A Coach's Diary

DJ Sackmann is one of the rising basketball trainers in the world.  He does a really good job of breaking down moves to the smallest parts and building them back up so that they are easier to learn and so that you can use them in games. This video is a great example of how he breaks down and teaches the ' Bradley Beal Hip Swivel .'  Did such a good job that former Indiana head coach Tom Creane was taking notes.

I was watching some of the Team USA Select basketball practice, and came upon three different non-contact drills that I will implement to our practices this next school year.   The first drill is where they are working on the habit pass.  The habit pass is when a ball-handler drives baseline, the guard on the backside needs to float to the corner to create a passing outlet for him.  Here they drive baseline, and the guard floats to the corner for the habit pass.  After the ball-handler makes the pass, he cuts to the three-point line and receives a pass from the coach for a catch and shoot opportunity. You can remix the drill several ways by allowing both ball-handlers to catch and drive for a lay-up, pull-up, floater, or whatever finishing move you would like. Below is a simple ball-screen drill that I saw.  One change I will make is that I will not have coaches setting the ball screen, but have other players setting the screen. Finally, her...