Fundamentals First Basketball Coaching Network

In the previous article I mentioned how coaches see the “foul line game” won with post play. In think this is a limited view as there are multiple ways to get the ball in the post/paint area.  An idea I got from Don Meyer was to chart paint touches and how you got those touches. These could be from post touches, penetration, cuts, screens (curl cuts need to be an attacking cut), transition, and offensive rebounding. Big guys own that low box game but to have a balanced attack you need to also work on your penetrating “foul line attack”.

Finishing Skills

The most basic layup that coaches teach is the speed layup.  Thus is the classic inside foot, high jump off of one foot shot that players need to be able to execute full speed. It’s the uncontested layup that we often see on the fast break. However most half court layups are contested and these are the type of layups that lead to three point players. As I mentioned on Free Throw Offense – Low Post Attack, you need your players to hunger for three point plays rather than settle for two.

 

Below I will list six different types of layups that will improve your player’s ability to make contested finishes.

 

With all of these attacking finishes, the player needs to “finish strong”. What does that mean? We as coaches have been saying that relentlessly but have we defined it and do players know what we are saying? In my mind, “finishing strong” means that we are looking for contact so that we might play off of it.  It means that we are going to have a strong grip on the ball, maintain a strong posture to handle the contact, and most importantly to concentrate solely on that finish and not even think about the hit we might take. It is great if we know what finishing strong is, but our players need to know what it is and practice being that type of player

1. Reverse Layup – this is where we extend the ball to the other side of the rim, to protect against the shot blocker. We once again encourage the player to get a shoulder or hip into the defender and then extend to the other side of the rim. Players need to be able to make this shot with either the inside or outside hand depending on the defenses position.  A big key to this layup is ro extend up and outward in your jump. For speed layups we talk about taking off like a rocket, for a reverse layup we want to take off like a jet. Here is a video of a NBA players executing some creative reverse layups

2. European Step – the European game has definitely invaded America. The “Euro Step” has become a staple of any advanced player. The European step is a direct step at a defender followed by a lateral step to avoid that defender. You get the defender thinking you are going right at him and then step laterally to avoid him and finish the play.  Despite attempting to avoid contact I am constantly seeing players get fouled on this move, the the defender will often hip check the player.

Below is a great video of NBA player demonstrating the uses of the Euro step.

3. Extended Layups – this is the layup where we extend our layup hand outward away from the defense. This is something we might do if a player is riding us on our hip and we need to move the ball away to make that finish. In this type of finish, we crave contact as it allows us to pin a player to one side of our body and use the extended hand to keep away from the defense. A great term I heard was to “lay the ball up with long limbs”.

4. Power Layup – this is the where we get the shoulder of the offensive player into the middle of the chest of the defensive player. If we can achieve this position, the defender will have to go across the body of the offensive player to get to the ball. This is a great way to get fouled.

 

5.  Inside Hand Layup – the “fundamental” way we teach layups is always with the outside hand, but sometimes we have the defender on our outside shoulder. Going through the funamentals way would expose the ball. In this instance, an inside hand finish would be most appropriate, you see “Princeton” offense teams master this type of layup as there back cuts often lead to it.

 

6. Floater – this isn’t a shot that gets you fouled very often, it still is a must teach. Teams have gotten so good at stepping up for the charge, that we often need to stop short of that established player. It is halfway between a jump shot and a layup. We like to shoot this ball with the dribbling hand, it is follows the basic motion of a jump shot but it is a short release without the full follow through. Here is a great video of some the best NBA player’s floaters, because of the shot blocking in the league it is a must move.

 

 

It’s funny to hear people talk about the floater like is a trick shot. It isn’t, it is a fundamental short shot that is soft enough to be executed while moving toward the rim.

7. Wide Layup – this is another finisher that doesn’t lead to many fouls, but is a necessity to prevent defenders from drawing a charge. In this move we take a driving angle toward the post box instead of at the rim, this angle forces the shooter to extend his layup into a hook like shot.

This was a type of finish that I first heard about from Hubie Brown, he referred to it as a running hook. The key to this type of finish is that we drop the shoulder so we can really extend the ball up. Here is a great video of the shot and how to drill it. He has some other interesting finishes as well.

 

 

These are just some basic example, if you are interested in some more advanced finishing plays, I would recommend from Hoopsking “Dorian Lee’s Explosive Finishing Moves”.

In Part II of this series, I will give some drills and ideas on how to teach these different finishes. I encourage you to follow me on my new facebook fan page or on twitter.

Below is my banner for Championship Video, if you are planning on making any purchases in the near future, I encourage you to use my link. It gives me a percentage of the sale and helps me keep this site going. They have two new titles I am very interested in, All Access Temple Basketball Practice and Encyclopedia of the 1-1-3 Match-up Zone Defense which runs 83 minutes and includes a 16 page pdf.

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Part Three: Overload Protocols That Will Add Intensity.

By Robert Taylor, Jr., SCCC, CSCS*D, CCS, PES, CES, CSES, NSCA­CPT*D, NSPA­CPT Founder and Owner of SMARTER Team Training, LLC

Every coach wants their athletes to be fast and powerful, but that doesn’t mean explosive lifts are the only way. The following overload protocol is designed to completely fatigue a muscle. When the weight is dialed in, this protocol is very productive.

When training with an overload protocol, an athlete will execute properly performed repetitions to complete muscular fatigue. A stable and controlled position is recommended to reduce the risk for injury while strength training.

Try this overload protocol in your next workout and let me know the response your athletes have to the new challenge. Use video feedback where and when appropriate to encourage properly executed repetitions.

Overload Protocol #3: Progression

This protocol involves increasing reps and weight for every set. Start with a base weight and perform one rep, rest ten seconds and add ten pounds. Then, perform two reps, rest ten seconds and add ten more weight. Continue this trend until you reach six reps. By the time you are done you will have performed 21 total reps, with only 50 seconds of rest. This protocol can be used on the Rogers Athletic Squat Pro as seen here:

 

 

Robert Taylor is the founder and owner of SMARTER Team Training. Coach Taylor was the Head Strength and Conditioning Coach at Loyola University Maryland for over seven years. Rob was a strength and conditioning consultant for athletes on the Women’s Lacrosse World Cup Champion’s Team Australia in 2005, and was the Head Strength Coach for Team Australia’s 2009 World Cup team which played in the world championship game also. He has worked with professional organizations such as the Anaheim Angels, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tampa Bay Mutiny, and San Antonio Silver Stars. You can follow Coach Taylor on Twitter at SMARTERTeam, email him at coachtaylor@smarterteamtraining.com or by visiting http://smarterteamtraining.com. You also may want to check out his video series Balanced Strength and Conditioning for Basketball.

If you haven’t read it already, be sure to check out Part I on my series on free throw offense

 

Generally when coaches think about getting to the line, they look to their low post play I would love to take the time to chart some of my games and see the offensive effectiveness of post play. Some stats I would like to track would include:

 

1.Number of post catches
2.Number of post catches with one foot in paint vs post catches out of the paint
3.Number of free throws attempted per post catch
4.Turnover percentage on post touches
5.Field goal attempts and makes by the actual post player
6.Team shooting percentage on any possession with a post catch
7.What is the team effectiveness on post catches with one foot on the block versus catches one step off the lane line (shooting percentage, point per possession, turnover percentage, free throw attempts per possession)
8.Team effectiveness running post splits (shooting percentage, point per possession, turnover percentage, free throw attempts per possession)
9.Offensive rebounding rate

 

Here are some keys that you can apply to encourage a free throw attacking post game

 

Encourage post passes

Some coaches have rules like the ball has to touch a post player every 2 swings of the ball. I like this rule, but in an effort to prevent turnovers I would include the short corner and high post as areas we are looking to feed. Although not prime fouling positions. they are low turnover hot spots that put stress on a defense.  Do you ever question a player for not feeding the post? Do you practice post feeds? Do you teach players the techniques to post feed? Have you taught your post players are to hop to catch when they don’t have a clean pin? Do your post players pass the ball out when appropriate? If you believe in a post attack then you need to put an emphasis in teaching and your demands on the team.

Teaching foul drawing post moves

 

This is a real problem today. When I was learning the game, we were all taught the Kevin McHale move.  I never see it today? It is a great move that screams foul me!!!  Stress to your post players that they need to strive to be 3 point scorers. Look to use pump fakes and strong pivots to put their opponent in bad positions and when they do, don’t just shoot the ball – make contact. Post play should be taught their weapons are  their butt and their shoulders – the butt let’s you get the post pass, the shoulders let your score it over your opponent and get the defender in foul trouble.

 

Do you teach pump fakes? I mean REALLY teach them? Are they short, violent, game like? Can the player make the pump fake and still stay balanced and explosive enough to get off a good shot quickly? Below is a quick video of the Kevin McHale Move – look how smooth his fake is and it leads into him getting inside his defender.

Here’s a link to Jared Dudley using the same move

I grew up in the Philadelphia area while Charles Barkley was in his prime. Charles might not see himself as a role model, but he was mine growing up. I learned so much about offensive rebounding and post play from watching this 6-5 inside demon dominate the NBA. Here a video of him having 42 versus the Bulls

 

Get the ball into the lane

 

The closer you get the ball to the rim, the more likely you are to get fouled. You should look to design your plays and actions to get the ball near the rim. One of my favorite actions is the duck in, check out these articles on this tactic –Offensive Concepts: Post Duck In and– University of Maryland Flex Offense.

 

What about if the ball is received off of the block? In this situation that low post player isn’t in a great position to get fouled and he is too far from the rim to take a high percentage. He is going to need to get some space cleared out and this is where we have a post split – below is an example of a classic post split.

 

Here is another post splits that I like, we have that same screen action but we actually fake the screen and make a cut to the rim.

A concept I got from Better Basketball’s Better Post Play, is teaching the pro-stance to get the basketball. The pro-stance is posting pinning your defender not with your but, but with your elbow and shoulder to create space to receive the basketball. Although you are giving up space with this setup, you are giving yourself a safer opportunity to get a post catch and execute a facing move or splitting action.

 

I like this type of action and it feeds into my philosophy of designing your offense to get to the free throw line. I always want at least one cutter going to the rim on any post catch – I also wrote an article on post splits the goes into great detail to this offensive tactic.

 

Here is a youtube link to an excerpt from the Better Basketball’s Better Post Play – it is an excellent video. They begin their discussion of the pro-stance post up at the 1:15 mark.

 

 

Offensive Rebounding Potential

 

I am going to talk about offensive rebounding in a later post, but I want to point out that when the ball hits the low post, teams will look at that player and often lose their box out responsibilities. If you ever see any UNC games or any coach who worked under the great Dean Smith, when the ball hits the low post the other big is cutting to the rim. He is clearing out the defender to prevent the double and getting ready to carve out offensive rebounding position. Get two shots at the rim and get two chances for a three point play.

 

As I mentioned in my last post, I started the Fundamentals First Basketball. I encourage you to join/like the page, as I am planning on posting different coaching videos and articles that I really enjoy.

I just recently started a new facebook fan page for Fundamentals First Basketball and I hope that you become a fan of the page. I am planning on putting links to a variety of coaching articles, handouts, and videos. For those that follow me personally, I encourage you to use the fan page as I plan to make it more basketball focused (I do personal training as well). I also have become much more active in the twitter world, you can follow me at CoachAnglim.

I am just finishing up my next article on designing your offense to get to the free throw line. Look for article tomorrow.

Part Two: Overload Protocols That Will Add Intensity

By Robert Taylor, Jr., SCCC, CSCS*D, CCS, PES, CES, CSES, NSCA­CPT*D, NSPA­CPT Founder and Owner of SMARTER Team Training, LLC

 

It is important that the athletes you are working with have an understanding of the expectations. Training within a rep range is encouraged so that each individual has a specific weight and a properly performed repetition goal. When that goal is reached, one more rep will be expected at the next session or a little more weight will be added. This is called a “Double Progression.”

 

Within our strength training principles, adding variety to challenging workouts is a priority. Having the ability to change up a rep range, set scheme or range of motion for a rep keeps the workouts fresh.

 

Overload Protocol #2: 7­4­7

Perform seven repetitions of a weight that is challenging (The weight could probably only lifted for about 8 or 9 reps properly), rest 30 seconds, then perform four reps of a higher weight (usually 15 pounds heavier for the upper body, and 25 for the lower) rest 30 seconds and then perform seven reps with the original weight. If performed properly the last few reps of the last set should be very challenging. Coach your athlete to encourage properly performed repetition replication. No squirming, bouncing or momentum should be in any repetition that is counted. Here is an example of this protocol on the Rogers Athletic Hip Press. Watch here:

Robert Taylor is the founder and owner of SMARTER Team Training. Coach Taylor was the Head Strength and Conditioning Coach at Loyola University Maryland for over seven years. Rob was a strength and conditioning consultant for athletes on the Women’s Lacrosse World Cup Champion’s Team Australia in 2005, and was the Head Strength Coach for Team Australia’s 2009 World Cup team which played in the world championship game also. He has worked with professional organizations such as the Anaheim Angels, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tampa Bay Mutiny, and San Antonio Silver Stars. You can follow Coach Taylor on Twitter at SMARTERTeam, email him at coachtaylor@smarterteamtraining.com or by visiting http://smarterteamtraining.com. You also may want to check out his video series Balanced Strength and Conditioning for Basketball.

 

By Robert Taylor, Jr., SCCC, CSCS*D, CCS, PES, CES, CSES, NSCA­CPT*D, NSPA­CPT Founder and Owner of SMARTER Team Training, LLC

Over the next three posts I will share techniques that will add intensity to your strength training program. It is important to remember that these techniques are for disciplined trainees who are ready to add variety to their program.

The most important aspect of any strength program is a repetition. A properly performed repetition will include a concentric, isometric (where applicable) and eccentric contraction. It is advised that the eccentric phase of the contraction is twice as long as the concentric. Encourage your athletes to exaggerate the isometric contraction.

These terms are normally not familiar with most athletes and are commonly vague to coaches too. A great coaching cue is “Lift. Hold. Lower.” All phases of a repetition should be controlled. Minimizing, or even eliminating, momentum while strength training will promote a safe and productive training session.

Overload Protocol #1: One and a half

This is a range of motion technique that is simple and effective. In this video you will see an athlete lift the weight to the fully contracted position, pause, lower the weight half of the range of motion, lift the weight back down to the fully contracted position, pause, perform a full repetition and repeat the entire sequence. This is a great technique especially if an athlete struggles to move weight without the aid of momentum. Watch here to see the protocol in action on the Rogers Athletic 3­Way Row:

 

 

Robert Taylor is the founder and owner of SMARTER Team Training. Coach Taylor was the Head Strength and Conditioning Coach at Loyola University Maryland for over seven years. Rob was a strength and conditioning consultant for athletes on the Women’s Lacrosse World Cup Champion’s Team Australia in 2005, and was the Head Strength Coach for Team Australia’s 2009 World Cup team which played in the world championship game also. He has worked with professional organizations such as the Anaheim Angels, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tampa Bay Mutiny, and San Antonio Silver Stars. You can follow Coach Taylor on Twitter at SMARTERTeam, email him at coachtaylor@smarterteamtraining.com or by visiting http://smarterteamtraining.com. You also may want to check out his video series Balanced Strength and Conditioning for Basketball.

 

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A big movement in the basketball world has been the usage of advanced analytics. Author’s such as John Hollinger and Dean Oliver have offered great insight into how games are won and loss.  I first got into statistical analysis when I read the book “Basketball on Paper” by Dean Oliver (as I am writing this, I am planning on re-reading the book). A big concept in this book is offensive efficiency, which is measured by calculating the number of points a team would score over a period of 100 possessions.  It is a great way to measure how effective a team’s offense is disregarding the pace of the game. For example, watching Georgetown might seem like a great offense but they don’t seem to score much?  The reality is they are a very efficient offense but they don’t score a lot of points because use so much clock they get a limited number of possessions. These types of advanced stats allow a coach to go beyond the scoreboard.

Digging deeper into these numbers we can hope to discover what factors create a great offense. Some interesting insights that I got from Vance Walberg, is the point value of different types of shots.   For example:

• Inside Shots: teams shoot 60 percent on these shots; being worth two points per successful attempt you get 1.2 points per attempt
• 3 Point Shots: teams shoot 35 percent on these shots, but being worth three points per successful attempt, you get 1.05 points per possession
• Free Throws: teams shoot .70 per free throw, when you calculate the value of two attempts you get 1.4 points per 2 shots.
• Mid-Range Shots: shockingly the stats on these are barely higher than that off three point attempt, let’s say for this example our team shots 43 percent from the mid range (which is high number), on a per possession basis they would score .86 points per possession.

Going through this exercise we can develop a hierarchy of the type of shots we are looking for from our offense. Free throws are by far the most efficient shot, so it would stand to reason that should be the shot you are striving for, what types of shots are you trying to get out of your offense? The standard answer is open shots, but what type of open shots? Layups, threes, mid-range shots, or shots that give you a chance to get to the free throw line? We should be designing our plays, offenses, and teach fundamentals skills that lead to the three most advantageous shots – free throws, shots in the interior (which often lead to free throws), and threes.

Getting fouled is a mistake made by the defense, but there are a number of things that you can do to encourage teams to make this mistake.  Not only by its points-per-possession value are free throws efficient  but it puts teams in foul trouble, gets them into the bonus sooner,  and also gives you a chance to score a three point play.

Here are some considerations when designing your offense to get to the free throw line:

1. Isolation actions

2. Low Post Attack

3. Driving Game

4. Transition Attack

5. Cutters

6. Offensive Rebounding

Over the next week, I am going to be discussing these offensive strategies. As I mention in my last entry, I have taken a partnership with Smarter Team Training and they will be contributing articles in the over the next couple of days.

To complete my series on suicides (Part I and Part II), I want to leave you with some thoughts on how to safely implement them into your basketball program.

 

Warm Up

The warm up is an absolutely crucial part of your practice.  In warm ups I am looking to increase body temperature, prepare the athlete with dynamic stretching, get them mentally prepared for practice, and teach basketball specific functional movements. It sets the tempo for the rest of that practice and I ask how much time have you taken to structure that warmup? Do you just do the same stretches your coach taught you years ago? Is it something you just expect your trainer/strength coach to do? My warm-ups would include

Short jog to raise the athletes  core temperature

Dynamic Stretches

Specific drills for developing ankle mobility and strengthening the ankle – this is crucial how many injuries occur at the ankle? What are you doing about it?

Functional moves – specifically I would work on a squatting and lunging movements. To effectively stop we need to be able to control the eccentric loading we see within the lunge, so I want to work on this movement every practice session.

 

Although this topic is far too expansive for this article, I did discuss it briefly in my article on Shooting warm ups in Volume 1, No 6 of the Fundamentals First Fast Break Newsletter . I would also recommend Alan Stein’s DeMatha Basketball: Warm-Up & Flexibility – Basketball — Championship Productions, Inc. Here are also some great links from Coach Stein youtube site of warm-up ideas.

DeMatha Pre-Game Warm Up

Notice how much ankle work, forward and backward runs, the starts and stops, and lunge like movements they use. These are all key athletic skills that allow athletes to make strong stops and quick changes of direction.
Lunge Matrix with Med Ball

 

Teach the skill

We need to teach players how to stop, specifically the lunge stop and the hockey. The lunge stop is where the player will athlete will take a long step and drop into a lunge, dropping his hips to gain control of his body. We see this stop executed often with a ball handler having to stop there dribble when the defense cuts them off.

 

A hockey stop is the stop we see specifically in the suicide. It is where we will turn our foot to an angle perpendicular the new direction we are going, we plant and push off in the opposite direction. This is where the athlete will plant his foot parallel to the end line or free throw line as he/she is changing direction. The key point to making that hockey stop is the head and shoulder position. As we are making that stop we want them leading into the new direction we are running, if it is going the other direction we will lose balance and be unable to transfer force into the opposite directions.

Some drills to work in these include bounding. Bounding is jumping from one leg to another, but on the landing we want to hold it. We are working on balance and the ability to control our bodies.  Ensure that we are seeing good absorption of the force at the knee and hip and that head and eyes are up. I would work on bounding in both a linear fashion and a lateral fashion.

To work specifically on the hockey stop, I would want to work at a much lower speed than a full sprint.  There is a drill that I got from Alan Stein’s DeMatha Basketball: Agility & Conditioning  (here is a link to my review of the video)) I call a short suicide, the athlete simply runs from the end line to the free throw line, executes a hockey stop and then sprints back to the end line and executes a second stop. I love this drill because the athlete can focus on his technique with this drill. Coach Stein has some great variety with the drill as well, working on different types of footwork.

These drills might seem elementary to you, but I think that would have amazing long term benefit if they were introduced to young athletes. Athletic movement is a skill that needs to be drilled and giving an athlete this foundation at a young age would have long term benefit.

Volume –

How many suicides do you expect your players to complete? At what times? What are your expectations if they don’t make those times? How old are your players? When do they execute them in practice early or late? These are all questions you need to consider with the age, experience, and athletic age of the athlete. I am not sure if I want to do 10 rounds of suicides for an 11 year old after a full day of scrimmaging.  From my discussions with other strength coaches, using appropriate volume is their greatest concern.

The drill name “suicide” isn’t the most political correct name. Although not as dramatic, the name “ladders” might be more appropriate and that brings me to the final thought of this series. Coaches love “suicides” because it gives them the feeling that they demand mental and physical toughness from their players. Developing these characteristics is valid but it should be developed with an understanding of safety, technique, and conditioning that matches the demands of the sport. We aren’t creating tough track stars but great basketball players.

Before I close out this series, I am happy to announce I started a partnership with Smarter Team Training.They will be provide blog entries on a regular for the Fundamentals First Basketball network. STT specializes in athletic development and has a number of free videos and podcast that I would encourage you to check out. I recently just purchased their basketball DVD series and will be writing about them in the near future. Check out the site from the link below

 

The most demanding part of suicides is the sudden stops are tremendously taxing on the body. As we are sprinting we are pushing the ground away with a strong concentric contraction. To stop, we need to plant that foot and eccentrically accept all the force.  This eccentric phase can be seen in the descent of a squat (or the lunge) until we move into a stabilized holding position at the bottom of the squat (isometric hold). To illustrate the muscular demands of eccentric loading, one day sprint/run 300 meters for time. Then on the next day, run 300 meters via a series of 50 meter shuttle runs. Notice how sore you are after this type of training.

These types of changes of directions are part of the demands of the sport and although we might see it dangerous, it is part of the game. After considering if I should I eliminate suicides from my practices, I posed the questions to a number of Strength and Conditioning Coaches. To my surprise these experts (including big time coaches like Mike Boyle and Charlie Weingroff) felt that it was a valid conditioning drill and they offered some great insight

• The demands of the game require these types of cuts, so we need to expose them to it.
• We should teach the athletic skills of stop and starting through a series of progressions
• Volume is key, particularly early in the season. Jumper’s knee and shin splints are potential issues if too much is expected from our athletes
• Although a great conditioner, the athlete knows when they need to come to a stop so they can better prepare for that change of direction. This however is not functional as basketball requires random sharp changes of direction.

I started writing this article series assuming that I was going to invalidate this drill, but after the insight of these coaches and thinking about proper application of agility drills such as this, I still see it as a valid exercise.  I would now look to limit the volume early in the season and take the time to teach the athletic skills it requires. Look for a Part III in a couple of days I will outline some direction on how to use suicides safely within your practices.

If you are interested in more quick tips I encourage you follow me on twitter at CoachAnglim. As always , I love feedback. Drop me a line at CoachAnglim@FundamentalsFirstBasketball.net.

“The more effective conditioning drills are the ones your players dislike the most” – Pete Newell

 

Coaches love quotes like these as it give us that feeling that we are in the business of building toughness. To make our players will need to will to win and preserver, but it makes no difference if we cannot keep them healthy. We indeed need to create demanding drills but ensure that we are not pushing them beyond their limits to the point where they are getting injured.

 

This thought of the dangers of intense training hit home for me after I injured myself from a very difficult crossfit workout. My workout consisted of high intensity rowing, box jumps, hyperextensions, and deadlift at tons of volume (total reps: 225 reps + 1500 meters of rowing).  I have worked very hard on my deadlift form but with all the high volume of work and the strain on my low back from hyperextensions, my deadlift form was sloppy and a day latter horrific back issues. It was an amazing workout, but it cost me a week of training as I needed the time to recover. As a NASM CPT, I would never do high rep hyper’s and then go into a technical movement like deadlifts, which I would also never do for reps. I am a huge fan of crossfit but workouts like these are dangerous.

 

I also was reviewing some notes from a Hubie Brown clinic DVD (Hubie Brown: Special Situations, Part I & II.) and Hubie was talking about a conditioning drill that he uses because of his fear of suicides and sprints. Coach Brown had lost his best player won year to a severe knee injury doing sprints. It was this injury that forced him to re-evaluate his conditioning program with player safety as a priority.

 

The non-PC named suicide is a staple of the toughness conditioning drills. It calls for the athlete to sprint from the free throw line and back, the mid court line and back, the opposite full court line and back, and the opposite end line and back. This is a tremendously demanding drill but I also think pretty dangerous drill – a high school court is generally about 84 feet, which means the athlete can get fairly close to full speed and then have to make an immediate change of direction. The 3/4 court sprint is 69 feet. Generally teams are looking to complete a cycle under 60 seconds and you might see 10 or more suicides in a conditioning session. It is brutal and I just threw up in my mouth recalling those brutal practices.

 

In Part II I will break down the demands of the drill and discuss whether it is an appropriate drill for your practices.

If you are interested in more quick tips I encourage you follow me on twitter at CoachAnglim. As always , I love feedback. Drop me a line at CoachAnglim@FundamentalsFirstBasketball.net.