AAU Basketball Team Selection: The Waiting Is The Hardest Part

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There are many great benefits to AAU basketball, but there also are many challenges, setbacks, and frustrations. One of the most mentally challenging parts of AAU for many players and parents is selecting the right program that will fit the needs of a child and provide an opportunity for a child to grow as a player and person. Then there is the selection of the teams.

AAU programs have many factors when selecting players for a team. They also have additional factors when placing the players selected for an AAU program on the appropriate level team. What are the deciding factors on placing a player on the top level team or the bottom level team, and all the team in between? The answer is not much.

AAU is a business, so the program directors need to fill all the spots. Not every player selected will accept the spot. They may have tried out for multiple programs and find another team is a better fit. They may come to tryouts just for the opportunity to plan. These players may have no interest whatsoever in playing AAU. And others may feel snubbed the the level team they are placed on. Parents need to remember the difference between the 8th player on the top team and the 3rd player on the 2nd team is very little.

The Waiting is the Hardest Part

The days between the final tryout and the announcement of teams can feel like an eternity. With social media and the digital world we live in, players will find out quickly once a few players receive and invitation. Depending on the number of teams, the top players will be contacted first and will be given a 24 – 48 hour window to respond.

Some players will choose to accept the offer to be on a team, and others will reject the offer. When a player rejects a position, the next player on the depth chart will be contacted. Once the top team has all the roster spots filled, the next team will be contacted and the process will be repeated until all teams and spots are filled.

Top Players: Nearly all competitive AAU programs seek to attract the best players in a grade. In some cases, with some programs, these players are guaranteed a spot and do not have to tryout. Most programs have a player attend at least one tryout. The coaches will select the best players to fill a roster which is typically 10 – 12 players.

These players have very little stress.

Lower Level Players: Many programs will have multiple teams, and it is clear to the coaching staff that some players will definitely be a good fit for an elite, regional, or local level. There is no question where the player will fit in.

Bubble Players: This is probably the most stressful position to be in. The question with this player is will he / she be placed on the top level team and be one of the last players on the depth chart, or will he / she be on a lower level team and have a more prominent role as a starter. As any parent, or youth coach knows if you switch the top 3 players from the lower team with the bottom 3 players on the upper team, there is probably no difference whatsoever in the season, but for those 6 players, the experiences will be different.

This might be the most frustrating position to be in, because although the coaches know this player will be an important part of the program, the player is the last to hear what team he /she is on. This will lead to days of anxiety and questioning. When the email is finally received it a complete relief. The only question is will you accept your placement?

Final Picks / Waiting List: These players are like the B list to a wedding. If others decline the invitation, the coaches will go to the B list and ask players until the rosters are filled. These spots are a great chance for a player to improve, but parents and players should understand the big picture of this player’s skill level.

All teams will handle the announcement of the teams differently, but players should know within a week.

Basketball Scoring Series: Around the World Layups

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Scoring in basketball is very challenging at all levels, but if a player tries to KEEP IT SIMPLE, and master one basic layup at time, that player can develop into an effective scorer.

Objective: To be able to score consistently, efficiently, and in a variety of ways from the 5 main spots on the floor. 

Below are the 5 spots to attack the basket from

Left Baseline: Shot fake & Rip to the Hip

  1. Baseline Power: Baseline, jump stop, & power layup off 2 feet (can add a shot fake) 
  2. Baseline Front: right hand lay-up off one foot
  3. Baseline Reverse: right hand reverse lay-up 
  4. Baseline Reverse left hand: left hand reverse lay-up OPTIONAL 

Left Baseline Show & Go

  1. Middle of the lane Running hook: dribble to the middle of the lane and take a baby hook
  2. Block Pull-up: Dribble to the block pull up jump shot

Left Wing: Shot fake & Rip to the Hip

  1. Left hand layup: Simple move! Be Strong! 
  2. Block Pull-up: Remember to “load the gun!” and keep “L locked!”

Left Wing Show & Go

  1. Right hand Reverse: Be sure to get a good angle. Take an extra dribble if you need it! 
  2. Right hand Runner: Be sure to get a good angle. Take an extra dribble if you need it! 
  3. Right hand Roll: Be sure to get a good angle. Take an extra dribble if you need it! 
  4. Dotted circle Pull-up: Get to the dotted circle, elevate and make it! 

Top of Key

: Shot fake & Rip to the Hip

  1. Left hand layup: Simple move! Be Strong! 
  2. Block Pull-up: Remember to “load the gun!” and keep “L locked!”

Left Wing Show & Go

  1. Right hand Reverse: Be sure to get a good angle. Take an extra dribble if you need it! 
  2. Right hand Runner: Be sure to get a good angle. Take an extra dribble if you need it! 
  3. Right hand Roll: Be sure to get a good angle. Take an extra dribble if you need it! 
  4. Dotted circle Pull-up: Get to the dotted circle, elevate and make it! 

Right Baseline: Show & Go

  1. Baseline Power: Baseline, jump stop, & power layup off 2 feet (can add a shot fake) 
  2. Baseline Front: left hand lay-up off one foot
  3. Baseline Reverse: right hand reverse lay-up 
  4. Baseline Reverse left hand: left hand reverse lay-up

Right Baseline: Shot fake & Rip to the Hip 

  1. Middle of the lane Running hook: dribble to the middle of the lane and take a baby hook
  2. Block Pull-up: Dribble to the block pull up jump shot

Shooting tge basketball: what is your grade?

 Numbers can be a great motivator when it comes to shooting tge basketball. It is not easy to get a passing grade. Get an A will take a lot of learning. You will have to do your homework. 

The letter grade well be associated with the shooting percentage.

Milan’s

X outs

Reverse mikansy

Free throws 

Workout grade

Summer workouts / days

Weekends

Meatloaf ar

Work week

Baseline right show and go jump stop power layup

Shot fake rip to hip jump shot

Right wing show and go layup pull up

Rip to hip lefty layup pull-up

Left wing show and go layup pull up

Rip to hip layup pull up

Left baseline rip to hip power layup baseline reverse

2 man moves

Back door cut with a bounce pass show and go

Face cut give and go

Dribble hand off

Pick and roll

Baseline flex cut

High School Basketball Summer League

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High School coaches often enter a varsity and sometimes JV and/or freshman team into a summer league. This is important to be on the list of players selected to participate. Coaches want to see how is developing and who is committed. Summer leagues can be outdoors or indoors.

Some Tips for Summer League

  1. Just Keep Working: Whether or not you make the summer league roster, a player needs to keep working. The summer is the time to grow your game. If you do make the summer league team, create a role for yourself and fill that role to the best of your ability.
  2. Play GREAT Defense: Defense wins championships! Play great defense. Cover the opponents best player. Take pride in defense. Everyone wants to shoot the ball and score on offense. BE EXCEPTIONAL! Be a players who LOVES defense. Teammates, coaches, and opponents will notice.
  3. Just Show Up: Go to as many summer league games as you. Many players will miss because of work, vacation, significant others, friends, etc. Go to all the games you can, no matter what your role on the team is. A player who is reliable during the summer, will be reliable during the season.

High School Basketball: Just Show Up

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“Eighty percent of success is showing up.” ― Woody Allen

Do you want to be a part of a high school basketball team? Just Show Up!

  1. Show up ALL THE TIME!
  2. Show up to school.
  3. Show up to extra help.
  4. Show up to pre-season meetings.
  5. Show up to Fall League.
  6. Show up for captains’ practices.
  7. Show up for preseason workouts.
  8. Show up to the weight room.
  9. Show up to tryouts.
  10. Show up to practice.
  11. Show up to the gym.
  12. Show up to the gym before school to shoot.
  13. Show up to support the other teams in your program.
  14. Show up to Spring League.
  15. Show up to camp.
  16. Show up to be a volunteer at a camp.
  17. Show up to Summer League.

Youth Basketball: Team Pushup Chart

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Name                                                                                                                                    .

7th Grade Basketball Push-up Chart Record your push-ups

“WORK HARDER”  Can we improve our strength more than another 7th grade team?

DateDecemberJanuaryFebruary March
1X
2X
3X
4X
5X
6X
7X
8X
9X
10X
11X
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29X
30X
31XX
TOTAL

High School Basketball: Individual Pushup Chart

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“The little things are the BIG things.”

To be a very good high school basketball, you have to do the little things that many other players will not do. Pushups is such a simple way to improve strength. As a player matures, he may find it necessary to have a more advance strength program, but simply doing pushups for strength will allow more time to develop the fundamental basketball skills that will help a player excel.

Let’s look at a 4 year high school career. With the leap year, there are 1,461 days. how many pushups would that be in a career? Let’s do the math:

  • 10 pushups a day x 1,461 days = 14,610
  • 25 pushups a day x 1,461 days = 36,525
  • 50 pushups a day x 1,461 days = 73,050
  • 50 pushups a day x 1,461 days = 146,100

I was never too good at math, but you could see how the numbers would change if you did two, three, or four sets.

If you are a high school player, give it try. I guarantee if you stick with it you will be one of the strongest players in your league. Use the chart or create your own. Add up your totals for each month and year.

Pushups are one little thing that you can do that will make a BIG difference in who you are as a player.

Good Luck!

Name:

Individual Pushup Chart                                                                                                        

DateJanFebMarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptOctNovDec
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29X
30X
31XXXX
total

Mini-Mikan Basketball Layup Drill

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Mini Mikan Lay-up Drill

The Mikan Drill is the best layup drill for first time youth basketball players. The true Mikan drill teaches players the proper footwork for taking right and left hand lay-ups. This will be introduced much later in a basketball career. The ability to use correct footwork when taking a lay-up with both hands is well beyond the ability of 1st graders. The Mini Mikan Drill is ideal for the majority of players in grades 1 – 5.  

The Mini Mikan drill is easy to learn and complete. A player starts on one block and takes a block shot aiming and hopefully using the “top corner of the backboard.” After taking the 1st shot, the player grabs the rebound and goes directly to the opposite block. (It does not matter if the player makes or misses the 1st shot. The player will only attempt one shot before moving to the other side.) The player squares up to the basket and shoots a 2nd shot. The player continues to take alternating shots from the block for 30 seconds or until a player makes a set number of shots. The number of shots will depend on the age and skill level. 

This the first individual lay-up drill that should be taught. Keep teaching and repeating the drill until a player is ready to learn the true Mikan Drill.  

The goal is to become a “Mini-Mikan Master” who does not miss this shot. Coaches will be surprised at how much improvement will happen if a player goes home and practices this drill under the supervision of a parent or older sibling.

BE CAREFUL to put too much emphasis on high scores. Remind all the players the goal is to have fun and improve. Remind all the players to focus on being a better player each week and do not compare yourself to other players. This is a tough concept to understand, maybe impossible, but a coach needs to do his / her best to avoid comparing players. It is always great to point out less skilled players who improve.

Good Luck!

Teaching Basketball Layups: Aim for Top Corner of the Square

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A layup is the most basic way to score in the game of basketball. At the younger levels, (K – Grade 3) focusing on using the correct footwork can be useless and unnecessary. In early youth basketball. very few players can use the correct footwork when attempting a lay-up, so do not worry about the footwork at all. This skill can be taught much later when players are capable of learning it quickly.

So what layup fundamentals can you teach players learning basketball for the very first time?

Teach the aiming point for shooting a layup.

When a young players is asked “What should you aim for when you take a layup?”

The most common answers are:

  1. “THE BACKBOARD” This is the #1 answer, but it is not the best answer. The backboard is such a big area. Many shots can hit the backboard, but will not result in a made basket. A coach can have some fun by shooting the ball all over the backboard and missing. After each shot, the coach can look at the players and say, “I hit the backboard, what is wrong.? I am doing what you told me to do. I hit the backboard but I MISSED my layup! What is wrong?” At this point, the players will realize the aiming point needs to be more specific. The next best answer is…
  2. “THE SQUARE” With this response the players are getting warmer, but the answer is still not specific enough. A coach can still have some fun with this answer by hitting the square in several different spots and still miss scoring a basket. Shoot the ball all over “the square” and miss. The most common missed layup is when a player hits the BOTTOM corner of the square and the ball hits the front of the rim. A coach can look at the players and say, “I hit the square, what is wrong. I am doing what you told me to do. Why isn’t it going in?” At this point, the players are gaining a better that the target for a layup is VERY specific. Hopefully after sharing the above two answers, the players can get the correct answer…. 
  3. “THE TOP CORNER OF THE SQUARE” Bingo! This is the PERFECT answer! This is the correct response and the response EACH player should know and remember the rest of the season and his / her playing career. Knowing the correct aiming point is the 1st step to consistently making lay-ups. Now there are two top corners of a square, I think ALL the players and coaches understand it it the top corner on the side where the player is shooting the layup.

Once the players understand where to aim the basketball, the next step in the lay-up process is applying this knowledge to the shot. 

To make a layup, a player needs to use the backboard and CONSISTENTLY aim for the top corner of the square. 

The following drills provide excellent repetition and practice for aiming for the top corner of the square. 

If a player can understand the importance of identifying the correct aiming point when taking a lay-up, that is the 1st step to consistently making layups. 

Just for fun, go watch a high school basketball game and see how many layups are missed because the ball does not hit the top corner of the square.

Block Shot Basketball Layup Drills

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When teaching lay-ups to developing players, it is important to have a planned teaching progression much like an academic curriculum. Students, like basketball players, vary in skills, motivation, interest, and practice habits. However, there should be a clear progression of skills that should be introduced and taught at certain ages and grade levels.

This is the very 1st shooting drill that should be introduced to a player. The goal in coaching, especially at early ages, is to provide players with opportunities to have succeess.

Stationary Block Shots (with no dribble): The footwork of a lay-up is a fairly complicated skills. Players first learning the game have a difficult time learning the correct footwork. It is a skill that very few players can learn before the 3rd grade. As a result, I would recommend players focusing on aiming for the top corner of the square when taking the “block shot.”

If there is an advanced player, a coach can work with him before or after practice on the proper footwork. If a skill is beyond most players ability, I do not recommend teaching the skill. Focus on the skills the majority of players can complete successfully.

Block Shots (with dribbling): Once the majority of players have mastered the station  footwork of a lay-up is a fairly complicated skills. Players first learning the game have a difficult time learning the correct footwork. It is a skill that very few players can learn before the 3rd grade. As a result, I would recommend players focusing on aiming for the top corner of the square when taking the “block shot.”