No. 5 – Isolating/Controlling Footwork:
Learning the different movements or non-movements with our feet can make a tremendous difference when attacking the basket, shooting, and or changing direction.
Players have small habits that occur with their feet during movement. In most cases these movements, sometimes unneccessary, are made in order to “re-sync” their dribble with the footwork they are most comfortable with – especially when finishing.
No. 4 – Understanding Space:
Understanding the movement players make to either create space or maintain space can be the difference between getting a shot blocked or not. Many players don’t have a real good understanding of space when it comes to ball-handling and how each can affect your shot selection.
No. 3 – Active Off-hand:
Regardless of popular opinion, basketball is a contact sport. More and more defenders are playing with their hands or “arm-bar” on defenders. Players should be training to keep off-hand active while handling the ball. Not only when defenders reach, but also when defense engages in contact. Players should be training to engage and/or seek contact while in-game.
No. 2 – Different Finishes:
Dribble step finish or first step finish – Do you know the difference? Do you know why one may be used opposed to the other?
We’ve all seen players miss layups but outside of “C’mon, you’ve gotta make those!”, how many players have really worked on layups or finishes? Or better yet which finish would be more appropriate based on what the defense gives you.
No. 1 – Stops:
There are over two dozen ways to come to a stop in the game. Have you been trained to stop? Players tend to struggle when trying to come to a stop in game. More times than not, players will slow down before coming to a stop which is very telling to the defender.
