I went to a ton of basketball camps as a kid (shout out to Drill4Skill) and they all taught similar principles and fundamentals of the game. Coaches emphasized shooting like you’re pushing the ball out of the top of a phone booth (which… my 19-year-old sister doesn’t even know what a pay phone is so I have no idea what they’re teaching kids now), dribbling low, and shuffling on D. At the end of every camp, the head coach would give a speech that included about how to apply the skills from camp (and give out Gatorade awards for hustle, naturally). A key principle of the parting message every time was to spend as much time as you could with a basketball.
Coaches stressed that if you wanted to be good, the basketball had to become a part of you. Every extra moment spent with a basketball is an extra opportunity to learn something about it. You could memorize the ridges and bumps of the ball, learn how high it bounces if you dribble harder, or figure out how to control your wrist when you’re shooting it up into the air when you’re laying on your bed.They always mentioned sleeping with the ball, which confused me and still does. But the principle of getting better by bringing a basketball with you everywhere makes sense.
I love this principle for frisbee, especially as a rookie. You learn more from every extra moment you’re around a disc. You find a grip that works, memorize how your thumb feels against the ridges of the disc, and you feel the weight of the disc when you bring it back to throw.
Tossing dishies to yourself in your dorm room as a study break stands to add so much to your knowledge of how to handle the disc when you’ve never played. Some of our rookies (and all rookies, I’m sure) can’t remember how to hold a flick - if they had a disc of their own to mess around with between practices, more of what we teach at practice would stick.
I think everyone who makes it to the first tournament should get a disc to keep. I know a ton of those rookies quit, but would having a disc of their own keep them around because they could see their skills improve more quickly? I think it’s worth the investment to find out.
The kids who went to Drill4Skill camps weren’t always the kind of kids who were receptive to the coaching there. Those camps were harsh and intense, and the campers were often mediocre athletes with very enthusiastic parents. Luckily, rookies (usually) aren’t being pushed by anything other than their own interest. They want to soak up the game. Give rookies discs so they can sleep with them under their pillows.
Coaches stressed that if you wanted to be good, the basketball had to become a part of you. Every extra moment spent with a basketball is an extra opportunity to learn something about it. You could memorize the ridges and bumps of the ball, learn how high it bounces if you dribble harder, or figure out how to control your wrist when you’re shooting it up into the air when you’re laying on your bed.They always mentioned sleeping with the ball, which confused me and still does. But the principle of getting better by bringing a basketball with you everywhere makes sense.
I love this principle for frisbee, especially as a rookie. You learn more from every extra moment you’re around a disc. You find a grip that works, memorize how your thumb feels against the ridges of the disc, and you feel the weight of the disc when you bring it back to throw.
Tossing dishies to yourself in your dorm room as a study break stands to add so much to your knowledge of how to handle the disc when you’ve never played. Some of our rookies (and all rookies, I’m sure) can’t remember how to hold a flick - if they had a disc of their own to mess around with between practices, more of what we teach at practice would stick.
I think everyone who makes it to the first tournament should get a disc to keep. I know a ton of those rookies quit, but would having a disc of their own keep them around because they could see their skills improve more quickly? I think it’s worth the investment to find out.
The kids who went to Drill4Skill camps weren’t always the kind of kids who were receptive to the coaching there. Those camps were harsh and intense, and the campers were often mediocre athletes with very enthusiastic parents. Luckily, rookies (usually) aren’t being pushed by anything other than their own interest. They want to soak up the game. Give rookies discs so they can sleep with them under their pillows.
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