Youthbasketball123 is a website designed to provide ideas, drills by grade, books, teaching tools, basketball jokes, guest blogs, basketball quotes, and so much.
January 13th – January 19th (2 games):
January 20th – January 26th:
January 27th – February 2nd:
February
March
Youthbasketball123 is a website designed to provide ideas, drills by grade, books, teaching tools, basketball jokes, guest blogs, basketball quotes, and so much.
Happy New Year!
It is week #5 of the high school basketball season. Technically, we should’ve shared this at the start of the season, however, with the New Year and a quarter of the season more than done, we felt now was the appropriate time to share the concept of how each year, a player will have a different role. Also, it takes few weeks to define a role clearly
It is important to understand that throughout the course of a season, a player can assume a few different roles, depending upon injuries, opponents, sickness, and an incredible amount of other factors. To have a successful season, it is critical that a player (and his family) understand his role. Once a role is clear, a player MUST fully embrace that role.
Different Roles
Your role on your team is based on talent, experience, and chemistry. If you have all three, stop reading and go do your thing. If you don’t, here are a few pointers.
Each new year brings a new journey. The four journeys for a high school basketball player are freshman year, sophomore year, junior year, and senior year. To be a good basketball player we feel it is critical to have short-term focus. By short-term focus we mean place all your energy on TODAY! Long-term should be this week.
Improve Each Day
Try to get a little bit better each day. In some cases that might mean resting, but in most cases a player should do some type skill development. To be a good basketball player, simply practicing with your team is not going to be enough. You will be an average player, because every player in the state and every player in your program is practicing just as much as you.
Start with an extra 10 to 15 minutes of individual skill development. Just a little extra work will give you confidence that you are doing more than the average player. Overtime, these brief workouts will result in slow, steady improvement. It is important for you to focus on skills that are most important in helping your team win and more importantly earning you playing time and a chance to be on the court.
Do Pushups
Create a pushup chart and do pushups each day. Many players do pushups each day, but many don’t. Simply doing pushups will separate your from the other players.
Basketball is not an equal opportunity sport, just like it is or should be at the high school level. You have to earn your minutes. The best way to do this is to get to practice early or stay late. Sometimes another team might be coming in right after you so there’s no opportunity for workout in the gym.
In this case, jump rope. Jumping rope is one of the best season activities for a player to increase stamina, upper body, strength, and quickness. Adding quickness can impact so many aspects of basketball – offense, defense, rebounding, jumping and getting to the rim.
A simple jump rope routine could be as simple as
Shot Fakes
Watch a high school game and pay attention to how many shot fakes or ball fakes are made during the game. You will be amazed. At the freshman level or the varsity level, in most programs, you’ll be lucky to see double digit fakes. At the sub-varsity level, you can probably count the shot fakes on one hand.
We try to keep the game simple and encourage a basketball player to focus on three things when they catch the ball.
Practicing shot fakes can be done at home in front of a mirror. Or if the weather is not too cold you can practice outside in a driveway or at a court.
The Million Dollar Move
If you have time and a basket, focus on your Million Dollar Move. Be the best on the team at this one move. Once you master the Million Dollar Move. Every chance a player gets at the high school level, a player should go to his Million Dollar Move until it is stopped. To make the Million Dollar Move valuable, it is important for a player to have a counter move. As a player adds more scoring movers, he can have MANY Million Dollar Moves.
All players can have a better handle. Complete a 5-10 minute stationary ball drills or the tennis ball series every day. Over the course of the season, those minutes will add up to hours. Hours of skill development over the season will make a huge difference in a player’s talent level.
Try to expand your role on the team by working a little more each day.
Completing an extra workout should be your number one goal. Each week to be the most improved player in your program. If you have the mindset that every single day you’re going to be the most improved player, that means you will be the most improved player for the week. And you can do that an entire basketball season, we think you will be very happy with the results.
Good luck check back for more ideas on the high school basketball year.
Youthbasketball123 is a website designed to provide ideas, drills by grade, books, teaching tools, basketball jokes, guest blogs, basketball quotes, and so much.
December 30th – January 5th (3 games): Winter Break. Many teams travel to play in a tournament or play opponents from another part of the country.
January 6th – January 12th (2 games): The final week before students return to campus. It has been nice to be a college athlete for a few weeks without having to worry about the student part of it. Get ready for back to school and get off to a great start academically.
January 13th – January 19th (2 games):
January 20th – January 26th:
January 27th – February 2nd:
Youthbasketball123 is a website designed to provide ideas, drills by grade, books, teaching tools, basketball jokes, guest blogs, basketball quotes, and so much.
December is a stop and go month for some Division III Basketball teams and leagues. With the end of the semester, reading week, and finals, so programs do not practice at all. There are no commitments for members of the program, although some may choose to complete individual workouts.
November 25th – December 1st: Thanksgiving Week Some schools will give the players Wednesday and Thursday off. Friday practice will be later in the day and there will be games on Saturday or Sunday, and in some cases maybe both days.
December 2nd – December 8th: A typical week for most colleges. However the last game before Christmas may be played on Sunday.
December 9th – December 15th: Reading Week and Finals.
December 16th – December 22nd: Reading Week and Finals.
December 23rd – December 29th: Winter Break: Practice starts up December 26th the day after Christmas and many teams have a two-day tournament.
December 30th – January 5th: Winter Break. Many teams travel to play in a tournament or play opponents from another part of the country.
Youthbasketball123 is a website designed to provide ideas, drills by grade, books, teaching tools, basketball jokes, guest blogs, basketball quotes, and so much.
December 9th – December 15th (0 games): Reading Week and Finals.
December 16th – December 22nd (0 games): Reading Week and Finals.
December 23rd – December 29th (1 game): Winter Break: Practice starts up December 26th the day after Christmas and many teams have a two-day tournament.
December 30th – January 5th (3 games): Winter Break. Many teams travel to play in a tournament or play opponents from another part of the country.
January 6th – January 12th (2 games): The final week before students return to campus. It has been nice to be a college athlete for a few weeks without having to worry about the student part of it. Get ready for back to school and get off to a great start academically.
6 games total
Youthbasketball123 is a website designed to provide ideas, drills by grade, books, teaching tools, basketball jokes, guest blogs, basketball quotes, and so much.
Hudl is one of the most useful tools for high school basketball players and coaches. So many players use it to create highlight reels, but it is important to also looks at areas where play can be improved.
Here are a few tips on how to analyze hudl for high school basketball players.
1. Check in time with score and check out time with score. This is very important for a player to understand. How does the team do when a player is in the game. Basketball is a team game. It’s not how about individual stats, it is about how the TEAM plays when you are on the court. If the team has success, a player will earn more playing time.
It is also good to know the trend of the game when you check into a game so you can mentally prepare and be ready for that opportunity. Many high school coaches have a set rotation and several others might change the rotation from game to game week to week. However, your coach does it you gotta be ready when your number is called.
2. Turnovers This is probably the most critical aspect of the game that can help increase minutes for a player. Hopefully there are games when you do not have to analyze one turnover, but chances are there will be a few turnovers to look at. If a player has to analyze this two or three turnovers in four minutes of playing time enjoy your analysis might not be much more in the future.
To play varsity high school basketball it is critical to minimize turnovers and it is essential to value the ball. Players who value the ball will gain trust to the coach and will gain more playing time. There are many reasons players turn the ball. Understand what you can do wrong so next time you can make the correct decision.
The correction might be as simple as get the ball to a guard..
Catch and Shoot (makes and misses). The majority of high school basketball field goal attempts are catch and shoot. This category is probably the easiest analyze. If you’re a shooter, your shot you look the same every time. If you’re not a shooter, shot selection is very important.
A few things to consider when analyzing a field goal attempt
We highly recommend that the speed be set to the slowest speed possible to look at every aspect of your shot. The most important one we believe is the 22 follow through.
We choose to analyze scoring opportunities by category because each categories is different. There may be some categories that you’re not ready to take.
Shot off dribble this is a more advanced skill in shooting. Shooting dribbling to your weak hand is also a challenge for most high school players.
Hudl can break down most types of shots, but a player should be aware of how effective he is shooting going to the strong hand and shooting to the weak hand.
The move that you’re more comfortable executing, is the mover that you should look for.
Scoring moves: A player’s goal is to get to the million dollar move. Each varsity player should have a scoring move that they can feel confident using in a game when the opportunity presents itself. It is a move that should have a high rate of success.
These types of scoring moves are attacking the rim and finishing with a layup. There was a great around the world scoring series that can help you master these moves. Most average high school basketball players do not have a scoring move. It is usually the all league players that have the ability to score in a variety of ways
We hope this provides a player with a good start
We love basketball and Coach John Wooden. Here are some great words of wisdom from the Wizard of Westwood, legendary UCLA basketball coach, John Wooden.
An entire list of Coach Wooden’s favorite maxims can be found at the end of an incredible book – Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations On and Off the Court, written by Coach John Wooden with Steve Jamison.
The list of maxims was so amazing and overwhelming, that I decided to sort the maxims into themes. We hope players, coaches, and parents can find some of them useful.
John Wooden’s Favorite Maxims
Part I: Rules for Every Day Living
Google Search “Basketball Jokes for Christmas Eve”
Youthbasketball123 is a website designed to provide ideas, drills by grade, books, teaching tools, basketball jokes, guest blogs, basketball quotes, and so much.
USA Basketball recommendation: Equal playing time in periods 1-3. Coaches discretion in the fourth period and each extra period.
USA Basketball has many great resources, including basket height, which should be 9 feet and ball size. Players should use a size 6 basketball.
USA Basketball, in our biased opinion, is one of the best basketball organizations in the world for youth basketball coaches. Their job is basketball and basketball development. They are not parents. Judgment can be blurred by being a parent. They are basketball experts with combined backgrounds and experience that no youth coach could ever acquire. If you are a youth basketball coach or a parent, we highly recommend that become very familiar with USA website. Become an expert on your child’s age and the ages around your child. USA Basketball has developed a curriculum for each age. The guidelines that they feel our best for individual players and the national program.
(Over the years I have found this 11-man basketball rotation to be very helpful.)
What should the guidelines be for 4th grade?
4th grade basketball players are still very, very young. This is the 5th year in school, so most have played several seasons of organized sports. It is still too young to be playing more than 5 months of basketball, although many players at this age are playing year-round. (Commentary: WAY too young.), so it should be a year when coaches con introduce more basketball skills and concepts.
Most leagues play on a 10 foot hoop which goes against USA basketball guidelines. If possible, a coach should recommend to parents and players to practice on a 9 foot hoop so they can develop proper shooting fundamentals. Being a good shooter is was separates players in high school.
It is critical for a coach to be aware of the USA basketball guidelines. They have a fantastic website with so much to offer rookie and veteran youth coaches.