Tips For Basketball Memorabilia

Wouldn't it be nice to buy a rare basketball item at a discount rate and sell it more much more? Before you can do that realize that basketball memorabilia is expansive but a well preserved piece can fetch a lot more. Consider the 100 point basketball and baskets used in the earlier era's can be sold for thousands of dollars. Remember that the condition of a memorabilia determines the final price. According to eBay and Beckett sources, an authentic Chicago Bulls Jersey signed by Michael Jordan is worth between $1500 and may claim a price of one Grand. Here are just a few tips to get you started on a journey that may keep you busy for times to come:

If you ever get lucky to get a basketball memorabilia signed by an NBA player, make sure to take a picture. It is so because unauthenticated items sell at almost less than half the prices demanded by the authenticated basketball memorabilia. One of the best techniques to get your item signed by an NBA star is to visit the websites of different retailers and check the schedules of celebrity appearance. Visit these shows and you will have a chance to get the item signed.

Similarly, you can also check the price of one of your basketball cards from a reputable online memorabilia website. The basketball card collections and memorabilia is new and smaller than baseball and football souvenir industry but rare pieces commands much more than its counterparts, in the open market. The official Beckett guide is the bible of basketball memorabilia which enlist the average prices for most collections.

For basketball, it is often hard o locate a ball in pristine condition due to the constant drubbing. Therefore, it is prudent to visit an auction where rare basketballs in excellent conditions are sold by the owners who are themselves avid collectors. You can also contact the Basketball organizations and ask them to assist you in signing with the retired NBA players.



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Using Statistics to Effectively Evaluate Your Team

Statistics are a valuable tool for coaches in all sports. A common fault is to keep general statistics that illustrate only part of the true picture of your team. To properly glean specific information from statistics you must first decide what you hope to learn from them. This article provides guidelines on how to effectively use statistics to improve your team on a daily basis.

Recently I received an email from a coach asking for advice on keeping offensive statistics for his team. Here is my response to his questions.

1. I challenged him to first decide what specific statistics he wanted to effectively evaluate his team.

2. Offensive options include shot selection, shot chart, turnovers, post touches, penetration, number of passes, set play effectiveness, and use of inside out components.

3. Defensive options include defensive transition, easy baskets, defensive block outs, contested shots, help and recover, defensive rules, and fouling.

3. Once you decide what specific items you want to see from your team you can then devise a specific statistics strategy.

4. Your staff size will determine how many different statistics you can chart during practice or games.

5. Limit your scope to one or two things on offense and defense.

6. OER is a valuable offensive measurement tool but takes time to keep and analyze.

Once you determine what specific statistics to chart you must decide how to use them.

1. Use them with your staff only to make decisions on playing time and making adjustments in practice.

2. Share with your players to help them understand exactly what you want from them.

3. Help crystallize your own coaching philsophy and develop your own Top 3!

If used properly, statistics can be very beneficial to your coaching effectiveness and your team's ultimate success. Use these ideas to begin developing your own system of evaluation using statistics for games and practices.

Randy Brown has passion for the game of basketball. He works as a basketball consultant and mentor for coaches. Visit him at http://www.coachrb.com for free resources, Q & A, newsletter, and coaching programs. A speaker and writer, he has authored 75 articles on coaching and is nationally published. His 18 years in college basketball highlights a successful 23-year career. Mentored by Basketball Hall of Fame coach Lute Olson at Arizona. Resume includes positions at Arizona, Iowa State, Marquette, Drake, and Miami of Ohio, 5 Conference Championships and 5 NCAA appearances. His efforts have helped develop 12 NBA players including Steve Kerr, Sean Elliott, and Jaamal Tinsley. To contact Randy, email him at rb@coachrb.com

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Dimensions of a Basketball Court - Valuable Tips & Info!

The dimensions of a basketball court vary depending on the level of competition. In order for basketball players to be successful, it is important that they play on a regulation-size basketball court appropriate for their age.

The dimensions listed below apply to youth basketball and H.S. basketball. It is important to note that middle school basketball courts vary in size - some will use youth basketball dimensions, while others will use H.S. basketball dimensions.

Knowing the dimensions of a basketball court is critically important for all basketball players, coaches and even parents. Below you will find the key basketball court dimensions.

Dimensions Of A Basketball Court

* High school basketball dimensions are 84' long by 50' wide.
* Youth basketball dimensions are 74' long by 42' wide.
* Basketball lines are 2 inches thick.
* The center circle measures 12' in diameter.
* The free throw line is 13' from the front of the rim, 15' from the backboard and 19' from the baseline.
* The free throw lane is 12' wide.
* The basket is placed 4 - 6' from the baseline.
* The basket measures 10' from the ground.
* The basket measures 18 inches in diameter and is positioned 6 inches from the backboard.
* The backboard usually measures 6' wide by 3.5 - 4' high.
* The box on the backboard is 24 inches wide by 18 inches high.
* The high school three-point line is 19' 9" from the basket.
* The line of the three-point arc straightens out 5' from the baseline.

Free Basketball Court Diagrams, Printable Basketball Diagrams and more



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Jumping Techniques For Jumping Higher

I'm going to take the time to show you some jumping techniques for jumping higher. By practicing these methods, you can greatly improve your basketball game or any other sport that requires a lot of jumping. Not only will you be able to dunk the ball with ease, but you'll become a better defender, a better rebounder and an overall better shooter. If you look at all the professionals in the NBA, you have to understand that most of them had to work at jumping that high. They spent a lot of time with specialized trainers that worked specifically on jumping. I'm going to show you some jumping techniques, that if used, will result in you jumping higher.

It is extremely important for you to strengthen those muscles involved with jumping. I found the best method for this is squats, even though a lot of people neglect it because they view it as an upper leg exercise. If you look at a squat, it looks like a slow motion jump. It's weight and it has been shown to increase strength. You need to have some power when you push yourself off the ground or you won't get anywhere.

Another part of the equation is my jumping techniques for remaining springy and elastic. Pushing yourself on the ground with power is important, but springing off the ground helps too. I suggest walking around on the tips of your toes for half an hour. It seems easy, but after about 5 minutes of it, you'll start to feel the burn.

Learn the exercises used by top athletes. Check out the Jump Higher Exercises.

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Screw Size - The Greatest Really Small Players in Basketball History

Size has always been one of the biggest concerns in a lot of professional sports. It's always expected that football players are supposed to be brawny and bulky, marathon runners should have lean bodies built for endurance, and basketball players should be, well, very tall and extremely athletic. When it comes to stereotyping athletes, the first qualification is more often than not what what is associated with the sport. And a lot of shorter athletes are told to choose other sports like wrestling, weight lifting or competitive dance. But has this stopped the most determined and talented of players from ever trying their luck in the most prestigious basketball league in the world? Of course not!

Some of the most talented basketball players on the planet were under six feet tall. And instead of being shadowed by their gigantic teammates, they showed the world that enough talent, dedication and desire can more than make up for a little deficiency in height. Here are a few examples of their rare breed:

- Spud Webb: Standing at a humble 5'7, nobody thought Spud Webb would amount to anything early on in his career (he was drafted in the 4th round). But he would soon prove everyone wrong by averaging in double digits in five of his seasons. But his claim to fame would be beating the great Dominique Wilkins in the 1986 Slam Dunk Competition. After skying to perform some of the most gravity-defying dunks ever, Spud Webb would sky to the pantheon of NBA legends by proving little guys can beat big guys at their own game.

- Avery Johnson: You may know him these days as the coach of Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks, but Avery Johnson was once the championship-winning point guard for one fo the latter-day NBA dynasties: the San Antonio Spurs. As a point guard, Avery was known for his leadership, consistency and grace under fire. When in 1999 he hit the shot that eventually would clinch the title for the Spurs, we all knew that there was something special about this intelligent and talented young man that was born to win.



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Basketball Camps in the Philadelphia Area

The city of Philadelphia, home to the NBA's first franchise, the 76ers, has been a basketball town for generations. The 76ers have hosted such stars as Wilt Chamberlain and Charles Barkley, and have inspired hundreds of Philly kids to take up the game. Boys and girls interested in improving their skills have a number of Philadelphia basketball camps to choose from:

Sixers Camps
Operating for over thirty years, the Sixers Camps are the most well known of the Philadelphia basketball camps. 76ers players and former players regularly visit the camp, and participating youngsters learn from the pros as well as take part in traditional camp activities at their overnight facility in the Poconos. Sixers camps are open to boys and girls. Campers can also enjoy boating, swimming, batting cages, volleyball, and other fun activities.

Phil Martelli's Basketball Camp
Phil Martelli was named Associated Press coach of the year for 2004 when his Saint Joseph's Hawks went undefeated for the NCAA's regular season, the most recent team to do so. Now Martelli offers boys aged 8-17 the opportunity to stay at the University and hone their skills. Camp features guest lectures as well as individual and team competition, with campers staying on campus in air-conditioned dormitories under supervision.

Future Stars Camps
Future Stars is another organization specializing in Philadelphia basketball camps, offering a special overnight camp just for girls. As head coach at Immaculata College, Cathy Rush, founder of Future Stars, led her teams to five national championships. The camp staff includes many top basketball players at the women's college level.

Herb Magee's Basketball Camps
One of the best coaches in the country, Herb Magee has racked up 41 seasons as coach at Philadelphia University and offers a one week camp each summer for boys and girls in the Philadelphia area who would like to improve their shooting skills. The camp focuses on small group instruction, with a high instructor to camper ratio.

City of Philadelphia Day Camps
Many Philadelphia basketball camps are overnight programs. For those looking for a day camp experience, the City of Philadelphia offers basketball camps Monday through Friday during the summer. The city's basketball camp provides lunch and snacks for campers, as well as a report on each individual's progress as an athlete.

There are several important factors to consider when choosing a basketball camp. Be sure to look into the reputation of the camp and the staff, as well as the camp's goals and itinerary. The cost, location, and duration of the program may also play into making the right decision. Don't be afraid to contact staff to ask detailed questions, or ask for a tour of an overnight camp's facilities. A good basketball camp provides the tools to improve your game as well as an exciting week.

Matthew Finn is an accomplished niche website developer and author.



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Amazing Jumping Exercises to Increase Vertical Jumping

I'm going to show you the correct jumping exercises so you can increase vertical jumping on the basketball court. A lot of people assume that star athletes in the NBA can just naturally jump high. That they just have the right genetics, while you don't have them. The fact is that many of them had to work with specialized trainers for years to get to where they are today. The average person doesn't have the money to pay for a trainer to achieve this. Luckily, all they do is tell you to do specific exercises that will help you. I'm going to show you the exact jumping exercises that will increase vertical jumping.

The first one is doing seated calf raises. It is important to focus on weight because you want to strengthen those muscles. The one thing you want to avoid is doing the exercise slow. As you increase the weight, it gets harder to do fast, but you have to always be pushing off with intensity. This is how you'll properly simulate an actual jump.

Another exercise is walking around on the balls of your feet for half an hour. This forces your leg muscles to adapt to this position of a jump. Out of all the jumping exercises, I think this one works best to increase vertical jumping. If you find that this is easy, try doing it while walking around backwards. It puts a much higher strain on the muscles, they'll grow, but they'll also remain very springy.

Rule the court with dunking skills with these Jump Higher Exercises.

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Teaching Team Defense With Whole Part Whole Concept

Introducing a team concept like man to man defense takes preparation and planning. By using the whole-part-whole concept, players can see the entire defense first to grasp the main idea. Once this has been accomplished the parts can be introduced one at a time. By putting the team defense back together all parts begin to make sense. I highly recommend the whole-part-whole style of teaching basketball.

Man to man defense is an excellent way to using the whole concept of teaching. Here are the steps to follow with your team;

1. Show the whole concept first on the floor with just 5 players so they can seen firsthand how a 5 players look as a defensive unit.

2. Carefully and slowly have players walk through all of the slides and situations that can occur in the half court.

3. Have the defense defend some half speed offensive possessions. Go slow enough to coach them through each pass and movement.

4. Break the defense down into individual parts and drill each of these.

5. Put the parts back together and play full speed in the half court.

As soon as you play it live, you will scurry back to #1 or #2. Defensive slippage is huge at all levels, but even more at the elementary and junior high levels. An example of teaching a part of man to man defense is the flat triangle concept. The flat triangle is a term to describe the shape formed between the defender, his man, and the ball.

The best way to teach this concept is to take string and have the player with the ball and your man hold it...this represents the "line of the ball." By the way, just another term we use loosely that we expect our players to instantly grasp!!! Wrong, they are thinking about playing X Box in an hour when practice is over.

Extend the string to allow the defender to hold the string also. If he is one step off the line of the ball, the shape the string takes will be a flat triangle.

I've done this with many college teams to drive home the terminology and the idea of how this works into team defense.

Moving too fast with your team is a characteristic of poor coaching. Pieces of basketball must be broken down, explained and practiced. A coach cannot afford to assume their players know how to execute the many parts of the game. By using the Whole-Part-Whole method you will help your players see the game in a different, less confusing way. In the end, execution on the floor will be the by product of teaching basketball in this organized manner.

I encourage you to take the big teaching concepts and breaking them down into their smallest form. Perfecting the part will make your team tough to beat on both ends of the floor. Take this concept and apply it this season to with your team for excellent results.



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How to Increase Basketball Speed and Power

A strong with the ball player is one that is responsible with the basketball. At no point in time is that player going to have the ball taken from them, which is the most embarrassing thing that could happen on a basketball court bar none. I call this particular occurrence, "my ball" and I tally them for every team I coach. If you coach, maybe you should too! It opens up a door that is often ignored and will give you the ball for three to five extra possessions a game. Think about how valuable that is in a close game!

Being strong on the feet simply means that a player understands his body awareness, has coordination, and can move strong at will. A lot of this confidence is developed over a series of years and within specific athletic movement.

Hey, what about clumsy, heavy footed players? They dont have years of practice because the season is right around the corner?

Well, that is an obvious factor that warrants a specific solution. I know you have read it before but I have to reiterate it; swamp lunges. This movement builds coordination, joint integrity, muscular endurance, and bodily stability at the same time within anything dangerous getting in the way. Another huge advantage of this exercise and they way I designed it is that the participant begins by mastering his or her own bodyweight with it. This means that absolutely no resistance is added until certain prerequisite levels are achieved.

These reasons alone will keep dynamic movement training will stay on top of the athletic training world because its safe methods as opposed to the ones you can see inside some popular fitness magazines. An example would be the Bosu, which is a jelly-like structure that athletes are asked to balance and exercise on. At some point, things needs to be simplified and people should be able to balance themselves before embarking into advanced challenges.

Now correct if I am wrong but why would anyone ask an athlete to train motor movement using a jelly-like surface that will never be played on?

Why would a trainer ask an athlete to work on a synthetically developed surface where only the high level stable athletes can succeed?

I dont have those answers but I believe it may be due to a lack of safer options for the same desired result. Trust me; I have worked with countless athletes that were heavy footed and needed work on coming strong on the feet. The last thing I would ever do is put them on a Bosu and it's because it would be a recipe for disaster. Yes, there are exceptions to every rule but why even take the chance?

The best way to develop strength on the feet is to train on the feet. You need that physiological connection with the ground through specific movement patterns in order to build adequate muscle memory. That muscle memory demonstrates itself outside of training and during competition in a short period of time when using the swamp lunges and their progressions.



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Remarkable Exercises For Jumping

I'm going to show you some great exercises for jumping that can help you improve your abilities in basketball. Being able to jump higher is an important aspect of this sport. Most people are led to believe that the athletes you see on television naturally jump like that. The fact is that most of them had to train extremely hard with a personal trainer for years to achieve what they can. The fact is if you want to achieve the same thing, you can, as long as you're willing to put the necessary work in with the proper exercises for jumping. I'm going to show you exactly what you're going to need to do.

Squats are probably one of the most underrated exercises you can do. The reason people neglect it is that they think it focuses on the upper legs. It's true, it does, but it works the entire leg. Most importantly, it works the primary muscles of jumping. If you watch a squat, it looks like jumping in slow motion. This exercise will help your jumping muscles to get strong.

Strong isn't always the best thing to have. You need a balance between strength and that springy, explosive push off. The best exercise for jumping in that regard is walking around on the balls of your feet. This keeps you in a consistent state of pouncing. You're right in the middle of a jump basically. You should try to do this for 30 minutes. It's a lot harder than most people anticipate.



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Four Winning Strategies For the New Season

Each new basketball seasons brings with it a different set of challenges. To stay sharp, I encourage coaches to look for new ways to maximize their opportunities to win games. This article highlights three strategies that can be employed to improve as a coach and optimize your results.

As your coaching career rolls along it is natural to get set in your ways. I challenge you to look at your philosophies and teaching methods each season and entertain new ways of coaching basketball. Personal improvement and productivity can lead to amazing results you could never imagine. This out of the box type of thinking and call to action can make a huge difference in your upcoming season.

My top bit of advice is to develop your own coaching TOP 3. Establish exactly what they are and how to integrate them into your overall coaching philosophy and plan. Commit to them 100%. Beyond that, think about what areas of your coaching you want to improve in and how to do that. You can build this into your goals for the year.

Here are three creative ways to gain positive results from your season;

1. Get a mentor that can help you on a weekly basis, if not daily. Find someone to help you stay accountable to what you really want to do in your coaching.

2. Buy video editing software. I believe players are very visual and love to watch themselves. This can be a huge tool for you in terms of self-scouting (practice clips) or game preparation. Sideline Sports in particular has a great line of software tools that are very affordable to the youth or high school coach.

3. Begin to keep a "black book" for your coaching. The contents of this notebook are the essential beliefs/philosophies of your coaching. Example-don't have every OB play you have seen and written down at clinics in your black book. Include only those you have run and will run in the future. This is a very condensed version of you as a coach. It is your coaching Bible. Many coaches do not adopt a Top 3 or a black book and I believe that leads to being unorganized and inefficient coaching and poor results!

Use at least one of these four recommendations and prepare to see amazing changes and great results from your improved coaching ability.

I hope this helps........this comes from not only coaching for 25 years, but also in mentoring hundreds of coaches, currently and in the past.



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4 Tips on Making Your Basketball Jump Higher

Are you looking to make your basketball jump higher? Whether you are slamming a dunk, or blocking someone else's, a good jump is crucial to having a good game. For some people, a good jump comes naturally, but most athletes need to work at it. No matter what, both natural jumpers, and those whose jump comes from training, can always find a way to improve their vertical leap.

Of course, it is not always easy. Every athlete knows about the dreaded plateau. That point in training when no matter how hard you work, the best you can do is just maintain. Sometimes a plateau lasts a couple of weeks, sometimes months or years.

If you are looking to make your basketball jump higher, and you have hit a plateau, it is probably time to rethink your training program. While every body has its limits, very few athletes ever really reach the limits of their body's abilities. Almost every training technique, however, has limits to the amount of benefit it can give. Sometimes a plateau occurs when your body is adjusting to the most recent improvements a training program gives, but sometimes it comes when the training program does not have anything else to offer.

When you hit that plateau, and are ready to find a new program, make sure that you look carefully at any program that promises to make your basketball jump higher. Any program you start should cover several areas.

Exercise--

Obviously any training program should have exercises and workouts designed to give you the improvement you are looking for (a higher jump). A good program will also explain what benefit each exercise gives, and what muscles are used giving you a comprehensive overview of all aspects of that particular program.

Diet--

Your body can not do anything if it does not have the fuel it needs. A good training program will either give a fully detailed diet to go with the exercise plan, or give solid advice and guidelines for designing your own diet.

Downtime--

Since muscles actually improve between workouts, a good program will also advise you on how much downtime you need between heavy workouts to get maximum effect. Keep in mind, everyone's body is different, you may need more or less then the recommended downtime to get maximum effect.

Safety--



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Learn How to Increase Your Vertical Leap - See Improvement Fast

Are you in basketball, gymnastics or any sport where a good vertical leap is important? Are you ready to learn how to increase your vertical leap? As any athlete knows, it takes time and work to get improvement on the field, but learning how to increase your vertical leap can be surprisingly easy if you get the right kind of program.

If you want to understand how to increase your vertical leap, the first step is to understand how the vertical leap works. A vertical leap begins with a standing start not a running start. It uses quads, and muscles of the p-chain (hamstrings, glutes, etc.) to provide sudden, explosive power to lift the body vertically off the floor. A vertical leap therefore requires muscles to be both strong and fast. Fast, because all the strength of the muscles has to be applied in a fraction of a second, or most of it is wasted. Learning how to increase your vertical leap, therefore, consists of both strength and speed training for the muscles involved.

A big mistake some people make is spending an enormous amount of time working on their quads, and neglecting the other muscles involved. This makes really powerful quads, but does not do anything to improve the vertical jump. That is because all the muscles need to work together at the same time in any jump and even if one muscle is much stronger then the others, it will not be able to use all its power. If a stronger muscle does use all its power, the other muscles will be injured.

Another mistake to avoid when learning how to increase your vertical leap is over work. Constant work will damage muscles rather then improving them. This is because muscle strength and speed actually increase between workouts, rather then during the training. If you do not have enough downtime (usually 24 hours) between major workouts, your muscles never have a chance to recover and improve.

And do not forget to maintain a good diet as well. Some athletes have seen significant increases in performance just by changing their diet, and making sure to get enough vitamins and minerals each day.



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Proven Ways to Increase Vertical Jumping

I want to share with you some proven ways to increase vertical jumping with some very simple exercises. A lot of people look at basketball players as genetically built machines for jumping, but the fact is most of these guys have had to train very hard to achieve what they had today. They didn't wake up one day and were able to dunk the ball. They put in the work. I always tell people this to give them a reality check about the way things are. If you want to increase your jump, so you can dunk the ball, than you need to premeditate it. All great athletes have premeditated a moment. I'm going to show you exactly what you're going to need to do to increase vertical jumping.

One of my favorite exercises that I've done is walking around on the balls of my feet. It's a lot harder than you'd think when your goal is 30 minutes of it. This exercise works the exact muscles required to jump. When they get stronger, but more importantly, springy, you get so much added distance to your jump. If you're able to do this with relative ease, try doing it while walking around backwards.

Another important strategy to increase vertical jumping is raw strength. This means doing actual weight training on your calf area. There are a large variety of exercises to choose from, but the best is the standing calf press. I only have one rule for this; be explosive as you push up. Some people do it slowly, which doesn't give that realistic push of a jump.



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Goal Setting Strategies For the New Season

Each new season brings a level of freshness and excitement for coaches and players. Along with this excitement comes pressure to succeed by winning games. Coaches face big responsibilities with each new team and must handle pressure that gets out of hand. In this article I will share some ideas and thoughts for the basketball coach as they begin a new campaign.

Expectations and pressure are part of coaching. The wise coach will approach the new year by setting goals. Goals are important by giving the coach team a focus and direction to their efforts. Expectations are laced with pressures to win and exceed previous successes. It is important to avoid predictions that will paint you into a corner. Expectations are tricky to reverse once they are not bet.

I encourage coaches to spend quality time establishing goals for their season. These goals are well thought out and are based on the coach, the players, and the team as a whole. Make sure you set your own coaching goals and share them with your staff and an accountability partner like a mentor. This will help you stay on course because accountability will help you "see" things that need to be challenged that you cannot see.

Set personal and family goals also. These goals of self improvement and enhancing relationships are your most important life focus, no matter how important we think coaching is. goals.

Here are some guidelines to writing goals before the season:

1. Goals must be realistic but written to stretch you and your team a little out of your comfort zone.

2. Write your goals specifically. Instead of aiming for offensive improvement, strive to get the ball to the paint every third possession and get to the foul line a minimum of 15 times a game.

3. Make goals measurable so you can evaluate them. Measure improvement in these areas; a) overall progress by the team, and b) individual player progress, c) specific areas of the game such as defense, offense, and skills.

4. Make your goals time sensitive. By your fifth game you may want to attain a specific level of team play or team defensive results. Use increments of time to gauge all parts of your game. Measuring improvement can be determined by your record but in itself your record can be deceiving. Closely examine your efficiency in specific areas such as turnovers, shooting percentage, and opponent's transition baskets.

5. Develop a schedule to review and re-adjust your goals. You can't afford to go an entire season and look at your goals at the end. Set periodic times to check and review each of your goals to stay on task. It is OK to re-write or revise your goals as they will never be perfectly written. Some will be too lofty, some not lofty enough. The key is to realistic, yet always to reaching for more than you have done in the past!

This season take the approach of goal setting to set you and your team on the right path. The benefits will be many and your focus will be on your team and not the expectations of others. Goal setting can be the best motivator in sports if designed and utilized properly.



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NBA Tickets - The Positives in the Sonics' Move

With many people focusing on the bad things about the Sonics leaving Seattle, I'd like to take a look at all the good things that will be encouraging fans in Oklahoma City to purchase NBA tickets. Since the city of Seattle gets to keep the Sonics name, I'll simply refer to them as "the team."

The team is really an up and coming franchise with a bright future. As with any successful franchise, it starts with a superstar, and the team certainly has one in Kevin Durant. This kid is the real deal. At just 19 years of age, he averaged 20 points per game in his rookie season. He's unquestionably the leader of this young team and is going to be an incredible offensive player. Durant's skill set is amazing for a player of his height, 6-9. He's already got one of the best midrange games in the NBA. When he adds some more muscle to his thin frame, he'll be able to post smaller players up, as he did in college, but still have the quickness to blow by bigger defenders. He's also a pretty good three point shooter and will only improve in that department. He's long, athletic, a great character guy and the kind of player who wants the ball in his hands in the big moments. He had a few spectacular game-winning shots last season. One that comes to mind was shot from a spot closer to half court that it was to the three point line and Durant cashed it in effortless fashion. He's the type of draw that sells NBA tickets.

The Robin to Durant's Batman is Jeff Green. Green is the perfect complement to Durant. He's a smart, versatile guy who possesses point forward ability and is a good defender. He can take over games on nights when Durant struggles and looks to fit the mold as a great number two option. The team also drafted UCLA point guard Russell Westbrook with the fourth pick in the 2008 draft. Westbrook is really athletic and a great defender. The team needed someone to run the offense and Westbrook fits the bill.
Those three players are the core of the franchise at this point. They are all high character guys who are all about winning. The team has some other pieces, like Chris Wilcox, that aren't likely to be part of their long-term plans but could draw some nice value on the trade market. The team also has three young centers in Johan Petro, Robert Swift and Saer Sene. None of the three has stood out much, though Petro looks the most promising.

The team is building its future with good players with good attitudes. The sky is the limit for the franchise and people in Oklahoma City should be excited to get their hands on NBA tickets for years to come.



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Proven Methods to Jump Higher to Dunk

I'm going to show you some proven methods to jump higher to dunk. Do you think that basketball players just one day woke up and they could dunk the ball? For some, they had that natural ability, but for most of these athletes they had to train hard everyday for along time to just achieve that. If you're looking to make a team, or just to impress your friends, dunking the ball is an amazing thing to accomplish. I'm going to show you some exercises that you can try that can help add on six to eight inches in just a few months. For a lot this is enough to jump higher to dunk.

My first exercise for you to do is the standing calf press. It's really just a great way to strengthen those main muscles in jumping. You'll want to do this at a heavy weight, but you'll also want to push off explosively. A lot of people do this slowly, but I think doing the push up should be explosive, while coming back down should be slow. I think that gives a good balance to the process.

My next exercise to jump higher to dunk is to just walk around on the tips of your toes for around 30 minutes. It sounds easy, but it's incredibly difficult. This is going to keep those jumping muscles much more springy. The speed in which you engage the jumping muscles will determine how high you go. That's why just building up the muscle strength isn't enough, you have to make it very quick.



Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Charles_Nash

How to Train For Basketball and Receive Big-Time Results

Basketball players need immediate results in order to compete at a high level. Since the players in today's game are so athletic, physical training becomes the grand separator. In designing an effective training program, a player needs to understand two major focal points;

* Individual skill practice must take place on a daily basis

* Conditioning/Training does not replace individual skill practice

Once the above two factors are understood, immediate progress has been made. If you are a smart player, you will make your skill work, conditioning because of how hard you work. But, as stated previously, it does not replace conditioning. Think of it as a double benefit. The daily skill work requirement of a big-time player is ball handling, passing, defending, rebounding, and movement training. The fundamental skills of basketball must be mastered and are considered imperative for a players success.

* Ball Handling

A player needs to master handling a basketball in a stationary style first. This is a prerequisite to moving with a basketball. Anyone who does not have absolute mastery over a basketball needs to focus on the Maravich Drills for their stationary movement. Most of my athletes start their individual workouts with five minutes of this nonstop at a very high intensity level.

Once mastery is attained, basic movements are used for traveling ball handling. Moves that are used in the game are emphasized. These game-time moves include change of direction, hesitation, in and out, crossover, in and out into crossover and pull back into crossover. These moves are critical for big-time results and are used in the game.

* Passing

If you have a wall to pass to, you have all you need. Make a mark on a brick wall and hit it one hundred times with your bounce, chest, overhead, one hand underhand, one hand overhand, and lob passes. Concentrate on starting every pass in the triple threat, strong with the ball position. Keep the basketball to yourself and do not give it away.

Once you have mastered the stationary passing, you can progress to moving. You can use that same wall, just take a strong dribble to the left or right and then go through the same series of passes. Once you master once dribble, proceed to two dribbles.

* Rebounding

Rebounding is timing, the ability to read the ball off the rim, and positioning. Like all the other skills, proper repetition will give way to serious results. When you perform your shooting drills, follow all of your shot, and finish them. Take the ball strong to the rim with authority. Shooting drills are the keys to rebounding and this is due to your repetitions of reading the ball off the rim.

* Defense and Movement Training

Since my retirement from professional basketball, I have realized there is a serious void in this area. There are tremendous individual skill coaches out there who do a great job but there is a lack of movement training coaches. To give you another example, why would a player who has not mastered his own bodily movement try to add weight to it? A body is only as efficient as his levers allow him to be. Remember, it is not always the skills or a weightlifting program as much as it is the players ability to move randomly.



Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dave_Lemanczyk

Basketball Training For Court Dominating Strength

Basketball training needs to be carefully designed based the movement patterns that exist within the game. This understanding allows players to train using dynamic movements that promote function. For example; an exercise that includes a movement application is favored over one that is stationary. In addition, movement training primarily increases a human beings capacity for functional strength and conditioning.

* Are individual basketball skills important in training?

Yes and all individual skills must be mastered or in the progress of mastery for completion as a player. Individual basketball skills include but are not limited to shooting, passing, cutting, rebounding, defending, awareness, and helping.

Daily practice requirement for the pursuit of skill mastery is to the point of execution failure. For example; chest pass to a partner as explosive as you can. Have the partner throw the ball back quickly and then repeat the rapid chest pass. Once you are no longer accurate to your partner, the passing fundamental is over.

It is very important to develop correct habits so that the motor patterns can be remembered properly when you need them the most. At the end of a game when you are exhausted, you will not have to worry about a pass getting to a teammate. You know it will since you practiced diligently in your training.

* Should basketball players concentrate on flexibility before training?

Attaining an optimal level of flexibility is a precursor to lifting with weighted resistance of any kind. This is because dynamic movements greatly reduce the possibilities of injuries and safely increase maximum strength. A fine example of a dynamic stretch is jogging. Within a few minutes of jogging, the soft tissues (muscles) within the body become fuller due to their usage. This is that general feeling of being warm or what most coaches call a warm up. At this point, it is time to divulge into sensible physical training.

Movement stretches or dynamic stretches allow an athlete to develop flexibility without attempting to force flexibility. Improper stretching techniques can lead to sports injury and adequate health is the ticket to achieving true athletic potential and more importantly, reaching it.

* Do basketball players need to lift weights?

No they do not. Basketball players are advanced movers and need to condition themselves as such. The human body is comprised of a unique blend of levers (bones/joints) that have differential properties containing mechanical advantage and disadvantage. The primary goal of a player is to increase his entire bodily leverage to ensure performance during a rapid, high pressure, reactive based environment such as the basketball court. All players have natural weakness and those need to be assessed, and tended to through adequate training. In time and with patience, a player improves. Prior to lifting with weighted resistance a player must master his own bodily movement.

* What should basketball players focus on to get results?

First, layers need to focus on developing their peripheral vision to the highest possible level. This ability greatly enhances awareness and leads to prowess. In the early days of basketball, coaches would put their players in a circle and have them pass balls to each other without looking. Each player would look straight ahead yet still see the ball quickly approaching them with there peripheral vision. This is the type of basketball training that represents similar anxiety to that of an actual game.

In addition to visionary development each basketball player needs to improve wrist and ankle strength. Both joints hold an overwhelming responsibility to our movement and manipulative capability. Properly training the wrists and ankles reduces the possibilities of strains, sprains, and pain all together.

Wrist training benefits include but are not limited to longer shooting range, explosive passing, ball control, shock absorption, etc. Ankle training benefits increase speed, movement, acceleration, vertical leaping, bounding, running, stopping, changing direction, shock absorption, etc.

Thirdly, a basketball player needs to concentrate on developing a perfect core balance. Sometimes trainees have abdominal muscles that are much stronger than their back muscles. This is due to basic overwork and neglect and it creates muscular imbalance which may lead to future injury.

Additionally postural strength is paramount and serves as a primary injury preventive attribute. Improved core strength allows a player to move his body quicker, faster, and stronger in unpredictable environments where any movement may occur. This type of conditioning is developed through unique dynamic functional tasks that require concentration and mental toughness.

* What is basketball strength?

Basketball Strength is the power to score, dominate, and defend anyone at anytime on the basketball court. It is a no fear demonstration of skill mastery and ability. Consider this a honed skill set that can not and will not be denied.



Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dave_Lemanczyk

Improve Your Vertical Jump in Basketball

I'm here to show you how you can improve your vertical jump in basketball greatly by following a few simple exercises that professional athletes haves been using for years. I used to think that all those great basketball players just had these amazing genetics to jump higher. The truth is that they don't. Many have the advantage of just being tall, but most of them had to work daily doing exercises just to add a few inches to their jump. When it comes to this sport and there is money on the line, the best training the methods end up with the athletes and the average Joe misses out. I'm going to expose how the athletes out there train to increase their vertical jump.

The first exercise to help improve your vertical jump in basketball is the squat. It's just an important part of strengthening those muscles required to push you off the ground. Most people think that the squat works the upper area of the legs, which won't help you in your jump, but it does work your entire leg and strengths all the right muscles.

The problem many people have is that they just do strength training and that isn't the only thing. Having strong muscles isn't the only part of jumping higher. It's similar to the idea of someone putting up 50lbs of muscle to run faster. You also need that springy elastic and explosive push off. If you can't achieve that you're not going to get the best of your strength. This is why I suggest that you should walk around on the tips of your toes for 30 minutes a few times a week. It sounds a lot easier than it really is. Try it and you should get some good results.



Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Charles_Nash

The Real Thing About Fundraising

Fundraising is both challenging as it is rewarding. Raising the needed fund for a worthy cause is indeed spiritually and emotionally satisfying. Every school organization may want to extend a helping hand to those folks who are in dire need. The prospect beneficiary could either be a charitable institution, an orphanage, a community project, and the likes. However, no matter how pure the intention is, school funds can be exceptionally tight. Even the school itself needs aid from people who have a kind heart to give out donations.

When your school organization aims to help out through whatever possible means regardless of who or which is the beneficiary, fundraising is just the most precise thing to do. Is it not much fulfilling on your part to put out the best possible effort you can in order to earn money for a specific cause or if you’re earning money to help others? Of course it is!

Confused of which fundraising strategy to go for? There are a lot of fundraising ideas to opt for which may either be simple or a bit complicated. As a matter of fact, it is usually the simplest plan which works best.

What can fundraising do for you?

Due to the fact that fundraising stirs the best out from you, the feeling of being able to help the needy is particularly spiritually and emotionally gratifying. Fundraising campaigns are as well beneficial for your organization as it heightens the return of good and positive feedbacks that your group may get.

Apart from all other glorifying aspects which fundraising generate, one’s creativity, organizational skills, communication dexterities, and firmness as likewise enhanced. During fundraising ventures, you and your group mates get the chance to interact with people from all walks of life and be able experience for yourselves the real score outside of the world which you are traditionally confined in.

Fundraising Ideas

There are a number of fundraising ideas that your school organization can choose from. The most common fundraising ideas are selling sandwiches, candy and chocolate bars, shakes, beverages, meal coupons, concert tickets, basketball game tickets, discount coupons, personalized shirts, mugs, pens, and other collectible items, and so on. Cooking and then selling the output from the recipes you have collected can also be effective. You can try selling them to the school’s population or to the outside community. Your organization can even team up with the school’s sports games and earn profit from the ticket sales. Or, your organization may stage a concert for a cause. Garage sale and car washing is also among the trendiest fundraising activities these days.

Things to Consider in Fundraising

After finally deciding on which fundraising idea to go for, there are two major things which must be borne in mind. The first thing is to carefully think about the percentage of profit that you will make out of the fundraising activity. When your organization had opted to team up with another organization or some company, the agreement must be put into writing.

Next, it is significant to make sure that the products you put up for sale for the fundraising campaign are worth it. Once the people know for a fact the real cause for the fundraising activity, they tend to be exceptionally generous.

Any fundraising activity needs careful planning. For the campaign to be highly successful, it is important that all members of your organization should concert enough effort for the realization of the specified goals.

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Breached Security

Once again our leaders in the Bush administration have shown how little we are protected. If they can’t even protect the private passport records of our presidential candidates how can we expect them to stop the bomb in the shopping mall, the suitcase nuke coming across the southern board or the millions of containers that arrive at our ports everyday – unexamined.

We are quickly becoming a society of people all of whom are at some level of “post traumatic stress syndrome’. Point in fact – when the tornado hit the Golden Dome in Atlanta during the basketball game last week, most people reported that their first thought was “it was a terrorist attack.” How many of you have thought the same thing when something happens in your hometowns. I have and if you are honest – you have also. We jump at noises that use to not bother us; we tense up if a helicopter flies over too low. Some of us sleep with the light on now or CNN on all night.

It has been that way for five years because our leaders have led with fear. They have continued to play the “fear card” every time they need something from Congress and they play it again whenever they need the public to contact their Congressional Representative.

I don’t like this feeling – this feeling of having our guard up all the time. The administration is even running public service announcements about having a family plan, where to meet our family members if there is a terrorist attack and everyone in your family is separated.

Every time there is a breaking news bulletin – is this it? They have started testing the emergency broadcast network on a weekly basis now – instead of monthly – and it is always on different day and time so it catches us off guard. Do they know something that we don’t know, or do they just want us to believe they do?

How long can our leaders keep us in a state of fear? What damage is this fear having on our bodies? Fear is a powerful emotion – people do brutal acts because of fear. Revolutions are started in the name of fear.

And do you realize how many of our Constitutional rights have been taken away. Let’s take a look at this. Let say your best friend lives in France. The two of you email back and forth talking about “terrorists”. This word triggers your email into a government program and puts you on a list of people to watch. If you are suspected, the government can bust into your home and search it without a warrant. You can be arrested with no charges and can be kept in jail for weeks or more. If they believe you have information, they ship you to a “friendly country” and beat you half to death to extract information out of you. After a day or two of this – you tell them anything, and if you have no real information – you make up a story just so the torture will stop. Did you realize this? No, probably not because we are afraid. Fear is very powerful and it can keep people in line. This is exactly what the Nazi party did in its rise to power before WW II.

What can we do about this? Probably nothing. The Democrats are fighting over the nomination and the Republican candidate is just Bush III.

Our government should be reassuring us, making us unafraid. A fearful populist can revolt when they are not happy with the present leaders. A fearful populist will follow false prophets who speak will and who can convince them to follow him – people who really are unable to lead.

This is the most important thing to do about this – when you go to vote in November, don’t vote for a person out of fear. Vote for them out of hope and change and pray that the person you voted for can deliver on the hope and the change.

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Ways To Score In A Basketball Game

There are different ways to score in a basketball game. Let us learn each of them:

Jump shot - is the most common shot made at the perimeter (or the place on the court that is relatively far from the basket), also known as set shot. This is done by getting the right height before throwing the ball to the basket. It is also essential to follow through with the ball. This is done by maintaining your form while the ball is still on its way to the basket. The following through is said to increase the chance of scoring. A jump shot is often worth 2 points.

Three-point shot - is a perimeter shot taken beyond the arc (both feet of the player must not step on the three-point line). The player should possess leg and knee power to generate enough height to release the ball 20 feet away from the basket. A three-point shot often gives the team a boost and adds excitement to the game.

Free throw - A free throw is given after the opponent has committed a personal foul or a technical foul. This is an unguarded shot taken in the free-throw lane and is worth 1 point.

Dunk - is one of the most exciting shots that can be made by a player. This is done by jumping high enough to get your hands on the rim while still holding the ball. Once you reach the right height, slam the ball and grab the rim. It adds more to the excitement.

Alley oop - is a pass and shoot sequence that involves great coordination between the passer and the receiver of the ball. The ball is thrown to a player in mid air who will also shoot the ball before he touches the ground.

Lay up - is the most common shot made inside the paint. This is also the easiest shot to make. You drive to the basket, take off to get the right elevation, and lay the ball directly to the rim or off the board with one hand. The non-shooting hand is used to protect the ball from the defender.

Hook shoot - is made popular by Kareem Abdul-Jabar. This shot is done by turning your body on the side while the head is still facing the basket. You will jump off with the non-shooting leg and toss to ball with one hand similar to laying up.

Scoring in a basketball game is important to win a game but don't forget to play defense so that you prevent your opponent from scoring more than you do.

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2 Deadly Girls Basketball Shooting Mistakes

I have been involved in girls basketball for quite a while. As I watch girls basketball, it is hard for me to look at a game for pure entertainment. I am always looking at the little things like does a young lady get in triple threat, are the teams running plays, and the attitude of players. I especially look at the way a young lady shoots the basketball. Here are 2 deadly mistakes players make in shooting the basketball.

Wrong Attitude

The first mistake a player makes in shooting a basketball comes before they even shoot the ball. They don't believe in their ability to shoot. They run through their head over and over and over again such thoughts--

"I am not a great shooter.

"I can't shoot 3s."

I worked with a young lady during a training session and she told me that she could not shoot 3s. I had her go through a series of shooting which were only 3s and she knocked down the majority of the shots. But this young lady had just told me and more than once that she could not make 3 pointers.

You are what you think about. If you think you can't do something, you won't even try to do it. Which leads me to the other deadly mistake.

Ways to Jump Higher

I wanted to take the time to share some ways to jump higher with you. Being able to get higher with your jumps has many advantages. The obvious is the ability to dunk the ball, but there is also the ability of rebound control, shot blocking, more accurate shooting and the ability to run faster. Being able to jump much higher will bring your game to a new level. I want to show you exactly what you're going to need to do to accomplish that correctly and in the most safe manner.

On of the most important ways to jump higher is through training your muscles required in the jumping movement. As they become stronger, they have the ability to push you further off the ground.

Try starting out doing jump rope. You don't have to jump very high, in fact, it's much better if you just keep above the rope as you bounce over it. The idea behind this exercise is that it keeps you on the tips of your toes. The longer you remain on the tips of your toes, the strong your calf muscles will get, which makes your jumping ability improve.

Another great exercise is the standing calf raise. At the gym, you should be able to find a Smith machine. It has a barbell locked into position, so it can only go up and down. Get underneath it, so the bar rests on your shoulder back area. Get a block of wood to put the tips of your toes on. Start pushing up and down. That will work the calf muscles, but here is a tip to get the most out of this workout. As you push yourself up, be extremely explosive in speed. This will make you a much better jumper.

5 Ways to Be a Better Girls Basketball Scorer

Attitude - The first way to become a better scorer in girls basketball is to believe in yourself. It is that simple. You must have the confidence to know that when you shoot the basketball, the ball will go through the hoop. If you are confident and have a positive attitude in your shooting ability, the ball will go in more often than not.

Do Extra Work- If your shot is not falling the way you want it to, do something about it. Doing nothing and complaining about how you can't shoot or how you are off or in a slump is not helping the situation. Get in a gym and take some extra shots.

Attend a Camp or Clinic- There is shooting camps and clinics available all over the place. Get on the internet do a search on Girls Basketball Shooting Camps or Clinics and add your city or state to see if a camp is being held in your area or region.

Get a Trainer-Girls basketball trainers are available to assist you either one-on-one or in a group setting.

Buy Basketball Training Material- there are plenty of books, e-books, DVDs and other training equipment that is available on the subject of basketball or shooting a basketball. You can find them in the library, book store or online.

The most important aspect of becoming a better girls basketball scorer is doing something about it whether you first, change your attitude, do extra work, attend a camp or clinic, get a trainer or buy some kind of basketball training material.

Basketball Coaching: Team Motivation

Some of us will come home from practices and wonder, “Why on earth did Johnny decide to come out for the basketball team if he doesn’t want to try?” We spend so much time and energy on the frustration and the struggle to get players to perform at their optimum level during games.

I think it can be summed up in one common sports phrase:

“The way you practice is the way you play the game.”

Too many of our players don’t take practices seriously and they are joking around and not focusing on the task at hand. They don’t pay attention in practice and it is reflected in the way they play on the field, court, or arena. What makes the problem even worse is the fact that these players often have a detrimental effect on the attitude and coachability of others.

So, how do you motivate all of the players on the basketball team to start practicing hard? First, accept that you will always have at least one bad apple. The key is limiting the amount of influence that player can have on the rest of his or her basketball teammates.

Here are some of the other methods you can use to get your basketball team motivated to practice hard and play hard:

• Reward the basketball team for ‘basketball team’ efforts – Often times peers are the best motivators. You don’t need to crack the whip on any particular player, singling that player out more than the rest. You simply need to motivate the majority of the basketball team by rewarding them when the entire basketball team comes out to work hard during practices and games.

If their basketball teammates don’t want to work and the rest of the basketball team misses out on rewards, or worse yet have to do more work at practice, you can bet that person is going to hear it from the players. I would suggest that will often be motivation enough to get most players in line with practicing hard.

• Set a goal with the basketball team before each game – In hockey, you could set a goal of each basketball team member making a good pass in each period. If the basketball team achieves that goal then they are rewarded.

The goal can be as simple as winning a game, or doing a number of different basketball team skills effectively – even in a loss. As the coach, you can find any number of goals that a basketball team can try to reach during a game or even a practice, in order to motivate the players.

• Explain to them the importance of practice – You can use all sorts of coaching tactics for this one. Start with the fact that other basketball teams are preparing for them, so they need to prepare hard and well for the other basketball teams. You can tell them that improving skills is crucial in raising the basketball team to the next level.

There are literally dozens of different motivational tactics that can be used by coaches to get their basketball team up by showing them the importance of practice. The only thing that you shouldn’t do is be negative. Always be positive with the approach that you are taking. Players don’t often respond to negative remarks.

• Have fun at practice – Set the example early that practices are going to be work, but they are also going to be fun. That way a player knows that they are going to be able to have fun during the practice, but they will also be able to have fun.

This is especially important for the younger players. At that level, you are trying to maintain excitement and enjoyment for players that are probably just learning a game. If they see and hear a coach that is negative and yelling and the practices aren’t fun, then you probably aren’t going to see them for much longer. If they stay, you likely aren’t going to get much out of them.

• Simple encouragement – You wouldn’t believe how far positive encouragement and telling a player when they are doing well goes. It is unbelievable. Just think back to when you were a player in your sport and you heard your coach say, “That was a great steal Joe,” or “how to get the ball out quick Jenny.”

All of those comments help. They help a heck of a lot more than degrading or getting angry at players. No one wants to work hard for a coach that yells at his or her players during a practice or during a game. Players like coaches that lead them to victory through positive reinforcement, good coaching and setting a good example.

It isn’t always easy getting a basketball team motivated for practices, but that is the place to start – especially if you also want to get them motivated for games. Helping to build that motivation by giving players and the basketball team some positive goals to work for – with a positive coaching mentality is the best way to get the most motivation out of your basketball team.

How To Kick Butt At Basketball Camp and Get A Sports Scholarship!

Do you know Why It so Important To Kick Butt at Basketball Camp? Yes, it is FUN. That is one reason. But a more important reason is it gives you a GREAT chance to get your foot in the door of a college basketball scholarship.

So, you may be asking, Why would doing well at basketball camp make that much of a difference? Simple! Because the most important step in getting recruited to play college basketball is getting coaches to NOTICE You. Kicking Butt at Basketball Camp can get you noticed FAST.

Getting a basketball scholarship takes many steps. However, if nobody knows about you, no matter how good you are, …you won’t get recruited.

College coaches are always looking for good athletes who can better their teams. If you are a high school player who is wanting a college scholarship, the Basketball Camp is the perfect place for both the coach and the player to get to know each other.

It is the job of the player to WOW the coaches. The coaches need to know who and where the good players are and all about them before they can recruit them for their teams.

How do they find the best players for their teams? They usually don’t do it by just surfing the net. The may find out some information on the Internet. But, they get most of their player info from other coaches and recruiters they have learned to trust.

Coaches may play against each other, but listen up… They are still friends with each other as well. They know other coaches on every level. And, they are all looking for great new players.

Coaches usually move around quite a bit, and they form many friendships with other basketball coaches wherever they go. Coaches value the friendships they have with other basketball coaches.

They are just like the rest of us; they love to be the first one to pass on good info. They talk among themselves all the time about the game of basketball and how and where they can find super new recruits. Coaches trust the opinion of a fellow coach who is also a friend rather than the word of a stranger.

The big time coaches use recruiters and scouts. They also talk with booster club members and sports big shots. In other words, they will listen to the people they already know and trust.

News of a “hot” basketball player travels fast. Today, with a click of a mouse or a phone call, a coach two thousand miles away can learn of a new up-and-coming athlete. This is really how word gets around in the world of college basketball. News of a high school star point guard could travel around the country in a matter of minutes.

What can a high school basketball player do who wants to play college basketball do to get this important attention from coaches? Easy, strut your stuff where the coach can see you or hear about you. Be a basketball camp STAND OUT!!! The camps are super places for coaches on every level to find new good players. They will be keeping their eyes open for any player who could become a basketball star.

Make the coaches think about what they could do with you if they could have you on their teams. Make them think, hey, with just a little coaching from me; this kid could be a raving sensation when he gets to college. They will be drooling over you. Believe me, if you do Kick Butt At Basketball Camp, the coaches will keep you in mind for their teams.

Basketball Drills - Layups

The lay-up is the most basic shot in basketball. Unfortunately, it does not get a lot of attention when people work on improving their overall game. In a time now where fundamentals are slowly being forgotten and replaced with fancy show-boating moves, players need to remind themselves of the basic techniques of shooting lay-ups to make themselves better scorers. In this article we will discuss just a few things associated with lay-ups that will help improve your overall game.

When Practicing Lay-ups Take It Serious:

In an actual game you will rarely have the opportunity to lazily run to the basket and shoot an uncontested lay-up. Most lay-ups are shot while you are fast breaking with a defender on your hip harassing you all the way to the basket. If you practice lay-ups nonchalantly then in a game type situation you are more likely to miss the lay-up because you might jump off the wrong foot, or shoot the lay-up too hard because your timing is off. It's not logical at all for you to make even the simplest of shots in a game if you are not practicing the shots the same way you would shoot them in a game. Make sure you are using correct technique and that you are moving at game speed when you shoot lay-ups during your warm-ups.

Be Able To Use Both Hands:

You should be able to shoot lay-ups effectively with both the right and left hand. If you are driving to the basket on the left hand side of the floor and shoot a lay-up using your right hand you are likely to get the shot blocked. Make sure that whatever side of the basket you are driving towards you use that hand to shoot the lay-up. This will ensure that your body will be in between you and your defender and it's likely that you will draw a foul if your defender tries to block your shot.

Be Selective:

If you try to shoot the same type of lay-up in every situation you will lack the advantage. It's important that you are use to shooting different types of lay-ups so that you will be harder to defend in certain situations. For example a defender may be over aggressively challenging every shot you take, as you get to the basket you may want to head fake and shoot what is referred to as a power lay-up where you go off two feet and try to draw a foul or shoot over your defender as you time it perfect. Or sometimes on a break you would want to actually shoot a lay-up with the opposite hand of the side of the basket you are driving towards. Sometimes when you are pressured to get a shot off you can get the ball to the basket quicker if you were to use the right hand when going up on the left hand side of the basket or vice versa. The bottom line is that you need to have a selection of lay-ups that you feel comfortable shooting so that during games you can use every advantage you possibly can.

Plyometrics Training - How it Increases Your Vertical Jump

With the correct plyometric training you can increase your vertical jump by up to 12 inches! That is a really significant change, I will explain how.

I will list one way in this article on how to increase your vertical jump using plyometrics, but remember there are several!

Increase your Vertical jump with traditional weight training

This is one branch of the plyometric vertical jump training, this method uses exercises such as squats, lunges, leg presses and toe raises. This is a heavy load program but there is little repetition, you do each exercise about 4-6 times.

Many would ask. Why is this method an effective way to increase your vertical jump ability? The answer is that in vertical jumping you need to use a lot of power from your body and power is a combination of strength and speed.

Therefore a weight training program that improves your strength can improve your power and increase your vertical jump ability.

However as you become stronger and get on more strength your speed decreases as well and so does your power since your speed is a branch of power as well. So if you're an expert/experienced person in weight lifting this method will not benefit you as much as the other methods might.

This method is more beneficial for beginners to gain more strength, the plyometric traditional weight training is safe, easy and highly effective way to increase your power at the beginning. You run at a very low risk of injury of spraining when using these simple methods.

As I stated earlier, this is just one of the many methods with which you can increase your vertical jump.

How to Jump Shot

The beauty of the jump shot is that you do not need to be stationary and open, you can score while moving and in "traffic", you just jump and extend your shot over the defender!

A lot of people start to early with the jump shot and that can be dangerous since you can ruin your technique, I would suggest the player to be in a good shape and in a good age as well! Start by shooting about one feet from the basket and extend the distance you shoot from, don't go to far out since that can ruin your technique as well, if it gets ruined or you start getting a bad habit I would highly recommend for you to go back to the one feet line and start practicing all over again.

How to hold the ball: The shooting hand is under the ball and acts as a platform, the other hand is on the side and balances the ball. You receive the ball with your knees bend, use your legs to provide the power for your shot. Make sure that you're in balance with the ball before doing the jump shot.

Jump off the floor straight up in the air or a bit forward if you're doing a long shot, shoot the ball just before you have reached your jump height, if you need extra power jump up to the max height you can do.

This technique allows you to shoot over a defensive player, once the shot is done the shooting should form a L with the elbow turned and pointing against the hoop.

When you're focusing on releasing the ball it is very important that you focus on the destination where you want the ball going, do not focus on the flight path that it is going to take! Don't even watch the ball go, just focus on the area you'd like the ball to hit.

Being able to jump high up is also a part of this technique, that's why you need to train your vertical jump.

How to Dunk

Nothing gets the crowd going more then a really nice dunk! This is a move that is worth mastering and it comes in handy when playing basketball , in this article I will explain the vertical leap aspect of how to dunk.

First of all your vertical leap needs to be good, you are going to need the lifting power of your legs!

I would start by buying a good pair of shoes, a lot of people find it easier to dunk with better shoes as well as the chance of getting hurt is lower with better shoes. You can find out which shoes are best by checking out what the real professionals wear, and just asking around in a sports store.

Start by jumping around the court, more specifically:

Jump across the court and back, try it at least two times, I recommend doing it a few times more, increasing the load each week.

Do jumps to touch the net, running jumps. Do this until you can do it ten times in a row, don't get it done during one day, this takes time to master so do not rush it!

Next up, practicing handling the ball, even though you might be able to palm the basketball you will lose the grip when you dunk. Hold the ball with your arm extended!

Start by using an adjustable height basket, adjust it to low and dunk until you feel ready to move the basket up.

Dribble towards to the basket, take the two allowed steps palming the ball in your dunk hand then jump after your second step and dunk it in.

Try dunking with a tennis ball or golf ball and move your way up to a volleyball then at last the basketball.

At the end of the day it's all about muscle and vertical leap power, loosing weight and gaining some much needed muscle will really make you go sky high!

New York Knicks Tickets - The Direction of the Knicks

New York Knicks Tickets are desirable among New Yorkers no matter what the team's record. The franchise has been struggling for years but it appears that the Knicks could be ready to turn things around. Knicks owner James Dolan fired GM and head coach Isiah Thomas and hired Donnie Walsh as team president, who in turn hired former Suns head coach Mike D'Antoni. The new regime marks a fresh start for the team from a management standpoint, but the payroll is still way over the salary cap and the roster is severely lacking in team chemistry.

Thomas was notorious for taking chances on talented guys who had character issues, a tendency that really hurt the team. Thomas' acquisitions of Stephon Marbury, Eddy Curry, Zach Randolph, Jared Jeffries and Jerome James are all considered to be major mistakes. Each of those players has disappointed production-wise when considering their contract and it will take a lot of work to fix the team financially.

Step one is unloading Stephon Marbury. His unpopularity among his teammates is well-documented and I just wouldn't want him around the clubhouse. Each year we hear about how he's working hard in the offseason and this is going to be his comeback year, but he disappoints every season with with lackluster, selfish play. He's scheduled to make more than $20 million this season in the last year of his contract. If they can't unload him in a trade to a team looking for an expiring deal, I think a buyout is in order. Curry and Randolph both seem to lack motivation and are never in the best of shape. If the Knicks can land expiring deals for either player, they should jump at the chance. Neither guy appears to fit D'Antoni's offense. Jeffries and James both received mid-level exceptions from Thomas and neither has produced much.

The bright spots for the Knicks are Jamal Crawford, David Lee, Nate Robinson and Danilo Gallinari. Crawford is the best player on the team and probably the only guy who sells New York Knicks tickets. He should thrive in D'Antoni's up-tempo system, as should Robinson. Lee is a high energy guy who deserves a starting spot, but probably won't get one unless Randolph is moved. Gallinari is a wildcard, but he's D'Antoni's guy and should fit the system. Wilson Chandler, last year's first rounder, is still an unknown at this point.

Walsh has expressed the desire to clear cap space for 2010 when LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh will hit the market if they choose to opt out of their current deals. While you can't base your entire roster strategy on signing a future free agent, clearing cap space cannot be a bad idea for the Knicks. With the highest payroll in the league, they should be much better than they've played.

The team signed Chris Duhon this offseason to be their point guard, which signals that Marbury's time is likely out. Neither Walsh nor D'Antoni have any ties to any players on the roster aside from Gallinari, and will not hesitate to clean house. The Knicks need to focus on working hard and developing team chemistry, while cutting payroll and avoiding any big contracts that aren't expiring deals. I have faith that New York Knicks tickets will return to being a prominent item among sports fans.

Philadelphia 76ers Tickets - Brand Recognition

NBA fans in Philadelphia better start buying their Philadelphia 76ers Tickets right now. The Philadelphia 76ers have reportedly inked power forward Elton Brand to a five year deal worth approximately 82 million dollars. The acquisition of Brand is exactly what the team needed to make the push into the upper echelon of the Eastern Conference. The Sixers were a big surprise last season; they made the playoffs just one year after trading Allen Iverson and took the heavily-favored Piston to six games in the first round of the playoffs.

The Sixers were supposed to be bad last season. When I say bad, I mean worst team in the league bad. But the resurgence of veteran point guard Andre Miller and unexpectedly quick development by some of the club's young players helped them climb all the way to the seventh seed in the conference after a 5-13 start. The Sixers were a good team last season but had one glaring weakness; they had no scoring in the low post. The Sixers were playing journeyman Reggie Evans at power forward for most of the season, a guy who is not exactly an offensive juggernaut. Brand will provide all the inside scoring a team could ask for. The guy averages 20 and 10 for his career and is a force on the block.

Add Brand to an already promising roster full of young talent and you've got something special in the works. Miller had one of his best seasons last year and is entering a contract campaign in 2008-2009. It's unlikely the team will be able to retain his services after this upcoming season, but by then he'll be 33 and the team has already been grooming talented youngster Louis Williams to take over the role as floor general. Center Samuel Dalembert took major strides last season and seems to be finally living up to his potential. The seven-foot Haitian averaged a double-double last season and added more than two blocks per contest. Andre Iguodala is one of the premiere defenders in the league and has off-the-charts athletic ability. But the most promising young gun on the team, in my opinion, is second-year forward Thaddeus Young. This kid has star potential. He played a lot of minutes at the four thanks to the team's lack of depth an excelled despite being just 6-8. The acquisition of Brand and rookie Mareese Speights will allow Young to move to his natural position of small forward full time. This kid will sell Philadelphia 76ers Tickets for years to come with his well-rounded game.

With the addition of Brand, I think the Sixers are the third best team in the east. The Celtics and Pistons are still in a class of their own, but in a year or two, the City of Brotherly Love could be home to the conference champions. Philadelphia 76ers Tickets are only going to get harder to come by each year.

NBA Tickets - Jennings Heads Overseas

Point guard Brandon Jennings has the potential to sell a ton of NBA tickets one day, but he's taking a road that's not yet been traveled on his way to the NBA. Jennings has signed with Pallacanestro Virtus Roma of the Italian pro league when questionable SAT scores threatened to prevent his enrollment at Arizona. Jennings was committed to be a Wildcat for this upcoming college basketball season until eligibility issues prompted the 18-year-old to consider playing overseas. Jennings cannot make the jump directly to the NBA thanks to the league's rule that a player must be one year removed from high school and 19 years of age by the end of the calendar year of their rookie season to play in the NBA.

This kind of issue was bound to come up. A similar situation almost arose a few years back, before the age minimum was in place, with now Indiana Pacer Brandon Rush. Rush entered his name into the NBA draft after his senior year of high school but pulled out when he didn't receive a first round promise. Rush considered foregoing college and working out with a trainer all year and re-entering his name in the draft the following year. Rush eventually went to Kansas where he won a national championship. But there is no chance that Jennings will be attending Arizona.

His new team does feature several American-born players, including former second round pick Allan Ray, but the competition will not be what it is on the elite level of college basketball. He's got a good chance at starting in Italy, especially if current point guard Roko Ukic signs with the Toronto Raptors. Jennings is a really talented player, but he's got a little bit of street ball in him. I doubt he'll be encouraged to make behind the back and no look passes in Italy, though his flashy game could sell a lot of NBA tickets some day.

Jennings' stock is likely to fall due to lack of exposure and the inevitable adjustment period there is when moving to a new country. He'll have the opportunity to bring his stock back up with pre-draft workouts for teams, but getting back to a top five pick will be a challenge. This maiden voyage of Jennings' will serve as either a blueprint or a cautionary tale for future prospects. Jennings will make a good salary this year and he will eventually be selling NBA tickets, but this could pave the way for some less talented highschoolers to make the trip overseas never to return to play on their native soil.

The Top 5 Best Power Forwards in NBA History

Everyone always has a heated discussion when it comes to this subject, but here are the top 5 best power forwards of all time:

5) Dirk Norwitzki - He may not be your traditional power forward, but he has certainly revolutionized what the position is all about. A great mixture of Larry Bird like shooting with the wingspan of Moses Malone. If he ever gets to win a championship, he'll be known as one of the best players of all time.

4) Karl Malone - The only reason why he isn't ranked higher is because he was never able to close the deal and win an NBA title. But he was a handful to deal with in the paint. He and John Stockton simply perfected the pick and roll. Nobody was able to stop such a simple play.

3) Charles Barkley - Standing 6 ft 5 in, you wouldn't think somebody like that could handle the power forward spot. Not only could he handle it, he dominated men that towered over him. It goes to show that you didn't have to be 7 feet tall to be an incredible rebounder. He was like the Tazmanian Devil in the paint.

2) Kevin McHale - He had some of the most awesome post moves the NBA has ever seen. Those incredibly long arms meant trouble for the opposition, as he could block a shot from the bench. Charles Barkley said he is the best power forward he has ever played against. Now, that's saying something.

1) Tim Duncan - If you want to teach somebody the fundamentals of playing basketball, all you have to do is show them film of Tim Duncan. There have been flashier, but none better.

How to Choose the Right Skill Drills For Court Dominating Ability

Selecting skill drills is a very important decision that might make the difference between your success and failure.

You see, practicing the wrong motor patterns can spell doom when it comes down to game time. Everybody that's been in a big game will tell you that the intensity is at a high level and it's all about reactionary movement.

Your reactions can also be enhanced by that of natural instincts but that in itself is a completely individual thing. Natural instincts detecting
movement and intent for movement are paramount in any game where the strategies of invasion is present. For example, the actual basket is the invasion point in a basketball game.

This is why its crucial to select the right drills that prepare you for the movements that occur within the game. For example, a shooting drill you select must contain movement. Standing and shooting only
improves standing and shooting.

When you have to move to advance and effectively handle momentum shifts with your balance to get a shot off it will be a slightly different story. I would estimate a person that stands and shoots will make 20% of their shots during competition.

Now, think about the actual position you play during games and the lanes you run in...Think about how available you are to the basketball and your teammates at all times...Could you be more available?...

These questions and answers will allow to to get to the grass root of things. Now, with that, lets move onto another pivotal factor; confidence during
competition. When you do the right drills with game like intensity and focus, competition flows.

This is when everything seems effortless and all the shots go in. If you've never experienced this its due to a lack of the right drills that build confidence to produce in the clutch.

Its common to know that a good shooter makes half his shots. Whats often overlooked is shooting drills and game time shots are two completely different things. When someone is in your face and there's crowd in the house its different than a drill during an empty practice gym.

Two completely different environmental factors that give way to tremendous adrenaline and energy potential. When you have confidence in yourself, you can draw energy from that environment like a continuous force of controlled adrenaline. Trust me, when you dunk on someone with thousands of fans cheering, you don't get tired.

When you select your skill drills look to break down exactly what you really doing. Break it down like this, hand/eye accuracy, foot/eye accuracy, periphery, etc...Otherwise training for basketball or any other sport seems like it has to be ten thousand drills a day.

Basketball Training For Court Dominating Strength

Basketball training needs to be carefully designed based the movement patterns that exist within the game. This understanding allows players to train using dynamic movements that promote function. For example; an exercise that includes a movement application is favored over one that is stationary. In addition, movement training primarily increases a human beings capacity for functional strength and conditioning.

* Are individual basketball skills important in training?

Yes and all individual skills must be mastered or in the progress of mastery for completion as a player. Individual basketball skills include but are not limited to shooting, passing, cutting, rebounding, defending, awareness, and helping.

Daily practice requirement for the pursuit of skill mastery is to the point of execution failure. For example; chest pass to a partner as explosive as you can. Have the partner throw the ball back quickly and then repeat the rapid chest pass. Once you are no longer accurate to your partner, the passing fundamental is over.

It is very important to develop correct habits so that the motor patterns can be remembered properly when you need them the most. At the end of a game when you are exhausted, you will not have to worry about a pass getting to a teammate. You know it will since you practiced diligently in your training.

* Should basketball players concentrate on flexibility before training?

Attaining an optimal level of flexibility is a precursor to lifting with weighted resistance of any kind. This is because dynamic movements greatly reduce the possibilities of injuries and safely increase maximum strength. A fine example of a dynamic stretch is jogging. Within a few minutes of jogging, the soft tissues (muscles) within the body become fuller due to their usage. This is that general feeling of being warm or what most coaches call a warm up. At this point, it is time to divulge into sensible physical training.

Movement stretches or dynamic stretches allow an athlete to develop flexibility without attempting to force flexibility. Improper stretching techniques can lead to sports injury and adequate health is the ticket to achieving true athletic potential and more importantly, reaching it.

* Do basketball players need to lift weights?

No they do not. Basketball players are advanced movers and need to condition themselves as such. The human body is comprised of a unique blend of levers (bones/joints) that have differential properties containing mechanical advantage and disadvantage. The primary goal of a player is to increase his entire bodily leverage to ensure performance during a rapid, high pressure, reactive based environment such as the basketball court. All players have natural weakness and those need to be assessed, and tended to through adequate training. In time and with patience, a player improves. Prior to lifting with weighted resistance a player must master his own bodily movement.

* What should basketball players focus on to get results?

First, layers need to focus on developing their peripheral vision to the highest possible level. This ability greatly enhances awareness and leads to prowess. In the early days of basketball, coaches would put their players in a circle and have them pass balls to each other without looking. Each player would look straight ahead yet still see the ball quickly approaching them with there peripheral vision. This is the type of basketball training that represents similar anxiety to that of an actual game.

In addition to visionary development each basketball player needs to improve wrist and ankle strength. Both joints hold an overwhelming responsibility to our movement and manipulative capability. Properly training the wrists and ankles reduces the possibilities of strains, sprains, and pain all together.

Wrist training benefits include but are not limited to longer shooting range, explosive passing, ball control, shock absorption, etc. Ankle training benefits increase speed, movement, acceleration, vertical leaping, bounding, running, stopping, changing direction, shock absorption, etc.

Thirdly, a basketball player needs to concentrate on developing a perfect core balance. Sometimes trainees have abdominal muscles that are much stronger than their back muscles. This is due to basic overwork and neglect and it creates muscular imbalance which may lead to future injury.

Additionally postural strength is paramount and serves as a primary injury preventive attribute. Improved core strength allows a player to move his body quicker, faster, and stronger in unpredictable environments where any movement may occur. This type of conditioning is developed through unique dynamic functional tasks that require concentration and mental toughness.

* What is basketball strength?

Basketball Strength is the power to score, dominate, and defend anyone at anytime on the basketball court. It is a no fear demonstration of skill mastery and ability. Consider this a honed skill set that can not and will not be denied.

Girls Basketball Recruiting Evaluation Tip

If you have been playing summer basketball, either with an AAU team, summer league or just in the neighborhood gym, what are you basketball plans once school starts? What are you doing now to make sure you are on the radar or still on the radar as far as college basketball recruiting? Do women's college basketball coaches know about you and your skills?

Did you know that college coaches come out and watch players play before the school season even starts? Did you know that college coaches are probably using this time to see what high school games and events they will attend during the regular season?

Those are a lot of questions that need to be answered. However here is a tip that can help you. Attend a fall NCAA-Certified evaluation event.

An NCAA-Certified event is a basketball tournament or camp that college coaches attend to see girls play basketball. The NCAA has to approve the event in order for it to be considered certified. The event is either team based or individual based. Team based is for teams to register and compete. Individual based is for players to come on there own and be evaluated through drills and placed on teams to compete.

In the fall, right before the regular school season begins NCAA-Certified events can be held during a specific weekend. And believe me college coaches will be there. These events are held all over so I'm sure one will be in your area, if not regionally.

If you are serious about making college coaches aware of you and your basketball abilities and skills, attend a fall NCAA-certified event.

Tips to Jump Higher

I wanted to take the time to share some of my tips to jump higher. This may not seem like the most common or productive thing for most people, but when it comes to sports it is important. If you're looking to try out for a basketball team or just be able to slam dunk, than you should definitely take the time to apply the tips to jumping higher. I've personally applied these to my life and was able to add a good 8 inches to my jump. This gave me enough to dunk the ball as some white guy that is used to playing hockey. I'll show you what you need to do.

Tip One: Before you ever attempt to work on jumping higher and play any sport where you have to do fast sprinting or jumping, you should be warming them up. This is just an important thing to do. This won't exactly improve your jumping, but it will protect you from injuries and major muscle fiber tears that will prevent you from improving.

Tip Two: Explosive exercises for your calves is one of my most important tips to jump higher. You have to put the emphasis on explosive, so that means you train like that. There are many different ways of training like this, but I think standing calve raises are the best. Just remember to be slow coming down and explosive when you're going up.

Tip Three: You'll need proper nutrition to have the best repair of your calves. When you work them out explosively, you're going to need to repair the muscle tissue, so they grow back much better than before. That means having protein every 2-4hrs. It seems excessive, but it works.