Think Fast Break

Without the fast break, coaches must limit their teams to controlled movement up the floor to the offensive end. Doing this gives the advantage to the defense.

My preference, when on offense, was to seize the advantage by accelerating into a fast break from every offensive transition.

When combined breaking with my emphasis on defense, I felt I had a formidable recipe for fun and winning basketball. It proved me right for many years, winning over 75% of the time with US teams and 80% with international club teams.

I wanted my teams to break from any and every situation and take off running to the basket – from turnovers, interceptions, a rebound, jump ball, inbounds pass, etc. Every time we transitioned to offense, I wanted a break.

Read the entire article at http://www.top-basketball-coaching.com/FAST_BREAK

That's it for this month.

Coach Ronn Wyckoff

Defending The Dribble Entry

When most offenses begin at the half court, it's the point guard who has to make it happen - passing, dribbling, penetrating.

Playing defense between the ball and the basket is only part of defending the ball.

Good position defense, coupled with influencing pressure, can help eliminate some of the dribbler's options. However, the first job of the defender is to buy time.

To read this article, go to http://www.top-basketball-coaching.com/November1_2006.html .

New Thoughts On Teaching Shooting

There are so many different ways shooting is being taught and while there is no one best way to shoot a basketball, obviously the best way is the one that goes in the most. However, the bottom line is, it’s not the rest of the body so much as the shooting arm that directs the shot and any resultant accuracy.
So all the foot placement, focus, and other stuff that's being taught is for naught if the alignment of the shooting shoulder, elbow, wrist and fingers is not correct.

To read more about this, go to http://www.top-basketball-coaching.com/new_shooting_ideas.html

3 Reasons Youth Coaches Should Stress Fundamentals Over Plays

by Keith Smith

Keith Smith is a youth basketball coach for boys and girls. He is the co-creator of “The Edge” and Best Youth Hoops. For more information, visit http://www.bestyouthhoops.com/blog and receive FREE Special Report, "TOP PRIORITIES FOR A NEW YOUTH BASKETBALL COACH"

When I first thought about the title, a quick story came to mind which put this in proper perspective.

During my first year of coaching, my team was playing a lower seeded team in the playoffs. It was a close game going into the 4th quarter when the opposing coach yelled out a play to his point guard.

The guard shouted the play to her teammates while we were set in our 1-2-2 zone (that’s another story… none of my teams play zone anymore). The guard shouted the play again, nothing happened. The players looked at her as if she was speaking a foreign language.

To read the rest of the story, go to
http://www.top-basketball-coaching.com/teach_fundamentals

Basketball: Teaching Offensive Low Post Play

How I teach low post play doesn't change much between beginners and older players -whether they're boys or girls. They all need to know how to move through the post, avoiding 3-second counts, having good balance and gaining good position. Once they have these things, they can begin to maneuver to receive the ball and work their way to attacking and finishing at the basket.

What I do now is contained in my article at http://www.top-basketball-coaching.com/lowpost.html

I hope you find teaching points you can use.

See you next month.

Coach Ronn

How I Teach Defense

Last month, I began a series of reprints of my most read articles which have been published at my website, Top-Basketball-Coaching.com and elsewhere on the web. At Scribd.com, these articles have now been read over 78,000 times since 2008.

This month, I bring back 7 of the most read articles I published on the subject of teaching defense. These are listed below.
1. Teaching Defensive Transition (6053 reads) Dec., 2007
http://www.top-basketball-coaching.com/December_2007

2. Why Teach Man Defense (5491 reads) Oct., 2007
http://www.top-basketball-coaching.com/whyteachmanD

3. Teaching Individual Defense, Part I (1387 reads) Sept., 2006
http://www.top-basketball-coaching.com/September_2006.html

4. Teaching Individual Defense, Part II (1050 reads) Oct., 2006
http://www.top-basketball-coaching.com/October_2006.html

5. Defending The Dribble Entry (1801 reads) Nov., 2006
http://www.top-basketball-coaching.com/November1_2006.html

6. Triangle Defense: The Basis For Teaching Team Defense (1061 reads) Dec., 2008
http://www.top-basketball-coaching.com/Triangle-Defense

7. Teaching Shot Blocking To Developing Players (889 reads) May, 2009
http://www.top-basketball-coaching.com/shotblock.html

Feb., 2011 Newsletter

My Most Read Articles

For several years, I have been writing and publishing basketball articles on teaching fundamentals of offense and defense, how to coach and how to motivate. These end up published in full on my website, www.Top-Basketball-Coaching.com (see right sidebar – Basketball Articles) but are also published in my Spiritual Hoops newsletter and on this blog, Top Basketball Coaching Tips. My website, this newsletter and my online article publications are viewed in over 111 countries.

For all of my Feb. newsletter content, go to http://www.top-basketball-coaching.com/feb2011