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Next Generation Skill Development

By Aim High Hoops

In what may end up being our official slogan, “Next Generation Skill Development” embodies what Aim High Hoops is all about.  Giving players resources to “develop” their skills over time is our goal.  We are working to create an organizational framework where players can return to us on a constant basis and always find something to help them improve their games.

One of our main features will be the basketball training videos, where we focus on all aspects of individual improvement for players of all skill levels.  In the first year of Aim High Hoops, we are looking to produce training videos for the mechanics of shooting and then for ball-handling. 

The website will constantly be updated with blog postings, featuring insight from established basketball players and coaches, who will be talking about their ideas on basketball skill development among other topics.

Players will have the opportunity to connect on a personal level with Aim High Hoops, in ways not currently available within the industry.  Personalized skill assessment tools will be followed up by a personalized training plan. 

For the past five years, each of us has been involved in influencing the “next generation”, as classroom teachers and coaches. We understand how students learn and want to use what we know to make players’ experience with Aim High Hoops as beneficial as possible. 

We are also constantly studying the trends within the game.  Players are always doing new and more impressive things on the basketball court, and in doing so, creating new challenges to which the next generation can aspire.  I am not talking about trying to duplicate a great play, like Michael Jordan switching the ball from right to left hand in mid-air.  That is not something players should be practicing in hopes of using it in a game situation.  Rather, I am talking about things like Jordan’s fade away jump shot from the post.  That is a weapon he used constantly and made it look easy doing so.  How many guards shot that shot before MJ? How many more shoot it now?  One of my college teammates, a 6’2” “center”, mastered the fade away so he could score against bigger defenders, and did it so well he won conference player of the year as a senior. 

Our purpose at Aim High Hoops is to help the next generation of players develop well-rounded skill sets, including a strong foundation in the fundamentals as well as an array of offensive weapons to help themselves and their teams reach maximum potential.

It’s going to be an exciting ride!

Billy Lewis & Jonathan Schneiderman

Aim High Hoops, Inc.

Going one-on-one with Aim High Hoops

By Aim High Hoops

No two basketball players are exactly the same.  Every player has individual, defining characteristics of how he or she shoots, dribbles, passes, competes, wins, loses, practices, etc. 

At Aim High Hoops, we embrace the fact that every basketball player’s game is unique.  In addition to producing instructional videos for shooting and dribbling, we also will be offering individualized shooting instruction beginning this spring.  We want to help players understand the strengths and weaknesses of their jump shot, by providing a personalized assessment of the player’s shot and recommendations for improvement. 

We offer this to players of any level.  Think of it like building a house.  If you need help laying that first brick, we’re there for you. If you have the foundation (playing experience) built but need some of the smaller details addressed, we can do that too.

The personalized feedback idea comes from our experiences as classroom teachers.  Students learn in their own ways, no matter the subject.  Sometimes, the advice that teachers give clicks better with some students than others.  The first thing I suggest to students who want extra support to help their learning is one-on-one work, either with a tutor or myself. The result of the personalized attention is usually a better understanding of the material, because it can be explained in a way best suited for the student.

What we asked ourselves was, why not apply the successful teaching method of individualized instruction to basketball skill development?  We couldn’t find a good answer to that question, so we pursued ideas to make it happen.  There is nothing new about individualized basketball instruction, unless you are talking about reaching out regionally and nationally to players in their own backyards.

Our goal is to get the Aim High Hoops name out into the national marketplace.  There is some national competition out there for instructional videos, don’t get me wrong, but once you buy a video from most of those companies there isn’t much opportunity for follow-up.  I think about when I first tried to teach myself piano.  The instructional books I bought were well-organized and fairly easy to understand, but the learning was slow.  It wasn’t until I worked with a piano teacher one-on-one that the music concepts really became clear, and the result was that my learning really accelerated. 

We are confident that our instructional videos will help your understanding of shooting and dribbling, but we hope we can provide more than that to you. We are excited about the idea of bringing our teaching ideas and applying them to your individual game to help you become the best player you can be.

Keep checking back!

Billy Lewis & Jonathan Schneiderman

Aim High Hoops, Inc.

Division I vs. Division III

By Aim High Hoops

“Division III players can shoot!” I remember that very clearly from my college coach, Bill Lavery, during my freshman season (1999-2000) at Rockford College.  I can’t remember the context but I have always remembered the quote and thought about it over the years.  It is not to say that Division I and Division II players cannot shoot; they certainly can!

What I have concluded from that simple quote is that what often times, but not always, separates Division III from Division I talent is athleticism, not skills. A Division I program is much more likely to recruit a great athlete whose jump shot needs development rather than a pure shooter whose quickness and jumping ability will never be up to that level.  Think about it.  If a player can shoot but will always be slower than he or she needs to be, he or she will never get open against great athletes.  A great athlete, however, can learn to improve his or her shooting at the Division I level in order to supplement the athleticism and compete on that stage.

If you compare my career shooting statistics to Division I players, they rank right up there with some of the best: 40% 3-point shooting and 84% from the free throw line are things I am proud of.  I played in over 100 college games to get those numbers and went against tough defenses. 

So why didn’t I play Division I?

Well, I suppose if I was completely set on it I might have been able to walk on at a lower level program, but if you want to know why Rick Pitino never called, I’ll try to get career dunk number 9 for you on film!  I was a good enough athlete to get shots in my games, but I’m not sure how many open looks I could get against someone like Kentucky’s Eric Bledsoe defending me!

The truth is, there are so many good players at EVERY college level these days. Stats may argue that shooting talent has deteriorated over the years, but that could have to do with the sophistication of defenses combined with better athlete’s in today’s game.  Scoring has become more difficult.  However, Coach Lavery was and still is right: Division III players can shoot!