When guarding an opponent who is advancing the ball up the court, do the following: pick-up, lead, and influence. Picking Up As the dribbler approaches, make sure that you are moving at the same speed and in the same general direction. If the dribbler is moving much faster than you, there is little...

Coaches should recruit quickness, not height. - John Wooden It doesn't matter how tall you are if you can't move well. Quickness on the court can help a player cut through traffic and get open on offense as well as be pesky and annoying on defense.  Here's how you can do the same: Improve Your...

DEALING WITH BUMPS AND BRUISES By Tamara Pool, Athletic Trainer For the vast majority of bumps, scrapes and so on, ice is always the best approach. Ice the injury immediately for 15 minutes, and if necessary, keep using the ice sporadically over the next day or two. The RICE approach is best -- R...

I love the English language and have always been fascinated by words. While I'm a basketball strength and conditioning coach by vocation, writing and public speaking are two of the mediums I use to disseminate my message of safe, purposeful, and innovative training techniques and concepts all over...

If you've played basketball for any amount of time, this probably has happened to you. You're going up for a rebound. Or you're trying to steal a pass from the other team. Or your dribbling was disrupted by a defender. Whatever the case, the ball was deflected and awkwardly struck the tip of one of...

I truly believe that everything in life comes down to relationships. Everything. To be successful in any walk of life, from basketball to business, you have to know how to build and maintain solid relationships. As author Jeffrey Gitomer said, Quality relationships lead to success, wealth, and...

If you asked almost any middle school, high school, collegiate and professional coach to name the one basketball skill or character trait that is THE MOST important to the future success of a player, and most benefits the team that the player is on, many coaches (if not most) will tell you...

In addition to always finding new exercises, drills, and training techniques, a good portion of my professional development is focused on leadership. I have dozens and dozens of books, have binders full of notes and handouts, and read several weekly blogs all focused on the topic of effective...