Learning Basketball
“Learning to play” basketball means two things.
The first aspect is the individual skill development; i.e. dribbling and shooting the basketball well. Resources and direction for proper skill development are what we offer at Aim High Hoops. Our skill clinics, training videos, and Pure Shooter’s Report Card help players learn which skills are necessary, as well as proven methods for maximizing those needed skills.
The second part of learning to play is playing. Players need to be on the court, in game situations, trying things out and learning from mistakes. Playing doesn’t always have to involve an organized 5-on-5 game with coaches and referees. In fact, when the players call fouls and it is a situation of either win or sit for an hour (no coach to make substitutions), players develop a toughness and hunger to win.
One without the other is insufficient.
Players who spend all day in the gym working on their dribbling and shooting, but don’t get involved with competitive games in the off-season will be behind during the season. Why? Because in games is where a dribbler learns to find seams in the defense to penetrate, and in games is where a shooter learns how to use a screen against a defender that trails, or cheats the screen, and it is in games when a scorer learns to use head fakes and draw real fouls for three-point plays.
Players who just play games all day will no doubt develop good instincts for the game, but without proper dribbling and shot development, these players can be pressured into dribbling mistakes and left open to shoot a shot they are uncomfortable with during clutch moments of games.
During an NBA Summer League game, the announcers commented on #1 draft pick John Wall. They hit on both parts of the two-part process of learning to play basketball. First, they said Wall needed to continue working on his jump shot (skill development). After a dribble spin move that finished with Wall’s lay-up attempt getting blocked off the backboard, they said that Wall would have to use the summer league to start getting used to the speed and athleticism of the NBA (playing).
A few possessions later Wall floated a lay-up off the backboard and got fouled for a three-point play attempt. It looks like he’s learning quickly!
Billy Lewis & Jonathan Schneiderman
Aim High Hoops, Inc.