I recall working a basketball camp many summers ago.
My primary assignment for the week was providing instruction at the shooting stations. At week’s end, the camp director asked me to come up with a slogan to share with the players that pertained to my particular area of instruction.
I told all of the campers that if they really wanted to become good players, they needed to “put game conditions into their practice routines.”
I believe this is something every high school coach ought to do as well. In my first year as a high school varsity coach, I felt it an absolute must to instill such an attitude and belief into our entire program.
One of the very first things I did was to change the overall climate of the basketball practice at Fairview High School. As an observer of several varsity practices prior to my official appointment to the head coach’s chair, I noticed a rather lackluster approach by players entering the gym.
Whatever amount of “warm-up” time a team gets before the actual starting time of practice, is precious time indeed, and must not be wasted. Most players will simply grab a basketball and start shooting.
That’s fine, but you need to take shots that you will undoubtedly be attempting during the course of a game. I don’t know of too many coaches who have half-court shot attempts as their first option within the offense. And the last time I checked, you don’t get any points from field goal attempts launched from out-of-bounds, or from the first few rows of the bleachers.
Yet, kids will find the time to put up these ridiculous shot attempts during a “shoot around.” This is wasted time, and must be eliminated from the practice plan. Even before the whistle blew to officially start the practice, my players on the floor were only permitted to shoot the basic fundamental shots we look for on offense — lay-ups (transition lay-ups), jump shots and free throws.
And when that whistle would blow to signal the start of practice, we designated about 30 minutes on the clock to work on all of those shots. We basically simulated camp, and set up station groups to work on these fundamentals.
We had six baskets in our gymnasium, and we used them all with everybody moving, and nobody standing around. At each basket, we would have different drills with regards to shots for the guards, and those for our post players.
Many of these drills I observed from long-time high school coach and Lakewood High School teacher Dave Borish. During my first year at Fairview, Borish was the varsity coach. He taught me much about game conditions in practice. Borish is now the assistant varsity coach at Avon Lake High School.
At each basket, we would also simulate game-like conditions by instructing players to execute a jab-step before the jump shot or lay-up, while we also emphasized the importance of being able to shoot off the pass and dribble.
We would also have “partner shooting,” where one player would pass to the shooter and provide some defensive deterrence with a hand in the face as the shot was attempted.
For drives to the basket, we would have somebody slide with the driver and provide some defensive contact as the lay-up was attempted.It is also vital to teach players the importance of being able to use both hands with regards to shots close to the basket. Right-handed players need to be able to shoot a lay-up with their left hand when driving to the left side of the basket. For left-handed players, you need to be able to do the same on the right side of the basket.
If you have the ball in your right hand when attempting a lay-up from the left side of the goal, that shot is either blocked, or you never even get the shot off because you’ll have the ball stripped from your hand. When driving to the basket, your body should always be between the defender and the ball.
Post players, when working on moves close to the basket such as the “drop-step,” you need to be able to put the ball into the basket with both hands as well.
These are basic offensive fundamentals, in terms of shooting, that should be a part of your practice routine each day. I’ve always told young players that if you practice these shots the right way, with game conditions, you’re going to get the results you want.
You won’t always make the shot, but I guarantee you that if you put “game conditions into your practice routines,” you will definitely shoot that shot with the utmost of confidence.
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Contact Holzheimer at
(216) 986-2361.