Create better athletes this Fall (here's how)

   In today’s newsletter, you’ll get access to two of our most recent articles...  In Your Basketball Preseason Part 2]( [,]( you’re going to find out: - 3 Strength & Conditioning Philosophies that should guide your Fall Philosophy - Surprising ways that athletic development builds more overall confidence for your players (and team dynamics) - An Athletic Development "Cheat Code" Then in [Coach Your Kid Without the Power Struggles]( you’re going to find out: - What you can learn from my personal challenges coaching my daughter - 12 Tips for Coaching Your Own Child (#7 and #10 are my favorites) Okay now, onto Part 1 of the content...  Planning Your Basketball Preseason Part 2 - Strength & Conditioning and Athletic Development!  It’s fun to coach what you know and are passionate about. For most of us, that’s basketball.  And yet, we know that improving our players' athleticism is a must. It’s no secret that more athletic teams have a leg up in competition.   We all know we need to do it, the question is how do we do it? Some coaches are blessed with strength coaches who handle all of it.  For most of us, it falls on us. That can be daunting, especially if you’re not trained in S&C - like me.   But it doesn’t have to be. If you follow some basic principles, you can develop a sound athletic training program.  By the way, if you missed part 1 of Planning Your Preseason, revisit it [here](  3 Strength & Conditioning Beliefs That Should Guide Your Fall Philosophy  1 - Don’t have the perfect weight room? Do it anyway. You can get it done with minimal resources like these!  Some schools have amazing weight rooms. Others don’t.   Some schools bring in outside professionals to train their athletes. Others put that responsibility on the coaches.  Are there advantages to nice equipment and outside help? Of course. But don’t let a lack of that dissuade you.  If you don’t have a great weight room..  - Do bodyweight training. You can do a ton of strength training with just a little research on bodyweight exercises.   From a strength standpoint, doing a simple program that does a Push, Pull, Brace (Core), Squat, and 1-Leg Exercises will go a long way.  - Research regressions and progressions for bodyweight exercises  You can also research a ton of variations with beginner regressions to advanced progressions for each category of exercise. Here is an example with push ups:  1 - Two Hand Push Up - Knees on the Ground - Halfway Down  2 - Two Hand Push Up - Knees on the Ground - Full Range of Motion  3 - Two Hand Push Up - Halfway Down  4 - Two Hand Push Up - Full Range of Motion  5 - Two Hand Push Up - Feet Elevated  6 - Two Hand Push Up - With 1 Hand Shoulder Touch  7 - Two Hand Push Up - With Resistance - Bands, Weight on Back, Partner Applying Pressure  8 - One Hand Push Up - Knees on Ground - Elbow Resting On Med Ball or Block  9 - One Hand Push Up - Elbow Resting On Med Ball or Block  10 - One Hand Push Up - Hand Resting on Med Ball or Block  11 - 1 Hand Push Up  12 - 1 Hand Push Up with Resistance  This is not an end-all or be-all of these progressions, but just an example. That way, you can be creative yourself.  - Buy some resistance bands which are way cheaper than your traditional weight room equipment. These are a great way to add resistance to your bodyweight exercises.  - Find a local playground where you can find areas to do pull ups, one-leg balance exercises on beams, etc.  - Do some basic sprints or shuttle runs in a field or open area - 10m, 30m, 50m  - Find a 10 to 20 degree hill for decline and incline sprints - great for developing a longer stride (decline) and improving leg lift (include) and the ability to drive down into the ground to produce more force.  - Play tag for speed, change of direction, deceleration, and a quick first step. This is one of the greatest athletic development exercises out there.  - Play 1v1 full court with wide and condensed space, different starting positions and angles, from an advantage or disadvantage position.   - Find a great athletic development program that you can model.   It can be very hard to figure out where to start, even if you have a great weight room. So by modeling someone who has had success, this can be a very good starting point.  - Do a fundraiser!  At the very least, you can get some basic sandbags, medicine balls, and resistance bands which can accomplish many of your needs!  There is someone doing more with less.   Remember that when you feel discouraged by your situation. Be resourceful!  Oftentime, the most fun workouts are the result of forced creativity.   Finally, when you demonstrate a ‘can do’ attitude in your coaching, your players pick up on that. I’ve seen programs who pride themselves on overcoming limited resources.   Bob Hurley’s St. Anthony teams immediately come to mind. Find a way!  2 - Should strength even be your goal? Remember your real objectives!  Yes, we’ve talked about strength and conditioning. However, the goal is not just to lift more weight. Yes, getting stronger should be a part of your program.   However, keep in mind that you’re a basketball team, not a [powerlifting team]( or a bodybuilder.   Thus, the goal is to improve overall athleticism and prevent injuries!  Similarly, conditioning is important. Running will likely be included in what you do (although if you can work with your players on the court, you can get your conditioning done with properly designed basketball drills.).   That said, you aren’t the cross country team. Does running long distances help your team win more basketball games? Something to consider. So make sure your program is well-rounded. Weights should be one part. Conditioning another. Speed and [agility]( work should be included. [Core work]( should be emphasized. So should plyometric and [jumping exercises](  D1 trainer Cody Roberts created the pyramid above, with coordination and movement efficiency at the bottom. Above that is strength and [force production]( and the top is speed and explosiveness. Too many coaches skip the base of the pyramid.   This results in athletes who are more injury prone and less functional in competition.   3 - Track your progress to motivate and reinforce improvement  If your players work hard, they will see progress. Tracking is a great way to document that.  It reaffirms the value of their hard work. It’s also a great motivator for future gains. It also creates accountability within your program.    When players know they are supposed to write things down, they become more focused. They don’t go weeks at a time lifting the same weight because they can’t remember what they used last time.  This creates self accountability and also gives you data as a coach.   It’s Not Just About Physical Development - It Improves Confidence Too!  The Fall is a great time to focus on your players’ athletic development. In doing so, you will gain a leg up over all the programs who overlook this or do it inefficiently.  The physical effects of your players’ work will be obvious. But don’t overlook the mental effects.  Players who feel themselves getting more athletic are players whose confidence spikes. That will spillover into all aspects of their play. You and your team will reap the benefits. So what are you waiting for? Get to work!  Need Some Guidance or Help? A Cheat Code For Your Athletic Development  If you’re looking for a ready made way to integrate these principles, check out [ The Athletic Development Program with Cody Roberts](.  Cody Roberts is a D1 trainer at the University of Iowa who created a 12 week athletic development program for athletes 12 & up. This means you can use it at both the middle school and high school levels.  His program takes a holistic view to athletic development. He uses the pyramid shared above to guide his training. As a result, athletes develop functional athleticism. Additionally, they are trained in a way that prevents injury.   In addition to the 12 week Athletic Development Program, you also receive:  1 - For those with limited resources, one bonus of the program is a 9 week ‘no equipment’ vertical and strength program.  This is ideal for coaches who don’t have access to a weight room.   2 - For those who want to go above and beyond, there’s also a 12 week extended workout that’s included as a bonus. This is a continuation and progression of the original program.   3 - A 12 week program tailored to college athletes  4 - Every workout comes with video examples and premade tracking sheets for players.   5 - Finally, the program can be done in only 2 to 3 hours a week. That still leaves plenty of time for basketball-specific activities.  It truly is your one stop shop for everything strength and conditioning. It saves you time, as you don’t have to develop a program. And it saves you money, as it’s significantly cheaper than bringing in a professional.  That’s a win-win!  Whether you choose [this program]( or another, the bottom line is this - a Fall of intense athletic development will give your team a leg up when the season hits!  ----------------------------------------  Now onto Part 2 of the content...  Coach Your Kid Without the Power Struggles  If you’re a youth coach who is reading this, odds are you are coaching your own child.   That’s great. Or at least, it should be!  The reality is that coaching your own child is challenging! I can attest to that from my experience coaching my daughters.  Here are some lessons I’ve learned - some from others, some from experience - that can help make coaching your child a good experience.  I hope they help you use sports to become closer with your child!  12 Tips For Coaching Your Own Child  1 - Make sure your child wants you to coach - this is a critical first step. You should only sign up to coach if your child wants you to. If they don’t, it’s going to be tough to make it a positive experience.  2 - Don’t go too easy on them - the spotlight will always shine brightest on the coach’s child. Don’t go easy on them.  It’s the quickest way to create resentment from other players and parents.  3 - Don’t go too hard on them - most parent coaches go to one extreme or the other. Going hard on your child makes it clear to others that they aren’t receiving special treatment.   However, if that comes at the expense of your child’s experience, is it worth it? As much as possible, strive to treat them the same as the other players on your team.  4 - Have your child treat you as “coach” at practice - boundaries are important. Have your child call you coach at practice. It shows respect for your position. It also sends a positive message to the other players on the team.  5 - Don’t talk about their teammates negatively - all coaches experience frustration. Don’t let that result in you talking badly about their teammates.   First, that’s not an appropriate thing for you to do. Second, those are their friends. You put your child in an uncomfortable position when you talk about their teammates.   6 - Respect their privacy - you may wonder what certain players think of the team, you, or other players. As a result, you might be tempted to ask your child. Fight this urge. If you wouldn’t ask it of another player, don’t ask it of your child. That puts your child in an unfair position.  If you really want to know what a certain player is thinking or feeling, ask that player (or their parents, depending on the age) directly.  7 - Use your assistants - if you are lucky enough to have an assistant coach, task them with coaching your child. While you may not be able to do this 100% of the time, it’s a good practice when possible.  All parents know that sometimes the message gets through better coming from a different voice. An assistant can be that voice for your child.   8 - Leave basketball at the gym - many kids dread the car ride home after the game. Why? Because they are trapped in a space with a parent ready to tell them all the things they did wrong.  Don’t be one of those parents. Talk about school. . . or friends. . . or what music they’re listening to. Just don’t force a breakdown of their performance on them.   9 - Let them come to you - given time, many kids will ask for feedback. If you let that happen, your feedback will be received much more favorably.   Remember this when you want to tell them something and they aren’t in the mood to hear it. Take a deep breath and give them (and you) time. You’ll be glad you did.  10 - Zoom out - ask yourself if what you want to do or say will help or hurt your relationship with your child. Are you providing meaningful feedback from a place of care? If so, great - that’s meant to help them. Or are you just venting your frustrations because they didn’t perform to whatever standards you think they should? In that case, bag it - venting is about you.   Remember that your relationship goes far beyond the court. Try not to do anything that you’ll regret later on.  11 - Praise them - this is one I am working on. My daughter will play a good game. When we talk about the game, I’ll spend 20% on that and 80% on things she could work on.   I don’t deliver that 80% in a demeaning way. But the numbers don’t lie. Even though I’m well-intentioned, she internalizes that ratio to mean there was much more “bad” than “good” in her performance.  Make sure to celebrate with your kids when they do well. They love hearing that from you.  12 - Have fun - this sounds obvious but is easily forgotten. You signed up to coach to help your child and their teammates. They signed up to play to learn and have fun.   Once games start, it’s easy to overlook those goals. Please don’t. In 20 years, your child likely won’t remember that dribble move you taught them. But they will remember how it felt being coached by you.   How do you want them to remember that? Act accordingly. . .  I hope these tips help make coaching your child a great experience! If you have other ideas, please share them with me. I (and my daughter) would appreciate it!  All the best,  Jeff Huber Breakthrough Basketball  This email was sent to {EMAIL} because you indicated that you'd like to receive emails and updates from Breakthrough Basketball on 2016-12-16 05:42:39. 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