Here is the preview of the video included in this months Elite Skills Membership. Bonus video coming soon!
Posts Tagged ‘basketball skills training’
Elite Skills Membership Video
Saturday, January 30th, 2010
Illinois Select Workout, by Mike Lee
Friday, January 29th, 2010Last night I had the pleasure of working out the 14U Illinois Select boys team in Rolling Meadows, IL. We had a great 1.5 hour workout. The kids worked extremely hard and I could see in their eyes the passion that some of them had for the game. Ray Glassman, the director of Illinois Select, is doing things the right way. He would jump in some of the drills and offer teaching points, which were right on point. Simple teaching points like “Play the Ball. See Your Man” Simple and short. The Coach Eastman way! If you get a chance to play for him and do not take advantage of it you will be missing out on a great opportunity!
Ray is also running the President’s Day Hoop Prospects showcase at the Lake Barrington Fieldhouse. For more information check out the website here. I will be running the skills sessions along with 3 Time NBA World Champion, Dickey Simpkings. Where do you rank? Come find out!
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The founder of Mike Lee Basketball Services (formerly Playmakers Basketball), Mike is known throughout the country for individual player skill development. He has been a speaker at several events and has also recently authored several instructional workout DVDs, which will be released over the next year. Titles out right now include, 25 Killer Scoring Moves, Secrets of Unstoppable Guard Play and Secrets of Unstoppable Shooting. Since 2006 Mike Lee Basketball has trained over 5,000 boys and girls through their skill development programs. Dozens of players that Mike has worked with have gone on to play collegiate basketball, some at the NCAA DI level. In addition to his own basketball services, Mike is a Nike Girls Skills Trainer and a member of the Nike sponsored, Ganon Baker Basketball.
From 2001-2006, Mike participated as a player and assistant coach at the University of Wisconsin-Stout. During the fall of 2006 he was awarded a scholarship to attend the Coach K and Duke University Leadership Conference in Durham, NC. In December of 2006 he graduated from the University of Wiconsin-Stout with a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology and a self-planned concentration in Basketball Entrepreneurship.
Check Out More Videos, Add me as a friend on Facebook or Get Updates on Twitter!
http://www.youtube.com/mikeleebasketball
Can You Beat Me Skills Contest
Friday, January 22nd, 2010454NJUZYPVME
We will be holding a monthly skills contest with prizes such as FREE DVDs, subscriptions to our Elite Skills Membership Program, NIKE apparel and more. Coaches and parents: This is a great opportunity to get your kids excited about skill development! Check out the video below for our first contest: 2 Ball Skips in 30 Seconds. Can you Beat Me?! If you beat my score you need to film it and upload a video response on our YouTube page here. Good luck!
Innovative Basketball Training: Jay Wolf’s Shooting Strap
Tuesday, January 12th, 2010If you are involved in basketball at any age you probably know that teaching players how to shoot the basketball is one of the hardest skills to teach. It requires the player to have knowledge of the shooting mechanics and, most of the time, someone there to observe them to make sure they are performing the correct mechanics. A major problem with players of almost all ages is that they “thumb” the basketball with their guide hand, usually causing side spin or a left/right miss.
Since shooting is so detailed, specific and personal to each player it obviously requires a lot of self-awareness to correct your own shot or teach yourself to shoot with proper mechanics. Jay Wolf, of New Richmond, WI has essentially cut out half of the learning process for shooting the basketball with his shooting strap. I have used it with several players that I train and recommend it at all of our shooting camps (I’ve probably sold you at least 50 of these Coach!). I truly believe like 2 ball drills, Micah Lancaster’s medicine ball workouts, and tennis ball drills, this is truly one of the most innovative basketball training tools that I have ever seen.
With this being said there are still no secrets to the success of shooting the ball. Even with Coach Wolf’s strap you still need to shoot close to 20,000 shots, with correct form, before you are going to be comfortable going at game speed. I started working with a player yesterday who drastically used his guide hand to thumb the basketball. After 1 hour and 600 shots he was already making tremendous improvement using the strap, but he understands that it takes PATIENCE and PERSISTENCE to reach your goals at anything. Will 20,000 shots takes a lot of time? Depends on how good you want to be. 500 shots a day, 5 days a week for 2 months and you have knocked out 20,000. You can get up about 500 shots in an hour if you have a rebounder or the Gun. All I know is that playing the game is a lot more fun when you can shoot the ball!
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The founder of Mike Lee Basketball Services (formerly Playmakers Basketball), Mike is known throughout the country for individual player skill development. He has been a speaker at several events and has also recently authored several instructional workout DVDs, which will be released over the next year. Titles out right now include, 25 Killer Scoring Moves, Secrets of Unstoppable Guard Play and Secrets of Unstoppable Shooting. Since 2006 Mike Lee Basketball has trained over 3,600 boys and girls through their skill development programs. Dozens of players that Mike has worked with have gone on to play collegiate basketball, some at the NCAA DI level. In addition to his own basketball services, Mike is a Nike Girls Skills Trainer and a member of the Nike sponsored, Ganon Baker Basketball.
From 2001-2006, Mike participated as a player and assistant coach at the University of Wisconsin-Stout. During the fall of 2006 he was awarded a scholarship to attend the Coach K and Duke University Leadership Conference in Durham, NC. In December of 2006 he graduated from the University of Wiconsin-Stout with a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology and a self-planned concentration in Basketball Entrepreneurship.
Check Out More Videos, Add me as a friend on Facebook or Get Updates on Twitter!
http://www.youtube.com/mikeleebasketball
Self Made Players, by Luke Meier
Monday, January 11th, 2010You often hear Coaches or T.V. announcers refer to players as “self made.” How else are players made? Coaches and trainers can provide all the tools for players to improve, but it is up to the player to put in the time and effort.
The book “When the Game was Ours” by Jackie MacMullen tells about the lives of Magic Johnson and Larry Bird and their relationship with one another. Here are two of the many stories about the legendary work ethics of two of the greatest players ever.
During his summers with the Celtics Larry Bird would get up at 7am and run 5 miles uphill. Then he would ride his bike through the Indiana country for 20 miles. This was followed by 500 jump shots and 500 free throws. It was only the start of his workout and it was all done before noon.
When Magic Johnson was in high school, Dick Vitale, who was coaching in Detroit at the time, showed up at the Johnson household one winter morning shortly after 6am. When Vitale asked for Magic, his mother told Vitale that he had already left for the day. He was at the park shooting jumpers before school in the blistering cold of a Lansing winter morning.
You can make excuses about how you don’t have time or you don’t have a gym or whatever else you can think of. The truth is that is that’s all garbage. If you really want to be great you find the time, you find the space, and you make it happen.
Weaknesses Part III: Finishing, by Luke Meier
Wednesday, January 6th, 2010As a skill development trainer it is my job to teach and drill players, preparing them for situations they will encounter on the court. Different situations on the court require different solutions. A lot of player’s games are severely limited by a lack of “solutions.” This lack of solutions is no more apparent than watching players trying to finish in traffic.
Here are three basic ways to help you finish better in traffic:
- Be able to finish with either hand: Players routinely force shots up with their strong hand because they have no off hand. How many times have you seen a player’s shot get tossed by a defender because they shoot with their right hand when a lefty lay-in would get them an easy bucket? It happens every game! My high school coach once told me that for every drill I did with my strong hand, I should do two with my off hand. You should work to the point where you have no “weak” hand. Mikan drills are great for this. Mikans may not be “cool” but it’s even less cool when you can’t finish with your off hand and it costs you easy buckets.
- Defense-Body-Ball Principle: In traffic you need to protect the basketball. Keep your body between your defender and the basketball. A lot of players turn their body towards the basket when trying to finish on defenders, making it a “Defense-Ball-Body” situation. The ball isn’t protected and the shot gets blocked. Practice finishing with your inside shoulder pointing directly at the rim… work this until you become completely comfortable finishing this way. More Mikans!
- Initiate to Separate: This goes directly with number two. Initiate contact with the defense to create space to get your shot off. Get your inside shoulder into the defender or get them on your back where they have to foul you to get to the ball. When you initiate the contact you give yourself the advantage by taking away the defenders ability to go straight up and block the shot.
There are countless situations where you need to finish in traffic. Sometimes you need to take it strong, while other times you need to use some finesse. Aside from number one these principles don’t apply for every situation, but they will add a number of “solutions” to your game while finishing around the basket.
It’s Where You Finish, by Luke Meier
Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009Preseason Preparation: Time Wasted is Gone FOREVER! by Mike Lee
Wednesday, September 9th, 2009
I have wrote about a couple of these topics earlier in the year, but with the season just around the corner some players may be starting to feel a sense of urgency to work on their game. You will be amazed at the improvements you can make if you are organized and dedicate yourself.
You must come up with an organized Plan of Attack including:
Strengths
Weaknesses
A workout partner (if possible)
Strength and Conditioning Program (Alan Stein’s M.V.P. Program!!!)
Drills to improve your weaknesses. Our YouTube page is filled with FREE drills or you can check out our store. If you are developing your own drills or incorporating existing ones into the workouts make sure you can answer yes to the following questions:
1. Are you going to use the skill in a game-situation?
2. Are you going to get in a lot of repetitions with the drill? There are a ton of drills out there, but the key is to choose ones that are efficient.
Within your Plan of Attack you need to be more detailed in your Workout Plans.
When you are working out it is crucial that you are organized before you get to the gym. It’s not about how much time you put in the gym, it’s what you put into the time. What I mean by organization is this. Get a notebook and write down your workouts before you get to the gym.
1. This is a way to making a commitment to what is in writing, almost like a contract with yourself.
2. You can use your notebook as a reference point to see what you have been working on. This will give you the ability to vary your workouts and drills so that you are staying motivated.
3. You can look back on your notebook to see how much work you have been putting in. Maybe you are in a shooting slump, but you can look back to your notebook and see that you have gotten up 10,000 shots in the last month. That should give you confidence to keep shooting the basketball.
4. Motivational Quotes: Somewhere in your notebook mix in some motivational quotes. It can be as simple as “Dream” or “I am passionate, I have a purpose, and I am unstoppable”. Use something that empowers yourself. Maybe you want to have a theme or quote for each week. Be creative and make your notebook unique!
Workout Example:
10 Minutes: 2 Ball Stationary, Tennis Ball or Medicine Ball
10 Minutes: 1 Ball Moving
10 Minutes: Half Court Drives: Dribble Attack Moves
10 Minutes: Shooting off the Dribble
40 Minutes: Shooting off the Catch
Below is a workout I did with Dominic James from Marquette this past spring.
10 Minutes: 2 Ball Stationary Dribble Moves
10 minutes-2Ball Commando Workout: 30 Second Sets/30 Second Rest
- Same
- Alternate
- Alternate Inside Out
- Crossover
- Between the Legs
- Behind the back
2ball Kill the Grass: 30 Second Sets/30 Second Rest
Finishing: Nash Runners, Parker Floaters, Iverson Step By’s: Make 20 each
7 Spot Shooting: 17-19 Feet, Make 7-10 at each spot
Florida Pullups: 1 Minute Sets; Set a record, beat your record.
Sideline Pick N Roll Series: Make 7-10 each situation both sides of the floor
- Turn the Corner (Runner, Floater, Finish at the Rim, 2 Dribble Pullup)
- Reject (don’t use the screen: see defender’s head turn)
- Split
- Pocket Shot (Defender goes under the screen. Stop behind the screener for the 3)
- 2 Dribble Clear for the 3
- Bounce Off (Defense Shows Hard and you bounce off/back then attack)
- ICE (Keep your defender on your hip as you come off the screen; curl cut but for a ball screen) This is a NBA move when the screener’s defender does not show
Miami Threes: Make 5 at each of the 6 spots: 2 sets; 30-50 or better
Memphis Threes: Make 5 in a Row at 5 Spots in 90 Seconds: 2 sets
Celtics Threes: Make 2 in a row at 10 Spots in 2 minutes: 2 Sets
Mike Miller “L” Drill: Make 10 in 1 Minute, 2 Sets
You DO have Time…
High School years can be pretty overwhelming for some people, especially freshman getting adjusted to more homework, athletic commitments, and other social aspects of this time. It can be pretty common for a high school kid to feel like they are too busy and “don’t have time” for anything, especially their individual skill development.
Even though it can feel overwhelming you really need to break down your day to be able to prioritize and manage your time efficiently. On average a school day will go from 8AM-3PM, which gives you anywhere between 7-8 hours of time depending on when you go to bed. You will be amazed at what you can accomplish in 8 hours if you are organized. Lets say you have a max of 3 hours of practice, which is probably longer than most and a maximum of 2 hours of homework. That leaves you with 3 hours. As I stated in a previous post you can get a great workout done if you are organized. It is so important to continue to work on your skills: dribbling, shot form, footwork off the dribble and off the catch because most coaches don’t spend time working on this during practice. Practices are geared towards team development, scouting reports and game preparation. From my experience the first thing players usually regress on in regards to their skills is their footwork. You need to continue to get up 250-300 shots a day during the season during the season with correct footwork. A player I workout right now gets 500 shots up every game day. I truly believe this is a great way to get prepared for a game. Take the time to breakdown your day, get organized and keep your eyes on the prize. Every second that you waste is gone forever. You can never get it back!
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The founder of Mike Lee Basketball Services (formerly Playmakers Basketball), Mike is known throughout the country for individual player skill development. He has been a speaker at several events and has also recently authored several instructional workout DVDs, which will be released over the next year. Titles out right now include, 25 Killer Scoring Moves, Secrets of Unstoppable Guard Play and Secrets of Unstoppable Shooting. Since 2006 Mike Lee Basketball has trained close to 4,000 boys and girls through their skill development programs. Dozens of players that Mike has worked with have gone on to play collegiate basketball, some at the NCAA DI level. In addition to his own basketball services, Mike is a Nike Girls Skills Trainer and a member of the Nike sponsored, Ganon Baker Basketball.
From 2001-2006, Mike participated as a player and assistant coach at the University of Wisconsin-Stout. During the fall of 2006 he was awarded a scholarship to attend the Coach K and Duke University Leadership Conference in Durham, NC. In December of 2006 he graduated from the University of Wiconsin-Stout with a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology and a self-planned concentration in Basketball Entrepreneurship.
Check Out More Videos, Add me as a friend on Facebook or Get Updates on Twitter!
http://www.youtube.com/mikeleebasketball
