shoot for 30 seconds.
o 30 seconds, 30 second rest, 10 seconds (two shots in ten seconds)



The easiest way to reduce volume is by lowering the length of time that an athlete practices. This can be done by:
o Shortening the length of a practice session
o Shortening the number of practices
o Shortening the length of time of a given drill

As basketball coaches we are often leery of giving up practice time. Basketball is a sport that requires teamwork and high levels of skills. If we stay away from practice for too long the fear is that we will lose our shooting touch or our team chemistry. I would tend to agree with this statement, but we do need to reduce the volume of practice late in the season or before the big game. For that reason it is best that we reduce the length of time at practice.

Increasing intensity is about practicing at game speed. As players learn skills and team concepts they need to be able to demonstrate the skills in a game like environment. This has to do with speed of execution and also the physicality that comes with game. Playing against defence means the intensity of decision making is also increased. The coach is constantly searching for ways to increase the intensity.

Too little intensity in practice
The athlete will not have success performing the skill in the game. When they try to use the skill at speed more errors will occur. Shooting is an example I see today. When I chart shots taken in games many are not the ones I see teams practicing. At a recent CIS game I charted the shots taken in the first quarter. The majority were dribble jump shots, bending and twisting to avoid defence and quick releases from odd angles. Most players never practice these shots in the traditional shooting drills we do as coaches.

Too much intensity in practice
We risk injury and fatigue. The energy systems needed to perform at high intensity are not infinite. Our aerobic capacity, the energy system used for volume, allows us to go all day, but at a slow pace. The anaerobic lactate and anaerobic alactic systems are short term energy providers. Therefore the body can only maintain a high intensity for so long. If we also go too fast too long we also risk injury. The more speed the more wear and tear on the body and greater the chance of collisions. Most injuries occur when we decelerate. The faster we go the more severe these decelerating forces on the body.

Don McRae, former women¡¦s national team coach, taught me the concept of planning my practice through the energy systems, not the basketball systems. I always found it a great way to plan practices. Warm up is about aerobic capacity (long and slow) we are increasing body temperature. If we start with high intensity, the players are vulnerable to injury. Also, if you produce lactic acid early in practice your players will not be able to perform later on. They become fatigued too early. Too often we get players warmed up and then have them sit while we talk. Introduce new items at the very beginning. In fact if there is a lot of talking, do this first before the warm up. We next move to speed activities, usually skill work; lay ups, dribbling etc. Finish the practice with the anaerobic lactate system. Your intensity can be high. Once you have produced lactic acid don¡¦t let the athletes sit for long periods of time and then expect them to perform at a high intensity again.

Some coaches have told me that this is not how a game is played. Sometimes you need to start hard and fast. I agree, but I hope you have warmed up before you play. If you jump out of the car and sprint onto the court you are risking serious injury and a poor performance. A proper warm up for a game works the same way with the energy systems. Start long and slow and finish with high intensity speed just before you play. You are now ready to play hard and fast as the game begins. If you do a NBA type warm up where the players never do speed they need the first few minutes to get ready.

Tapering
The amount of work that a given athlete is able to do is not infinite. There is a finite amount of energy that each player or team can give in a training session. As we all know, through proper training (overloading a given system) a coach can improve the output of the athletes. Done right the coach can ensure that the players will be at their peak at the proper time of the season. When a system is overloaded the benefit of that hard work is not seen immediately the next day. In fact performance will decrease for a short period of time before the improvement occurs. It takes time for the body to recover. Therefore, if you work too hard too close to a major competition you will not see the benefit until weeks later. In fact if you work too hard you will try to compete when the players are in the natural decreased performance stage. On the other side if you try to peak for every game, peaking for Friday, you never overload the system and therefore never improve performance over time. In team sports we sometimes have to learn to train through competition. This means you cannot taper for every game you play.
When there is no taper, the volume of practice remains the same or worse the coach increases the volume by lengthening amount of practice before the big game. It is a trap many coaches fall into; the bigger the game the longer they practice. You need to think of the extra energy used in the practice as lost energy for the game. Many a big game, especially at tournament time, has been lost by having fatigued athletes.

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X's and O's by Mike MacKay - Istvan Balvi - February 18, 2009

Istvan Balyi
I had the pleasure recently of spending some time with Istvan Balyi. He is one of the leading experts in the world on Long Term Athlete Development. Whenever I get to spend time with him my mind explodes with ideas. I want to share a couple of thoughts that I think apply to many of us who are coaching developmental players.

Performance
During his presentation he likened the performance of an athlete to a set of gears. In the middle is the performance gear. It is the outcome. What makes this gear turn are four big gears: basketball (sport) skills, physical, mental and the social/emotional gears.



Each of these four gears has many smaller gears attached to it. In the example below we see the physical gear. Making this gear turn is strength, suppleness, speed and stamina. These gears can be further broken down. In the diagram I have shown that stamina has sustenance and a sleep gear. The sustenance gear could be broken down further into food and hydration.


As a coach we must take into account all of these gears if we want a desirable performance to occur. Ultimately it is up to the athlete to learn to become self-reliant. One can imagine if a coach of a team of twelve players attempts to control each and every gear. The best way to do it is through educating the athletes about the importance of each gear. Sometimes we need to make them do it, call it tough love. If the athlete does not account for one small gear it can be the one that inhibits his/her performance. In this example it is lack of water.



This past weekend I was talking with a CIS assistant coach. He shared with me the story of one of their young players. He was having a career night, but with minutes remaining he had to take himself out of the game. He was cramping up. After the game the coach asked the player what he had to eat and drink that day. All he had was a pop and a burrito. All other gears were working efficiently, allowing the athlete to have a career performance. At the crucial time of the game the nutrients and the water gears got out of sync. There goes performance! As coaches of developmental athletes we have all had these types of incidents. It is important that we use these as lessons to help the athlete grow.

What often astounds me is how we as coaches put so much stock into the basketball gear when picking high performance or elite teams. It always amazed me when coaches pick teams from tryouts and base their entire selection on the performance in scrimmages. The upside is that in that particular moment the player performed at his /her best. The downside is how you played in that particular moment does not reflect the situation or style of basketball that the final team will play.

So often I have seen coaches ask players in the scrimmage to execute a simple offence or to play a simple man to man defence. The majority of the players go out and sacrifice their normal game to run the new offence. One player ignores the instructions and plays to his/her strengths. He/she disregards team defence and runs around stealing the ball from the weaker players. This player looks relaxed and dominates. The coaches quickly assume that he/she is the best player. The player moves to the top of the list and it is assumed that this play will continue in the future. Once the team comes together the player bombs. The reasons are usually something like:
o No consistency in performance over time.
o The player cannot play within a team structure.
o Lacked actual skills, only dominated because of physical maturity and intimidation.
o Performs poorly when you travel.
o Lack of focus or intensity in training.
o Have social/emotional issues that become draining on the team.
o Does not improve his/her skills and execution over time.
o Continues to make the same mistakes.
o Cannot or will not follow instructions.
o No one played solid defence in the scrimmage.

Coaches need to look at all four gears and the entire little sub gears when making selections. If I was picking an elite team that I was going to travel with, I always had the players stay in a residence situation sometime during the try out process. I needed to see what the players did off the floor. So many try outs today Mom and Dad drop the player off, take the player out for lunch and whisk the player away as soon as the practice is done. They is no interaction off the court.

If I ran scrimmages I would be sure to mix up the type of scrimmages:
o Straight scrimmage where the players did what they wanted. I was sure to mix up the teams regularly. If a player got stuck on a team with the point guard, who was the ball hog, no one else on that team would ever get a chance to shine offensively.
o Must be a post touch. I wanted to see who could post up, get the ball to the post and play off the post.
o One second basketball. Had to pass dribble or shoot within one second of catching the ball. This showed me how players could make quick decisions, especially off the dribble.
o Ultimate. No dribbling. This showed me who could pivot and move without the ball.
o Zone. I needed to see who had a basic understanding of playing and attacking zones.
o A couple of sets or concepts. I needed to see who could learn quickly and execute. One set highlighted the guards, another forwards and final one for the posts.
o Full court defence or pressure.
o Inform the player of what I specifically need him/her to do. Could he/she follow instructions? For example: I want you to guard #6 and take way his right hand.

Off the court I wanted to see who was and energy giver or taker. I would hold short meetings where I wanted to see:
o When the players showed up? Where did they sit? Who did they sit with?
o Did they bring their notebooks?
o Did they pay attention? Where were their eyes and ears?
o Were they engaged in the activities?
o Could they apply what we did in meetings to the court?


I paid attention too:
o Were the players doing proper recovery and cool down?
o Were they hydrating and eating properly?
o Did they get their sleep?
o How did they handle frustration? I would often do a drill that was impossible to achieve. For example; a simple continuous lay up drill. You alternated right and left hand lay ups while dribbling around a cone at the top of the three point line. You had to make something like 8 in twenty seconds. I would also do a team continuous passing and moving drill. What I wanted to see was how they handled failure? Who took energy and who gave energy?
o Who were the leaders, who were the followers?

I learned to pay attention to these off court dynamics from Coach John Huard at Acadia University. During the tryout process we used to go pick apples, together as a team. Coach used to tell me that he learned everything about the interactions of the players by watching this activity. Who were the leaders? Who slacked off? Who worked together as part of a team?

I would weight these areas as highly as the on court areas. Over my years of coaching I found out that those players who scored high on the basketball, but low in the other three gears could be a let down if we did not address the issue from the start. Time had to be spent on improving the other areas of the game. If the player had no desire to change or grow I would probably give another player with lesser basketball skills a chance to make the team. You could not have a whole team of these types of players. I required a mixture, you need players that are strong in other areas to help teach the weaker players.

In a game like basketball there is no question that the bigger stronger faster athlete will always get the first look. It is crucial that we do not
o Ignore the smaller player, especially before the end of puberty.
o Fail to teach the all players the other areas of the game. Eventually these can and will be just as big of limiting factor to performance.

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X's and O's by Mike MacKay - Pre-habilitation - February 11, 2009

Why do we wear seatbelts in a car? For the majority of my father’s driving career he never wore a seatbelt. Even now, if it wasn’t for the voice or bell ringing he probably would not put it on. He also knows that if ‘Johnny Law’ stops him he will receive a fine. For me it is different. From the first time a drove, I wore a seatbelt because I was told it would prevent serious injury. It is now a habit. I do not feel comfortable unless I have the seatbelt on. Wearing a seatbelt is pre-habilitation (pre-hab). It is something I do to prevent an injury. Pre-habilitation is much better than rehabilitation. For the little time taken to do something ahead of time we reduce the cost, time and severity of a possible injury. The more you drive the more likely an injury will occur. The more you buckle up the more likely you can prevent an injury when the accident does occur.
The same concept is true in sport. The little effort it takes to do pre-hab prevents a major loss of time, effort and money to do rehab later if the injury does occur. What do you do to prevent injury?

Pre-hab must become a habit for you and your players. So many players and coaches are just like my father when it comes to pre-hab. They only do it when the warning bell reminds them. Because of old habits it is usually forgotten or the first thing thrown out from a busy practice schedule. We need to train a generation of athletes and coaches who make pre-hab a habit. We need to get to the point where it feels uncomfortable not to do it. When I spent time in Australia I was amazed at how much detail was paid to pre-hab by the players. At the U15 championships I attended every player taped their own ankles before a game. Every team had an elaborate dynamic warm up and ever team did a thorough cool down and recovery. Watching their teams at World Championships and talking with their coaches and mission staffs it is something they pay great attention too. Over time they have come to know that if they skimp in this area a player or a team cannot perform on demand.

When I travel and do clinic one thing I always show the athletes is a proper warm up. When I ask players what is involved in a warm up they usually tell me three things: running, stretching and some skills. This is too general. It shows that they do not entirely understand what is involved in a proper warm up. We need to do a better job of educating players and coaches.

1. Increase body temperature – most players have been told that running is the way to do this. There are numerous ways in which this can be done. I prefer to mix it up with skipping rope, a low organized game or some light form running.
2. Dynamic movement – this is preferred over static stretching. Static stretching has a tendency to prepare the muscle to relax by elongating it. When we perform the muscles needs to contract and support at the same time. All static stretching needs to be done two hours prior to or two hours after training and competing. Leg swings is an example of dynamic stretching.
3. Skills – this is one the players get right. We do need to rehearse the skills we will be performing that day. It is also a way to prepare the nervous system.
4. Speed – the last thing we should do as part of a warm up is speed. This makes sure the nerves and muscles are firing on all cylinders.
5. Pre-hab – these are exercise, that if done properly will help the athlete prevent injuries in the future. They usually involve:
o Proper core activation – bridges, twists and bends.
o Balance – one leg, landing after jumping.
o Coordination – developing proper movement sequences when running, jumping.
o Proper squatting and lunging techniques. Many injuries to the knees and back can be prevented by teaching athletes how to land or stop properly. Deceleration is the main way injuries occur in basketball.

Some other areas that are important for pre-hab are:
o Nutrition
o Hydration
o Sleep
o Recovery – ice bath, contrast shower/ snack / hydrate
o Mental alertness / fatigue

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X's and O's by Mike MacKay - Long Term Participant Development - January 28, 2009

This past week I attended the Canadian Sport for Life (CS4L) conference in Ottawa. This conference started five years ago emphasising the term Long Term Athlete Development (LTAD). This made sense when the first attendees were the LTAD expert group, representatives from Sport Canada (who were funding the LTAD work) and people from the National Sport Organizations (NSO’s), charged with producing a LTAD overview document for their sport. As the LTAD movement started to branch into other groups the name LTAD caused problems. Many people did not like the word athlete. It took great effort to break down barriers to get people to see that Canadian Sport for Life considered everyone an athlete. As the Canadian Sport for Life movement continues to grow into education (physical education, not scholastic sport), municipalities and the health sector of Canadian society, the word sport is causing some problems. When the word sport is used, some people see signing up for a structured team or individual sport. They do not understand that CS4L implies a more generic approach. The message from the Active for Life Stage is lost. In developing a healthy nation going for a walk can be considered someone’s sport. Some like to argue that people are getting worked up over simple little words, but words can create obstructions that prevent the idea or concept from being accepted. Think of how you emotionally react to certain words. Once the word is spoken you’re past experiences with that word, cloud your ability to hear and think. As we continue to spread the word of Long Term Participant Development (this was suggested by someone in the health sector) we need to make sure that the important message is not lost in a fight over words. We need to remember in its simplest form LTAD, CS4L or LTPD is about ensuring that all Canadians have the opportunities and pathways ways to lead a long and healthy life. Some may choose a competitive sporting experience while some use more recreational activities.

In order for this goal to occur, there needs to be collaboration between all sectors of society. A simple example was shared by Mary Bluechardt (a member of the LTAD expert group). Mary is a professor in the school of Kinesiology, at Memorial University (MUN) in St. John’s, Newfoundland. MUN also has a school of nursing and medicine. One day Mary decided to walk across the road to see what was going on inside the Medical building. She was asked, “How did you get here?” Her answer was, “I simply walked.” What the person meant was that no one from her side of the road had ever been over to this side. What she discovered amazed her. The people where trying to fight the same battle that she was fighting on her side of the road, obesity in young adolescents. To Mary it made no sense to continue to work independently. By collaborating the strengths of each group they were able to provide a program that is having a bigger impact. Let us keep looking for ways to collaborate.

Assessment and Evaluation
One of the sessions I attended at the LTAD coference was titled Assessment and Evaluation in Physical Education. It was presented by Amada Stanec from St. FX University and David Chorney form the University of Alberta.

The reason I attended was that assessment and evaluation is a big part of our new NCCP coaching. In order to determine if a coach is competent we need to properly assess and evaluate. I was looking for ideas that might help me. It started with some definitions. I thought I was back in my old Bachelor of Education methods class.
Assesment is the process of gathering material or information about the student.
Measurement is the process of obtaining scores.
Evaluation is to judge the worth of something or to make a final judgment. This is usually done at the end of the process.
Formative evaluation is ongoing, used to instruct and inform the student about their areas for improvement.
Summative evaluation generally occurs at the end and is linked to evaluation. Often presented as a letter or number grade.
To be effective assessment needs to take place in the following domains:
Psychomotor – (doing) can the athlete do the skill or activity? In the past this is what dominated physical education testing. Very often it was based on how many shots you could make out of ten. This type of testing is based on the outcome not the process.
Cognitive – (thinking) does the student understand the when and the why of applying the skill or concept? This similar to technical component of our teaching pyramid in basketball.
Affective – (feeling) this deals with the social/emotional. Such things as fair play, respect responsibility, working with others etc.
Health related – (fitness) Understanding the components of health related fitness. Setting fitness goals and working to improve a particular area.

It was at this point that my brain started to explode with ideas. The same problem that I used to face as a PE teacher, when trying to develop a mark for my students, was the exact same problem that most coaches face when assessing the ability of their players. It is easier to give a mark based on the outcome. The ball went in or it did not. This does not take into account the process used to achieve the outcome. To learn what the athlete was thinking or feeling you need to have another way to assess.

Why does a coach need to do assessment?
o First of all I am not promoting the idea of making a formal grading period like schools where we hand out report cards. I am promoting the idea that assessment is about empowering the athlete to take ownership for his/her future. By developing all three domains the athlete is in a better position to apply the learning’s in the future. He/she will be able to adapt to situation and be able to accept or reject new ideas. The athlete will not be reliant on others to tell him/her what to do.
o Coaches do assessments all the time in determining who should get to play. The more complete this assessment the more likely the coach can clearly communicate to the athlete the reasons for his/her lack of playing time.
o Coaches use assessments to determine what to work on in the next practice, for the team and individual.

Some feel we should access on improvement. I have heard coaches say that they play the players who work hard and improve. There are flaws to this type of assessment:
o Maturation – was the improvement just because the student grew or was it because of something he/she actually improved.
o Fake the first test.
o Less room for improvement the better you become at something.

What follows are some ideas on how you can do other types of assessment so that a more accurate understanding of the whole child can be made. Not just on if the ball goes in the basket or not.

Psychomotor Domain
Authentic assessment – this type of assessment is done in a real like situation. As coaches we do this all the time. The key is picking the exact thing you are going to access. If we are looking at accessing shot form we usually do this in a static isolated situation like a foul shot. To know if the athlete really has mastered shot form we need to assess it when the athlete is in a game or game like situation. Remember we are accessing the process not the outcome. By improving the process the outcome will improve. Did the athlete keep both arms up on his/her follow through is an example of a specific detail we can assess in the process of shooting.

As a side bar, I was doing a coaching clinic and had a group of coaches tell me that they would never change a child’s shot form. The feeling was that each person has their own unique method of shooting. With practice they will improve. My response was would you change a child’s method of doing addition if it only involved counting their fingers and toes? My point being will this method of doing addition hold up as the child moves up the ladder of mathematics. No, it will hold them back form being able to do higher level math. Now for a very few this may be the only way they can do math. The same is true in shooting. Too many individual’s shot form will not allow the child to progress and have success at the next stage.

Reciprocal Assessment – this is an assessment done with a peer group. One of the player’s teammates acts as an observer. The observer is assigned the task of watching the specific detail we are assessing. Example: In partner shooting drill have one of the passer watch to see if the player keeps the arms up on the follow through. Instead of counting the number of made baskets count the number of times the player keeps the arms up. This is one way we can address process not outcome. Both players also improve their understanding of what makes good shot form. We are training the eye of the expert in our players.

Self video – Here the athlete/student watches a video of him/herself shooting. This could be from a game or in a drill situation. The athlete/student picks out one or two things that he/she needs to improve. This is brilliant! With the number of parents who video every game that is played and a video camera in every cell phone this is much easier than in the past. Think what this is forcing the child to do. He/she must learn to understand the mechanic of his or her shot. This information is theirs to store and work with on their time. It is not stored just inside the head of the coach. When only the coach is privy to this valuable information it can only be used when the athlete is in the presences of the coach.

Cognitive Domain
Exit slips – this is similar to a debrief. Instead of asking a question orally the coach has prepared slips of papers and a pencil for each athlete. On the paper is a simple question:
o What are your arms doing at the end of your shot?
o Where was the ball when you started your shot?
o What are some key points to remember when shooting?
o What is one way to defend a ball screen? (pick what ever you were just doing in the drill)
At the end of a drill the students are directed to the question. This takes one minute. By having everyone answer individually the coach can now access what the child really knows. When we do this verbally the athlete can fake it. They just repeat what the person previously said. It also gives the coach a quick check of what is happening and how effective his/her teaching of the concept. .

Likert-Type Survey – these are ratings of a statement. I have found it better to use an even number rather than an odd.
1. = strongly disagree
2. = disagree
3. = undecided
4. = agree
5. = strongly agree
When you use an odd number the player can always pick undecided which is in the middle. He/she does not have to commit one way or the other.
1. = strongly disagree
2. = disagree
3. = agree
4. = strongly agree
This way they still have to make a decision. It is a quick way to judge understanding. For example, the statement is, “The best way for us to defend a ball screen is too switch.”
1. = strongly disagree
2. = disagree
3. = agree
4. = strongly agree
You can again have the sheets prepared ahead of time. You can also have the players hold up the number of fingers signifying their choice. The peer effect comes into play when it is done in the open. Think of the discussion that now has to occur when a player must defend his/her statement.

Presentations - a single person or a group is responsible for presenting to the group a concept. Have the players teach a skills or a basketball concept. For example: one player will tell the team what is important in shooting. A group of players review the key scoring options of the offense.
As a coach you now get to:
o See the details that they think are important.
o Hear the language they use.
o Assess the depth and knowledge of their understand.

Written assignment – the players hand in a written report on some aspect of the game. I can still remember my high school coach doing this with me back in the 1975-76 season. He was so frustrated that no one knew the plays he made us diagram our offence. I was the only one who knew the roles of all the players on the team and could accurately diagram the plays. The other players could only describe some of their actions. This was one of those moments when I knew I might have a career in coaching. I have used this to have players to prepare scouts for our next opponent. I ways always surprised by what they came up with. I also found it effective in many team building activities. I would ask the players to hand in one page paper on what they thought the team could do to improve communication. Why do we as coaches think that we have to come up with all of the ideas? It is the players team as well, they should be given an opportunity to contribute.

Coaches spend hours in designing an offence or a scouting report. The coach tells the players at the next practice what is the plan. When it doesn’t work the coach will often remark, “I can’t believe it, I told them …” Telling does not equate to knowing. Other coaches will tell me that they know what the players think by watching what the players do. Again, this is making two assumptions:
o You can read your players minds.
o Through the outcome you can asses the thinking process of your athletes.
One of the smartest players I ever coached told me once that she figured out how to play the post by mirroring one of her teammates who happened to play on the other side of the floor. If I had asked her to describe what she did she would have answered, “I just follow what Jen does.” How do you access the basketball knowledge of your players?

Affective Domain
Focus group –Pick a topic to discuss with the team. for example;
How can someone give energy to the team?
What can someone do to take energy?
How can we better communicate?

I have always liked doing an effectiveness grid. The players brainstorm answers to the topic. We then pick the top five to ten answers, depending on the number of answers. The players now rate themselves on a scale of 1-10 on how effective they are at this particular answer. For example: An answer for giving energy might be to stand up and cheer for a teammate who has taken a charge. The player rates him/herself from 1-10 on how well they currently do this task. The final step is to pick your top three strengths and your three biggest areas for improvement. This is a way to start simple goal setting. Because it came from the players they are more likely to embrace the goal and work to achieve it.

Questions –ask the players how they feel about something is a sign of higher level coaching, especially if the coach honors the answer. I remember seeing Coach Steve Konchalski ask his team in a crucial time, out at the end of an important game, how they felt about the zone defence. The players responded that they liked it better than man to man, they would make it work. Contrast this with the final seen in the movie Hoosiers where the coach draws up the final play using best player Jimmy as a decoy. The looks the players give the coach relay their discouraged feelings. The coach realizes that if the players do not feel the play will work, it has little chance of success. He asks the players, “What’s wrong with you guys?” Jimmy answers. “I’ll make it.” I get a tear in my eye at this seen every time I watch it. Use good questions to determine what your players are feeling.

Check list – can be used for a quick assessment on how your players are feeling. I often used sheets at the end of practice to have the players make a quick assessment of what they were feeling. The most effective one had little faces with different expressions. Similar to the ones the kids use on MSN. The players could quickly relate to me their feelings. It helped me stay on top of how the team was doing.

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X's and O's by Mike MacKay - Groupthink - January 21, 2009

George Orwell, in his famous book 1984, coined the phrase groupthink. Over time it has come to reflect the bad decisions that are made by groups. Groups develop one directional thinking and critical thinking is often suspended, rendered ineffective or non-existent (This definition comes from the book Group Dynamics in Sport by Albert Carron and Heather A Hausenblas). Many organizations can be accused of groupthink. Most often it occurs when no one challenges the thinking or direction the group is heading.

It is my contention that basketball in North America went through a major case of groupthink over the past decades. In 1980 Canada was considered one of the top basketball nations in the World. If our men and women had of attended the Moscow Olympics there was a good chance that both teams would have medaled. This was the peak of North American basketball. By 1988, in Seoul, the Americans realized they could no longer win with a university all-star team. The pros arrived in 1992 in Barcelona with the first Dream team. We were full into groupthink by this point. The solution was not to fix the problems of development, but to take those already developed and provide them with more opportunities to succeed. In the short term this type of thinking works; for the Americans won the gold in 1996 and 2000 (Lithuania was one missed box out on a foul shot away from defeating the USA in Sydney). By 2004 in Athens the top countries in the world had caught up again by emphasizing development over glorifying those who already have the talent.. Even though the Americans won in 2008 in Beijing those in basketball recognize that problems do exist. Coach K had to spend three years developing a national team, with the top players in the world, in order to win that medal. When you fail to fix the problem at its source and invest in development of the base, the fall will come when the top players finally move on. In a country like the USA that can survive on population the problem will not be as prevalent. In Canada it hits home harder and quicker.

There can be many reasons for groupthink to occur:
o Stagnant or lack of turnover in leadership roles within the group.
o Lack of education or a pathway for new ideas to enter into the group.
o No sharing of information.
o Disagreement is seen as being disloyal.
o Society, usually through the media, portrays or glorifies old ways of doing things.
o Fear of change.
o Vocal minority often bullies the silent majority.
o Not able to read the signs and project the consequences of continued actions into the future.
o Short term pleasure vs. long term pain.
Let us look at a few of these reasons that apply to basketball.

Green Eggs and Ham
“I do not like green eggs and ham”. This is how many people react to change or ideas that are different from what they usually do. In the Dr. Seuss book Green Eggs and Ham, Sam I Am spend the majority of his time trying to convince the critic that he will like green eggs and ham. As we all know once the critic tries the breakfast he loves it. Think of the amount of time and energy wasted in our organizations on resistance to change. Not all change is progress, but we must be willing to try new ideas. I find that it is at the administrative level where changes take the longest to occur. Coaches will changes quickly if they think there is another win out there. Players will change if they see it will help their game. It is harder for administrators to see how change brings immediate improvement. Often change at the administrative level is not made by one person, it is a group of people that is bound by a constitution or by-laws. In order to change the system, lobbying must be done and the proper steps must be followed. Many people burn out or become frustrated when faced with this bureaucratic wall.

Success breeds myths
I first heard this term used by Rick Torbett. It is so true at all levels of the game. If we win it can become very easy to give credit to the wrong things. Very often we win in spite of this supposed action. Anyone who has attended coaching clinics or bought basketball instructional material has seen the plethora of material titled “The offence I used to win the championship.” My high school coaches often talked about how no one really full court pressed until the 1964 UCLA Bruins went undefeated. The Michigan State 3-2 zone became popular after the Magic Johnson team defeated Larry Bird’s Indiana State team in the 1979 NCAA Championship game. After Jim Valvano won at North Carolina there were many coaches who added the box and one and triangle and two to their arsenal. How many teams ran the triangle offence after Michael Jordan and the Bulls won all of those NBA championships? I know I did. The Memphis dribble drive offence is the latest in this groupthink approach we often take. There is nothing wrong with this type of approach. In fact I applaud the coaches who are will to try something new, but coaches must learn to decipher what is truly behind the reasons for a team’s success. Can these actions or concepts be applied to that coach’s level of play? My old mentor coach often reminded me that what works at one level will not necessarily work at another. Running the dribble drive with players who cannot dribble or shoot the outside shot may not be a good idea. I would argue in most cases it has more to do with the talent and skills of the players then the system that was used. In my past coaching it was amazing how much better my teams were when we had good talent and skills.

Uniformed criticism
Growing up in Nova Scotia in the 1970’s we had two channels on TV, CBC and CTV. We used to watch golf on Sunday afternoon hoping that the NBA basketball game ran overtime on the American channel feed. This way we might get to see a couple of minutes of basketball. Most of what we learned of the NBA we got from reading Sports Illustrated, as the local papers did not carry NBA on regular bases, or by listening to Johnny Most, of the Celtics, on the radio. Actually it was easier to listen to Marv Albert and the Knicks, as the New York signal was often clearer. It was very difficult to form opinions because we had so little information to go on. When talking about players we would repeat what we heard or read. Today we have an overabundance of media covering sport. I can watch every NBA game that is played. Most teams have their own channel. Sport talk radio is on 24/7. Each of these forms of media is looking for information to fill up their air time. We have come full circle. Because there is so much basketball information available people do not have to think. We assume that if it was said on a talk show or on TV it must be true. Very often the opinion of one person (often it a conversation that was stretched to fill in air time) becomes the headline at twenty minutes past the hour. The uniformed can become stars. If you have style and can sell what you say you might even get invited back. Statistical or even anecdotal evidence is not required. Those people who are informed and have something of value to say are often are lost in the sheer mass of information.



Camps
Basketball camps used to be the best place for learning how to coach. In each area of the country there was a camp that all of the best coaches went to work. This was where you learned the game. You would watch 10 different coaches teach a skill or a concept. At night you could sit around and discuss why they taught the way they did. No one was intimidated by this give and take banter. It was how you learned. You were expected to share your ideas. These types of camps are rare now of days for many reasons.

Note: not everything was great about these camps. They were expensive and usually exclusive to high school aged players. The cost of overnight residence camps became very high. As the cost for university went up the players were used as coaches instead of bringing in local high school coaches. Also, we had many children who wanted to attend camps, but could not afford the cost. These camps tended to be tailored to the elite older players. A group that does not attend camps any more.

Today many organizations run their own camps in conjunction with their club or school team. It is the big fund raiser for the team. It is also a way to pay local people for their work over the year. The problem is that new ideas often do not get inside the confides of the gym. It is the same people coaching the same kids with the same ideas. If you are not one of the family you are seen as “the enemy”. Any new ideas that you bring are dangerous to the players. Players start into the club /team at a very young age. Their whole development is done within that one organization. The lost opportunity to share ideas is what has hurt the development of the game. Recently I have attended many camps where coaches are still trying to share ideas. I applaud teams and organizations that are not afraid to bring outside people into the fold. By allowing others to work with your players and coaches you learn and grow.

Steal from the best and share with the rest
I was having a conversation with Greg Francis our boys NEDA and Junior National team coach. He commented that I was the only coach he knew who used other sports to describe basketball. I think this comes form my multi-sport background. Some of the best lessons I have learned in coaching have come from watching or conversations with other coaches from different sports. I have made it my quest to search for universal truths that hold true to all sport or human movement. By looking outside our sport it helps avoid groupthink. We avoid getting distracted by myths of success. From track and field I have learn much about the biomechanics of human movement. I have also learned how to properly train the energy systems. Football has taught me leverage. This applies to boxing out and post play. How to attack the seams of zones is something I have also applied to my zone offensive concepts in basketball. Football has also taught me how to delegate and organize a team. From fencing and Aikido I learned footwork and how to stay balanced. A soccer coach was the first who introduced me to dynamic warm up and the idea of pre-habilitation (exercises to prevent injuries).

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X's and O's by Mike MacKay - Attacking Ball Pressure - January 14, 2009

I have recently worked with a number of developmental players on being able to attack ball pressure. Most players struggle with this skill.

o Players who have poor core strength or weak hip, butt and leg muscles will struggle vs. assertive pressure. They cannot get in an effective stance that allows them to protect the ball, but also look through the defence at the same time. Also, if there is any contact they will very often lose their balance.
o It requires hard work to get good at it. It is not something you pick up naturally unless you play against this type of defence on a daily basis. It is much easier to hold the ball straight over the head or to curl up into a ball than it is to get low and pivot. Since most players do not play a lot of pick up basketball against over play ball pressure they don’t learn this skill. In addition, if coaches do not carve out time in practice to work on this skill, when do players learn to master it.
o Many players put the ball on the floor without ever getting into a loaded, balanced stance. Again, this is easier to do. Also, with the hot offense being the dribble drive many coaches want this action. The problem is that it often leads to soft penetration that does not attack the defence.
o When you play teams from the USA, in general, the amount of assertive ball pressure that they apply on the ball is magnified. If your players cannot handle this, your team will struggle to move the ball and therefore have ineffective scoring chances. I have found that many Canadian coaches do not teach this assertive ball pressure. They prefer to have the players gap the defender or sag. The idea is that if we play off they will not be able to drive. This especially works well with younger players who cannot shoot the ball. Many of our offensive players therefore have not had to learn how to handle this type of pressure.

In October I had the pleasure of spending time with Rick Torbett of Better Basketball fame. One area in which I thought he did an excellent job was teaching players how to handle ball pressure. What follows below is a compliation of Rick’s and my thoughts on attacking ball pressure.

Core strength
What does core strength means to a basketball player? It is the ability to separate the upper and lower body into two parts. When a player with good core strength pivots the upper part of the body, the lower body can stay locked in position. A player with poor core strength cannot make this separation; therefore when the upper body pivots the lower body follows, usually putting the player off balance. This lack of core strength is most obvious when:
o a player comes to a stop,
o when lands after jumping,
o pivoting,
o when pushed by a defender.


Players with poor strength in their hips and legs will often get tall or small when confronted with pressure. It is much easier for these players to do this because it requires less effort and strength. The problems are obvious;
o The ball is more likely to get deflected.
o The player is predictable in his/her intent. It is easy to read the pass.
o It is difficult to get back into an attacking position.
o Vision is usually impaired and therefore the player does not see the options available at the proper time.
Coach must be vigilant in making player get in a proper stance. Work must be done to strengthen these muscles. Good old fashion wall sits is a good way to start.


When the defender plays with a gap, where the defender cannot touch the ball, the offensive player should have no problems being in a good stance. It is key to look through the defender to the basket area. This position is often used to prevent the offensive player form passing to a post. The offensive player needs to make a shot fake to draw the defender out therefore creating space to pass.

If the defender closes the gap to a point where he /she can just touch the ball, the offensive player executes small circles to protect the ball. The lower body should stay loaded and balanced. Again it is imperative that the player look through the defender to the basket area.


If the defender closes the gap to the point where he/she can now touch the offensive player, while staying in stance, the offensive player executes big circles with the ball. We usually call the low circle a ‘sweep’ and the high circle a ‘rip’. We do not want to bring the ball across the middle of the body where it is easily deflected by the defender. This is where we find out about core strength. The player should be able to execute this skill and keep the hips level and on the same plane.

As the player executes the rip or the sweep it is combined with a pivot. We want this pivot to end up outside the foot of the defender. If the defender does not react the offensive player should be in a low position and be able to explode past the defender.


If the defender reacted to the pivot by jumping back, we want the offensive player to back pivot to parallel again. The player should be loaded. This means the hips, knees, ankles and wrist are flexed and the player is ready to explode if the defender does no react.

Again, I cannot emphasize enough the importance of the hips staying bent and level the whole time. The up and down movement exhibited by most players is the main cause of their imbalance and lack of explosiveness.


The best way to practice this is by having players gain possession of the ball by various means:
o Off a pass
o Off a dribble stop
o Landing after jumping to get the ball

Have the players practice getting into a balanced loaded stance. Now have a guided defender progress through the various gaps;
o Cannot touch
o Can touch the ball – small circles
o Can touch the offensive player – big circle with pivot
Players need to work on passing, shooting and driving out of this stance.

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X's and O's by Mike MacKay - The Chickenburger - January 7, 2009

This past week I had the opportunity to go to one of my favorite eating establishments, The Chickenburger in Bedford, Nova Scotia. I have eaten there since I was a boy growing up in Dartmouth in the 1960’s. It has changed very little since that time. In fact their slogan is, “The same people in the same place”. I will often go out of my way to eat there when traveling in the Metro area of Nova Scotia.

I was very hungry having missed lunch, so I ordered a chicken burger, a hamburger, a piece of fish and a small vanilla milkshake. When my order came, I sat down, put a loonie in the jukebox, chose my songs and prepared to eat my meal. My server interrupted me. She was unsatisfied with the size of my piece of fish and brought me a second one to make up the difference. I thanked her. After she left, it got me to thinking about all of the reasons why I love the Chickenburger. It came down to a combination of quality, service and atmosphere.
-Quality of the food – They use fresh ingredients. The hamburgers are made from fresh ground beef, not frozen. They are the small grilled ones, made to order on the spot. The chicken is chopped up fresh daily with no gravy or sauce. The use of steamed buns adds to the flavor. The deep fried fish is made with fresh haddock. It flakes when you break into it.
-The services is excellent. The wait staff is quick to respond to the customer. They see and problem and they solve. They do have to wait for a manager to tell them what to do. If a server is free, she will help the others with an order.
-Atmosphere - The restaurant is always spotless. I love the jukebox with the oldies tunes. I always feel welcomed.
They do not try to be something they are not. They serve 50’s diner food and that is all. What ever is on their menu is done right. They do not assume that people will show up at their restaurant. They work hard to ensure it. In the Halifax /Dartmouth region, I have many restaurants from which to choose. I have given many restaurants the opportunity to serve me, but to get my return business they had better deliver. They are not entitled to my business I have a choice as to which restaurant I want to eat. It is not unfair to the other restaurants if choose not to eat at their establishment. It is there responsibility to deliver when given the opportunity to serve me. The Chickenburger always delivers.

What does this have to do with basketball? It reminded me of the decision a coach makes in regards to playing time at the train to compete stage of our athlete development model. At this stage of development playing time is no longer governed by rules.
-Fundamental – playing time is not applicable since we should not be playing the adult five on five game.
-Learn to train – equal playing time is governed by the rules in the form of shifts.
-Train to train – everyone should have the opportunity to play meaningful minutes.
We must remember that at these two stages players success is more often based on physical maturity. Since not everyone matures at the same rate, we need to ensure that all athletes are given an opportunity to play.
-Train to Compete – Player are given an opportunity to play. If you deliver, you get more opportunities. We should not confuse this stage with Active for Life, which is on going recreational basketball. Often at this stage, we have some teams that take the recreational approach and play in the same leagues or division with teams that are training to compete. This dual purpose is a problem at this stage. Both elite and recreational basketball serves a very valuable purpose. The problem is when they try to coexist together. We often have the situation when one parent is complaining because his/her child deserves equal playing time and another parent on the same team is complaining that there child deserves more time if the team is going to win.


Many players feel that since they are on the team this entitles them to equal playing time. The word unfair is often used when this equality does not happen. Nowhere in the dictionary does the word equal and fair mean the same thing. Players come up through a development system where they get to play for being on the team; it can be a difficult adjustment for players and parents to move unto a team where playing time is based on performance. Coaches must take the time to explain what is required to earn playing time. Numerous coaches have talked to me about how they are struggling with apathy of the players towards the game. Players often feel that since they are now a grade older they deserve the benefits that go with it. Players must accept the responsibilities that go along with being a more senior player. Once complacency sets in players feel they have arrived. They no longer have to work hard or continue to improve. This dangerous malaise can over take a team. Coaches must constantly be alert and be ready to weed it out at its first sign.
-Talk to the players and team about the dangers of complacency
-Reward players who continue to work and improve. Nothing will eat away at a team more than a coach who continues to reward players, who do not work, with playing time. How do you motivate the others to work hard?

As a first year player, a coach ought to expect that a player delivers on one or two things. I wanted my grade 10’s to know who they were guarding on defence and play to their strengths on offence. By the time they got to grade twelve I had greater expectations. If you were in grade twelve and you could only deliver as much as the grade ten, the grade ten was probably going to play. Players need to grow and develop over time.

Players need to know their role. I have always liked Rick Majerus’ concept;
-Who am I and what are my strengths and weaknesses (both offensively and defensively)?
-Who is my check and what are his strengths and weaknesses (offence /defence)?
-Who are my teammates and what are their strengths and weaknesses?
-Who is guarding my teammates and what their strengths and weaknesses?

Players need to play to their strengths in a game. Practice first to cultivate a go to move. When the opportunity presents itself to use it and do so with confidence. Too many people take the idea of a multi-skilled player literally. Yes, we want every player to be able to dribble, pass, shoot and defend, but in the process of becoming multi-skilled players need to have a specialty that allows them to play. If not, they will not perform when opportunity presents itself. Using my restaurant analogy, it is better to do one or two things well than to have twenty things on the menu done poorly. You will get more return business. Also, your coach know what to expect. It is up to the coach to help identify and nurture with every player what he/she must do to be able to stay on the floor and contribute to the team. As time goes on a confidence is gained the players roles and skills can now expand. No player should finish the season with the same skill package they started with.

I watched a good friend of mind do this very thing this past week with a young immigrant student who had never played the game before. Instead of trying to make her a multi-skilled player at first, he taught her one or two things to do at each end of the floor. When she did these simple things, she got to stay on the floor. When she did not she came off. Since it was something she understood, she was able to learn what she did wrong and go back on the floor. He never expected her to do anything else that what she was capable of doing. If he had tried to teach her all of the multiple skills all at once, she would never have been able to play. This allowed her to get on the floor and gain confidence.

Quality Service - Keep your commitments to your commitments. Players should be rewarded with playing time for doing the right things. A coach can undermine his/her team by falling in love with a talented player who; shows up late, skips practices, misses out on individual workouts, does not take part in team functions, dogs it in practice and shows no respect to others. Players who scrimp on service will erode the quality of the team. Soon no one will do the little things that lead to success.

Quality Atmosphere
Like a good restaurant, a good team should have a welcoming atmosphere. Players should feel safe. They should feel that people care about them. It should be a place where truth over harmony prevails. A team filled with energy takers seriously damages the atmosphere. Again, coaches who continue to reward these players with playing time will find that it will infect the team. Those who want to do the right things will often feel intimidated. A lack of trust will develop.

In summary, at the train to complete stage of basketball and above, like a good restaurant a good player must provide quality, service and atmosphere when given the opportunity to play. If he or she does, the coach will provide the player with greater opportunities in the future.

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X's and O's by Mike MacKay - Health of a Nation - December 17, 2008

In Canada Basketball’s new Long Term Athlete Development Model (LTAD), we have used the term “Health of the Nation”, to describe one component of the model. The other two components are Develop the Game and Compete for the Nation. Health of the Nation is our way to describe how the Physical Literacy stages (Active Start, FUNdamentals, and Learn to Train) and the Active for Life stage of the Canadian Sport for Life LTAD can make significant contribution in creating a healthy lifestyle for Canadians. Basketball is a sport that is played by all socio-economic groups within Canadian society. It has success in rural areas as well as the big cities. If done right, it is one of the best activities for developing the majority of physical literacy skills in young children. Basketball can be played in numerous ways: by one person at a basket by him/herself, 1 on 1, 2 on 2, 3 on 3, 4 on 4, 5 on 5. There are also numerous shooting games or activities that can incorporate varying numbers of participants. The flexibility of the games makes it an excellent activity that people can play their entire life.

Sometimes when you are caught up with the elite side of the game you forget how great a role basketball can play in developing healthy citizens for our country. This past weekend I made my annual trip to Winnipeg to work with coaches in the province of Manitoba. Excluding the minus 44° wind-chill, I truly enjoyed my time there. I got to work with players and coaches from all stages of athletes’ development model.

One of the main functions of my trip was to assist Pam Danis, the University of Manitoba’s Women’s basketball coach, with an initiative she has started with the aboriginal community in rural Manitoba. Pam is very passionate about making a difference in the lives of others. There is a problem with the number of aboriginal youth who are not graduating from high school. She feels that basketball, a sport that they love to play, can be used as tool to help them stay in school. The part that really makes this special is that the older students must also mentor or coach the younger children. I have always believed that there is no better way to build your own self-esteem or make you feel good inside, than by helping others. This is where I came in. We had aboriginal youth from different reservations, and chaperones and leaders spend the weekend with us.

On Friday night, we went to the new Aboriginal House on the University of Manitoba campus. This unique building is built especially for the aboriginal students attending the U of M. It has a circular shape and inside there are many architectural elements that reflect the culture. We were given a tour of the building that finished with us visiting the circle room. Here we took part in a smudge and sharing circle. The smudge was a chance to cleanse our selves or to say a private prayer of thank you before the sharing circle began. A small amount of sage was slowly burned to create smoke. You washed the smoke over yourself as part of the smudge. The sharing circle was an opportunity to say whatever was on your mind and share it with others. One of the guiding principles is that you do not discuss or tell others about what was said inside the circle. I will respect that principle. I will say that it set us up for the weekend by allowing us to get to know one another.

On Saturday, we had a coaching clinic. All of the students took part and I used them as demonstrators in the clinic. At lunch hour, they asked if they could play a game. What in sued was an hour-long game that finished with the score of 68-66, exactly at one o’clock. It was not always five on five, as players moved in and out of the game constantly. The two teams that finished the game were not the exact same teams that started.

This game brought back fond memories of playing basketball at Christmas time in my hometown of Truro, Nova Scotia. When exams were being written, the gym was always open for activity. I never could understand the idea of placing hundreds of students in a stressed filled gym to write exams. By keeping the gym open, students could judge their study and exam schedules and come down to break the stress with good old fashion exercise. As university students drifted home, they would show up also. This would continue right up to Christmas Eve. After Christmas, the games moved to the Agricultural College gym. Now that exams are no longer written at Christmas, it is not the same. This type of basketball fills many voids that coach organized basketball cannot:
-It is organized by the players themselves. If a team is uneven, changes are made. Fouls and violations must be sorted out by the players. Short arguments will occur, but eventually are settled as people want to play. Blowouts mean people leave early and the game must stop.
-Players of varying abilities get to play on the same court. The better players make most of the plays, but recognize that if the weaker players do not get a chance every once and a while they will quit. If they quit the game stops.
-Subs occur when a player is tired or by ‘winners stay on’ if multiple teams are in place.
-There are many games within the game taking place. Two players can have a very intense game of one on one within the game. A younger player can subtly challenge a stronger player to the crown of top player.
-If you want, you can concentrate on working on specific aspects of your game. If you need to learn to handle the ball, play guard. There is no coach telling you what to do.
-Younger players learn from the older more experienced ones.
-There are no time outs. You learn to play through mistakes. Anyone caught trying to coach is most likely ignored.
-The two most important qualities; it is fun and you get in great shape.

If this is the only basketball you play, you may not become an elite player at the higher levels. The problem comes from the quality of your opponents. If you are challenged by good players, you can improve. If the quality is poor, you may only raise your game to that level. In addition, you do need some time to work on your skills. Slippage of skills often can occur in these types of games. Many travels occur that would be called in a game with officials. As with everything in life, you need balance. The problem as I see it is that too many children growing up are never exposed to this type of basketball. They never get to learn the valuable lessons that one can gain from this experience. The two main reasons for this that I see are:
-Lack of facilities
-Over organized youth sport.

These two problems go hand in hand. Every youth sport wants access to gyms and they want it year round. Few children have breaks in their schedule when they have free time to play on their own. When they do have a break very often, there are no facilities available. On this note, I do have to share a story of one young girl in Winnipeg, who did take the initiate to find open gym time. On Sunday morning, while we were doing the clinic in the classroom, she came to the gym. She thought she had a practice that morning (I think it was part of her plan to get in the gym). Seeing that the gym was open, she asked if it would be all right to stay and shoot for a while since her drive had dropped her off. We agreed since we did not want to put her out into the cold weather. The next thing we know she phoned a friend and had her come in so they could work and play together. It is these types of players who make it happen. We need more of these players who can find the loop holes in the system and then the willingness to organize the others. I was one of those players. I did it because I wanted to play.

On Sunday, we did a Community Coach clinic, part of the new NCCP. This is designed for coaches who work with athletes at the FUNdamental stage (ages 5-9). The students were learning to be coaches so they can go back to their communities and coach the younger players. One of the best things about this clinic is that the coaches must apply the skills they have learned at the clinic. For the last hour, we bring in children for the coaches to coach. It is the best part of the clinic. Seeing these students work with the children made the weekend worthwhile. You could see that they were enjoying it and were able to apply the skills they had learned. Their confidence was beaming at the end.

There were other special moments I would like to share.

When we were teaching the students about debriefing, one of the young ladies said it reminded her of a sharing circle:
-each person expresses his or her opinion on the activity,
-everyone else has to listen and not judge what was said, what was said in the circle stayed in the circle,
-it did not matter who you were, everyone got to speak.
-No one criticized you for what you had done,
-She thought that by doing debriefs she was also teaching the younger generation a part of their culture or heritage.

I always enjoy seeing the little children using basketball as a way to development fundamental movement skills. It also reminds me the importance of using our imagination when working with this age group. They love the opportunity to pretend. We must always remember that it is about the process not the outcome. We had a perfect example to illustrate this for the coaches. Only one child in the clinic was the FUDdamental Stage of development. Because of scheduling difficulties, the others were in the early Learn to Train Stage. We were doing a shooting game with the group of children. The baskets were lowered to eight feet, but we only had size seven basketballs (boys). The idea was that when you shot the ball you got to take a pylon from the centre and take it back to your team. The one little girl was keen to play, but found it next to impossible to score. Soon we had tears of frustration. I knowing ask her what was wrong. She was upset because she never got to take a pylon, because she did not score. I quickly reminder her, “you do not get a pylon for scoring, you get it for shooting”. Since I saw her shoot three times already, she should go to the circle a claim her three pylons. This she quickly did and rejoined the older children, happy that she could contribute to the team. Remember, with younger children or when people are first learning something for the first time, reward the process not the outcome.

The final one was a humorous situation that happened when we were learning to do a facility check. As part of the clinic, I sabotage the gym making it unsafe. The coaches came in with their checklists to see if they could spot the hazards. I had lowered the gym divider to head height. One of the coaches assumes that it was a soft curtain and tried to walk though it without ducking. She was quite surprised to find out that there was a solid steel pipe running the length of the curtain. We all had a good laugh, but it sold the coaches on the idea of a safety check.

In closing, basketball done the correct way can solve many social problems. It is more than just declaring one champion a year per age group in adult organized leagues Using basketball as a way to encourage students to do well in school and to give back to the community is just one example. I applaud the work that Pam Danis, in conjunction with the elders in these communities, is doing. By recognizing that the youth are their most prized resource and the key to the future, I am sure the health of their community will be greater because of their efforts. I challenge others to use basketball to improve the health of our entire nation.

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X's and O's by Mike MacKay - Christmas List - December 10, 2008

Many people have asked me to recommend a book as a gift for coaches this Christmas. Whenever asked to recommend a book, my first response is always a notebook. Most of the great leaders that I have read about or met keep a personal notebook for constant referral. Getting in the habit of writing down what you observe is a special gifts we can pass a long to someone else. Moleskine is my favorite and I buy them at Chapters. They are a little more expensive, but I like the features. I prefer small notebooks with a hard cover. This way it can fit in the pocket of my jacket, The hard cover means it will stand up to a little abuse and not lose its pages. I buy the ones with blank pages. This way I can also make sketches. The other feature is the elastic that keeps the book closed. This helps keep your pen or lose papers from falling out. Finally, it has a thread that you can use as a bookmark. By jotting down my reflections, it allows me to formulate my ideas. There is something special about the written word. It becomes permanent. You must make ensure that it sounds the way you want it too. The spoken word can be lost once verbalized. I have made this a habit since graduating university in the early 1980’s. From time to time, I will look back into these old notebooks. It helps me revisit my thoughts from the past. This is especially helpful when facing problems. Remembering when I was dealing with a similar situation, I can go back and see how I worked through a problem in the past.

I do have four books that I have recently read that I highly recommend to coaches.

Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcom Gladwell. This is the same author of Blink and The Tipping Point. He makes one think about how groups of people are successful in certain endeavors. He talks about the role of circumstances and taking advantage of opportunities. He has a chapter about Canadian hockey and the effective of relative age. Those of you familiar with Canadian Sport for Life will understand this chapter and the impact of relative age on youth sport. It is a confusing idea for many people in sport today. This chapter gives one of the best explanations of the effect of cut off dates on children involved in sport.

Talent Is Overrated; What really Separates World-Class Performers From Everybody Else by Geoff Colvin. This book elaborates on the concept of ‘deliberate practice’. He makes a strong argument for the importance of process goals vs. out come goals. He debunks the idea that successful people are born and not made. You strongly question current practice to competition ratios that exist in youth sport today after reading this book.

Game On by Tom Farrey. Anyone involved in youth sport needs to read this book. Whether you are a parent, coach or administrator it is a must read. The facts that he has uncovered makes one think about we do in North America to our youth. He compares attending a youth basketball game to that of a cockfight he attended in the Dominican Republic. He also goes into the history of why we have allowed these developments to take place. His chapter on AAU basketball was fascinating. He has done extensive research. He traveled to Australia to visit the AIS (Australia Institute of Sport).

How to Be Like Coach Wooden : Life Lessons from Basketball’s Greatest Leader by Pat Williams. I have always enjoyed any book about coach Wooden. When I was still in high school my high school coach gave me the book, They Call Me Coach, written by coach Wooden. It changed my life. It was the first time that I realized that you could make a living at being a coach. In addition, there was a science to what coaches did. You had to have a plan. Practical Modern Basketball was the next book that I read by Coach Wooden. It is still one of the best books for a beginning coach to read who wants to aspire to a higher level. It started me thinking about developing a coaching philosophy. I also developed my love of quotes from reading coach Wooden. Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court is the best summary of Coach Wooden’s philosophies. At first I thought this Book by Pat Williams would be just a rehash of what I have already read in the past. I was pleasantly surprised. Pat Williams has done a great job of bring some new stories and lessons to light about Coach Wooden. If you are just starting out in coaching, a book about or by Coach Wooden is a great start to help you build your philosophy and learning how to plan. He is also very good at teaching the game.

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X's and O's by Mike MacKay - Boxing Out - December 3, 2008

I have had a number of requests from people on how they can get their players to box out. I have provided a number of drills and teaching points I have used with great success. The most important thing you teach is the attitude. The only way I could make my teams’ box out was to emphasize it in every drill we did. It had to become a habit. Early in the season with the elite teams I coached, a missed box out meant a trip to the bench, especially on the foul line. I needed to send an early message. The players had to learn to finish the defensive play. There was nothing more frustrating than to do everything right for the defensive possession and then have someone forget to box out. Winning early season games was not as important as learning to make boxing out a habit. I knew from experience that we would never win late in the season if we did not learn to box out early in the season. We also kept score in drills by how many box outs occurred. If it was a 5 on 5 drill there was five points available on each shots. You scored a point for every player who made contact when the shot went up.

Noticed that I said elite teams; I would never do this with young developing athletes, especially if I never taught them the safe and proper technique for boxing out. I have seen many coaches of young players get upset with their players when the players did not get the rebound. The coach assumes it was because they were not tough. When a player gets a rebound, nothing is said, even though the player made no effort to box out. The ball just happened to land in the player’s hands. These inconsistencies are difficult for young players to understand. They need to know that boxing out and rebounding are two different things. Boxing out is making contact with a player to impede his/her progress in a certain direction. It is not only used in rebounding. It can be used to front cuts. Rebounding is getting the ball when it is in the air after a shot.

Learning to make contact with another person is not just a skill. It also involves strength and many social /emotional issues for children. Especially through the years of puberty, not all children are on the same page when it comes to these issues.

Boxing out
The first thing we want to do is call “shot” and contest the shot. Statistically it has been shown that by putting a hand up on a shooter you can drastically lower a shooters percentage.
We want to mirror the shooter. If it is a right-handed shooter, contest with the left hand. This prevents a twisting action which makes you more vulnerable to fakes and fouls. It is a point of emphasis in FIBA that you cannot go for the eyes of the shooter. If your players put their hands in the direction of the eyes of the shooter, under the new FIBA rule this can be called an unsportsmanlike technical. There should be a warning first. I agree with this, as I have seen too many players injured by defensive players who cannot judge the distances and action of the shooter. Contest the shooting shoulder; Make the offensive player change his/ her release point. There is some debate as too if the defender should jump to contest. Personally, I think it is a skill players need to learn. At the higher levels if you do not jump, you do not affect the shooter. Yes, there will be mistakes when the player is first learning to do this skill. As coaches we must progress them to the point of mastery, not eliminate a skills from their repertoire when they make a mistake in the learning process.


Make contact
The defender now wants to place a "friendly" forearm (I define this as a forearm that is bent at a 45° angle from the body. This means it has some give when the other player pushes into it. If the forearm is placed at a 90° angle from the body it has no give and should be considered a foul) on the solar plexus of the offensive player. This is a "safe" touching area. It is very important when working with younger players that you go slow and build up confidence in touching. Remember that not all children develop at the same rate. The early maturing male child may be more aggressive and enjoy physical contact. With young female players, it may be reversed. The late maturers are often more aggressive and confident. Go slow and make it an offer not an order. I have found that many children drop out of basketball because of the increased physical contact during their early teens. It may not have anything to do with being “tough”. The problem is that during puberty it is not a level playing field from a physical strength point of view. Also from the social /emotional context, players are at different stages of sexual maturity, self-confidence and or how they feel about their body. I have found that using a football-blocking shield as good way to have the players learn how to make safe contact. They enjoy the pushing and since it is not physical contact with another person, it relieves some of the phobia from the players. You can also go to the Dollar Store and buy some toy shields. They do the same thing as they create a safe barrier.

The other key is to place the foot between the legs of the shooters. The defender should be low and have his/ her head on the rim to locate the ball. He/she does not have to look at the offensive player as he/she can tell exactly where the player is by the contact.

Go get the ball
If the defender sees that he/she can get the ball, release from this position, go, and get it. There is no point in back pivoting and being slow to the ball. Some coaches call this “touch and go”. They teach that everyone “touch and go” for the ball after making brief contact.

With the advent of the three point shot there are now longer shots. This means the ball often rebounds further from the basket. If players “touch and go” too soon often the ball will fly over their head. I have also found that if everyone leaves their player the ball is often tipped and the ball rebounds to an open offensive player just over the heads of the defence.


This is especially true at younger levels where players often cannot jump and secure the rebound in the air.

Pivot to seal the offensive player
If the ball is not coming directly to the defender he/she must be ready to seal off the defender who attempts to get around the defender for the ball. By keeping balanced contact, it is very difficult for the offensive rebounder to gather to jump.

If the player attacks your back - back pivot

If the player attacks your front - front pivot

The key is to get the hip across the leg of the offensive player. Pinch the player your triceps, not your forearms or hands. The hands should be up so you can grab the ball if it comes off the rim with a funny bounce.

Bulldozer Drill
From the box out position the offensive player tries to push the defender (bulldozer). If the offensive player is in the correct position, the defender should not be able to move him/her. I like to put the smallest player against the biggest player to show how size does not matter if done properly.


Teaching progression
Have the players’ partner up by size and strength. Spread out around the three-point line as shown in the diagram. The coach will guide the players at a very low speed and intensity to begin.

When the coach simulates a shot, the offensive players do likewise. The defenders call shot, contest the shot and continue on to make contact. The coach checks to make sure of the correct positioning. All of the players should be looking at the rim.

Now ask the defence to push forward (bulldoze). This is to make sure the defenders have their bodies in the correct position.


Add direction
The coach now directs the offensive player to attack in one direction. The defender must step with the proper foot and get the hip across and the triceps high.

Note: It is not a good idea when first teaching rebounding with this many players going after a live ball. It is too congested and someone might get hurt. When the drill becomes live, it is better to keep the number down, three to a basket.

When players have mastered the basic concepts, you can then add more people to the drill.


Escape the paint
Once players have mastered boxing out a shooter, they need to learn to box out from a help and deny position. The further the defender is from the rebounder the more difficult the task. I would spend the majority of my time teaching boxing out from a help side position. When the shot was taken, the defender had to escape the paint. Shorten the distance between yourself and the offensive rebounder. Players make the mistake of trying to spin and put their butt into the on rushing rebounder. This will not work, as you are easy to avoid. The same is true if you try to put one forearm into the player. You become skinny and easy to avoid. The technique I taught I learned from teaching offensive lineman pass blocking technique. You attack the defender, staying square and initiate contact with both forearms up like a boxer’s stance. Whichever way the offensive rebounder decides to go, the defender rides the player off the line to the basket by doing a front pivot and putting his/her butt into the hip of the offensive player.


Escape the paint drill

This is a drill that I found very effective to teach help side defence. The players set ups as shown in the diagram.

Cheat steps
The offensive player with the ball is pivoting and looking to skip pass. When this happens the defender “cheats”, more towards his/her check.


When the offensive player gets low and looks like he/she is going to drive the help defender ‘cheats” to help on the drive. The defender is like a yo-yo, constantly moving in and out based on what the offensive player with the ball is going to do.


Drive
When the offensive player does drive, the help defender must escape the paint (FIBA key) and stop the ball. The offensive player works on keeping his/her dribble alive and retreats to the wing.


Flash cut
The offensive player without the ball now tries to cut to the ball across the key. The help defender must escape the paint and meet the cutter. Force him/her away from the ball.


Weak side box out
Once the cutter returns, the player with the ball shoots it. The help defender must escape the paint for the final time to make the box out.


Boxing out off defensive rotation
This is a more advanced drill, but one of the tougher situations which a team must box out from. The players set up as shown in the diagram. The coach, or another player, drives baseline. The defence uses the rotation that they have been taught by their coach. The ball is shot and the defence must box out. The player who builds the top of the defensive “I” must see which of the two players on the top is crashing the boards.


In this example, the ball is skipped and a shot is taken. Again, the players must rotate and decide whom to box.


3 on 3 on 3 box out
Teams of three line up as shown in the diagram. The ball starts with a pass from the player on the top to one of the wings. This player shoots. The three defensive players must box out and secure the rebound or take the ball out of bounds if it goes in. After passing the player at the top exchanges with the player on the opposite wing. The outlet pass is made to one of the wings and then passed back to the top. From here the ball is passed to either wing for another shot. The offensive players must clear the three-point line after every shot. We usually play baseball. You must get three stops to get out.


To load the drill the players must rotate to box out. When the shot is taken they must move in either a clockwise or counter clock wise direction.

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X's and O's by Mike MacKay - Sport Leadership - November 26, 2008

What does winning mean?
I recently attended the Sport Leadership Conference in Calgary. This is the annual gathering of all of the national sport leaders. I especially enjoy it when we heard the Olympians speak on the lessons from Beijing. I want to share a few of the key learning’s from the conference.

Role of the coach
As a coach of team sports I have always believed we have two main jobs:
1. Make each individual the best he/she can be.
2. Make the individuals play as a team.
After hearing numerous athletes speak I have added another;
3. To build dreams. All of the athletes spoke with passion about their coaches who built and helped them maintain their dream.
As coaches, we never know who it is or when it is that we may spark that dream. Our job is to believe in our athletes. When the competition is fierce, we need to be their friend not their adversary.

German Study
One of the most interesting sessions I attended was a study of Olympic athletes by Dr. Arne Guillich. He interviewed over 6000 Olympians from Athens and the majority of German Olympic team. This is some of the first empirical data that looks at the long-term success or failure of elite sport systems. Some of the key finding were:
o Pursuing early success lead to no success in the future – There is nothing wrong with competition at younger ages. When there is competition their will be winners and losers. The problem is in the methods used to pursue early success.
o Early specialization = Early exit – Few if any of the Olympians (the exception were the gymnasts and divers which are early maturing sports) specialized early. In fact winning at the junior level often meant no success at the senior level.
o High volume of multi-sport at a young age – At younger ages the future elite athlete participated in a variety and number of sport. They used these years to “sample” what was available.
o Offered vs. Ordered – The future elite athlete succeeded when he/she was given a choice. When order into training programs, morning workouts, sport schools etc. he/she did not come out at the elite end. The athletes spoke of doing these things because they wanted too, they could see how it would help them achieve his/her goals. It was not always fun, but he/she made the choice or commitment.
o Yeah, but… - Many coaches are fearful of change. Even when presented with the data they rationalize how it can be true for other, but not for their team. “My players are the exception”.

Frank Dick
Frank Dick is the former national team coach of the British Track and Field Association. He is in my opinion one of the best speakers on coaching in the world. Every time I hear him speak, I learn something new. He shared with us a story about the definition of winning.

He was in Scotland giving a coaching clinic to a group of coaches. He was outside at the track meeting with the coaches, when a little girl came up to him. Pulling on his jacket, she asked if he would come and coach her. She had heared that he was a good coach.
“Not right now I am busy helping these coaches.” he responded, “but if you’re patient I will come and work with you after I am done.”
When he was finished, he went and spent sometime helping her. He enjoyed his time with her, as she was eager to learn.
By chance, he was still in town the next day when the school was having its field day. He happened to be at the track when the little girl was getting ready to run her race. When the gun sounded, she flew off the line, but struggled all the way down the track trying to stay up with obviously more mature girls. At the end of the race, she finished eighth out of eight runners. Dejected she came up to Frank and said; “I lost. I am not a very good runner.”
“What do you mean you lost? That was the best 20 seconds I have ever seen you run.” Frank exclaimed to the little girl.
“You were the best you, you could have been today and that is all that matters. I am still in town tomorrow; if you want, I will work with you. We can see how we can improve on those 20 seconds.”
Note: noticed how he offered her the opportunity not ordered her to practice.

All the next week he worked with her as he was still in town. At the end of the week, the little girl ran another race. Again, she finished eighth out of eight runners. This time she was beaming when she approached Frank.
“I won, I ran the 100 metres in 18 seconds”, she proclaimed.
“Yes you did win, you were a better you today, I am so proud of you”, replied Frank.

The person who is your opponent is you. You cannot benchmark yourself against other people. You are the best in the world at being you. Don’t try to be someone else, just be a better you.

If he had finished the story here it still was a great story, but this is why Frank is such a special educator. He had to drive the point home.
“I know what a lot of you are thinking. Frank that is ok for a little girl or youth sports, but I coach Olympians. If I don’t win medals, if I don’t beat someone I have not won.”

He proceeded to show us a film clip of the men’s 200 metre sprint finals from Beijing. At the top of the turn, he stopped the DVD just as Usain Bolt was finishing the first 100 metres. The time on the clock was 9.79.

“Look at that’ Frank cried out with excitement in his voice. “He is two metres ahead of anyone else in the race. He could hop home on one leg and still win, but he knows that winning is not about beating the other runners. It is about being the best Usain Bolt he can be on that day. Let’s watch.”

The final 100 metres we see Usian Bolt continuing to pour it on and break a world record that many thought would stand for a long time. Even at the highest level, it is about being the best you that you can be.

Last Wednesday I went to watch the Raptors play the Sixers. In the first half, with less than a minute to go, Chris Bosh missed two foul shots that would have tied the score. The crowd was obviously disappointed as it was the closest the Raptors would come all game. At half time, I saw something happen I have never seen happen before. With 7:59 to go in the half time Chris Bosh came out of the locker room to shoot foul shots. The lights were not on and there were no ball boys or assistant coaches present to pass him the ball. He was obvious upset at his performance in the first half. He was not the best Chris Bosh he could be that opening half and he wanted to make amends. He never missed a foul shot the rest of the game. He was not competing against the Sixers, he was competing against Chris Bosh.

Coaching is like riding a bicycle on a tightrope
Frank Dick also made use of an excellent analogy to help coaches understand the dual role we have in helping athletes develop.




In order for the tightrope walker to stay on the wire there needs to be tension. The two pillars on each end of the wire provide this tension. In our analogy of coaching these are challenge and support. The coach is constantly judging how much of each element is required to keep the wire taunt so the athlete is able to perform his/her skills, which is symbolized by riding the bicycle on the wire.


If we give the athlete too much support, the athlete will speed down the wire too fast and run head long into a challenge. He/she will not have the skills necessary to face the challenge, when it appears, because a progressive approach of moving from dependence to independence has not been provided.



If the athlete is given too much of a challenges he/she will slide backwards. The athlete will seek support from the coach. If the coach does not give support, the athlete will not have the confidence to try the task. He/she will see it as too steep of a challenge.


If the tension is nonexistent, athletes are stuck in the middle. Their skills do not develop and the player’s development stands still.

There is no book to tell us the exact amount of tension that is required at any given time. Coaching is an art and a science. Science tells us we need to give support, but also challenge the athlete. The art of coaching is to figure out the right proportion of each element.

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X's and O's by Mike MacKay - Working agianst pressure - November 19, 2008

In working with the players over that last month, it has become apparent that we still need to improve our ball handling when being closely guarded. Many players who look good in two ball dribbling or when dribbling on air (against no defence), break down fundamentally when faced with a defender and the decision on when to pass or keep the dribble alive. Often our dribbling drills do not challenge the players to improve in the subtle areas that become crucial in the real game. We need to instill the idea of ‘deliberate practice’. This is not a new idea, but we can never assume that each generation of athletes and coaches understand the concept. The book Talent is Overrated, by Geoff Colvin makes the case that in all fields of endeavors; deliberate practice separates the successful from the average performer. When I was in Saskatchewan working with our Centre for Performance athletes, I challenged them to demonstrate deliberate practice.

I asked a group of players to work on a pull back crossover vs. an imaginary defender. I stopped the group and asked how many kept their eyes up the entire time when dribbling. The majority were not sure or unaware. I asked them to repeat the drill and focus on looking up. At the conclusion of the task I asked the question, how many kept their eyes up the entire time. None raised their hands (they were a very honest group).
“We need to turn this into a deliberate practice drill”; I told them.
“This means we are going to focus on one very important detail, it is going to be very difficult. If it were easy, anyone would be able to accomplish it on the first try. Dribble using your pull back cross over and keep your eyes on me the whole time. If you lose the ball start over, but don’t look down.”

When I asked them how many accomplished the drill, without looking down, they all raised their hand. We also had more errors. I asked them how hard it was to accomplish. They found it difficult to do and keep control of the ball with any speed. Did they think if they continued to practice this way it would make them better? A resounding yes!

Deliberate practice is hard and smart work combined. You have a definite plan of what you want to focus on. You play close attention to that specific detail.

Below is a progression I have used to teach handling pressure. All players play all positions. In order to make it deliberate practice, challenge the players to focus on one detail at a time. As their skills improve, load the drill with a tougher challenge.

It starts with teaching a pullback dribble.

Pull back dribble
Whenever a player sees a double team coming or feels the defender forcing him/her to a dangerous position on the floor, the ball handler needs to stop his/her forward momentum (2) and use a retreat or backward dribble (3).

Notice that the ball is by the back foot when retreating. Creating space from the defender(s), the player can now square his/her body (4). From this position, the ball handler has many options.

All players need to develop this dribble. It must be performed with:
o the eyes up
o definite change of speed
o change of direction
o both hands
o against guide defence



KOB the defender

The second skill ball handlers needs to develop is the ability to KOB (Keep On Body). Often, the dribbler allows him/her self to be funnelled to the sideline or to the trap. The dribbler must lean into the defender. Upon gaining advantage, put the defender on your back.

Drill this skill by starting with a very tight defender. You want to advance to the stage where the defence is literally pushing on the hips trying to ride the dribbler off a line. Do not get pushed off the straight line.


Load the drill
Add a player who calls for a pass. The dribbler must decide if to pass immediately or to create space with a pull back. We do not want a jump stop and then a pivot. This technique is fine at early stages of development. At higher levels players are caught not being able to pass once they pick up the ball.

Pullback Loop

In the example on the far left we see what many beginning players will do; they dribble into the double team, pick up the ball and attempt to pass in the direction that the trap came from. Team that run this trap, practice taking this pass way on a daily basis.

In the example on the right side, we see the ball handler KOB the defender by fighting for the middle of the floor. When the trap comes, the dribbler uses the pullback dribble. Because he/she has made space, he/she can loop around the trap and still dribble up the sideline.


Pullback Cross / Split

In the example on the far left, the dribbler uses a crossover to attack the middle after pulling back. It is important that this crossover occur in a backward direction. The key is to cross the ball from one pocket to the other as you drop your foot. This now allows the dribbler to explode forward once the ball is in the other hand.

If on the pullback, a gap appears between the two defenders in the trap the ball handler can explode and split the trap with a low dribble.


Initiation Drill

Divide the players into six spots. There will be a ball out of bounds at each end. The player moves to get open. This player must now initiate the early shot clock and get the ball down the floor. Once over half the same player must initiate the mid clock offence with a pass to the wing player. You as the coach can decide on the different actions you want the players to practice. The players rotate from spot to spot in a clockwise direction. Points of emphasis:
o The inbounder must look like a quarterback by having his/her feet perpendicular to the baseline. In addition, the inbounder should not be under the basket.
o Catch the inbounders eye. The passer and receiver must make eye contact.
o The second offensive player at half must read the first receiver. If he/she is not open the second receiver might have to cut back as a pressure release. Also, do not be so close to allow your defender to become involved in the play, especially when the first receiver back cuts.
o Cross half between the volleyball court and the centre circle. Avoid the sideline.
o The wing player must know when the guard is able to and ready to make the pass. This is usually when the eyes are up and the guard has the strength to make the distance.
The next rebounder is ready to grab the ball and make an outlet pass on a miss or inbound the ball on a make. I deliberately use the left side to make the players work on their weak hands.


Reads

We now add guided defenders who give reads. They become the next offensive player. Notice that the same options can occur in the backcourt and frontcourt. The options are:
o Curl – if the defence stays flat rip under the arm and curl to the middle of the floor. This gets the player attacking north/south immediately. If the curl cut was not open the second receiver would cut back to receive the ball.
o Back cut – I also call this a wink wink. The defender over plays the receiver. Move the defender in the direction of the overplay. This creates more space in which to cut to receive the pass.


o Post – if the defence plays behind you seal the defender. The pass from the inbounder should be to a spot that the receiver breaks too.

Note: In all of these options, we do not want to receive the ball in the corner, below the foul line extended.

o Blast – the receiver makes greater space by taking the defender away from the ball then cuts back to receive the pass.


Trapping

We now load the drill by having the defence work on setting traps. They can trap the out of control dribbler (going to fast with the eyes down) or just as the ball crosses half. The offensive players are working on moving in space and using the pullback dribbles to keep the dribble alive or to make a better pass angle.


Full court 2 on 2

Now play live full court 2 on 2. The players can work on any entries that you want to emphasize. In the example, the offence is dribbling the player into the post on the left. On the right, the players use a high pick to initiate the offence.


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X's and O's by Mike MacKay - Transition - November 12, 2008

Transition defence

While doing clinics for Basketball Saskatchewan on the impact of the short shot clock and the eight-second backcourt, it became apparent to me that many coaches did not have a conceptual way to teach the strategy of transition defence. Most drills involved five players in assigned positions or were drills that did not mirror the concepts the coach was try to teach. This is may be ok for players at the Train to Compete stage of development or higher, but for players at the Learn to Train and Train to Train stages it is not advisable. These younger players need to learn multi-positions and multi-skills. They also need to have the skills broken down into sizeable chunks.

Here is the strategy that is very common with coaches today for defensive transition. When the shot is taken:
o #1 goes short safety at the top of the three point line (some coaches have this player go to the foul line; other more conservative coaches make it the volleyball attack line).
o #2 goes long safety at the centre circle (conservative coaches make this the team’s defensive foul line).
o #3, #4 and #5 form the defensive rebounding triangle.


Being an old football coach, I used football terms to describe transition defence. We designated the three circles as specific position.
o Quarterback
o Halfback
o Fullback
o Get backs – sprint back on defence
Depending on the team we were playing, we could assign players different positions. If we were playing a team that did not run and used a specific player to bring the ball up the floor, we would have our players play quarterback and halfback. If the team was a fast breaking team, we may play halfback and fullback. When a player went in the game, you could always assign them a role on defence.


This also allowed the coach to indicate to the players when they needed to be turned and facing the ball. If we were running a press we may indicate to the front line that they needed to be facing the ball by quarterback, The second line was turned at halfback and the last line by fullback.

It allowed for quick and easy adjustments within the flow of the game.


Release

This is a crucial element of this defensive strategy. In the example to the left #4 has sprinted back to protect the basket. This now allows #2 to move out to deny the pass up the floor. Most early three-point shots are due to the release not occurring. It also means a score at the rim if #2 moves out too soon and leaves the basket open.


Shadow

Against teams that have one dominate player who brings the ball up the floor you can use your trail defender as a shadow. In this example, the shadow sprints to the halfback position and then looks to help on the guard bringing the ball up the floor. This is often effective because the offensive player who is being guarded by the shadow is not allowed to dribble or handle the ball.


Quarterback Shadow

In this example, the shadow turns and starts to look to help by the foul line. This is because his/her offensive player is trailing behind the ball. Anytime a team uses a non-ball handler as an inbounder this is an effective strategy.


Fullback Shadow

Here the shadow sprints to the fullback position to assist in stopping the ball going inside to a dominate post player or to clog the lane to prevent penetration.


Break out dribbles

One of the biggest weaknesses of this type of defensive strategy is the use of the breakout dribble by the rebounder. Many teams deploy a player to jam (this is usually the player closest to the defensive rebounder) the rebounder to prevent a quick outlet pass or dribble. If a team does get the quick breakout, you are often caught in a disadvantage situation. With long rebounds off three point shots it is often more difficult to jam.


What follows are some drills to teach players some of these concepts of playing transition defence. All players take part in all positions.

Containing the ball

A key concept in any transition defence is to contain the ball. We often hear coaches calling out to “stop the ball”. This is a very difficult thing to do in the open court. It is more important that our first line defender can make the ball move to a certain area of the floor, usually the sideline, and keep it there. Instant ball pressure also prevents the player from making an easy pass up the floor. Especially the long cross-court pass that forces the most rotation by the defence.

The players form four lines near the old hash marks. The player with the ball dribbles hard to a specific spot (The coach can decide where this can be or make it random. It is easier for the defence the closer the ball is to the sideline) and sets the ball down, This player is now the short safety who must funnel the ball to the sideline. The player on the other side picks up the ball and now becomes the offensive player. They play one on one to the far basket. You can give points for making the ball cross half at the sideline.


This is another way that you can start drills in a dynamic fashion. The defensive team does a dribble up and sets the ball down. The offensive team breaks as the ball is being dribbled. The coach may blow a whistle to indicate when the ball has to be set down.


Full court 1 on 1 with transition defence

The players line up as shown in the diagram. They are restricted in the area they can use to play one on one.


When the defender gains possession of the ball off a turnover, made or missed shot he/she passes the ball to the next player in line. The offensive player must quickly go from offence to defence. This is working on being a short safety.

You can load the drill by allowing a break out dribble. This puts more pressure on the defender.


2 on 2 Continuous Transition Defence
The players line up as shown. When the defence gets the ball, it is passed to the next two offensive players. The two players who were on offence must quickly become the long and short safety. The players who were on defence fill in as the next subs.



3 on 3 Continuous Transition Defence

The third player is standing out of bound ready to inbound the ball. This allows the team to practice the shadow technique. As the player, guarding the inbounder, can stop and help since the inbounder is trailing.


Release

By placing the third offensive player up the floor, it forces the defence to practice the release technique as this offensive players runs to the rim. This player must run through the centre circle to simulate a first big. The long safety cannot give up the basket until the other player comes back to release.

Note: all of these a drills are continuous. You can keep score between the two teams.


4 on 4 on 4 Transition Defence
You will need 12 players to run this drill. It is a conditioning drill as everyone is constantly moving. When the team on offences gives up the ball they must quickly match the team that is out of bounds.



The defensive team must sprint the floor to set up in the spots out of bounds for when possession of the ball changes. Players will cheat if you do not make them get to certain spots. I used to use this drill to determine the fitness level of my team.

Another way to keep score is by recording the number of score-stop-scores a team can string together.

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X's and O's by Mike MacKay - Penetration - November 5, 2008

I had the pleasure of spending a Saturday and Sunday with Rick Torbett of Better Basketball fame. It is always a pleasure to be in the presences of a great teacher. I want to share some of the lessons I learned from him.

Sharpen the Axe
Abe Lincoln was known as the rail-splitting president because of his rural background. At a political convention, a reporter jokingly asked him what he would do if he had two days to compete in a rail splitting competition. After pondering for a moment, he replied with a grin, “I would spend the first day sharpening my axe”. He knew that without a sharp axe he would be wasting a lot of energy. We continue to believe that, we can be successful by just playing games. Playing games dulls the axe. You need to take time to teach and recover. Below is a look at how we need to sharpen the axe in penetration principles.

I have received many questions about the use of the dribble drive or read and react type offence. It interests many of our coaches. In my discussions with Rick Torbett we talked about the importance of hard penetration vs. soft penetration when using theses offences. Players need to be able to develop the skills to create hard penetration. If not they have to recognize how they can keep the offence flowing when the penetration has become soft. Nothing kills good offense like a seven-dribble move that covers no space or the player who zigzags back and forth with the head down trying to beat his/her defender.

Soft penetration

In this example, the ball handler is not attacking the basket. Players need to be able to get into the paint or key for it to be a classified as hard penetration.

Too often player will take the easy action and run behind the ball. On soft penetration, this is a dangerous move. The defender of the player being dribbled at does not have to help. This defender gets a free swipe at the ball. If the pass is made, he/she also get a chance to steal the pass. This will often lead to an uncontested score at the other end.


Great players see the future

The great players can anticipate because they can see what the defence is going to do. They have learned to anticipate by reading those subtle clues that the defender gives away indicating his/her actions.

Too often, the ball handler does a lazy turn when the help defence approaches. This exposes the ball. It occurs because the dribbler cannot initiate the penetration without looking down. Coaches need to drill keeping the eyes up through out the entire drive. If the decision is late, players need to do a jump stop and a pivot to protect the ball.


On hard penetration the defence must now make a decision;
o Help
o Or allow a easy score at the rim


Dribble at

The other type of penetration that occurs is when a ball handler dribbles at a team-mate or the defender of an opponent.


This type of penetration leads to dribble hand-offs. It is the foundation of so many of the offences that are using weaves to initiate their attack.


On soft penetration, the player is pushed away from the ball. The best option is to vacate the area. This takes the help defender out of the picture. The dribble knows that they now have another pass option behind them.


Circle behind

When the defence helps over and not up, the player being dribbled at can look to circle behind the ball. Defences do not always recognize that it is soft penetration. If the defender slides back and over to help it is a good time to circle behind.


On hard penetration the player being dribbled at can circle behind when his/her defender ‘hugs’ him/her. This means they stay tight and deny. Note that the player moved away first.


For teaching purposes, it is often advisable to place pylons to help define hard vs. soft penetration. (I actually recommend football dummies or something soft and solid so the player cannot go over the pylon). We need to teach players to go tight beside the defender.

If they do go with soft penetration, between the two pylons, the wing player can make the easy distinctions. If the player goes outside the second pylon, we know it is a dribble at.

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X's and O's by Mike MacKay - Behind the Play - October 29, 2008

I first heard this term used by Bill Self at the University of Kansas on the Better Basketball Read and React DVD’s. As soon as I heard the term, I knew it was an important missing link for how we teach offence. For example, a player drives baseline and his teammates move on penetration to the appropriate spaces to receive a potential pass. The pass is made, but everyone freezes, assuming a shot was going to be taken. What is behind the play? If the pass was a little off target or the defence made a good close out the receiver of the first pass has no play. When the other players stop playing or stand, there is nothing behind the play. The other five players must assume that that the shot was not going to be taken and continue to play. The passer needed to exit to space; other perimeter players need to move to create a pass pass. The interior players may seal for a post up. When running drills do players continue to play or do they stop once the initiate action is complete. You as the coach must constantly teach the players to be think ‘what is next’.

With no shot clock or even a long shot clock coaches and therefore players, often used the word ”set it up” as the solution for what was behind the play. Run a play if it does not work run another play. Now that we are using the short clock, this does not. Players need to have the ability to continue to attack and probe the defence when the initial action is defended. Also, we want to ensure that the weaker players do not position themselves in spots that will limit the effectiveness of the team. Too often, a non-shooter will go and stand in a place where his/her defender can stymie the offence. Another player will creep in towards the key, which allows the defence to guard the front of the rim or have short help and recovery.

It is so important that the offence can maintain appropriate spacing throughout the entire shot clock. This very action gives the team the ability to have something behind the play at anytime.

What I want to show are some three player toss drills. These drills assist player in developing the habits that are central to what is behind the play. Do players instantly recognize those brief moments in time when windows of opportunity appear. Also, when the initial attack fails do they maintain their spacing and continue to play.

I want to thank Rick Torbett for sharing many of his ideas with me on my recent trip to Nova Scotia. We spent a good part of a Sunday night moving salt and pepper shakers around at one of my favourite spots, the Chickenburger in Bedford, Nova Scotia. Also, Nathan Schellenberg from Saskatchewan helped me develop the post version of these drills.

Toss and attack the open basket

The players line up three in a row facing out from the basket. The first player in the line has a ball. The first two players are on offence the last player is a defender. The first player tosses the ball out to one of the five perimeter spots; outside the three-point line, (you can have other spots if you wish). The second offensive player runs to a complementary space. The defender can guard either the ball or the player without the ball.



Guard the ball handler
The player without the ball must instantaneously recognize the open basket and make a basket cut. The passer must deliver the ball vs. extreme ball pressure.

Great players see the future. This happens because they learn to predict what might happen. This is accomplished by sneaking a peak before the pivot. The defender puts extreme pressure on the ball. Can you still make the pass?

Be sure to toss to different positions. It is the randomness that aids in the learning.


Guard the player without the ball.
The player with the ball recognizes the basket is open and attacks with ONE (two with younger players) dribble for the score. Remember to sneak a peek.

In both drills the defender can recover back to challenge the player trying to score.

Be sure that the players mix up the spots that are filled. This creates different angles and passes.

These two drills are very important for younger players to master.


Toss to small space 2-1
The drill is initiated the same as the previous drill. This time the defender guards the basket. The ball handler recognizes the situation and attacks the basket through the baseline shoulder of the defender. The other player attacks the basket through the shoulder in the middle of the floor. The ball handler reads the defenders chest. No chest, score the ball, a chest appears, pass the ball.
Load the drill
o Work from different spots
o The defender can do three things: guard the ball, guard the other player, guard the basket



Toss to penetration
The drill begins the same as previous. The defender guards the ball. The ball handler must sweep or rip the ball past the defender and drive the ball to the basket. For this drill, we assume that help stops the drive. The other offensive player is reading the dribble and uses circle action to fill the appropriate space. When dribbled away from, you are pulled. When dribbled at, you are pushed.


The pass is made to the rotating player. The defender closes out to guard the ball.

In most drills, the passer stands and watches. What is behind the play? The passer must exit cut encase the new ball handler cannot shoot.

We prefer that the player does not fill back out where he/she came from. By continuing his/her cut a vacuum is often created where new penetration can occur.

The defence is trying to see how many penetration passes he/she can force. He/she will continue to close out on all passes.

Load the drill:
o Be sure to work on different spots.
o All passes must be made to someone outside the three-point line.
o No contested shots



The next progression is to have the defender guard the player without the ball. The ball handler penetrates, but assumes he/she is stopped. Again, the player without the ball reads the dribble with circle action movement on the penetration. As the player is moving, he/she now reads his/her defender. If the player “hugs” or stays tight he/she can cut back into the open space. If the defender over runs a back cut may appear to the open basket.

The penetrator is now working on making a good jump stop and a pivot. The pass does not always have to be fast off the dribble. The passer must exit to the three-point line to make sure there is something behind the play.


When the ball is penetrated at a corner player, we want the initiate reaction to be the back cut. You will often get an easy lay up as the defender is frozen looking at the ball.


When the offensive player runs behind the ball, it gives the defender a chance to reach for a steal and to steal the pass.


When the defender helps over in the line to the basket, the corner player can rotate behind. This is a more advanced read that should be introduced after the players master the circle action.


Penetration when a player is inside

Very often penetration occurs when a player is inside or close to the key. It could have been because of a cut or from being a post. The drill starts with the toss, but the second offensive player moves to a position closer to the basket. When the ball handler drives, the post must move. If the drive is below you move up the lane.


If the drive was above you move to the short corner. Again, once the pass is made the passer must exit cut. The defender can guard the post now.

I like to add the rule that the players cannot take a contested shot. It teaches them to find the open player. We will accept a contested shot late in the clock, but not early.


We now do the same drill, but the defender now guards the post. Remember that the rule is to read the ball first and your man second. On the penetration below the post he/she move up the lane. If the defender stayed, he/she may have the uncontested shot. If the defender stayed with him/her look for the back cut after first creating space. The offensive player must be careful not to pick up the ball on the baseline. We prefer a back dribble or continue out the other side.

It is very important to work all different spots for possible penetration and post positioning. This movements need to become habitual.

Don McCrae, the former coach at Waterloo and Senior Women’s National Team coach gave me some of the best advice I ever heard. I asked him when should your players break out of a play and look to score. His answer was brilliant. As a perimeter player, you need to attack bad closeouts. If I am a shooter and defender does not get out to contest my shot shoot. If the player comes out and gives a drive to the basket, take it. When on the interior take a seal anytime you can at the front of the rim. This is not just for post players.

These drills are about looking for the small windows of opportunity that appear in a game. If recognized you can create easy scores. If the player is just looking to make the next pass in the set play these brief windows close.


Sealing inside

We will use the same toss drill to start. Some of you may be asking why we just do not start in the static position with everyone already in position. Can’t we save time? The randomness of the toss adds to the decision making of the players. Also, the FIBA game is about movement, players need to learn how to flow.

In this version the first player tosses the ball to the perimeter, the second player is a help defender and the third is the second offensive player.


The second offensive players now cuts and seals the defender. He/she is working on faking and using the outside inside footwork that I shared form the Ettore Messina clinic. The perimeter player is working on making the pass. Remember what is behind the play. After passing the player must cut.


We also want to work on establishing the basket line. The perimeter player may have to dribble the ball to establish the straight line that is formed between the ball, the offensive player and the basket.


Another way to ensure that players are aware of what is behind the play is to have random drives at any moment. The coach is under the basket and gives a visual signal to the perimeter player to drive. This forces the perimeter player to be keeping his/her head up. The post must react with the appropriate movement to space.


If the ball is tossed to the same side as the post a different sealing action is practiced.


The post must step in and seal the defender trying to catch a piece of the paint.


Again, the coach may signal for a random drive. Here the drive is above the post so he/she moves to the short corner.


Guard the perimeter

Now we work on guarding the perimeter player off the toss. He must establish the basket line and deliver a good pass. What is behind the play? The perimeter player must cut reading the reaction of his/her check.


Some times the player will cut and space away. The post starts to dribble. The defender comes to double, make the pass. What is behind the play? Continue to cut and repost. Also, the coach could call for a random drive.


Toss pass and cut with defensive pressure on cutter

The drill begins with the same tossing action. The defender guards the player with the ball. The second player cannot cut to the open basket. The player with the ball passes the ball to the second player and must make a basket cut;
o face cut in front of defender
o back cut behind the defender
We want the pass at the back heel of the defender. This ensures an early catch. The passer is working on passing to space and leading the player to the basket.

The defender is working on putting pressure on the ball, jumping to the ball and defending the give and go.


What is behind the play?
The coach steps into the key. The passer must read that help defence is their and the pass cannot be made. The cutter realizes this also and exit cuts to the perimeter.

The key is that the players continue to execute even though an option is taken away.


Another option is that the coach can signal for a drive. The cutting player must now act as post player. In this instances he/she slides to the short corner.


Toss pass and cut with defensive pressure on passer
Now the defender guards the pass receiver. The ball handler passes the ball and cuts to the basket. The second player must make the pass vs. pressure.

As with the other drills load in other decisions that, force the players to play behind the play.


Toss to cut

In this drill the second offensive player must leave one open space between him/her self and the ball. The player now cuts to fill the open space. Read you defender.

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X's and O's by Mike MacKay - Development of the Big Man - October 22, 2008

The following are the clinic notes from a presentation by Ettore Messina, the coach of CSKA Moscow of the Euroleague. I have read some of his material, but never had the pleasure of seeing him in person. I know understand why he is successful. He is a teacher. What does this mean?
-He effectively communicates complex ideas into simple concepts that can be grasped by all.
-He is about developing the individual.
-He recognizes that you need to address the whole player, not just the basketball side.
-Learning takes time.

There were numerous times during the clinic where I would slap my head and say; “That is so simple, why did I not think of that before?” You could see his team execute what he had taught the next night in the game.

Ettore Messina
Important as a coach that we put players in situation where they understand why they do certain things. If players do not understand, they will not work.

Why do we come to coaching clinics?
-We want to get grasp what is the coach’s general ideas about coaching.
-Pick up one or two ideas that we may be able to use.
Do not copy everything that you see or hear. Learn to understand the way of the coach You may not like what the coach has to say, but try to understand way the coach does what he does.

You need to build your own system. It is based on what the players can do. It is not the same as when I started 30 years ago.

The more information you receive the harder it is to implement.

More is not always better. The art of coaching is in picking the right information to use at the right time. You need to make the selection of what information to use. Today it is even harder because we are exposed to so much information. You cannot teach them everything. The key is to know what we must absolutely teach now. What comes next? What comes last?

A good teacher knows where to start and where he wants to progress too in the end. What is your endpoint? You need to help players grow. They need to walk on their own.

Define my system – it I what I feel comfortable with in an organized way. It begins with an organized method of teaching. Start with the basics. The coach must create steps that lead somewhere. These steps cannot be too small and not challenge the athlete or too big to create frustration. An appropriate step will assist the athlete in learning how to handle frustration.

I want players to learn from mistakes. Are you willing to accept mistakes? As a coach, I must decide what levels of mistakes I am willing to accept from my players. The more complex the more mistakes. The coach must think these things through before he works with the athlete.

Prepare yourself in order to prepare the athlete.

When you teach there are a wide range of interpretations. Do you want it to be to keep it simple; or do you want the players be able to read and react. This is a long process. Limiting the options keeps it simple. You cannot see and react with large numbers of people when you are first learning. The player must read himself first. Then he can read his opponent. As the player grows, we allow more freedom. This requires self-discipline and aggressiveness in reaction to the read. This is what is required at a higher level of play. It also requires unselfishness. It is a simple game when we limit the options. Allow the players to interpret the game – read and react.

What the players sees is not always the same as the coach.

Players improve
-Mentally – self-confidence, play simple and play under pressure
-Physically – faster stronger, jumps, balance
-Technically – move, execution of the shot, where and when to go
There is an interaction between each element.

For example; when executing a low post move on air with no defence the player may be fine in his execution. Add defence you now have created a problem. He needs to learn to absorb contact. Need to emphasize the physical and the technical.

Example: If you improve fitness, the player now has more confidence. He is willing to try things he may not have done in the past. It is not just about technical repetitions. The coach must be like the great chef. You need to mix up the various ingredients

The young player with size
We want him to improve. We are talking about young kids. He needs to understand how he can become better. He has to do something important for the team. The shorter faster players dominate at younger ages. It takes longer for the young big player to develop. Eventually with patience, he will dominate the game. Many coaches will not put the young big player on the court because he may hurt the team’s performance. For this reason, it is crucial that we find ways to assist the young big player in developing certain key skills. This growth in confidence to play sends a strong signal to his teammates who will also have confidence in his abilities.

Note: He did promote that the young big man learn all the skills that the perimeter players learn. In order to play in the game we need to spend special time working on these special skills.

If he can accomplish these skills he can now stay in the game and be a positive contributor to the team.

Scoring on the fast break

The player needs to come to a jump stop so he does not travel. It is recommended that the player use a reverse jump stop. The footwork is outside – inside. This allows the player to:
-Gain control of his body.
-Have his momentum go at the basket.
-Cut off or KOB (Keep on the body) of the defender.
-Protect the ball from the defender.


On the right side of the floor the player would land right – foot-left foot. On the left side of the floor, it is the left foot then right foot. By landing on the outside foot first, the player can push off the outside foot and generate momentum to the basket. The player does not have to think about coordinating his feet, which so often leads to a travel. This is especially difficult when trying to coordinate feet when making a catch in traffic.

When practicing the coach should pass the ball in different ways:
-Regular pass
-Bad pass high
-Bad pass low
-Bad pass behind


The player will train his feet to do the reverse jump stop automatically. He can now catch a bad pass. One that is thrown early and one that is thrown late. It is much easier for this player to catch a bounce pass, as it does not extend him. The coordination between the arms and the legs is crucial. The eyes need to watch the ball on the catch and then quickly find the target. If it looks awkward, the referees will call a travel.

Reverse jump stop on finishing a cut

When the offensive player cuts across the lane, he makes a misdirection to set up the defender. To finish the cut the player uses the same outside-inside step to cut off and seal the defender (KOB). The tendency is to finish the cut by running all the way to the block.

It cannot be stressed enough the importance of planting the outside foot first. It now allows the player to generate power back into the defender. This is so important in maintaining balance and assisting the player in dealing with contact.


Offensive rebounding
The same footwork is used when offensive rebounding. The player moves forward, plants the outside foot past the defender who is attempting to block out, and then knifes in front of the defender with the inside leg. Too many players plant the inside foot first. This means the second step is the outside foot. If contact occurs during this action, the natural momentum of the player is away from the basket. The player is knocked off balance.

Note: I would also argue that this is the same footwork used by players when they curl around a screen.


In all of these situations the player, once he has the ball, wants to drop his inside shoulder and lean to the basket. The ball needs to be protected. Fakes are used to gather the body for the explosive move to the basket.

Scoring off penetration

Two players line up on either block. There feet are not parallel to the baseline. This would require a 180° pivot to score. The players are slightly turned in with heel closest to the basket planted ready to gather. The coach passes to the outside hand of one of the players. This player must catch the ball, pivot and score the ball. The other player comes to contest the shot. We are recreating game like situations. This build the confidence of the big player.
Key points:
-Jump in the air
-No dribble
-Do not be afraid of contact
-Gather step when receiving the pass. The player uses the inside heel plant to convert his momentum to vertical power (this is the same footwork used by volleyball players and high jumpers).
-Rip the ball to the inside shoulder. This will become the outside shoulder once the pivot is complete. It protects the ball from the defender and also aids in a quick pivot.
-Drop the inside shoulder
-Do not release the ball at the same time as the contact. Contact first then the shot release.

If the player can dunk, have him do so.




How to absorb physical contact on an offensive rebound

The offensive player tosses the ball off the backboard and catches his own rebound. As soon as his two feet hit the floor the defensive player pushes with his chest to force the player off balance.
Note: It is crucial that you have taught your players to land properly on two feet. The defensive player crowds the rebounder, trying to get them to lean away from the basket. The players are responsible for each other’s safety.

Players with poor core strength with often land off balance. The purpose of the drill is for the player to regain his balance before attempting to score.



When landing very often the player’s bodyline will be pointing away from the basket. In regaining balance the players is allowed to re-establish his cylinder. He is not throwing his elbows of pushing off; he is using his gather step and pivot to get his bodyline going to the basket.

It cannot be emphasized enough the concept of getting your balance first before making a move. Balance must always be taught before quickness. Once the player learns to find his balance, he can start to move faster.



Teaching
We have a tendency to go to fast.
Three parts:
-Explaining – slow motion
-Repetition – repeat the move until the player can do the move without thinking
-Now you can stress him – give him goals
-10 reps in 30 second
-10 in a row, no misses
-Add guided defence
Another way of saying this is:
-Slow motion – learning
-Normal speed – repetition
-Added speed - to stress

Loading the drill
In this version, the offensive player tosses the ball on an angle. He must now run across the lane and catch the rebound. The defender crowds him when his feet hit the ground. The player must regain his balance and direct his momentum back to the basket.

When you fake, you are using this to gather your feet and regain your balance. The fake is a short fake that does not raise the centre of gravity of the player. If the player jumps on the fake, you can draw the foul by creating the contact.



Add a double team

In this version of the drill, a second defender comes to double team the post player. He cannot come to double until the contact occurs.

Note: It is not only post players who will lose balance. The same situation occurs with perimeter player who receive a pass and get jammed by a defender. They must learn to gather step to regain balance.


Foul shooting
It is important to teach the young big player how to be an effective foul shooter. It is recommended that you work on this before you develop a repertoire of back to the basket post moves. He may only get one post touch a year. He will shoot foul shots just because of the nature of his position.

There is no pressure of time or defence when learning to shoot the foul shot. Set your feet, have a positive routine. If he learns to make one out of two he is now making a positive contribution to the team.

Be on the line

When posting players must learn that, it is not a spot, but a line. The basket – the post player – the passer forms the line. This holds true wherever you play.



If you are above or below the line, the defender has a great opportunity to defend the posted player.



Learning how to post

The simplest way for a beginning post player to learn about the line is to have a perimeter player bring the ball to the line while the post stays still (he still has to seal). This helps the perimeter players understand angles.


The next way is to have the ball passed to the wing and then the post cut to the post up. Remember from our previous lesson he must use the reverse jump stop to finish the cut.

If the ball and the player are moving at the same time, it increases the difficulty of having a good post on the line.


Complex posting

When we add in actions before the post up it gets difficult to create the proper line. Here the post sets a ball screen and then rolls into the post looking for the relay pass from the wing. The movement of all players means it is difficult to coordinate the timing and positioning.

Coaches need to simplify the action for the young player. Too often, we see a play designed for senior players and expect the young player to be able to handle the timing and contact that occurs. We complicate the game for young players. If you want to build confidence, keep it simple.



How to seal a defender

When executing the reverse jump stop at the end of the cut to post up the players often make the mistake of attacking the chest. When this occurs, the defender can easily circle around the offensive post player and establish good defensive position.

The offensive player must attack the top foot. Use the power from your outside step to step over the top foot of the defender. Players must also learn to go through the arm with a rip or a swim action. Attack the elbow where the arm will bend. If done excessively it is a foul.



Ball on the block

The first thing is to regain your balance after catching the ball. Very often, the player will receive a little push on the back. This gets there back heel off the floor and has their bodyline going away from the basket.

If the player is using a dribble move, he must be sure to step first before the dribble. If the dribble comes first, the defensive player can often drive the player away from the basket. By stepping first, the player can use a strong gather step.


Post move progression

The first move to teach the inside player is an attacking move directly on the catch, when he has the player sealed on the high side. If he is right handed, start him on the left block.

When the player drops the foot to seal too often he also drops his upper torso. This gives the perimeter player no target. When the foot drops, the same shoulder must twist back in the opposite direction towards the ball. This allows the player to show a target. It also shortens the distance on the catch.

Note: He would note teach these next moves until the player mastered the other areas. It was more important to be able to regain balance than to build up an elaborate repertoire of post moves on air.


Move number two
Step – dribble middle - jump hook

Move number three
Step dribble – spin back – lay up

From the high post – sweep – x-over one dribble to score. (Use the reverse jump stop footwork). When you dribble in the key, the dribble needs to be started with two hands to protect the ball. It is not the same dribble that is used on the perimeter.

Playing away from the ball on defence

Too often, the young big player does not position himself properly on defence. He needs to play to his strength, which is size. He needs to show his perimeter defenders that he can help them. The help defender does not want to line up in the back of teammate. When this occurs, the offensive player often sees a clear path to the goal.



When the perimeter player is forcing the ball baseline, the post defender aligns in the driveline for the offensive wing player. This discourages the drive, but also means it is easier to rotate to help as the player moves up the line.



If the perimeter player is forcing middle, the post defender appears in the driveline of the offensive player.



Contesting the shooting shoulder

In order to stay in the game the young big player must use his fouls wisely. Teach the player to contest the shooting shoulder. When a perimeter player drives to the basket too often, the player contests the shoulder closest to the basket. In the example to the left, this would be the left shoulder. The problem is that the ball is being shot from the right.



The player must move a little further to get in the driveline and contest the right shoulder. This creates a tougher shot for the driving player. We are not worried about blocking shots and taking charges yet. We just want the player to have confidence to be in the proper position. Take away the angle of the glass.



Strategies and tactics will only work for one or two games. Teams will adjust. When you improve your individual players, they will never forget. We all remember a coach you showed us something that had a major impact on our game. It was not a play; it was something that made an individual improvement in our game. When we build their confidence we allow them to play through mistakes.

Improvement goes through the individual, not through the tactics and strategies.

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X's and O's by Mike MacKay - Confidence - October 15, 2008

I have had a number of coaches ask me recently about how they can improve the confidence of their athletes. These coaches relate stories of young players, who are very talented at young ages, but as time goes on slowly seem to lose confidence.

From my experience of working with children confidence is made up of the physical, mental and the social / emotional.

Physically
I am confident if I can do a skill. Numerous studies show the high correlation between skill and confidence. The one that always stood out to me was a study done at St. FX University of adolescent girls and proper throwing mechanics. Girls who could throw with proper mechanics (step with the opposite foot, lead with the shoulder, then elbow, then wrist) had a higher likely hood of having more confidence, when it came to playing sports at a later age. The authors of the study attributed this to the fact that someone had spent quality time with the players teaching them the skill with an individual approach. This why I am so big on individual skill development at all ages, especially for younger players. In my years of coaching, the best way I could improve a players’ confidence was to do an individual work out with the player on a skill. As the skill improved so did his/her confidence. The player also developed the idea that through effort I could achieve improvement. When faced with adversity I had a solution, which was under my control. There is no better way to increase confidence than by improving a skill. Especially when it is done with a caring coach. The reassuring talks you have when practicing the skill are crucial. These quiet times with a player were often the key to opening up deep empathic communication that allowed the player to express opinions or ask questions that were meaningful to him/her. The athlete knew you cared, because you were giving one of the greatest gift one can give, your undivided attention.

When the only practice you do is team preparation individual improvement suffers. In addition, the hidden message is that success only comes with team success. Success needs to be based on the process not the performance. Young players who play too many games and do not practice skills are often lulled into false confidence. Players can piggy back on the success of more gifted players. When this player leaves and the team no longer wins the confidence of the entire team can be lowered. The individual player is not successful because of the skills acquired; this player is more physically blessed or has started the sport sooner than the other players have. The player will often crash if he/she eventually does not develop the skills and the work ethic required to practice the skills. Too many games at young ages place the emphases on team play not individual development.

Mentally
When I have knowledge, I have more confidence. I use the silly analogy of a teenage boy asking a girl for a date. The boy is much more confident to ask the girl if he knows ahead a time that the girl is likely to say yes. He gains this knowledge by asking others if she might like him, to see if she already has a boyfriend and is she is free that night. He knows what to expect. The same is true in other areas. The more we educate players about the who, what, when, where, why and how the more confident they become. Spend time to explain. Ask their opinions. Debriefs are very important to help the athlete comprehend and put things in there proper place. They can let go of things that are not important.

Social / Emotional
I have often seen skilled, knowledgeable players become timid mice when they do not feel safe in the competitive or learning environment. I have seen grown men succumb to this when faced with a hostile crowd, trash talkers, or the opposing player to are physically more imposing. The players fear:
-injury
-embarrassment
-not pleasing a coach or a parent
-making a mistake
-not fitting in
Simulations are important for helping athletes overcome fear. In practice help the athlete experience what this situation may be like. Develop a strategy face this adversity. I used to call this a distraction plan. I would have the players brainstorm all of the possible problems we could face going into a competition. We then divided the list into things we could or could not control. For those we could not control we let go. The ones we could control we developed an action plan. Once the athlete was in the harsh environment, the coach’s job was to remind the athlete of past successes and help him/her stick to the plan developed to face this situation. Again debriefs are important to help garnish all of the possible learning’s from the experience.

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X's and O's by Mike MacKay - Games Approach to Transition Drills - October 8, 2008

First off, my day with Special Olympics...

Last Wednesday I had the pleasure of spending the day with the good people at Special Olympics. What I really enjoyed was that one of the Special Olympic athletes was the master of ceremonies. She did an excellent job in keeping us on task. Everyone who presented was given a big thank you and a gift. Other Special Olympic athletes sat at our tables and were involved in the brainstorming sessions. We also saw a number of presentations taken from many of the events run by Special Olympics. I could not help but notice something that was lacking from many “generic” sporting events and meetings I have attended. It was the number of smiles. When you attend a Special Olympics event, everyone smiles. The winners, the losers, the parents, the referee and the fans. You get caught up in the positive emotions of the event. It forced me to reflect on many of the recent basketball events I have attended. It is disappointing to say that everyone seems to be going home upset. We all need a reality check once in a while to remind of what sport is about for the majority of people who participate. It is about feeling good. Sport gives everybody the chance to compete against himself / herself. The self-satisfaction we receive by playing against others and challenging ourselves is what makes sport fun. When sport becomes work, especially if you are not receiving pay, the fun can soon go out of the game.

Games approach to transition drills

I have done a few sessions with coaches recently on using a games approach to guide player’s learning. Coaches are often amazed to see how they can take one drill and drastically change the outcome by changing one rule. By not changing the drill, you do not have to teach a new pattern or rotation. You cut down on explanation time. The players can focus on the new rule, which emphasizes the skill or concept the coach is teaching. I will use a transition drill that Mark Walton, our NEDA women’s head coach uses. It is a very good 2-1 to 3- 2 drill that can be loaded with various games approach rules.

2-1
The drill starts with two players going on offence against one defender. The extra players line up on the sideline at half. It is important that these players pay attention, as they will be coming on the floor as the next defenders. Sometimes it is one player some times it is two.


3 on 2
Once the ball is scored or the defender gains possession these three players now attack the opposite basket on offence. The first two subs come on the floor as the two defenders.


When the ball is scored or the defence gains possession the two defenders now go on offence attacking the other basket. One sub comes in from half as the new defender. The three offensive players go off the floor to the end off the sub line.

When first using the drill players will look to attack for lay ups. This is what many of us teach in advantage situations. By changing the rules we can change the nature of how they run the drill and also the skills and concepts they need to use.



Rule 1: All passes must be made to someone outside the three-point line.

This is an excellent rule to work on spacing and being able to penetrate a kick for a three. It also forces the players who have passed the ball to sprint to space after passing. There is no sense standing in the key because who cannot receive the ball.

This does not mean they can only score three-point shots, although that will be what players dominate with at first.


Rule2: No contested shots
We want players to learn to pass when help comes. This also encourages making the pass pass that leads to the wide open shot. If a player violates the rule call “violation” and the play quickly changes to going the other way.


Mix up when the defence can go
By changing the time when the defenders enter the drill you mix up the reads and therefore the decisions and skills the players must use. In diagram 6, the coach is standing in the centre circle. The coach instructed #5 to take #3 and #4 to take the ball. #1 made the right decisions and attacked the open basket. #2 shorten the distance by dribbling to make an easier pass.

If the defence is always set the same way you always get the same reads.


This is just one example of how you can take drill and load it to teach a number of different concepts with a simple adjustments. When you see a skill or concept, you need to work on change the rule.

One problem you find with transition drills is that players do not develop the in-between game. It is either the lay up or the three-point shot. If this is the case, add a rule that you can only score off the dribble between the three-point line and the key.

Please note I am not saying that in a game you want your players taking these types of shots when faced with advantage situations. What we are doing is challenging the players to simulate different situations. It also makes the drill fresh and challenging. If you run the same drill, the same way every time the players get good at the drill, but you do not continue to challenge them to grow as a player.

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X's and O's by Mike MacKay - Tickle Trunk - October 1, 2008

I recently did a clinic for Basketball Ontario on making practice fun, especially for the younger players, although I think there should be an element of fun for all ages. When I travel, I take with me a bag that contains my toys. I call it my tickle trunk, a tribute to Ernie Combs, Mr. Dress Up. In the tickle trunk there are many items that I have collected over time and use to make practice fun.

Why do we have to make it fun? My coaches certainly did not use toys when I was taught to play:
o The Basketball Development Model, the first LTAD model, from the early 1980 had children starting to play basketball at age 12. Today children as young as five years old are beginning to play. Young children do not have the attention span for repetitive drills.
o When I was growing up, we had limited choices. Only 24 boys played basketball at a junior high level (two teams, one in the county, one in the town), at high school only 12 boys played. If you did not play, there was no other school sport during that season. Only one sport was offered per season. Today, with the growth of club basketball more people play basketball at a given time. However, there are also option for other sports that are offered year round. If you find basketball boring there is always something else to do.
o The length of a team’s season may not be longer, but athletes are playing year round because they play on multiple teams. It is easy to get stale.
o Players will work hard and learn many things when the activity is presented in a games approach. The players have to think of strtegies and learn to compete.
o Not everyone learns the same way. Toys and a games approach sometimes teach without the child knowing.
o Because it is FUN! One of my mentors was Richie Spears. We were at a meeting considering legal action against a coach who failed to return six basketballs and a training kit used in the summer. Richie’s words of wisdom have always stayed with me; “IT IS A GAME FOR KIDS!”

Here is a list of some of the items I have in my tickle trunk.

Wos markers –These are plastic pylons that can stack one on top of the other. They are very flexible and do not break if stepped on. I like to have a variety of colours (12 pylons of four different colours, 48 in total, would be ideal). I also can write on them with a permanent marker. The orange traffic style pylons are fine, but they take up more space and are heavier. To be creative you can use water or pop bottles and fill them with sand. If you can only get one item this would be my recommendation.
Uses:
o They are excellent for marking spots or spaces on the floor. It creates boundaries for the players.
o For keep score in shooting games. You score a basket take a pylon.
o For obstacles for dribbling.
o To check if players are scanning the floor when dribbling. Hold up a pylon the players call out the colour.
o As hats to make the players keep their head up when dribbling.
o When numbers are written on the wos markers they can be used in matching games.
o As objects that you moved in a shuttle relay.

Example: Memory chain

The group spreads out along the respective baselines. Each player has a ball. The first player must dribble to a pylon and perform some action (Around the neck, around the waist etc.). Then dribble and score a basket. The second person must go to the first pylon, repeat what the first player did, then go to a second pylon, and perform a new task. Each successive player must remember what the players in front performed.

It helps young players pay attention to detail. In addition, it reminds them when standing on the sideline they still need to pay attention.



Beanbags – I like beanbags because they do not roll around. I have also used tennis balls or little plastic balls that you can buy at the Dollar Store (I must admit that I have a gold members card at the Dollar Store). You can always use balled up paper with a little masking tape to make beanbags.
Uses:
o They can be tossed by younger children at targets. They are also easier to catch since they do not roll away.
o With older players, they can dribble while tossing a beanbag.
o Placed on the head they make the player keep the head up when dribbling.
o When you number the beanbags, they can be used with the wos markers in matching games.
o Keeping score in balance games and shooting games.
o Shuttle