Note: Most of this is from a previous newsletter.
My favorite form of comedy is watching 5’10 D3 players turned Insta trainers teach a specific individual dribble move to 6’7 NBA All-Stars or a group of players with wildly different bodies, strengths, weaknesses, and more. I was a private coach for several years and worked with some good players. I run individual workouts with the teams I coach, from youth through professional players. I do not teach moves. There are things I can teach to help players improve, but why would I want players to use the moves I used? I have no idea what it is like to square up against Luguentz Dort or Jrue Holiday and make a move to beat him off the dribble. I want everyone I coach to be magnitudes better than me! I do not want players to copy me.
The difference comes down to one’s definition of a move. Moves are style. They are individual. Ultimately, a specific move depends on the interaction of the individual’s skill, size, quickness, and more and the environment, especially the defender’s strengths and weaknesses, spacing, positioning, and more. Many mistakes occur because players use a move they practiced, not because the move is the best move for the individual in the specific situation. Specifically, many missed shots and turnovers occur on Euro Steps because players are determined to Euro Step regardless of the defense.
Many skills referred to as moves — crossover, in-and-out, hesitation, around-the-back, etc. — are simply different ways to manipulate the basketball. They are only moves when used against a defender. Learning and using these basic fundamentals may be synonymous with and sufficient as a move for young players and beginners who do not need much more than a standard in-and-out move or simple hesitation to beat a defender. Older, better players need their own moves, their own style.
Players start by copying these basics. I once had a DVD (Great Ball Handling Made Easy) teaching these basic skills through a series of breakdown drills, and I continue to teach these basics with young players. As players progress, they need their own moves, their own style. As Mark Johnson wrote in Borrowing the Master's Bicycle: and other essays on Brazilian jiu-jitsu:
“So it goes with style, we may mimic our master in the beginning, but eventually we will develop something unique to us, something we’ve built. Eventually we will move and act and react in our own style. In jiujitsu, we will borrow our Master’s bicycle, but as soon as we learn to ride, we must build a bike of our own.”
The individual moves are unique to a player; each player acts and reacts in his or her own style. Young players copy their coaches’ basic fundamentals, but players must build moves of their own. Players can mimic or copy other players too: I used the Smity or the half spin credited to Steve Smith, but I made the move my own; I used my own rhythm and timing. I would not have had success copying Smith exactly; I had to sell the move much more because I was not as big or quick as Smith. The half-spin is a basic fundamental like a crossover. The move is the individual style each player adds to the basics.
I ask players not to think of the skills as moves when we practice the skills (we also devote time to practicing their own moves, generally through one-vs-one). Practicing the skills and combinations improve some small aspect of dribbling, such as ball control or coordinating the dribble and the movement. This is our deliberate practice for dribble moves, focusing on a small detail to improve the underlying basic skills. Their moves will improve with better ball control or they will have a better base on which to develop new moves.
We use the “If you can dodge a wrench drills” to improve ball control. Again, these are not game moves. In the video, we use the basic drill with shots, but we use the same idea and explode out of the final dribble to attack the basket.
I add different constraints within such a drill. Generally, the first constraint is to disallow hesitations to focus on ball control on the reception of the dribbles. Many players use hesitations as a crutch to disguise poor ball control, although the move may be effective or even a go-to move. Players may not improve the weakness (ball control) if hesitations are allowed or encouraged in the simple drill. I separate the two: The drill, and their individual moves or style where they use their improved ball control and hesitations to make better, sharper, quicker moves. Then, we add hesitations back in and practice changing the rhythms and timing. This is the majority of the dribbling practice from last season with this player:
As Johnson wrote:
“I think it all comes down to this, our teachers get us started, they lend us the bike, and it’s up to us to take advantage of that generosity and knowledge. They give us the blue print and the tools and materials to build our own bike and it’s our job to start tinkering, to start constructing a style that fits us, to build a bike of our own.”
The bike is the basic fundamentals. The tools and materials are the drills to improve specific aspects of dribbling. Players must use the tools to construct their own bikes, ones that fit them as players and utilize their strengths. They develop their own style. Through practice, they learn when to use specific moves or how to utilize their strengths.
The coach’s or trainer’s job is not to dictate the style, but to give the player the initial bike (basic fundamentals) and tools (drills) to construct one’s own bike (style) that fits each player, and guide the player to learn when and how to best use this individual style in game situations.
If anyone is interested in a coaching or player clinic, please let me know.
If any NCAA Division 1 men’s basketball coach receives this, and is looking for a 6’9 guard in the 2024 class, please reach out: