This is the outline of a presentation given by Mike McNeill to Steve Nash Youth League Coaches at the Okanagan Basketball Extravaganza in Kelowna, BC, April 1,2006.
Combining Movement Skills and Basketball Skills For Youth Players
General Points: 1. Movements Skills – include running (forward and backward), sliding, skipping, hopping, bounding, squatting, lunging, change of direction, turning, twisting, - although not a movement skill-tracking is another crucial part of athletic growth. 2. You can improve athleticism – the ABC’S (Agility, Balance, Coordination and Speed) and the 5 S’s (Stamina, Strength, Speed, Skill, Suppleness). Part of every practice should be dedicated specifically to this. 3. For young athletes it is crucial that these movements are done early in their career otherwise they will have little chance to pick them up later. 4. If you do not do this you are retarding the athletic growth of the athletes you are coaching. They will never be as good as they could be. 5. You have a dual task a) prevent injury and b) enhance performance. 6. We move in three different planes a) sagital – front and back, b) frontal – to left and right, c) transverse – rotational movement. Move kids through the 3 planes of movement. 7. Move from 1) easy to hard 2) simple to complex