Opening Day

Many returnees attended as well as enthusiastic newcomers as the Sunday "Open Court" at the Common began. Our emphasis is simple, to develop individual skills within a core framework of skill, conditioning, and team spirit.

We always begin with basketball dribbling skills from the five 'offensive skills':

• Passing
• Dribbling
• Shooting
• Rebounding
• Pivoting

As always, the girls worked on control, crossovers, and hesitation dribbling, as well as half and full court layups, and passing and receiving on the move. We reviewed some options off the pick and roll. 

We finished the reintroduction with perimeter moves:

• Face up moves from the wing
• Face up and pull up jumper
• Baseline power move to the hoop (swim move into power dribble and jump stop)

We have a long way to go with a talented, athletic group of young athletes. We expect most sessions will run Sundays from 3:00 to 5:00 P.M. 

Find Your Focus

The Coaching Toolbox says you can develop your mental toughness. Here are some excerpts:

• When you fear, trust.
• When you fail, find the lesson in it.
• When you head into battle, visualize success.
• When you are tired and drained, remember to never, never, never give up.  Finish strong in everything you do.
• Focus on what you can control and let go of what you can’t.
• Life is short; you only live once.  You have nothing to lose.  Seize the moment.
• Prepare!

New Shooting Theory

New shooting theory and review of some old:



Forget the commercial, remember issues related to shooting success. Try something different and see how it works for you.

  Long-range shooting...Power comes from THE LEGS.

Practice, Practice, Practice

Nice shooting drill:

I'd encourage shooting practice from both elbows, both corners, and the free throw line

1st drill: catch and shoot (as shown at the website) alternating elbows or the corners (after taking 10 shots, 'rest' by taking 5 free throws

2nd drill: same as first, but don't shoot, make a good upfake and ONE-DRIBBLE drive to basket for a layup (again 10 shots), rest with free throws

3rd drill: catch off the pass, upfake, and make a ONE-DRIBBLE lateral move off a jab step into a shot


You have to be able to find the "blue sky", openings to shoot.

NOTE: The ball is NOT shot out of the chest. Some of the best players in Melrose history could have improved even more with better technique. We want you to practice good technique at a young age. When my daughter, Paula was studying in Spain, she was amazed at how much better the younger players' fundamentals were than in the U.S.

Quotes and Such

Tips from the coaching toolbox.

quotes:

“They do not care how much you know, until they know how much you care”

 “All you touch and all you see is all your life will ever be.”

 They must be willing to pursue the goal/vision they have w/out fear and with confidence!
 
Referring to Bill Parcells quote “If they don’t bite when they are pups, they won’t bite when they are grown.”

Follow-up on Spring Season

The coaches like to see the girls playing other sports, because we think the overall training makes better athletes.

We expect to have the courts reserved from 3 to 7 PM, because we also expect to have time for some of the older players to come in later. Obviously, these workouts are totally voluntary, and the players' priority will necessarily be: FAMILY, SCHOOL, and BASKETBALL.

Although it's fine if the girls haven't touched a basketball since the season ended, if they have we hope that they spend some of their time shooting free throws.

My favorite shooting drills (which we've previously handed out) are:

1. Elbow to elbow
2. Bill Bradley (one point for a make, minus three for a miss, game to 11)
3. Around the world (make shots from all ten spots, going out and coming in, in the fewest shots possible...that would be twenty). It can be done!

See the clip below about Bill Bradley, who later became a Rhodes Scholar and U.S. Senator. 

Offseason Gathering

Part of the coaching staff (Ralph and Ron) walked the Lake Sunday, sharing our thoughts on the past season and planning for the next season.

We anticipate that informal workouts will begin the Sunday after Mother's Day (3-5 P.M.), and we expect to add more scrimmaging to our previous routine, in order to simulate game situations and give players a chance to develop under 'game' conditions.

As a program, we want to emphasize the core principles of skill development, conditioning, and team spirit.


Teams that excel defensively and rebounding will always be competitive. "Defense and rebounding bring victory; offense determines the margin."

We will continue to focus our emphasis offensively on team concepts to create separation and easier shot opportunities, and individual skills to maximize opportunities and minimize turnovers.

Defensively, our goals will always remain to pressure the ball, prevent penetration into the lane, and use team play to limit mismatches and avoid easy opportunities.

The coaches are extraordinarily enthusiastic about having an opportunity to help raise the understanding of the game of basketball and individual skills to maintain the excellence and extend the success on and off the court that the young ladies of Melrose basketball have enjoyed.