Building a shooter: A philosophical difference.

Before I get started we need to clear a couple of issues out of the way.

Issue #1 - In order for any of this to be useful to you, you have to believe skilled players are made and not born. If you feel that the proper training and dedicated meaningful practice time put in by players and coaches is not how to become a skilled athlete you might as well stop reading. If you don't believe someone can be made into shooter given enough quality work the rest of this debate isn't worth your time.

Issue #2  - This isn't about the mechanics of shooting. You can research any number of coaches world wide to debate footwork, technique and skills. If you need recommendation please check out any resources you can get your hands on by coaches Dave Love, Dave Smart and Steve Alford. They are my personal favorites in terms of breaking down shooting technique.

With that out of the way I want to discuss shooting. More specifically what some coaches would call shot selection, or decision making or playing the percentages. The crux of the discussion is this driving question: Is an open shot, where you catch ready , balanced and confident a good shot? Some coaches some coaches say definitively yes, some say definitely not, most have a complicated answer involving percentages in games/practice or their system and the shots "they" want.

My feeling is that against good defense, in a fast paced game you are never going to do better then open. Particularly in an international style game with a shot clock. If you pass up open you will most likely end up taking contested shots later. Regardless of what your feeling is on who should be taking what shots when, most coaches are willing to concede that if they believe a kid is a shooter they will let and even encourage them to shoot when their open.

So how do make a shooter? Obviously it comes from hours and hours of practice at the edge of their abilities creating muscle memory and chunking their technique. They also need to build the fitness, balance and tower strength to match the speed, explosiveness and strength requirements to get and make the shots they need to in order to be successful. How though do you get a kid to do all that?

As far as I can tell coaches fall into three camps in terms of their response:

CAMP 1 - I don't make players, players make themselves.

These are coaches who train their kids in practice, but primarily practice is about the team and their stuff. They tend to be of the belief that they can give kids the basic knowledge but after that kids are on their own. They cite examples of hours of work legends put in on their own time and expose the virtues of the kids who "want it bad enough" finding a way and the time to be successful. They coach the team but players are responsible on their own for building and developing their skills. The owness for becoming a shooter is totally on the player. So coaches either end up with shooters who've built themselves or no shooters. Generally the kids who are taking more shots on their own are better shooters. In games they end up taking more of the shots (by design or personal desire) so they score more. By shouldering more of the offensive load they need/want to score and help the team win so they train more on shooting to be able to do that. So this coach gets a couple of kids a year who make themselves into scorers, who they can cite as examples to the others.

CAMP 2 - You earn the right to be a shooter.

These are coaches who are very focused on their kids skills and areas of weakness. They train specifically to improve/hide areas of weakness and maximize their existing skill sets. These coaches have a very clear idea and generally some body of evidence to support who can take what sorts of shots from where. They work with kids to build their skill sets and encourage them to become more skilled by setting targets. ie. IF you want to play the 2 or be able to take 3's you need to be able to consistently make 70% in practice. They then work with them and give them training regimens to set and meet targets to increase their skill sets based on their wants, needs and expectations. Kids that want to be shooters get the training they need and support to become skilled shooters. The coach then provides the feedback, training and reward/consequences for an individual effort to focus and maximize performance and success. Players are identified, labeled and trained accordingly and always have the option of changing or growing their roll and skill set based on opportunity and desire. Shooters of various types and levels are constantly being built or have the option to get built to some degree.

CAMP 3 - Players are shooters.

Coaches who believe if you are in the game you need to be able to shoot it. Everyone is trained and expected to make shots. Generally the team's success is dependant on who ever is left or gotten open to make shots. Tends to involve a lot of long term commitment to developing skilled universal players, while also focusing on building a relationship of trust and understanding with athletes. These coaches take them on a journey of player development that covers decision making, reading defense and individual skills to make the easy open read. In the short term team success is sacrificed as players work through the learning curve. Coaches though build a relationship of trust with the athletes and inspire commitment by tying work, player confidence and success into team success rather then treating them like related but manageable entities. Players and coaches focus on belief in players potential as a shooter and training is constantly needed to be at the edge of their ability, rather than maximizing current abilities and avoiding/minimizing weaknesses through coach control.

ME

I do my best to fall into Camp 3 mostly because I believe in kids need to be able to play the game the right way universally. I also tend to find this method the most likely to inspire more confidence in kids and improve the quality of teammates relationships. Basically I feel like if a kid takes and makes a shot they are more likely to want to work (with me and on their own) to get back in a position to make another 1 or maybe two+. The best shooters in the world focus on their makes not their misses I want our play and training to match that.

I feel like if a kid can't take a shot until they've made hundreds in a row just to get to point where you are ok with them trying to make 1 (let alone more); in today’s society kids are just going to do something else more inspiring and easier to feel connected. Our players need relationships and mentors more then previous generations.  They will not accept being marginalized and have the flaws dictate their development and how we want to play particularly when a world of on and offline activities will accept them as is.

Its about player investment. We constantly talk about wanting kids to be more committed, kids needing to take responsibility, kids being apathetic.

IMO what a lot of people mean when they say these things. Is no matter how hard, boring, challenging the activity, or disconnected kids are from the material or expectations (class, practice, game etc) because the kid is there they have some sort of obligation to pursue it passionately so anything less is a character flaw.

Telling a kid we can't let you shoot until you put in the time to prove yourself or make yourself a shooter isn't honest. Honesty would be telling them you can't let them shoot because your confidence in their decision making, and them developing as a shooter on a learning curve, is less important than winning games. You can't build a relationship with a kid based on your controls and them then needing to do all the heavy lifting emotionally, physically and confidence wise. They need to want to be part of what you are doing, it needs to match their needs and goals, it has to inspire them to want to be better.

If you aren't at least partially the motivating force and inspiration for improvement, where and when and from whom are they going to learn it: probably not from basketball. Skills, athleticism, confidence, determination, commitment, decision making are all learned behaviors are you teaching them or expecting them? How do you convince a kid to help you build them into shooter?

Noisiest Kids on the Block: Building a basketball soundscape.

One of my focuses for this summer and next year with my club, elite development and school teams is going to be the idea of "bringing the noise". We know as coaches that talking on the floor/ communication makes players more confident, execution and speed of execution increase all while building team chemistry. Science is teaching us that noise does all sorts of things from focusing our attention, to giving us adrenaline and even causing us dissonance and forcing a fight or flight state. Noise can control everything from our productivity to our sense of security. If noise can have this dramatic an impact on the quality of play and the upon individuals in the game, then it only makes sense to create a soundscape for positive play.

How do we go about creating a soundscape for positive play. I'm not a big fan of the Tarkanian theory of basketball "You need 8 kids who can play and 4 who a great at waving towels and cheering." I don't find that sort of noise or rah-rah cheering particularly meaningful and effective. Besides of you are on my bench you are there because you are going to be useful to us in the game not as moral support. So instead we need to create a soundscape that: 1) brings and maintains energy in the group; 2) increases efficiency and anticipations; 3) disrupts/dissects what other teams are trying to do; 4) allows us to maintain and regain focus on key elements.

So lets look at the role sound plays from the three key times players have control over the soundscape.

Noise on Offense


Noise on offense primarily increases our focus, helps simplify things and maintains positive energy. Their is an adage in sports about teams who communicate being faster. They are not in fact physically faster but the communication allows them to anticipate and mentally "chunk" the next series of actions easier. Their pathways move to familiar reads and more confidently and quickly process the options in front of them. Noise on offense should communicate options, opportunities, and instill confidence. If you can communicate what you are or will be doing you must be in control of the situation. Positive communication eliminates fear, feelings of isolation and improves decision making.

What are some things we can do to control the offensive soundscape:

- Have calls. Every action has a trigger or call that informs the passer or ball carrier what their reads are going to be. If you want to catch and shoot/attack call "ball". We just need to get them the ball in position to attack. If they read curl/cut call "curl" so the passer knows you are going to be a target in the paint and where support will come from to replace you. They only need to focus on those two areas. We also call "twist" for a back screen or "exit" on a post screen for similar reasons. When we run lanes and you are open call for the sort of pass you need to complete the play "flip" the ball up the sideline, "diagonal"ly cut the pass across court, or throw it to the "rim" if we are open and running there.

- No negative response. Eliminate panic or frustration language. No yelling for "help" or calling "someone". We communicate directly to people and what we need them to do. "Bobby - Ball Cut!"

- Eliminate sorry. We didn't make a mistake, we made a decision. Be accountable to yourself and move on to the next play. If during the next dead ball your teammates or coaches need to hold you accountable agree and move on.

Noise on Defense

Defensive communication needs to do multiple things. It must increase our awareness, anticipation and energy. It must also disrupt and dissect the offensive confidence and execution. Our communication must trigger reactions in both us and opponent.

How we control the soundscape on defense:

-Communicate your action. As the ball moves everyone is shifting defensively. Communicate your shifts so your teammates can know you are doing your job. If you are moving into a passing lane or shooting a drive gap "deny" / "gap". If you are protecting the paint or getting ready to rotate from the help line call "wall". This lets your teammate locked into the ball carrier know exactly where you are without checking.

- Reminders. Remind teammates about what you see as threats. As you rotate you leave a post and must communicate to your teammate that you are coming and leaving a threat. "Jump" and "Drop". If you see a shooter or screening action taking place remind the appropriate teammates. "Switching", "Corner Shooter". Teammates want to do the right thing reminding keeps them focused on their next job and reduces confusion and indecision.

- Boss the ball. People want to avoid being threatened, confronted and uncomfortable. People also inherently want to follow directions because it negates responsibility. Be the boss on defense. If you want the ball to dribble, get up in a tight stance reducing options and start screaming "dribble, dribble, dribble". To avoid the uncomfortable noise and because of a lack of options the ball with sooner, rather then later take off dribbling. This also has the benefit of informing the whole gym what action will be coming next and being able to defend it.

- Take away senses. We make the best decision possible when we are comfortable, contact and have time to process context. Take away time, space, and ability to process information and we are in a panic. We then have too much blood rushing to the wrong parts of our brains to make reasonable decisions. As a defender you must take away senses: the ability to move, the ability to see and even the ability to communicate to teammates. Be louder, more active and make them unable to communicate. Turn them into an island with limited options.

Noise from the Bench

Bench noise must promote execution, increase player awareness and confidence and must always focus us on the next best action. Bench noise comes in two forms coach noise and player noise is serves the common purpose but in drastically different ways.

- Coaches coaching. Coaches noise must be focused on bringing/maintaining needed energies to the group (excitement, calm, short memory, etc). They must constantly be communicating to players on the floor with short cues and triggers that keep the movement, energy and action moving in the direction we want. Short phrases and key terms only, for players on the floor during action. During dead balls or free time you can communicate longer or complicated concepts to key players on the floor who can then accept or pass on the message as required. Coaches coaching bench players must be focusing them on their next task required and making sure they understand the purpose and execution points of that action.

- Players remind. Players on the bench not being coached must be engaged. We know teammates need reminders and that communication improves results. Just like off ball defenders on the floor players on the bench need to be reminding teammates of what the reads and actions are they need to worry about: shooters, screens, shot clocks, tactics, etc.

- Communicating Tactical Changes. There are lots of ways to do this, but the import issue is that two things take place. Everyone on the floor be informed of a tactical change. Everyone on the floor understand what changes to their role or reads happen with the tactical change. My personal preference is to make a tactical change at a substitution. Send in multiple players who are already aware of the tactical change and their roles. Who inform the players remaining on the floor as they come in about the change, meanwhile coaches focus on making sure the remaining players on the floor are aware of the tactical change and their roles.