Sacred Hoops » youth basketball coaching

Basic Basketball Speed and Agility Training

Paul John Rivera — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 12:22:35 +0000

New Orleans Point Guard Chris Paul and Boston Celtics’ Rajon Rondo are arguably the two best point guards not only in the NBA but in the whole Basketball World. Both of them can manipulate and dominate the game if they want to and their most visible asset is their speed and agility. Using their superb speed and agility, they can pass by defenders easily to create scoring opportunities for themelves and their teammates.

This just proves that Speed and Agility is one of the most essential characteristics that a basketball players should try to improve. There are lots of basketball training drills that can improve a players’ speed and agility.

Speed is the players ability to perform a high-velocity movement while agility is the player’s ability to do explosive steps, change direction and accelerate again.

Yes, some of the speedy players obtained that skills because they have that natural talent since they were born, but if you want to improve your speed and agility, you can work on it by doing some basketball speed and agility training drills.

One of the most common speed training drill is the “Basic Sprint”. This drill will help improve a player’s reaction time, maximum acceleration, and decelaration. The basic sprint drill can be performed by running uphill and downhill repeatedly. Uphill running helps develop the hip’s flexibilty while the downhill sprints improves muscles coordination.

Agility Training Drills should have a high degree of muscle coordination and movement quality. Most sports team uses the Linear training but it’s more of a speed training. One of the most common agility drills is the use of basketball cones. The cones are placed 1 meters apart and a player should weave through those cones as fast as they can.

“Follow the Leader” drill is also a recommended agilty drill. This one is performed in a spacious area and with a training partner. Your partner should run as fast as he can in different directions and your jon is to shadow him. This will improve a player’s reaction and speed endurance.

These speed and agility training drills can definitely improve a player’s skill but the real improvement will be achieve if it will be done properly and wit a lot of dedication.

Can They Rise Up and Dunk?

Paul John Rivera — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 19:04:07 +0000

Boston Celtics guard Nate Robinson, Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic, Jason Richardson of the Phoenix, Dwyane Wade and Lebron James of the Miami… All of these NBA Stars have one thing in common. Yes they are all famous but what made them more exciting to watch are their breathtaking and jaw-dropping dunks.

We can safely say that Basketball Players always look to dunk the ball. But most of the young and budding players doesn’t have the gift of having a high vertical leap. And if you are one of the players who are not capable of dunking, don’t lose hope because someday, you might be able to do so by having a proper training.

Like the seven basketball high school players that will be partipating in the “Can He Dunk?” challenge that was launched by ESPN Rise and Stronger Team. The seven lucky participants are not capable of dunking the ball but they will undergo a 10-week rigorous training program to help them improve their vertical leap.

This project aims to give inspiration to all the young players out there and also to dislodge all the claims of fraud trainers who are offering to improve a players vertical jump in just two weeks. All the seven participating players’ progress will be tracked by having a dunk attemp every two weeks. But the program doesn’t give any guarantee that all or even of them will be able to dunk. It just aims to show real players attaining results from proper trainings.

The seven players will be having different workouts based on their individual weaknesses.

This program will be very helpful to all young players and coaches and trainers as well. The Can He Dunk? Challenge is very informative program that you should never miss.

How To Play Win Win Basketball And In Life

epangburn — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 14:54:17 +0000

Anyone who has ever watched a basketball game on TV or live knows fully well that the game is an intense and highly competitive one, with players vying for the chance to dominate the court with the goal of victory for their team. You only have to watch a single game in order to be aware of the pervasive “win at all costs” mentality that seems to drive every basketball player.

The all or nothing approach to playing basketball is just as apparent in the slick and glossy marketing campaigns that so many sports and fitness companies adopt, with their emphasis on playing to the best of your abilities in order to bring about the humiliating defeat of the other team.

Unfortunately, these goals have become an increasingly prominent aspect of the game of basketball, and indeed of many other major league sports. This way of thinking becomes even more disturbing when you realize that so many players focus on delivering their all without regard to the other players in their own team. An air of selfishness and self-serving ambition seems to drive the sports world nowadays, and it is doubtful that sports in general is better for it.

In the face of all this, it may be worthwhile to consider another approach to playing basketball, one that involves thinking beyond one’s own self. We are talking about the win-win approach to playing basketball, and it may well be a concept that is alien to some of today’s more driven and aggressive players.

Playing with the win-win mentality does not involve considering the goals and feelings of the other team. Basketball is still a competitive sport after all, with one of the main goals being to win. The win-win approach does however take into consideration the other players in your own team, and how you can play in a manner that best benefits your team as a whole. This may involve anything from passing the ball to well-positioned players more often, or helping a teammate out by blocking or screening him or her from an opponent. Regardless of how this mentality is manifested, the key is to play the game not for personal gain or glory, but rather in a way that will best help the team achieve its goal of winning, and at the same time in manner that is considerate to everyone else on the team.

Don’t get us wrong; we are not advocating a meek and humble approach to playing basketball. That would be just as detrimental to a team’s efforts as playing too aggressively with no regard for anyone else. What we are suggesting however is that there is a way to play the game that takes the focus away from the achievements and goals of the individual player, and places it instead on the greater good. The phrase “being a team player” is the key to the win-win mentality, and if every player on the team adopts it, everyone will be all the better for it.

An Overview Of ASEP’s Curriculum For Sports Officials And Administrators

epangburn — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 17:00:19 +0000

An Overview Of ASEP’s Curriculum For Sports Officials And Administrators

This is an overview of the various courses and programs that ASEP has made available for use by sports officials and administrators of youth sports organizations. Details of each specific program are given below.

Volunteer Officials Education Program

ASEP is currently developing a program that will address specific needs of youth sport officials. If you are interested in taking these courses, check the web site of ASEP regularly for updates on this program’s development.

Professional Officials Education Program

This ASEP program has been developed in tandem with the National Federation of State High School Associations or NFHS. Called the NFHS Officials Education Program, it aims to provide sports officials with high-quality instruction that is delivered completely online for maximum possible convenience.

One of the officials courses of the ASEP in the Bronze level is the NFHS Officiating Principles and Officiating Sport Methods course. These are initially available for basketball, baseball, soccer, football, wrestling, and softball, with more sports expected to be added in the future. All of these courses will be available online.

Sports officials who manage to successfully complete both the Officiating [Sport] Methods course and the NFHS Officiating Principles course for their particular sport will be awarded the ASEP Professional Official designation.

Administrators

ASEP has put together an extensive collection of sports related resources that are tremendously useful for sports administrators of all types of youth level sports programs all over the country. These programs have been specifically designed to help sports administrators stay organized and better able to continue their professional development. One of the latest e-courses offered by ASEP is the Directing Youth Sports Program, which has been developed to address the needs of park and recreation sports directors and youth sport administrators. The program is comprised of more than 50 customizable forms, checklists, and practice exercises, all of which are available for download. In addition, a Sport Event Planner is also included, which is an invaluable tool for the planning of youth sport contests. Some of the other resources offered by ASEP are Organizing Successful Tournaments, More Fantastic Fundraisers for Sport and Recreation, and Risk Management in Sport and Recreation.

An Overview Of ASEP’s Curriculum For Coaches

epangburn — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 20:23:50 +0000

An Overview Of ASEP’s Curriculum For Coaches

Volunteer Education Program

The ASEP Volunteer Education Program aims to provide beginning and intermediate education for volunteer coaches who teach athletes that are 13 years old or younger, as well as offer courses and resources for parents, sports officials, and administrators that work with athletes of this age group. This program is meant to be used in various youth sport programs such as Little League Baseball, YMCA, Boys and Girls Clubs, junior high school sports programs, military sports teams, and local sport organizations.

Professional Education Program

This ASEP Program has been developed to offer comprehensive courses and resources for users that want to serve as coaches, sports officials or administrators in high schools, colleges, universities, the Olympics, and competitive sports programs for athletes that are 14 years old and older. The program is comprised of three levels: Bronze, Silver, and Gold.

Bronze Level

The Bronze Level of the program provides a three-course credentials program for coaches of athletes that are 14 years old and above. This level includes the Principles of Coaching, First Aid, and Technical and Tactical Skills. Coaches that manage to successfully complete these courses will receive the Bronze Level credential.

The Bronze Level certification is recommended by 35 state high school sports organizations, 200 colleges and universities, and 13 national governing bodies from all over the country. This level will give coaches the training needed to enhance their on-field experience and development.

The Coaching Principles and Sport First Aid courses are taught either as online courses or in a classroom setting by certified instructors. The classroom version of Coaching Principles is comprised of an eight-hour instruction session, a self-study of the course material in the Successful Coaching, Third Edition book, and a test. The classroom version of the Sport First Aid course is basically the same format, except that the classroom instruction is a four-hour course.

Silver Level

The next step for coaches who have managed to successfully complete the Bronze Level and are interested in continuing their professional development is the Silver Level course offered by ASEP. This level is comprised of advanced courses–all of which are provided online–that deal with specific tactics and techniques that are based on the most up to date methods of coaches, advanced sports science, and courses in the physiology of sports, sports psychology, sports mechanics, and sports skill instruction. These courses are still currently being developed, and will be released in time for the completion of the Bronze Level technical and tactical skills course.

Gold Level

After the bronze and Silver level comes the Gold Level courses of ASEP, which will carry on the instruction of coaches in sports science and offer advanced methods in conditioning and instruction that are specific to each sport. In addition, advanced instruction in sports nutrition, management of risk, and coaching social issues will be given. If you are interested in taking the Bronze, Silver, and Gold Level technical and tactical skills courses, check the ASEP web site regularly for their availability.

An Overview of ASEP | Youth Basketball Coaching | American Sports Eductiona Program

epangburn — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 04:19:20 +0000

An Overview of ASEP

One of the organizations at the forefront youth basketball coaching in the United States is the American Sport Education Program or ASEP. The program has been tackling the issue of how coaches should be trained ever since it was established in 1981. In line with its goals to implement and develop education courses that are geared towards youth basketball coaching, ASEP has put to use its resources and materials to educate well over one million coaches, game officials, basketball administrators, and parents for more than 20 years.

On the ASEP web site, which can be found at www.asep.com, you can view a list of all the program courses, purchase online versions of these courses, and learn more about other aspects of the program that are geared towards the needs of basketball coaches all over the country. These features can be found at the Curricula and Courses section of the web site.

Basketball coaches and game officials who manage to complete the ASEP courses will be listed on the National Coaches and Officials Registries of the program. This makes it easy for sports administrators to check on the qualifications of coaches and game officials online. Furthermore, these coaches and officials can also use these registries to brush up on their personal course history as well as to print transcripts of their records.

The web site of ASEP is clearly laid out, with a helpful navigation menu that allows any basketball coach, game official, administrator, or parent to find specific product information according to their needs. After you have purchased a course, you can then browse to your home page in order to access your course, take tests, or see your transcript.

Course instructors who are interested in Coaching Principles or Sport First Aid can access the Instructors’ Home Page, where they can purchase course packets, submit reports, and post scheduled courses on the course calendar.

Aside from these courses, ASEP also publishes a variety of instructional materials, among them books, videos, CD-ROMs, and DVDs that are intended for basketball coaches, game officials, administrators, and parents. You will be able to find a complete listing of these resources on the ASEP store, where materials produced by the parent organization of ASEP, Human Kinetics, are also available.