• Home
  • About
    • About Us
    • Chris
    • Alex
    • Jen
  • Our content
    • Podcasts
    • Blog
  • Members area
    • Courses
    • Video
  • Events
    • Coach Academy
    • Basketball Immersion Camps
    • Coaching Clinics
  • Consulting
  • Contact
    • Member Login
    • Join

    Free user manual to learn more about zero second and BDT

    Get it now
    Search
    Sign in
    Get free content Join us
    • Home
    • About
      • About Us
      • Chris
      • Alex
      • Jen
    • Our content
      • Podcasts
      • Blog
    • Members area
      • Courses
      • Video
    • Events
      • Coach Academy
      • Basketball Immersion Camps
      • Coaching Clinics
    • Consulting
    • Contact
    Member login
    Home » Basketball

    Tag: Basketball

    Long-Term Vision and Coach Development in Global Basketball

    I’ve been fortunate to travel and observe numerous academies and club structures from Mini-Basket to U20’s, particularly within Europe. Especially over the last seven years,…

    Dominic Laviolette March 25, 2022
    15 Comments
    Follow us on social media
    Image
    Image
    Image
    Image
    Join our community
    Join us
    Get our free content

      view our other programs
      BDT offense immersion videos
      Constraints

      Using the Constraints Led Approach to Develop 1-on-1 Skills

      When scrolling through social media, it can sometimes appear like Static 1-on-1 is the most used action at the highest levels of basketball. Static 1-on-1…

      Alex Sarama February 10, 2022
      Follow us on social media
      Image
      Image
      Image
      Image
      Join our community
      Join us
      Get our free content

        view our other programs
        BDT offense immersion videos

        Do Players Really Need Fundamentals Before Playing Games?

        “Players Need Fundamentals Before they Can Play the Game” This Twitter thread generated a lot of engagement from coaches across multiple sports. Most of the support…

        Alex Sarama January 26, 2022
        Follow us on social media
        Image
        Image
        Image
        Image
        Join our community
        Join us
        Get our free content

          view our other programs
          BDT offense immersion videos

          Basketball Immersion Announces Landmark German Basketball Partnerships

          Basketball Immersion Announces German Basketball Partnership Basketball Immersion is delighted to announce two landmark partnerships to develop a world-leading coach education program with two German…

          Alex Sarama November 16, 2021
          50 Comments
          Follow us on social media
          Image
          Image
          Image
          Image
          Join our community
          Join us
          Get our free content

            view our other programs
            BDT offense immersion videos

            Using Bursts and Improving Time on Task

            Bursts are a teaching concept utilized to allow one or more players to remain on the floor continuously but over a shorter duration. The duration…

            Alex Sarama September 11, 2021
            Follow us on social media
            Image
            Image
            Image
            Image
            Join our community
            Join us
            Get our free content

              view our other programs
              BDT offense immersion videos

              The Value of Teaching With One-On-One Drills

              Individual development drills are great tools for learning, but one-on-one drills are better tools. The value of teaching with one-on-one drills is that your players…

              Basketball July 9, 2016
              Follow us on social media
              Image
              Image
              Image
              Image
              Join our community
              Join us
              Get our free content

                view our other programs
                BDT offense immersion videos

                Basketball Game Film Breakdown

                One of our Basketball Immersion members asked how do you break down basketball game film in the off-season? I initially started to type a response about what…

                Basketball May 10, 2016
                82 Comments
                Follow us on social media
                Image
                Image
                Image
                Image
                Join our community
                Join us
                Get our free content

                  view our other programs
                  BDT offense immersion videos

                  Preparing for a Head Coaching Position

                  Whether you are an assistant preparing to become a head coach or interested in moving to your next level as a head coach, a little…

                  Basketball April 14, 2016
                  30 Comments
                  Follow us on social media
                  Image
                  Image
                  Image
                  Image
                  Join our community
                  Join us
                  Get our free content

                    view our other programs
                    BDT offense immersion videos

                    A Practical Guide to 3-on-3 Small-Sided Games in Basketball

                    “Too often we give children answers to remember rather than problems to solve.” – Roger Lewin Small-sided games are not a new concept. My skill…

                    Basketball March 9, 2016
                    Follow us on social media
                    Image
                    Image
                    Image
                    Image
                    Join our community
                    Join us
                    Get our free content

                      view our other programs
                      BDT offense immersion videos

                      How to Handle Missed Lay-Ups as a Coach

                      QUESTION via David Fields: I coach 6th grade boys basketball. We lost 2 games by 3 points and we missed 4 or 5 lay-ups in each…

                      Basketball February 10, 2016
                      51 Comments
                      Follow us on social media
                      Image
                      Image
                      Image
                      Image
                      Join our community
                      Join us
                      Get our free content

                        view our other programs
                        BDT offense immersion videos
                        Load More

                        Categories

                        • Blog

                        Meta

                        • Log in
                        • Entries feed
                        • Comments feed
                        • WordPress.org
                        Image (5) Image
                        • Home
                        • Consulting
                        • Contact
                        • Content
                        • Podcast
                        • Blog
                        • Members area
                        • Courses
                        • Video
                        • About
                        • About Us
                        • About Chris
                        • About Alex
                        • About Jen
                        • Events
                        • Coach Academy
                        • Player Camps
                        • Coaching Clinic
                        • Home
                        • Content
                        • Podcast
                        • Blog
                        • Members area
                        • Courses
                        • Video
                        • About
                        • About Us
                        • About Chris
                        • About Alex
                        • About Jen
                        • Events
                        • Coach Academy
                        • Player Camps
                        • Coaching Clinic
                        • Consulting
                        • Contact

                        Forum Description

                        QUESTION via David Fields:

                        I coach 6th grade boys basketball. We lost 2 games by 3 points and we missed 4 or 5 lay-ups in each game. I work hard in including lay-ups in practice. We do a chase drill where a man with the basketball starts at the free-throw line and a chaser is four feet behind them. I clap my hands and they race down to the other end. We do the drill but we still miss layups in the game. How do I handle missed lay-ups?

                        ANSWER:

                        Missed lay-ups happen at all levels of basketball. The amount of missed lay-ups that happen in a game varies by skill level, age and situations but they definitely happen. Check out this description of a loss by the Houston Rockets. ESPN Lay-Ups Two missed lay-ups by highly paid professional basketball players. Missed lay-ups are a part of the game so a coach needs to know how to handle missed lay-ups. We know the problem. So what is the solution? My lay-up teaching points are:
                        • Get lower in the lane.
                        • Pick the ball up with a pop (Hand to Ball or Ball to Hand)
                        • Lift the ball from outside hip to chin to avoid swinging the ball.
                        • Initiate contact where possible. First contact creates better balance so be the first to hit, rather than be hit.
                        I want to focus on three additional concepts to help you understand how to handle missed lay-ups as a coach.

                        1. Teach Players to Follow Through with Their Eyes

                        Coaches talk about having a target when we teach shooting. Indeed there are many theories on what you should focus your eyes on when you shoot. I personally don't care which theory one of my player chooses. They can look at the front of the rim, the back of the rim or an imaginary dot in the middle of rim. Having a target is about focus. The target is a cue to concentrate. The same cue to concentrate is required to successfully make lay-ups. I want players to follow through with their eyes when they shoot a lay-up. This means that they keep their eyes on the target (backboard or basket) until the ball is released. Beyond just a concentration cue a player should keep their eyes on the target on a lay-up to keep their head up. In my observations of players at different levels it appears that lay-ups are often missed because the player's head drops prior to the release of the ball. Many times this is because the shooter is focusing on nearby defenders rather than the shot. There are many other reasons why players miss lay-ups. Some of these include:
                        • Putting too much spin on the ball.
                        • Having the ball slip out of a player's hands.
                        • Expecting contact that doesn't happen.
                        • Getting bumped or fouled with no call.
                        • Trying to be too fancy.
                        https://youtu.be/5E99-4uPj8U

                        2. Practice More Randomly

                        There is nothing wrong with the chase drill. Most competitive lay-up drills that create an offense vs. defense situations are effective in creating a situation to develop lay-up technique. I suggest you make them as game-like and realistic as possible. I watch many practices and pre-game warm-up drills where players practice lay-ups from 45 degrees to the rim only. Stereotypical lay-up lines work on lay-ups from one angle only. The other thing I observe is blocked practice drills. Repetitive lay-ups over and over again from one place on the floor.  We do two things to counter this:
                        • We make all our lay-up drills random. In this example we change the common Mikan Drill into a random and variable drill. The player will shoot the lay-up wherever the ball falls. They go up as quickly as possible and must change the release position, hand or angle on each shot.
                        https://youtu.be/n5drM5rstxM
                        • We end every individual workout and team drill we do with a lay-up or shot. The argument that players miss lay-ups because they don't practice shooting them enough is valid. So create situations where your players shoot more lay-ups. I watch many drills that never lead to the most fun part of the game...shooting!
                        https://youtu.be/h1H2J4Eo35w 3. Don't Over React I had a player once who frequently air balled their first shot in a game. She was one of the best players on my varsity girls basketball team. She went on to play college basketball. But she would get so excited before a game that she took a while to calm down. At first my reaction as a young coach was frustration. It started internally and eventually became external. Clearly that was the wrong reaction. Stress can directly affect a player's physiology by increasing the muscle tension. Tight muscles lead to impaired performance. So getting player's to relax when they play is important. Getting players to relax after they have made a mistake is even more important as mistakes and misses can multiple. Eventually I decided to just relax when my player missed her first shot. If she missed I started to tell her, "OK, now we can start the game." The less attention we paid to it the more we relaxed into the whole situation. Eventually she even started to relax more.

                        The End Result is That Players Will Miss Lay-Ups

                        No matter what we do as coaches, and how much players practice, they will miss lay-ups. The goal for a coach is to not overreact, simulate game conditions when practicing lay-ups and focus on techniques and cues that will help player's to improve their success rate.

                        Want to create layup opportunities for your players?

                        Run these plays that work. Remember lob plays become layup plays for players that cannot attack with a lob pass. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPQBF5Y2DzY&t=8s