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

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

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

Preparing for the New Season -- A Player’s Perspective

Every year I try to bring some information to my readers that can be helpful for them to get their early-season practices off to a good start.

This year I got a little different perspective by having a newly graduated player write about what he did to get ready for his season and that enabled him to be a star player.

The article was written by Kyle Ohman, a starting guard last year for Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA. He averaged15.4 points per game and was ranked the 19th best shooter by Fox Sports as a

Senior (2009-2010).

Kyle is a gifted basketball motivator and communicator and will take his game to the professional level and then on to a basketball coaching career.

His story is at http://www.top-basketball-coaching.com/KyleOhman

My Latest Ebook: How I Shoot Over 96% Free Throws

Well, it's done. My new ebook, "How I Shoot Over 96% Free Throws", is available now through both EbookOmatic.com and Lulu.com.

If you are one of those free throw shooters that is hit and miss...

If you are a coach in need of how to train your players to shoot better...

If you are a parent wanting to help your child become a free throw shooting whiz..

PAY ATTENTION!!!

Go to my web page to learn more about how you too can become a better free throw shooter!

http://www.top-basketball-coaching.com/freethrow_ebook

How I Shoot Over 96% Free Throws

After maybe, 35,000 free throws taken, I finally got to a point where I can say I am consistent with my shot.

I was an inconsistent 80-90% free throw shooter and now I am consistently above 96%.

What I’ve learned about shooting is, it’s a process – as so much of learning is – where you start out crawling, and if you try to walk too soon, by trying to move too quickly, you abruptly fall down.

Well, learning to shoot a basketball free throw (correctly) is very much a similar process. I’m going along, what seems to be nicely, making series of shots and then –wham! – I miss with a shot that seemed to come from out of left field. I think, “Where did that come from”? Then, maybe I miss another one or two. Then, I am back, focused and making another series of shots. From what I have observed from many shooters, this seems to be a normal occurrence. The key, in case you missed it, is focus.

For the rest of this article, go to: http://www.top-basketball-coaching.com/96percentfreethrows.html

Coach

Many (basketball) people are remembering John Wooden, with his passing at age 99 this past month.

I first met Coach Wooden in 1973, when I was coaching high school basketball in California. His influence on my coaching and personal lives have left an indelible impression. He also left lasting memories with my sons.

This month's article, Coach: A Coach’s Family Influenced By John Wooden, is my tribute and remembrance of of Coach John Wooden.

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

Coach Ronn's Coaching Philosophy

Understanding the components to coaching success go beyond X's an O's. The coach brings success (or failure) to the team through his own belief system, attitudes, focus, communication skills and discipline.

Whenever I teach coaches or am speaking with a group of players, the first topic I will cover is philosophy. I want everyone thinking that attitude, focus, communication and discipline determine so much of a team's success. Without these things, how can there be a coaching philosophy that will hold up to the test of having players who play at their best level, the team playing at its best together, or enjoying the best season you can have?

My Philosophy On Conducting My Life: The right thing to do is to do the right thing.

My Philosophy On Playing The game:

To read the rest of the article, go to:
http://www.top-basketball-coaching.com/coachingphilosophy.html

National Basketball Shooters Association: Become A Free Throw Master

A few months ago, I was asked to be part of a founding group of coaches and masters in the art of shooting free throws. We were all in agreement that there is a strong need for better free throw shooting at all levels of play, both in the USA and internationally.

The organization we founded is called, the National Basketball Shooters Association (NBSA).

If there was more emphasis put on free throw mastery in the NBA, would there be fewer close games?

Of course, answering that is pure conjecture, but most of us would agree that free throw shooting in the NBA is horrendous. Not much has changed, percentage wise at the free throw line, for most of 100 years. In the history of the NBA, only about 50 players have shot better than 85%, with the individual average being just over 70% for the 2008-09 season.

Until the basketball role models--NBA, WNBA and collegiate players and teams--make a concerted effort to improve their free throw shooting percentages, younger players are not going to take seriously the need for better free throw shooting. And, coaches will continue to be (as a group) less than adequately prepared and willing to teach correct free throw shooting technique. Whatever is done at the higher levels is emulated at the younger levels of play. One only has to look at the way youngsters copycat the dribbling techniques and 3-point shooting of the older players to grasp this. When free throw shooting percentages improve at the higher levels, youngsters will want to be better at the line too.

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

Until next month...

Yours in Sport & Spirit,
Coach Ronn

The New Theory Of Free Throw Targeting: The "Sweet Spot"/Bulls-Eye Target

When talking about what should be the target when shooting a free throw, my guest author for this month's article knows more than a little about how to find that target. Jim "Makevery" Schatz is a free throw shooting master, shooting 96% or better in free throw competition and exhibitions.

What should the target be that the shooter focuses on while shooting a free throw? There are many ideas, but the author describes his idea for the "sweet spot"/target.

If you perform a Google search for “free throw” and click on some of the links, you will quickly find there is no agreement, even among expert coaches, in regards to targeting while shooting free throws. Some coaches say aim at the back of the rim, some say aim at the front of the rim, some say aim above the rim and I say, aim at the "sweet-spot"/bulls-eye target.

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

Happy Holidays!

Yours in Sport & Spirit,
Coach Ronn

Teaching Shot Blocking To Developing Players

I spend a lot of time and energy on detail teaching. I find it pays off as a player develops. Too many times skill details aren't taught and the players just end up doing what they think they should do instead of applying any kind of logic or system to their play.

Shot blocking is one of those small areas that don't get much attention from coaches--especially in the early years. But, while shot blocking can be a small item down the list of things for many coaches to teach, teaching it early and correctly can play huge dividends as players mature.

To read this article, go to www.Top-Basketball-Coaching/shotblock.html.

See you next month.


Yours in Sport & Spirit,
Coach Ronn

Preparing Your Season—Leading Up To The First Game

Every season presents new challenges, however the biggest challenge, especially for new or newer coaches, may be in preparing to teach everything that will be needed in order to successfully play the first game.

Years ago, while at a UCLA coaching clinic, Coach Wooden stressed to us young coaches that our priorities should be conditioning, fundamentals, and then team play. The pre- and early-season plan must take that into account.

Do this by designing your drills for the dual purpose of perfecting a skill while building conditioning. Wooden told us that, “before working together as a team, we need to break every element of the game down into its basic parts, then begin to put the pieces together. Practice and perfect each part or the whole will not be successful. It requires hard work and repetition, always modifying, always correcting, until it all comes together. 'Practices are where championships are won'.”

The identification and perfection of details in the teaching of fundamentals sets the teaching-coach above the average coach. Any coach neglecting details regularly attended to by the teaching-coach is practicing to be unsuccessful. “Failing to plan is planning to fail.” Doing the little things well makes the big things work. This is probably the teaching-coach’s greatest attribute for success.

To read the rest of this article, go to: http://www.top-basketball-coaching.com/Preparing-For-The-First-Game

Yours in Sport & Spirit,

Coach Ronn

FREE HoopClinics For Coaches

Top-Basketball-Coaching caters to the beginner—the novice coach looking for how to get started and what to do in a sequential manner so the needs of the novice and less experienced player can be met.

I recognize that many of my readers and people who visit my site may be ready for more sophisticated information than I present. I am always on the look-out for a site that I think can deliver this kind of growth. I am proud to bring to you such a site—one I have recently partnered with.

Brian Williams and Josh Stinson contacted me and together we, along with a select group of other basketball webmasters, have partnered to bring HoopClinics to the world-wide web.

Go here to read all about it: http://www.top-basketball-coaching.com/HoopClinics

I think you’ll be glad you did! 

Coach Ronn

Bonus Book--Station Drills

Hey, here's a bonus for you! Originally there was to be a chapter 15 in my book, Basketball On A Triangle: A Higher Level of Coaching and Playing. I took it out, and now there's an additional, stand alone ebook that just was published.

Basketball coaches everywhere bemoan the lack of practice time. Too, every coach seems to need more time for his/her players to practice fundamental skills. Because it takes up so much of every practice just to work with the team aspects, too often the individual skill practice time gets short-changed.

In this latest ebook, I give coaches a solution for this time and individual skill teaching dilemma.

Years ago, I devised a plan where in 15-20 minutes of practice time we could cover all the basic individual skills, so the rest of the practice time could be used for teaching the team aspects of the game.

To read more about this book, use this link: http://www.top-basketball-coaching.com/stationdrills

For all my ebooks, mentoring programs, DVD/videos, and articles, please visit
http://www.Top-Basketball-Coaching.com

Yours in Sport & Spirit,

Coach Ronn