Youth BasketballTeaching Balance And Control
Youth BasketballTeaching Balance And Control
Everything has its processmdash;a beginning a middle and an end or final result.
I was taught that learning is a process that passes through three phases before
reaching the final phase of excellence. 1 The initial phase is where we dont know what we dont know. Were newbies; without an inkling of what we are about to attempt. Were like newborn babies with a clean empty slate. Well call this phase Unconscious incompetence;. 2 As we begin to take on information and act on it we are learning how to apply this information but we still dont perform the skill well. We can glimpse the future and see others who are farther along the learning curve and we know that there is more. Well call this phase Conscious Incompetence;. 3 Now we have arrived at a plateau where we know enough to perform the skill weve been trying to attain and we can perform it but perhaps not well all the time because we still have to think about it. The longer we stay in this phase the more we learn the more we practice the skill the better we become at performing the task. Well call this phase Conscious Competence;. 4 With each plateau weve built new information upon the foundation of the information and skills we learned before. If were out of phase 3 weve entered the phase of excellence where a task can be performed without having to think about it. The skill has been learned. Weve risen above the others who are still going through the learning curve. We must however be guarded now about thinking were better than everyone else. We must be cognizant that there are othersmdash;many othersmdash;who have also attained this level and their skills may be at a higher level. Well call this phase Unconscious Competence;.
This article illustrates the first level by assuming the youngsters in your charge
know little or nothing about the game of basketball. Before we can run we must pass through competency phases of crawling and walking. So we begin at the most elemental level breaking down information that must be assimilated along the long road to unconscious competency.
First show them around the playing floor. Talk to them about the lines and
places on the floor and what they mean. Explain to them that in every sport there are certain things which players must have in common. In this article we take the first stepmdash;teaching balance and control.
There are a lot of subtleties in the game of basketball that are as important to
playing the game as are dribbling passing and shooting.
Usually as a player grows in the game balance and body control become less of an issue. But for the young player these things are very important for without their mastery the game will not be played well. Again these things need to be taught.
The first thing we do is to demonstrate a good stance universally referred to in
sports as the ready stance;. We want the feet under the player and a little wider than the hips. Drop the hips and flex the knees a little. Dont bend over at the waist but keep the back fairly straight without being stiff. Keep the weight evenly distributed on both feet with the point of balance being directly below the buttocks and between the feet. This puts the point of balance at the midpoint of the body. The arms are loose hanging down and slightly bent at the elbows with the hands in front of the hips open and ready to react.
A player standing up straight with the feet close together can be knocked out of position and off balance easily and is slower to react. The ready stance; gives the player a stronger base for balance and the ability to react more quickly than an upright stance.
I have the players line up along the end line and I go down the line checking their
stances for the right look and for balance. I then have them stand up and go into a balanced stance. I push each player in different directions to test their balance. Everyone must pass this simple test before we can continue. If a child cannot pass this test of balance the chances are that child will have difficulty with most large muscle activities.
A child without good balance will not be able to have control while dribbling
or moving around the floor.
Now with all the players on the end line we will teach them how to run up the
court under control as fast as the individual can go without sacrificing control and come to a stop in two steps 12 stop. On the whistle they will run forward and on the next whistle they must come to a stop in two steps without losing their balance taking more steps or falling over.
In order to do this we must teach them to drop their hips and widen their stance
slightly as they begin to stop all the while keeping the body weight center of gravity over the midpoint;. It wont take long for them to accomplish this.
Once they have this part on the next whistle they will reverse and run backwards repeating the same balanced 12 stop. We keep this back and forth exercise going until everyone has the concepts and the balance and control down. Do this drill in as many consecutive practice sessions as needed to get it right.
We go back to the end line to teach the stutterstep. From a balanced stance we have the players jog in place barely lifting the feet from the floor as they jog. We have them alternate the tempo speeding up slowing down etc. When they have this part they move up the floor varying the tempo of their movement giving them the stuttering effect. Then add the whistle. Run hard on the whistle get the body under control as in the 12 stop and do a stutterstep then proceed to run hard until the next whistle. Be more interested in balance and control than speed! Emphasize quickness never going so fast youre out of control.
Now you can back up to the first drill and put the two drills together. Do the forward 12 stop backward 12 stop forward stutterstep etc. Were beginning to put together a sequence drill.
Next is the openstep. With the players on the end line have them do a stutterstep in place then place weight on the right foot faking a step to the right. Then push off the right foot while stepping out to the left with the left foot. Have the players imagine a defender standing in front of them and they have to sidestep the opponent. We want to have them think we are going to our right hence the fake step with the right foot. Then we abruptly step out in the opposite direction of the fake an openstep with the left foot. We do the same thing in the other direction starting with the stutterstep. Fake with the left foot to the left put weight on that foot and step out to the right with an openstep with the right foot.
Now have them slowly progress up the court: Stutterstep fake going right then openstep left; continue up court stutterstep fake left openstep right. We step it up a little after theyve gotten the hang of it. Have them jog until the whistle blows then stutterstep and follow this with the fake and openstep. They continue up court and on the next whistle stutterstep then fake and openstep to the other side. Continue alternating the sides until they have it down well.
After each individual skill has been learned now the coach can put all these skills together into one drill I call the Balance amp; Control Sequence Drill. Each drill is performed in the sequence as related above with little pause or coaching during the drill. Run this Sequence Drill every day until there is general mastery by each playermdash;the Unconscious Competence; factor.
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About the writer: Coach Ronn Wyckoff is an international spokesperson for youth sports being for the youth and the author/producer of 28 ebook and videos including the 4hr. instructional DVD Basketball On A Triangle: A Higher Level of Coaching and Playing;. http://www.TopBasketballCoaching.com
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