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Keep going until the final buzzer sounds.

Ignore the critics.

Believe in your team.

Believe in yourself.

Do you have the courage to come back?

Do you have the courage to take that shot?

“We fought the whole time. We stayed in there and some good things happened for us.” ~Coach K

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The vision of the app is to provide a tool for aspiring basketball players and coaches to be able to consume great basketball content and training videos on the go from the best basketball bloggers in the world!

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Do you have the 3pt Academy app yet? What do you think about it? Let us know in the comments below!

Years ago I had the pleasure of working at the Point Guard College with Dena Evans, who does a terrific job of educating athletes with information that Coach Dick Divenzio, the author of Stuff! Good Players Should Know, shared with her.

One of the many nuggets of wisdom I gained from that week of camp, which included basketball drills and skill work in addition to video and relevant classroom sessions, was that leading by example only is poor leadership.

The truth is that a quiet gym is almost always a losing gym!

Obviously sometimes losing is just the result of playing against competition that has a much greater level of talent.  But more often, your team success or failure is the result of how loud and passionate your team leaders are willing to be.

A team that has comparable talent to its competition may underperform for one of these two reasons:

1. The entire team is too quiet, and there is little to no verbal leadership at all, or…
2. The wrong voices are the loudest ones, and the team is suffering because the people who should speak up have chosen to remain too quiet.

If the entire team is refusing to speak up, that silence may be evidence of something more significant, such as players lacking a personal investment in team success or lacking belief that their voice can truly influence others.

But if your leaders are standing quiet and not confronting negative comments from their peers, there may be a lack of support or clear expectations from the coach or authority figure that they look to for

For both of these scenarios, your team members would benefit from teambuilding and leadership training activities that provide them with the opportunity to lead and work together through challenges that mirror the adversities they will face later.  Great leaders will speak up in trying situations instead of remaining silent.

One of the best examples of the dangers of silence is found in the Book of Genesis.

You are certainly familiar with the story of Adam and Eve, and the fall of man being identified with Eve choosing to eat the forbidden fruit.  Most every one thinks of this when they read the first part of Genesis 3:6: “When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it…”

What many neglect to acknowledge is that she was not there making a poor decision alone.

The final part of Genesis 3:6 reads: “…She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.”  So why is that last portion so very significant?

This passage is significant because Adam, like athletes or teammates in most any field, chose to stand by and remain quiet when he likely was very much aware that his partner was doing something that was detrimental to their shared experience an happiness together.

Adam lost the perfect grandeur of Eden because he was quiet when he should have chosen to speak up.  Is this happening on your team?  What goal or destination that your team is pursuing will you allow to be lost because you are not willing to speak up?

Is there someone on your team doing (or not doing) something that needs to be addressed?

The likelihood is that, on most every team, there is a tremendous amount of opportunity for any teammate to become a team leader by sharing reminders and encouragements.

This is not a suggestion that you should criticize or complain about what teammates have already done – you cannot go back and change that…

But you are completely capable of influencing future behaviors and decisions if you choose to speak up and remind people of what expectations are and encourage them to do what they know is right.

Being a great team leader is more than about leading by example.  A Great team leader is willing to speak up and clearly define expectations and be unpopular in the short run in return for enjoying more success and respect in the long run.

And even more importantly than being a strong and positive voice of team leadership, your teammates may need someone to be bold and confident and care enough to be the first to start talking.

Sometime all it takes for other people to add their voice to a song is for someone else to have the courage to break the silence and start singing.  When they see that you care enough to speak up as a team leader, it gives them permission to do the same.

If your organization or team is currently struggling with leadership or communication skills, I encourage you to consider the benefits of a teamwork speaker or teambuilding event.  Sometimes all it takes is a little team motivation to help your people grow to where they feel ready to lead from where they are.

These 6 tips are offered as advice to help you not only survive in coaching but to prosper as well.

1. Faith and Family First.
   As a basketball coach, you know how time intensive it is. It is important to that you make time to spend with your family and in your faith. Allow yourself some quiet time in the morning and/or evening. Go to and get involved in a church. Step away from the game and spend some time with your family. Schedule the time if you need to. Your family is too important for you to ignore them.
2. Stay True to Your Values.
   Many a coach have not survived in the profession because they compromised in their quest to win. A good reputation is hard to earn but it is quite easy to lose. Do what you say and say what you mean … and speak what you believe.
3. Expect Success.
   Know what success looks like to you. Visualize it and know how to get there. Winners know what is going to happen. Losers fear what might happen.
4. Hire Good Assistant Coaches.
   You cannot successfully coach a team by yourself. As the head coach, hire assistant coaches who will abide by your philosophy. You don’t necessarily want “yes-men”, but you do not want continuing arguments about the philosophy of the program. Find assistants who are committed and willing to work hard for the overall success of the program. Bad assistant coaches, especially those who are lazy and have bad attitudes, can destroy an entire program.
5. Find a Mentor.
   As coaches, we are subject to both positive and negative influences. It’s simply the nature of the game. Identify other coaches who can be a positive influence on your coaching career and in your life. Seek out those who will speak truth to you and who can you trust in their guidance, advice, and counsel.
6. Make it Yours.
   As a leader, work on making your program yours. Put your personal stamp on the program — the players, the assistants, and all other phases. Making it yours keeps you deeply invested in the program.

Any other tips and bits of advice we can add to this list to help other coaches survive and thrive in the profession? Please share in the comments section below!

For more in-depth discussion on various basketball coaching tips and strategies, join Hoops U. Insider. Specific topic areas in basketball coaching development include coaching tips & tactics, offensive strategy, defensive strategy, leadership, and more.

NOTE: The thumbnail image alongside this article in the ‘Coaching Tips’ archive is an image of Harry Statham, the all-time winningest coach in men’s college basketball history.

—Henri-Frederic Amiel

You face hundreds of decisions daily, BusyCoach. Venti or grande? Recruit A or recruit B? Practice more or rest?

Though you may long for clarity before you pull the trigger, oftentimes you only have enough light on your path to see a step or two. For the hesitant, this results in “ready-aim-aim-aim-aim” outcome.

It’s likely that you’ll never get all the information you want before making most decisions, BusyCoach. Great leaders develop confidence in making the best decision possible with the information they have gathered. Do due diligence. Then pull the trigger.

What decisions have you hesitated making this week? How can you move forward?

*Excerpt from my latest book, Wisdom for the BusyCoach.

Author: Sean Glaze
Available from: GreatestTeamBuilding.net & Hoops U. Basketball Store

Fistitude – Five Lessons for Leading any Team to Success by Sean Glaze is a phenomenal book which I thoroughly enjoyed reading.

Fistitude is a leadership / motivational / inspirational book that is written much differently than most books of this type that you will read. Most leadership books are written in a self-help or textbook style format. Fistitude is written as a fictional story with real-life success strategies. As the reader, you will easily understand the 5 lessons being taught and you get to learn them in an exciting story.

Fistitude tells the story of a high school basketball team that isn’t playing up to their potential. Their head coach needs to take a leave of absence and in enters the school janitor to take over the team while coach is gone.

As the new coach, the janitor not only teaches basketball but life lessons as well. He does this by the example of the ‘fist’ — each finger means something important and relevant to achieving success. I won’t share these life lessons in this review … you’ll need to read the book!

Throughout the book, you learn about several of the players and what they are dealing with off the court. The ‘leader’ of the team, Matthew, takes the janitor’s words to heart and attempts to lead his team to their goal of the state tournament.

Fistitude is a page-turner as you will not only want to learn each of the 5 lessons — you will become quite interested in how (and if) they achieve their goals.

I found myself jotting down many notes while I read Fistitude. As a basketball coach, I know I can take these lessons and share them with my players. These lessons, as well as many other concepts and ideas, will help any coach or player how to lead a team to success.

Fistitude will be a welcome addition to your coaching library! I also believe that it is great book to give to your team leaders, captain’s, and assistant coaches.

Fistitude is available for purchase at the Hoops U. Basketball Store.

You can also learn more about Fistitude – Five Lessons for Leading Any Team to Success and all of Sean’s team-building ideas at his website, Great Results Team Building.

Sean Glaze also contributes to Hoops U. and his articles can be viewed here.

Here is video of the play so you can see it executed to perfection. The play is diagrammed below the video.

As you can see from the clip above, Kevin Love got a wide open look to win the game. The initial cutter can be an option for a layup but the point of the cut is to gain the attention of the defenders at the free throw line. As they think of possibly needing to help on the cutter, they aren’t prepared for the doublescreen that opens up the shooter.

When the official hands the ball to O1, O4 curls around the three players on the free throw line. If open, O1 can make the inbounds pass to O4.

The next part of this play is the main option. After O4 clears, O2 and O5 step up and screen O3′s defender. O3 steps back and outside the three-point line to receive the pass from O1 for the quick shot.

You might not be coaching an NBA team, but do you think your team can utilize this play? If you’ve attempted this play, let us know how it worked in the comments below.

Regardless of the level you coach, basketball practices should be planned out in advance. It amazes me that there are still coaches who do not have a written plan prior to leading a team through practice. If you are one of those coaches without a practice plan and find yourself to be successful, think how much more successful you could be with a plan!

A basketball practice is essentially your classroom. How many math, science, or history teachers go into class without a plan? I think you will find a classroom in chaos if they do not go in with a plan!

Practice planning – good practice planning – allows you the ability to work toward pre-set goals and to progressively teach your team throughout the rigors of a long season.

Here is a list for why you should be doing written practice plans:

1. Practice plans, in conjunction with an overall season plan, help you determine what needs to be taught and when it should be taught.
2. Written practice plans allow you to effectively communicate with your assistants so they what is going to be drilled on during the practice session.
3. Properly planned practices allow you to teach all areas of the game in a progressive manner so that your players learn what you are teaching. Without a plan, it becomes difficult to recall where they are on the progression.
4. Can you really remember in your head everything you want to do and how long you want to spend on it?
5. Written-down practice plans can (and should) be saved for future reference. You may want to look back throughout the season as well as in future seasons.

Planning a good basketball practice does require a concerted effort on your part but it need not become a full-time job in and of itself. Planning a 2-hour practice generally will take anywhere from 15 to 60 minutes … depending on what you are planning.

It also works best to follow a template where you can write or type in your drills so you can carry it with you and save it for future use. If you are interested, you are free to download our Basketball Practice Plan Template. It contains an example plan so you can see how to fill it out and it contains a blank template so you can print it off and make copies for your personal use.

As you work on writing out your practice plans, here are some tips that will help you plan effective, efficient, and excellent basketball practices:

1. Before the season, begin by developing your overall season plan. This can be a quick and simple outline that mentions the key systems, philosophies, and skills you plan to teach over the course of a season.
2. Build a collection of basketball drills covering all aspects of the game. You will be able to pull from this collection when you want or need something specific. You will find a nice collection here at Hoops U. to help you get started. If you are a member of Hoops U. Insider, you’ll find hundreds of drills covering all areas of the game with more and more added each and every week. You can also find drills in all the various books and videos available at the Hoops U. Basketball Store. Apart from Hoops U, you can also attend coaching clinics, talk to fellow coaches, and search the internet!
3. Allow time in each practice for offense, defense, special situations, and individual skills. Time spent on each will fluctuate throughout the season but all areas should be covered in each practice.
4. Limit time spent on each drill. The majority of your drills should be in the 5-10 minute range. A few may get up to 15 minutes. When the time is up, move on to the next drill. If they don’t get it in the timeframe allotted, they aren’t going to get it that day. Redo the drill again and/or figure out a better way to teach it.
5. Skills and techniques are not going to be mastered in 10 minutes. Whatever you are working on, plan on doing so each practice over the course of several days and/or weeks.
6. Have your plan accessible during practice so you know what you’re doing and you’re doing it. Don’t waste time looking for your plan during important practice time.
7. Give copies to your assistants and managers so they are prepared throughout the practice.

Hopefully this article will help you better prepare to plan your practices. If you are not currently writing down your practice plans, I urge you to do so starting now! I think you will find your practices to be better organized and your players more focused.

Do you have any practice planning tips to share? Let us know in the comment section below!

2. Coach each player individually. You do not want a player to learn everything that you know about shooting. You want each player to learn what he wants to know in terms of improving his shot. However, you should be able to answer every question the player will ask.

3. Encourage the player to talk to you and say what he likes and doesn’t like. Tell the player, “I want to get you to shoot with confidence and rhythm. I want to work on that mechanic that helps your shot the most. The point is, it’s your shot and you adjust what you want to adjust. I’m here to coach you and help you, but you’re going to learn to coach yourself.”

4. Find out what a player is looking for by asking questions. You can learn a lot about a player from his answers. When you really listen to the answers, you can gear your responses to suit the player’s particular needs. Ask the player, “When you are shooting well, what are you doing? There is no wrong answer to this question. It simply gives an indication of a player’s confidence level and what he knows about his own shot. If a player responds with the answer, “I just shoot!” It may indicate that he has confidence, or that he is not over thinking when he shoots. When a player answers, “When I’m shooting well, my shoulders are going toward the basket.” Then you have an idea that he has an understanding of what he wants to do when shooting. When a player answers, “The ball is going in!” It probably means that he does not know much about his shot.

5. Keep it simple. Keep your instruction brief, simple, yet inspiring. Players lose interest if your coaching is long, too detailed, or boring. For the most part, a player is not progressing while you are talking. Get the player shooting.

6. Strive to keep a player’s confidence level high. Be positive and keep encouraging the player to know that he can and will achieve his goals. Motivate the player to consistently do what it takes to reach his goals and never let him think for one moment that he will have anything less than success. Constantly tell the player, “You’re a shooter!”

7. When a player does not want your help do not take it as a personal attack on you. In fact, only one player or a few players may be interested in receiving your coaching. Once you have success with one or more players, others will become interested in how you can help them.

8. Never stop coaching. When a player sees that you care about him, are positive, enthusiastic, energized and tenacious, it will inspire him to reach new heights. Above all, make it enjoyable! You become a better coach to a player when he sees that you have high spirits, a bright smile and a sense of humor.

Get Dr. Hal Wissel DVD’s — available now at the Hoops U. Basketball Store:

• Basketball Shooting: Confidence, Rhythm and Mechanics
• Basketball Shooting: Off the Pass, Off the Dribble and In the Post
• Basketball Shooting 2-Pack DVD