43Drills

It’s simple and It’s Basic, your number # 1 secret of success will always be knowing your “Niche” and using it to separate yourself form every other Baller out there…

This is the most over-looked art of figuring out what your coach really needs and developing an Identity on the court.

What is a Niche?

I’m Glad you asked!

Your niche is how you are different from everyone else. It is the one aspect that you are great at, not good at, but great at.

It is the one thing that will get you on a team, or get you cut off of a team.

This should be common sense for all Ballers, and yet it will be your secret weapon. Because most of your competition will forever ignore the fundamentals of Defining a Niche, or screw it up (since they’ve never bothered to pay attention to the lessons).

It’s relatively easy to perform a play or move that gets a coach to say “Hey, that ballers pretty good”. But that doesn’t mean they will pick you to be on their team or pursue you to play for them.

No. You want your prospect Coach to say — after experiencing watching you play — “Wow! That’s Exactly what I need on my team, How do I get them to consider playing for me?”

But getting a coach to be Jaw Dropped and begging you to play for them is a much more complex process. You don’t have to understand the biology or chemistry that goes on… but you DO have to realize that dominating the hardwood requires a lot of knowledge and a little skill.

It’s not difficult. But it’s not something most people naturally learn to do.

There are a few key secrets to Identifying A Niche that — once you master them — will guarantee that EVERY Time you step on the court every coach and player will be astonished and you will start leaving your dominating trail of legacy along the way.

That’s how the greats are formed. First by identifying their niche and then by working to master their niche. Most Ballers Play From their Heels… meaning they blow it when it comes to Discovering what aspect of the game they are dominate at. They stumble along the way guessing how to develop their game and normally find them selves in a dark hole with no way to get out.
The Baller Graveyard is crammed with great talented ballers that failed to identify and work on their niche.
However, when you master the basics of Developing a Niche and continually working to master your niche, you will start to see and feel the benefits that come with being a “unique” Hot-Ticket ball player.
Whatever results you’re getting will instantly be multiplied many times, as soon as you apply the secrets of Niche Discovering

If you look at any of the Dominating Forces in the pros you will find that it is easy to identify their niche:
Reggie Miller- Shooting
Bruce Bowen- Defense
Steven Nash- passing and play making
Tracy Mcgrady- Scoring
Shaq- Post Dominating
Ben Wallace- Rebounding

And the list goes on and on…

They discovered their Niche and developed a plan to master it, not just to be good at it but to be great at it.

So how do you figure out what’s your Gold key Niche?

Easy, ask yourself what do you think you are the best at, what important aspect of basketball do you always do well, or tend to be better then others at.

It would also be a great idea if you asked your coach, parents, teammates and other players that do not personally know you but have seen you play before.

It is also very important to receive honest opinions, and you should not ask someone you believe who falsely tell you something just to, please you, get the truth.

If you have a identified niche you will be that much more dominate and coaches would much rather recruit a player that performs a certain task very well like passing then trying to recruit a player that they will have to develop those certain skill they are looking for.

Now once you have identified your niche, you have found a pot of gold, an you will be 100 steps ahead of your competition.

You see, if you do not have a niche, and really do not understand what kind of a player you are or what you do very well, you will just confuse all the coaches and recruits that are interested in you.

The most common mistake that I have seen with lack of niche identification normally happens with guards…

You know what I am talking about, that guard that you see but you really do not know if he is a point guard or a shooting guard, it’s like he is stuck in the middle.

And if you are stuck in the middle, you are not going any where.

Allen Iverson is a perfect example, he was having problems figuring out what kind of player he was, and his game struggled, but once he committed to being a two guard, his game flourished and he become an NBA ALL-STAR.

So determine your niche and commit to mastering it, whatever it is, it might be scoring, shooting, rebounding, defense, passing, play making or even teammate support…

If you do not have a niche, get one or you will never get to the next level.

Rali Todd Is A Pro Basketball Performance Coach and is referred to as the World’s # 1 Undisputed Developmental Basketball Coach. He is also the Creator of the # 1 Best selling Digital Basketball Course on the Web. Unlock your game with The secret information the pros use at www.gobasketballpro.com

How to Guarantee Basketball Growth

One very important aspect about any sport, not just basketball is continual growth and development.

When you are not growing you are doing the opposite.. Dying!

Successful basketball players and those who aren’t achieving their dreams are different.

And most of the time it has nothing to do with ability or talent. Ask yourself a simple question?

Do you think there is some baller out there that is way better then some guys in the league, but he is stuck somewhere working at a food restaurant or something?

I know of at least a dozen of them!

But why is this so?

Did they make a bad decision, made a wrong move, or didn’t play their cards right?

All of these could be true, but from what I have found, these are not the main causes. The main cause of basketball failure is a lack of growth!

What kind of growth? Personal growth.

As I stated earlier, if you are not growing, you are doing the opposite of growing.

You see successful, dominate ballers have formed habits of doing things they do not like doing.

Let’s read that again.

You see successful, dominate ballers have formed habits of doing things they do not like doing.

Everyone has the bad habit of being lazy, even successful basketball players. But successful ballers have formed the habit of doing the things that will benefit them even when they are feeling lazy.

Successful ballers focus solely on results, and unsuccessful ballers focus solely on the process of those results.

Here is an example:

A baller who has formed the habit of doing things even when they do not want to, and focuses just on the results will go wake up at 6 in the mourning and work on their game with the intention of playing pro basketball.

The result (playing pro basketball) is the fuel and drive they use to achieve their dreams or goal.

A unsuccessful basketball player will not get up at 6 in the mourning and will look at the process of becoming a pro baller,( competition, chances, odds, how, obstacles, lack of resources, commitment ect…)

And hence they will never get tot their goal, because their goal seems to be a hill they can not climb, it’s too hard, too many things to do.

They actually prevent them selves from achieving their goal!

Here is something that you can do right now and for the rest of your life to ensure basketball growth.

Everyday when you wake up, or even the night before, take out apiece of paper and write down one thing that you do not want to do, but if you did would move your life, and development forward.

Then write down the benefits of completing that task (again focus on the results). By focusing on the result you will take the necessary action to get the job done.

If you were to do this everyday for the rest of your life, your results will be amazing, and you will accomplish some of the biggest goals that you thought were nothing but a dream.

Try this for the next 4 weeks and watch=h as your game, life and everything around it becomes magical!

Your Coach,
Rali Todd
www.gobasketballpro.com

Dominate The Hardwood

www.gobasketballpro.com

Did you happen to see the onslaut the San Antonio Spurs put on the other night against the Utah Jazz?

The more important question: What can you learn from them?

We live in a world today where every one pays attention to the outside of everything, how things look, the way things may seem. What most people do not understand is what makes the outside, what makes things seem the way they are.

Here is somethng I live by every day and it helps me out tremendously.

The Roots create the fruits, and the invisible create the visible.

What does this exactly mean? On a tree, you have the roots of the tree, the branches, and then the fruit that come off the branches. Now what makes thoses fruits. It’s the roots of the tree that make the fruits. It’s the invisible( what you can not see) that creates the visible( the fruits that you can see)

the Roots of the tree determine how the fruits of the tree will turn out and grow. The same goes for you and your basketball career, or the San Antonio Spurs.

Its all the things they do that you do not see that makes them so incredible. All the long pratices, all the coaching, all the commitment from all the players.

Can you see Comitment, is it a visible or invisible thing? Well, you can not actually see Comitment itself, but you can see the results of commitment. But again, the invisible creates the visible.

Just like your carreer. Are you willing to do what it is going to take to get your game to the next level. More important, are you ready for the next level?

Do you have the invisible tools, to create the visible results?

There is one real person who can answer that, YOU? You simply are going to have to look yourself in the mirror and ask yourself the exact same questions i just asked you.

And you are going to have to answer yourself truthfully. If there is one person you can not lie to it is yourself.

Do you really want this, to you wnat to really dominate the court and take you game to the pros?

Here let me give you an examle of some of the sacrifices some of these so called play boys NBA Stars do.

I was just on the phone with Larry Hughes Agent, I am very good friends with him and we discuss things quite often.

He told me that larry injuried himself last game and has some kind of rupture in his achilies. And that was not even th emost schocking thing.

I simply said oh so hes done for this year, He replied no way, are you crazy, he is taking anistesia shots to get rid of the pain,( 4 times a day) just so he can play!

And he is going to take care of the problem and surgery after they win the championship.

Did you hear that last part? He said that he was going to take care of the problem After they win A championship.

Not only does this guy have the will and commitment to keep playing but he also has the confidence and desire to belive that they are going to win the championship this year. Why do you think he is where he is at?

DO YOU THINK IT IS A COINCIDENCE HE IS IN THE NBA, MAKING MILLIONS, LOVING WHAT HE DOES? NO!

It’s simply because he has the invisble traits that make the visible results.

Start trying to dig deeper and really evaluate your inner self, because with out the invisible things, the visible will just go to waste.

Untill next Time, ball hard

Rali Todd

p.s.

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p.p.s

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UCONN Quick Hitter vs. Man Defense

#1 starts the play by driving the ball towards the middle of the floor.

#3 on the right wing cuts in and out on top to receive the entry pass from #1.

As this action is taking place, #2 on the left wing slides down to the left low blocka area.

UCONN Quick Hitter vs. Man Defense

As soon as #1 passes to #3, two things will happen together.

#5 will backscreen for #1 and #4 will set a screen for #2 on the right block.

#3 is looking to hit #1 on the back side of the floor with an over the top pass while he is also looking to hit #2 popping out on the right wing for the open shot.

UCONN Quick Hitter vs. Man Defense

You will see this alignment gives you some cleared areas to work.

#1 can catch and look to shoot or attack the basket that has been cleared out by the cutting and screening action on the other side of the floor.

#2 can catch and look to get the ball inside to #4 isolated on the low post. #5 can come towards the ball to assist with the high / low entry pass to #4.

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Karl Malone

Ok, I’m a bit “old school” with the name of this drill, but gave it this name many years ago when Karl Malone played exactly like this drill. Got the rebound and would be out on the break passing and catching for dunks.

I truly think this is one of the best team drills you can implement. Great for team camaraderie - working towards one goal with skills that are within reach of all your players:

1) Catching and making passes at high speeds and 2) Finishing with a made layup.

I like to run this drill for 5 minutes (some nights right, some nights left). We will have a goal for made layups, usually set from our best score to date. Always try and raise the bar.

This is how the court should look to begin. You need at LEAST 10 players to run this drill…no less. The line next to the basket in the direction you are going on each side must have at least two players. (see #2 / #3 and #1 / #9).

Karl Malone

Player #1 and Player #8 start together running up their respective side lanes. They must pass to the first person in each line while running down the center of their lane. They must run with their hands up so as to quickly receive and deliver the next pass.

They receive the ball back from each line as they are running and then will finish with a made layup. They DO NOT run towards the line to make the pass, rather, they must run down the center of their lane catching the ball and making the next pass. THE BALL DOES NOT TOUCH THE FLOOR!

When the playes are finished making the layups at each end of the court, they will continue running out to the end of the line, freethrow line extended on the other side. Let’s look at the rotations as they run up the floor.

Karl Malone

Let’s look at the right side line. As #1 passes to #2 and then gets the ball back, #2 will run behind #1 and to the center position where #4 is standing.

#4 catches the pass from #1 and passes back quickly to #1 and then runs behind #1 to the back of the line, behind #7, free throw line extended.

As soon as #6 passes back to #1, #1 goes in for the layup with #6 right behind him to rebound the ball out of the net.

#6 now takes the ball up the other sideline while the person who just made the trip, #1, runs behind the player waiting free throw line extended, #1 in this diagram.

This same action is taking place on the other side of the court.

When you get really good…try adding one more ball…start him in the middle and watch this drill really take off! No room for error!

Find 10 more drills like this in Jamie Angeli’s Shooting Machine. Repetitive and Competitive Team Shooting Drills that Develop Game…

* Screens
* Cuts
* Shots
* Skills
* Communication
* Confidence
* and Conditioning

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hello ballers and coaches,
this is rali todd, Iam a profesisonal basketball performance enhancement coach down in miami, Fl. Iam a five star basketball coach along with a strength and conditioning coach for mimai dade colle, speed consultant for a few pro teams and work with the best ballers in the south florida area. I have just seen so many players continue doing one thing wrong that i have set out to inform all ballers of the situation. You might be suprised when i tell you what it is , but it is so crucial but yet over looked. what is it you may ask.
Bending your knees!
thats right, almost every ball player i have worked with has the bad tendency of what i call playing tall. Why is this so bad? well for first i wnat you to try something!
Right now I want you to stand up and put your feet together. Next I want you to try to jump with out bending your knees. Most likely you tried it but you still bent your knees. So this time I want you to really try and jump with out bending your knees. If you did it correctly you would find that it is nearly impossible to perform a jump without bending your knees. So what does this mean? Well I will get to that in a second. The next one I want you to try is a defensive slide. I want you to try to slide across your room or wherever you are without bending your knees. Again, if you performed it correctly you will find that it is impossible to do effectively. Now I want you to go back to the first one and bend your knees. So now I want you to bend your knees and jump. You will find that not only did you jump significantly higher but it was also a lot easier and more effective. Now try the same with the defensive slide. Again, you would have found that you can slide laterally a lot easier and effective with your knees bent!

So what’s the point?
The point is that almost every basketball player plays with their legs straight and knees not bent. This plays a major role in all aspects of the game. Because as you demonstrated that it is almost impossible to move and jump with your legs straight. So what does your body do? It does it for you. Let’s look at an example:
Let’s say that you are coming off a screen preparing to catch the ball and shoot but you are playing tall, and not bending your knees. When you catch the ball you will have to dip down (bend your knees) in order for you to jump and shoot the ball. This will take slightly longer that if you already had your knees bent and did not have to dip down to shoot the ball. It may not seem like a big difference, but in the game it could be the difference to someone blocking your shoot and you getting your shoot off faster.
Another great example would be rebounding.
If you are under the basket preparing to rebound a missed shot with your legs straight, you will again have to dip down and bend your knees in order to jump. But if you already had your knees bent you would just simply have to jump straight up while your opponent had to take the time to bend their knees and then jump. Again, this might only be half of a second, but that is all it takes to grab a rebound.

So do you see how important it is to bend your knees and stay low? That’s why almost all shorter players are faster than taller players. Their center of gravity is lower to the ground which provides them with an advantage.

So how do we correct this problem?
Well besides consciously trying to remind yourself to bend your knees all the time, it is all a form of muscle memory. You have to train your body and the muscles that are most used in this position (your gluteus, hamstrings, quadriceps, and calves) I will tell you that this position hurts and most players are very uncomfortable in this position because it is painful. But if you are truly seeking ways to improve your game you should be willing to do whatever it takes to get better.

I cna guarantee you that if you train your body to stay in this position all the time you will start to reveal your tru basketball potential.
so get out there and do it.
Untill next time

Yours in hoops,
Rali todd

training hurts… sitting on the bench hurts more!
www.gobasketballpro.com

This dribbling drill or dribbling game helps improve dribbling and ball-handling and kids seem to love it.

Set-up the drill:
Every player or person has a ball, and is restricted to a area on the court. All the players must dribble the entire time.

The Drill:
Start the game with every player as for themselves. While maintaining the dribble, each player must try to steal the ball away from another players. Players try to avoid getting the ball stolen from them. They must stay within the area and must continue dribbling at all times. If a player leaves the area, or double-dribbles, stops dribbling, or gets the ball stolen, gets the ball knocked away, or loses control of the ball is out.

Eventually you will get down to a smaller number of players. Then change the playing area and make them stay inside the lane or “paint” area, then inside the circle until you have one remaining— the winner!

This drill will help develop ball handling, and to avoid the ball stolen, players must keep their heads up.

Here’s another variation:
Start the game with one player as “it”. While maintaining the dribble, each player must try to tag another player, who is then “it”. Players try to avoid getting tagged and becoming “it”. They must stay within the half court area and must continue dribbling. If a player leaves the area, or double-dribbles, stops dribbling, or gets tagged, then he/she is “it”.

Dribble tag will help develop ball handling, and to avoid getting tagged, players must keep their heads up. If you have a large group with some good ball handlers, and some not so good, you can put the better dribblers on one end, and the other group on the other end, so the same kids don’t get picked on all the time. You can vary this drill by making them use the opposite (weak) hand only.

In this short video, Michael Jordan talks about the psychology of the game, about talking your fear.

He says that he is “nervous before the game”, but that he is “never afriad to do things on the court”.

An interesting and insightful watch - it has some great advice for the novice and experienced players.

Tim Duncan may not be quite as silky when it comes to shooting his jumper, but he has certainly earned “The Big Fundamental” nickname. This isnt a guy who gets tons of screens, or who comes off a pick and rolls for most of his points. This isnt a guy who amazes you with quickness or leaping ability. Tim Duncan is a player who more often than not is going 1 on 1 with a defender and knows exactly what angles to take to get the best shot and what angles to use in his shots. If any kid doesnt think geometry applies to basketball, watch Tim Duncan. Tim is the master of precision in angles and motion.

So in the interest of helping future NBA players out there, and in maybe helping other teams possibly figure out TD just a little bit, I decided to post a video of the new move that Tim added last year, and has improved on this year. I call it the Duncan Chop. Its perfectly legal, which makes it postiively brilliant.. Its something every post player should add to their game.

Simply put, as Duncan turns over his left shoulder towards the basket, he “chops” away the defenders arm. It sometimes throws the defender off balance a little. It sometimes misdirects the defenders attention. Its subtle enough to give TD an edge. All in all its a great, great move. We all should learn from it. Here is a video of TD tearing us up with it last year.

Great Move by Tim Duncan to gain an edge on a defender. Using the off arm, he swims through the defenders post position

This drill comes from the famous George Mikan.

The mikan drill is usually a timed drill that last 30 seconds. This is a good big man drill, post drill, though everyone can benefit from this drill.

For 30 seconds you will be under the basket doing layups, while not letting the ball touch the floor and without drilling. You just make a lay up and quickly and under control take a layup from the other side. Make sure your doing a lay up on the right with your right hand then the left side is with your left hand. The object is to make as many layups that you can within 30 seconds.

Coaching tips and instructions:
keep the ball high abover your shoulders
keep control of the ball - while not letting it hit the ground at all
get into a rhythm and routine (the more you practice the more this will come)
Now I have heard of the reverse lay-up mikan drill!

This is becoming popular where you are doing the exact same drill, but now your are working on reverse lay-ups. This is where your facing away from the basket (almost like your throwing the ball from out of bound). So you do the same thing quick reverse lay-ups with the same footwork though your doing a reverse lay-ups.

Coaching tips and instructions:
keep the ball high abover your shoulders
keep control of the ball - while not letting it hit the ground at all
get into a rhythm and routine (the more you practice the more this will come)
Lastly, I just recently heard about this version of the advanced mikan drill. Either reverse or normal mikan drill, but this time with two balls.

1. The player starts facing away from the basket just like in a reverse mikan drill. The footwork is the same. But now the player had two balls.

2. Only one ball will be shot a time. Starting with the (ball #1) is shot then the other ball (ball No. 2) he/she holds in one of her hands (switching with each shot). So it’s like this the player completes a right-handed layup with (ball #1) while (ball #2) in left hand. When he/she completes the shot. He/she will switch (ball #2) to his/her right hand while grabbing (ball #1) with her left hand and shoots the next shot with her left hand while keeping (ball #2) in her rigth hand. continue this for 30 seconds.

You can do the same with reverse lay-ups too.

1. The player starts facing away from the basket just like in a reverse mikan drill. The footwork is the same. But now the player had two balls.

2. Only one ball will be shot a time. Starting with the (ball #1) is shot then the other ball (ball No. 2) he/she holds in one of her hands (switching with each shot). So it’s like this the player completes a right-handed layup with (ball #1) while (ball #2) in left hand. When he/she completes the shot. He/she will switch (ball #2) to his/her right hand while grabbing (ball #1) with her left hand and shoots the next shot with her left hand while keeping (ball #2) in her rigth hand. continue this for 30 seconds.

stud mikan drill

two ball mikan drill, but replace one of the balls with a medicine ball!

Coaching Tips:
keep the ball high abover your shoulders
keep control of the ball - while not letting it hit the ground at all
get into a rhythm and routine (the more you practice the more this will come)
Who for?
great for big man drill, post player drill, but beneficial basketball drill to all players.
great for the big man that have trouble catching the ball, hitting lay ups, and focus.
great for rhythm, routine, and timing.