Skills - Driving # 3 Euro Step

The Euro step is a simple but effective move which many find challenging. Some people who try this move themselves seem to make it more complicated than it actually is. The move can become difficult in later stages as you learn to execute reverse lay-ups at an angle with your lead arm. To make the Euro Step as easy to understand it is simply a change in direction during the lay-up process.

In the standard lay-up; you pick up the ball, take 2 straight steps, and finish by the rim. The Euro step is more of a “Z” pattern step. With your first step you change direction to avoid a player which usually results in your direction changing rough sixty degrees either way. This is the followed with a second change of direction to either avoid a secondary defender or to get your heading back towards the basket. This move is still the normal two steps allowed, your just changing direction whilst doing so. You can finish on the side you started or you can finish on the opposite side but this move requires leg strength, a good reach and some English spin on the backboard to get it.

Skills - Driving # 2

For guards and small forwards getting to the rim is a vital part of your position as you can not stand outside the three jacking. Its important you know how o get your defender off balance and then be able to get to the rim as quickly and efficiently as possible. This drill is a simple pump fake and an extended dribble. This can be used at anytime but i feel it is most effective when the defense is scrambling and is rushing to close you out.
  This drill requires a chair in the same position as the previous speed lay-up drill. Spin the ball out in front of you and make sure you are set to shoot. We are going to throw a pump fake first and if the defender does not take the fake you must be ready to shoot. As the defender rises you will extended your lead league or cross step depending on your pivot foot and the position of the defender. Make sure you extend your dribble in order to create space and clear the defender in such a way that it is un-recoverable for the defender. Using what you learned in the previous drill try to get to the rim quickly using one dribble or two at the very most. You need to extended to the rim quickly before the help defense can rotate across and get into position. Finish strong with a lay-up or a dunk.

Skills - Conditioning #1 Speed Lay-ups

This drill has a mixture of aspects to it as it works on your physical conditioning, Mental conditioning, Finishing at the rim and Footwork. You will have a minute to complete this drill and you will repeat it 3 times. You need to set a chair up outside of the 3point line at a forty five degree angle to the rim. As fast as you can you will be dribbling from the rim out and around the chair, once you turn the corner you are trying to get to the basket and finish with a lay-up or a dunk by using one dribble. You are aiming to get as many lay-ups as possible and NO MISSES! 

  Make sure to focus on your footwork and that you are elevating off the correct foot. Its also a good idea to sometimes go off 2 feet so you get to work on exploding and finishing while your tiered off 2 feet. Remember this is a conditioning drill for the body and mind so stay focused and finish all the lay-ups

Skills - Footwork (Big Post Focus)

Post Play

If someone asks you describe natural attributes a post player must possess, you’d say they need to be tall and big. One so there closer to the basket, two he takes up space in the paint. Both answers would be right, but he also needs other skills to succeed as a good post player.

      With anything in life if you want something to last, you need good foundations. And with that there’s no difference between building a house or a post player. The difference between a good post player and a great one is footwork.

With any position in basketball footwork is at the top of the list. It starts with basic movements, dribbling on the move, passing the ball, making a layup without travelling and shooting footwork is at the beginning of every play in basketball.

Relevant footwork needed to learn, Front pivot, Reverse pivot, Drop step, Step through, Jump Stop and one two stop.

Drills which can help coordination and improve foot speed, Ladders and several cone drills.

Ladder sequence:

Ø  One footed hop (each box)

Ø  Two footed hop (each box)

Ø  High Knees (One foot in each box)(Drive Arms)

Ø  High Knees 2 (Concentrate you land in each box 1-2, 1-2, 1-2)(Drive Arms)

Ø  Sideways (One foot in a box at a time, shuffle across)

Ø  Sideways 2 (Two feet in box every shuffle across)

Cone Drills:

Ø  Four  Cone Drill ( Make a box with 4 different colours  5m by 5m, stand in the centre when the coach calls a colour out you sprint forward to the cone and slide back to centre or slide back to cone and sprint forward to centre. 4 reps per set  / 3 sets)

Ø  Key Shuttle (Place 4 cones on the corners of the Key. Start facing baseline, on instruction of right or left, defensive slide to top right of key. Back peddle as fast as possible to then baseline slide to middle of key turn and face baseline and wait for new instruction. 4-6 reps / 2 sets)(Keep arms up at all time, it’s the little things in drills which carry over to games)

Ø  Compass Drill (Place one cone in the middle and make a diamond around it 4m by 4m. The middle cone is numbered 1 and then the others 2,3,4,5. With hand on middle cone facing cone 5 on whistle, turn sprint to the 2 cone touch cone come back to cone 1 touching it. Then on to cone 3 and so on till cone 5. Stop watch finishes when you run past cone 5)(2 sets, S(1) 1,2,3,4,5 / S(2) 1,4,3,2,5)

Skills - Shooting #2 Close Banks

  This installment is again to do with a drill that every serious basketball players should do when they step foot on the court to go to work. After completing the Perfects drill you should go into an exercise that is going to get moving and jumping into your shot. The Perfects already warmed up the mechanics and muscle memory of the shot technique and now you need to warm up the rythem of the jump shot and to watch the ball go threw the rim a few times to get the confidence up. Shooting and basketball in general is a big confidence sport, when the confidence in your shooting goes your shots will start to suffer. Shooting takes a lot of focus and needs attention. Shooters need to remember the saying "If you question the shot don't shoot it!!!". Shoot with focus and intent.
  This drill is to help all of this. You will run through this drill twice. You need to make 10 shots from both sides so 20 makes in total.

• Starting underneath the basket dribble to the block and pivot on your inside foot. As you turn you should be gathering the ball in your hands ready to shoot.
• You need to get your feet square with the basket so your lines are all straight and the body is not twisted.
• You are aiming to bank the ball so remember to aim for the top corner of the square and you cant miss if you hit this spot. (this mite be why its a called a bank shot because its safe)
• Make sure to commit to the shot and follow through with your wrists. Part of this drill is to also see the ball go through the net to help gather your confidence and to just see the ball through knowing you can make shots.
• Gather the rebound and continue to the opposite black and repeat the process.

Remember when you are shooting you need to have a purpose so make sure you keep count of your makes and stay honest. You are only cheating yourself. Execute this drill at a decent pace so you work up a sweat and also to get your shot up to game speed. Make sure you stay on balance, controlled and get your feet squared.

Skills - Shooting #1 Perfects

This is the first installment of the shooting program and i will start for the very basics and with a drill every shooter should do when they arrive in the gym. It is also an exercise to help get the foundations of shooting correct for someone who is not the greatest shooter.
  This exercise is called "Perfects" and it works on the LINES involved in shooting along with the all important release point. The object of this drill is to get the ball to go through the net ten times without touching the rim, hence why its called Perfects.
Key points of this drill;

• Feet shoulder width apart and you should be on the balls of your feet with your heal slightly off the ground so you are ready to explode.
• Knee's need to be slightly bent and flexible so your base is stable but again ready to explode. The power all comes from your legs and hips with the arms to guide the ball. During a game when you are tiered and exhausted you rely on your legs even more so it is important to use them from the beginning and let it become habit.
• Your elbow should out in front and in line with your shoulder, and bent at a 90 degree angle.
• Your hand should be spread underneath the ball.

Now the most important part of this drill is LINES. The side with the ball needs to be all in one line and this is easily checked. For me I am right handed so I need to check that my right foot is facing forward and sits inline underneath my right knee, my elbow needs to be directly over my knee and the ball needs to be directly over my elbow resulting in a straight line.

• Finally power up through your legs extending your arm as you rise. As you reach the top of elevation your arms should reach full extension at the same time. You should drop your wrist directly forward towards the rim, and the ball should be coming out of your hand as your legs and arms hit the full extension. This is so the energy and power is coming through your legs. 
• If the everything stays in line and you drop your wrist straight the only way the ball can go is straight so then the only thing to manage is the distance the ball travels and the height.
• You want the ball to have a high arch to help give the ball a better angle to enter the rim resulting in a higher shooting percentage and much more friendly bounce when the ball does hit the rim.

You should make ten perfect shots from each spot. The left side of the rim, the right and directly in front. You need to be stood roughly 2-3 ft away from the rim and focus on the backside of the rim.

Weights

Basic Weights # 2 Core

All your power and explosiveness comes from the core. The very base of a strong foundation for weights and maintenance is having a solid core to work from. Many people over look the importance of working on the core body other than trying to look good but, the core is much more than your abs like many instantly think when they hear this word. In order to have a solid core all aspects need to worked. The main role of the core is to support the upper body, and more importantly the spinal column. If the muscles are not strong enough to support the spine sufficiently then you may well exceed the boundaries of the limited degrees of movement possible, resulting in injury to the ligaments. The body is a fine tuned machine so in order to have it working at its optimum level the body needs to be in tune and balanced. BALANCE is a big part of working out and preparing the body as unbalance will create a greater stress for another part of the body having to compensate for the weakness. This is often why people suffer from lower back pains.  

To begin this aspect of my blog i will only be giving two basic workouts to just get the body used to working on the core. One will be for the Abdominal's and the other for the Back. This will just be for a few days to help your body adjust to using these muscles. Then the exercises will evolve and begin using more areas and tougher exercises 

will begin to challenge your core.

Sit-ups

Find something to anchor down your feet such as dumbbells or even slide your feet under the sofa if you are going to do these exercises at home. Begin to do 4 sets of 30 sit-ups as this will work on strength and conditioning for the abdominals. Right now we want push your abs but we want to have some endurance so the muscles get used to worked for periods of time. take a roughly 45-60seconds rest inbetween each set to recover. DO NOT RUSH the sit-ups as the technique is more important that anything. Control the whole movements as if you just try to go threw the 30 as quick as possible not only will you not be getting the most out of the exercise but you will risk injury.

Plank

This works a mixture of both abs and the back as it involves holding the body rigid and parallel to the floor. Begin laying on your stomach and then raise on to your elbows and toes so that it looks similar to a push up. The focus of this is to keep your body straight, your shoulders, hips and ankle should all be in one straight line. It helps to keep your head in line too so your whole back and neck become involved in this exercise. Hold this position for 2minutes and repeat this 4 times. For this exercise take a 2minute rest between sets to recover and prepare. Stay strict with yourself and make sure your manage, control your body and keep the straight lines for best results.