I’ve spent a lot of time on Youtube looking at videos of basketball trainers. Some of the trainers are good. Others not so much. I see a lot tricks with cones and tennis balls. Lots of gidgets and gadgets. Very few of them are teaching the offensive portion of the game from a holistic respective.
Offensive basketball encompasses three fundamental areas. Shoot. Pass. Dribble. Most call it the triple threat. I call it the “Go” or “Go Movements.”
Shooting the ball is the most important part of the game. If a player can shoot, he/she will always have a place to play and enjoyable to play with. How much fun would it be to play with Klay Thompson or Ray Allen in his prime? Learning to shoot is something that every player should invest in before they learn anything more about the game of basketball.
In most cases, being a great passer is something that a player is born with or is cultivated early in their playing career. The ability to see plays develop and deliver the ball on time and on target for a score is an assist. This is much different than being a relay guy who just passes to an open player (which is not a bad thing and usually the correct play). Historically, great passers have not been great shooters, mostly because passers aren’t selfish enough to keep shooting and don’t have a short memory when it comes to missed shots.
Dribbling the basketball is one of the areas that players generally get drafted along with being able to shoot. The combination of the two makes a “scorer.” Dribbling also is the downfall of basketball. To much of it by any one player will drive coaches and teammates crazy. Having a handle on the ball is important though. Many players go in the gym and set up cones and start dribbling. Fine, but here is the problem. In the game, you generally only have two to three dribbles then you have to make a decision to shoot or pass.
“Offensive basketball encompasses three fundamental areas. Shoot. Pass. Dribble. Most call it the triple threat. I call it the “Go” or “Go Movements.”
Trainers and coaches teach these skills individually. In that fashion, the player typically doesn’t know when to use them, something I like to call “reads.” Tons of work is going in, but the production is not coming out.
If you were to watch a workout by NBA teams, the majority of it is catch and shoot. The rest are simple plays; one dribble pull-up and two dribble pull-up. So why on the levels below do we allow coaches and trainers to teach things that are potentially toxic or not useful to the player? Look at the resume of the trainer that you hire. Make sure that they are who they say they are. There is not a certification to be a basketball trainer or a coach. Lastly, if it doesn’t make since, Run!
