Best Youth Hoops

Let’s get the players ready for the season.

Turnovers a huge deal in all basketball levels.

It destroys possessions and can leave a player demoralized.

But, it happens to every player.

You can’t eliminate turnovers, but you can strive to cut down on them.

Here’s how:

* Practice dribbling as much as you can, even before shooting.
Also, you can attend events to cram several hours in,to one day.

* Keep your head while dribbling.  This way you can see the defenders and your court positioning.

* Catch the ball with 2 hands while providing target for the passer

* Pass directly to the target.

* Use more Jump Stops at the end of dribbling to have better control

* Avoid dribbling into traffic.

If you can do any of the above, this will help your team more possession with greater scoring opportunities.

The top 2 questions I am asked by parents regarding basketballs are: 1) What size should I get? 2) What type of ball? Both are great questions.  Today, we will focus on the latter inquiry. It depends on a few factors. * Your player’s age * If your child will use the ball indoors and outdoors. * How serious they are about playing long term. Boys will tend to use more basketballs than girls because there are 3 different popular sizes if they start at a young age.  Think starting at 6 years of age.  He could go through a 27.5 ball from 6-7 years old.  A 28.5 from 8-11 or 12, then a 29.5 (also known as an official size ball) Girls, on the other hand, will go through 2 basketballs (27.5  & 28.5) most of the time.  Once they get to the 28.5 ball, there is no other size for girls.  They can use this size ball forever. Hope this gives you some insight to what size to use.

Persistence is one of the most valuable and necessary virtues of the successful.

You will hit times of difficulty, opposition and failure and the only way to conquer this is to persist

This is how you develop confidence.

Being more confident doesn’t mean you never fail.

In fact, there are plenty of ways to be confident even in the process of failing.

Being confident means that if you do fail, you can pick yourself back up

and try again instead of throwing in the towel.
 

The way to develop this is via consistent practice.  It only takes a few minutes per day.

Or a few hours of concentrated practice.

When ready, check out the events below:
https://www.bestyouthhoops.com/upcoming-events/

“Get the fundamentals down and the level of everything you do will rise” – Michael Jordan

Think about your player reaching a point where basketball is more of a chore than a game.  Usually, this is near the point of quitting the sport.

He or she sees and believes they can’t take the next step by comparing themselves to other players.

Why do they quit?  

The most common answer is because it is no longer fun.  70% of children are dropping out of organized sports by the age of 13

Here’s what we do to make it fun….

1) Have shorter drills.  Try for 5-10 minutes.

2) Celebrate the small wins i.e, make a basket, dribble without losing the ball, make a good pass, etc.

3) Reinforce what went right and they can do it again.

4) Make the drills competitive.  

5) Name a famous player, and tell them they also make mistakes.

Let’s go create some fun.

Here’s to your player’s breakthrough.

The game is coming to you.

When ready, check out the events below:
https://www.bestyouthhoops.com/upcoming-events/

Does your player panic when trapped?

How many times do you see “jump balls” during a game?

Most youth players get into a curled position to protect the bal
Protecting the ball is OK as long as you are able to do something with it.

Here are 3 things your child can do to avoid turning over the ball.

1.)  Keep their heads up at all times.

2). Move the ball quicker to a teammate.

3) Continue their dribble while stepping back.

Number 3 is a technique not used by youth players.  It takes practice and court awareness.

But…… it keeps the game flowing and allows for a fast break for the offense.

This drill is taught at our Summer Camps, Spring Break Camp, and Saturday Workouts.

Take a look to see how this will work for you by clicking the above links.

How many games have you attended where both teams score under 30 points? 25 points? 20 points?

I saw a game where the score was a combined 6 points in the 4th quarter.

There are lots of reasons for this which ball handling is a major culprit, buy I also saw missed shots within 5 feet of the basketball which weren’t close to the basket or the square above the rim.

The EASIEST shot in youth basketball is often the most missed.

Most teams should score almost 30 points a game by making less than 40% which is considered woeful for layups

Today, you and your player can view a great layup video demonstrated by a young player.

Want to make more layups?

Looking for a way for your child to make more EASY Shots?

Take advantage of the opportunities by Clicking Here

In the video below, Joe Haefner explains how your player can make more layups and protect the ball at the same time.

Enjoy!

We teach this technique at the camps and clicks.
Click Here for the Upcoming Events and Save on the Early Bird Specials.

Just finished our 19th Saturday workout since April.  We run these 2 hour sessions once a week for 8 months until the gym is rented for their annual basketball league.

So, from April to December we are getting players ready for the season, developing their skills, and taking them to a new level.

The players have 35 weeks to complete the entire training.  They can purchase 5, 10, and 15 week packages.  Most re-up for additional weeks as the workouts are valuable for their development.

The groups start the session with warmups and ballhandling drills.  We use this drill to get them ready for the workouts. Many newer and younger players have difficulties completing this, but it gives them a start.

The players are broken down into 3 groups: beginning, intermediate, and advanced.

An explanation of each is Here.

We always start the workouts with ballhandling drills.  All group start with moving ballhandling drills because the stationary drills were done during warmups.

Changes have been made to the workouts as we want shorter drills with higher intensity, especially repeat drills.  New drills take longer as the players are encouraged to go slow at first, then pick up speed as they go through reps.

With higher intensity drills over a short period of time, players tend to have greater focus on the drills.

It also keeps the coaches on their toes.

Players are assessed and given weekly assignments to complete before the next session.  The workouts are flexible to meet the demands of homework, vacations, injuries, etc.  If a player misses a workout, he will not fall behind as videos are posted to Instagram and Facebook.  During Summer camps, we experimented with Instagram Live.

You can tell when a player has worked on his game.  Their handles are smoother and the drills are less complicated.

We tell them to not let 6 days pass by without working out.  All it really takes is a concentrated effort one thing.

Time to go and watch more videos and get ready for the next session.

Coaches, this is an area you have fast learning, repeat customers and a great source of new customers.

Our final summer camp was today.   Yes, it does take lots of energy to run camps all summer.

We ran 5 camps this summer, each for 4 days (Mon-Thurs) from 9am to 3pm.

A total of 198 players participated in the camps, averaging 39.6 players per camp.

For our gym size, that’s quite a number.

Great opportunity to engage your community during the summer; this will allow you to provide value the entire year.

A typical runs similar to the information below:

9:00am Welcome & check-in

9:05am Warm-up Drills & stretch, Introduce Skill of the Day (SOD)

9:30am Separate into groups. Station drill work & skill development

11:00am Contests, possible scrimmages

12:00pm Lunch

12:35pm Warmup and stretch

1:00pm Resume skill development workouts

2:10pm Small-sided scrimmages

3:00pm Dismiss & check-out, parent pickup

These camps are great for college and high school kids looking for summer work, especially those who want careers working with children.  We have had former college, high school, AAU players coach at the camps.

The camps are skill development events only.  No flashy street ball dribbling.  No exotic drills design to only provide a “WOW” factor.  Just straight fundamental basketball.

Don’t make the mistake of thinking this is boring.  There are ways to make the drills exciting.  What works for us is to make each drill COMPETITIVE!.

Competition brings out the best in all of us.

The players are more serious about the drills and they give better efforts.

Let me backtrack a bit.

We have a 1:10 coach to player ratio.  With 40 players, we will have at least 4 coaches.

The players are broken down by age group first, then by ability.  Some younger players move up to higher age groups because their playing level is above the age group of the attendees.

There are various contest between each group.  Rims are adjusted according to the age group.  The players in each group work as a team.  The group is told they are not competing against other groups, but with themselves.  For instance, if a group scores 20 layups in 60 seconds, they must be their own score, not another group’s score.

But don’t think for a moment the younger groups aren’t trying to beat the older group’s score.

This helps the players who aren’t as competitive as well.  My experience is they still put a better effort than they normally would.

Both boys and girls attend the same camps.  We mix the boys and girls together.  We want them to learn the value of competing with each other at an early age.  The real world is made of men and women competing for jobs.

Players are allowed to make mistakes and taught how to correct them.

The drills are designed to build confidence, then challenge the players beyond their comfort level.

Players cheer for their teammates through the drills.

We strive to make this a memorable event.

 

 

It is time to take the bull by the horns.

Are schools worth your time?

It depends on the numbers.  As with all events, clinics, camps, classes, etc.  there is no definitive answer.

You may have only 5 kids register, but then again you may get 40 students.  My experience has run the gamut of students registered.  25-30 is the norm.

Starting off with low numbers is not always a negative.  Sometimes, it take schools a couple of seasons to build momentum.  When it does a good number for these schools is 15-20 students.

Most of the elementary school registered kids tend to be in the lower grades, K-2.  This is a good base to work from as you can in your program for a few years.

Overall, it has been worth the effort .  This involves running the numbers.  Don’t get discourage by low enrollment when the next school could provide you with great numbers.

All classes run for 1 hour.  The students come to the gym at dismissal and work out for 1 hour.  The parents pick up at the gym and are happy to see their kids having a great time.

Here’s how we get started

( Your experience may differ depending on where you live):

• We research to find who is the contact person for a particular school for After School Activities.  This could be the PTA, Principal, office staff or teacher.  In my area, the PTA runs the programs.
• For this post, I am going to assume the PTA is the organization in charge.  Every July, we contact every school’s PTA via email from the school’s website telling them about our program and provide them with a list of schools we have served.
• Why July?  This gives the new incoming PTA a chance to review and propose our program to the entire board.
• Most websites only provide the email addresses and not the phone numbers.  Our district has over 100 schools to contact.

One of the great things about having the PTA sponsor your program is the gym space is FREE.  We fill out paperwork to abide by the county regulations which entails a insurance policy, and background check for each coach.

For insurance purposes, we use the company, Westpointe Insurance, out of Chicago.

They will go over all your policy needs which provides one year of coverage.

Let me backtrack a bit and mention we offer our services to elementary schools.  We haven’t had much success in connecting with middle schools.  Why waste energy on non productive entities?  Down the road, middle schools may still prove to be a viable market.

Keys to growing your business with the schools

• You have a eager and receptive market.
• You can have multiple sessions, i.e Fall, Winter, Spring each for 6-8 weeks.
• Lower expenses.
• Good way to introduce basketball to younger kids.
• Hand out flyer to students and/or parents about future events.
• More customers added to your database.  You can email them tips, ideas, videos, event info, etc.
• This is a good way to jump start your business.

Above all, make it fun, maintain order, and teach them something!