FREE Basketball Tips for Parents and Coaches!
Brian:
Thanks for allowing me to share my beliefs on this subject. Young players struggle in regards to using "court vision". Inexperienced or less skilled players devote more attention to protecting the ball, which affects their vision, and they lack the anticipatory skills gained through experience. Also, many coaches teach players that the ball is supposed to go to one specific player at one time, so players develop tunnel vision for this player and miss open players five feet away in the other direction.
To develop better individual players and offensive tems, all players – not just the point guard – need to develop the scanning and anticipatory skills of a quarterback. During a Feast Week game, Len Elmore said that he did not believe that college players need more passing practice right after he criticized the team’s passing skills. I think Elmore – like many coaches – considers passing practice to be the stationary two-line passing drills used to introduce the basic passes. These are form passing drills, and he is probably right: college players probably do not need to engage in form passing drills.
However, players at every level need to practice passing in live environments. These players did not need to develop the movement elements of the pass, but the perceptual elements. Most importantly, they need the anticipatory and scanning skills.
Celtic Coach:
With our Tulsa Celtic team we did some half-court and full-court scrimmaging where dribbling was outlawed. I remember one weekend tournament after we used that drill extensively and it was amazing how it impacted our passing game.
Brian:
That's a great drill. We use various offensive advantage passing games to develop confidence in passers before moving to more pressure passing drills. I also vary the drills from games like 2v2 Gael Passing to 3v3
Celtic Coach:
Brian, when I drilled younger players on the basic fundamentals, we worked hard on PIVOT drills, and feel it is one area of basketball that many players lack even at the high school level.
Brian:
When I watch players, the ball handler’s body posture has a big impact on their ability to scan the floor or anticipate where they should pass. Players who do not use their pivot foot limit the range for their passes which condenses the court and increases the pressure. To be effective offensively, players have to be comfortable pivoting under pressure to see the entire court and keep their shoulders directed toward the offensive basket. The only way to develop this comfort is to practice pivoting against defensive players, and no-dribble passing drills are one way to put players in these situations.
Thanks Brian! We appreciate your time and look forward to visiting about more HOOP SPECIFICS in the future.
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Keep Dribbling!! ..........but don't LOOK at the ball~
Labels: Basketball tips, Brian McCormick, court vision, Drew Brees, passing, pivoting, point guard, QB, Youth Coaching tips