Blitz Basketball Systems

Lesson #3 of the Building a Program Series - Say Less, But Say It More Often

This lesson is one of ten in our Building a Program series. This series focuses on a combination of off-court and on-court ideas that can take your program to the next level or build it from the ground up. These ideas have been built through 25 years of running a highly successful high school basketball program.

Each course in this series is a 2,000 word article that includes highly specific examples and ideas that can help you build your program. These writings are easy to read and are downloadable PDFs, so you can always save them. 

Here is a short excerpt from this lesson, titled Say Less, But Say It More Often

"Coaches are teachers even if that’s not their day job. Coaching is teaching. And, teachers love to hear themselves talk. So, as coaches, we have to understand and be empathetic of our athletes’ situation. They are at practice to be active and engaged and physical. Sitting in desks all day is tough on a teenager; sports practice is their chance to get moving and active. Long, drawn out, repetitive talking from a coach usually does nothing to motivate, energize, or inspire your players to compete at their best level."

This course is all about the power of being concise and detailed within your program!

This course demonstrates a 1-2-2 trapping defense that will disrupt offenses, cause turnovers, and lead for easy baskets on the other end. This press has been run very successfully at the high school level and eventually wears down teams and leads to scoring runs. You don't need to have the most athletic or quick players in order to run this press, but having one long, athletic player may be beneficial to put at the top of the press. The course will show a series of videos in which the press is successful, along with attached charts and graphics that illustrate how to run it effectively.

This course includes a practice plan template that is easy to download and use for any level of basketball, whether it be youth, high school, or college. In creating this practice plan templates, I focused on designating areas for team goals, drills, the time allotted for each drill, and areas to list the different teams for the day. 

This is a PDF download - enjoy!

Lesson #6 of the Building a Program Series: Inclusion - Coaching Everybody

This lesson is one of ten in our Building a Program series. This series focuses on a combination of off-court and on-court ideas that can take your program to the next level or build it from the ground up. These ideas have been built through 25 years of running a highly successful high school basketball program.

Each course in this series is a 2,000 word article that includes highly specific examples and ideas that can help you build your program. These writings are easy to read and are downloadable PDFs, so you can always save them. 

Here is a short excerpt from this lesson, titled Inclusion - Coaching Everybody:

"Time after time — in situations similar to this one — I’ve seen coaches blow the whistle, approach the offending player, and take some time to privately explain and demonstrate the correction to that player while the 10-14 other players stand idly either losing focus, staring blankly ahead, or even beginning to take a couple shots and pass the ball around. This coach is making an already difficult task (coaching) more frustrating. His goal is clear, and the fact that he’s willing to stop practice to quickly and directly correct the player is admirable. But, his approach is setting himself up for many frustrating coaching moments later that season."

This course is all about the power of inclusion within your program!

Looking for better ways to get your players "game-like shots?"

This course covers five highly effective shooting drills for individual improvement. A key part of every practice plan is "getting shots up," but what does that look like? To avoid using the same drills over and over again, check out these five drills that are quick and can fit into any practice plan.

These drills have been used for over 25 years in a successful high school basketball program, and have played a role in a major improvement of individual shooters. 

These drills require only two players each, which allows the coach to roam and be involved with everyone during practice. 

If you are looking for your team or individual player to improve their overall shooting performance, check out these five drills. 

This document will provide your team with an easy-to-follow way to track your team goals throughout the season.

The document provides over 20 different goals distributed into 3 categories: offensive goals, defensive goals, and "special teams" goals.

Running along the top of the document is space for up to 25 individual opponents. As the season goes, your players color in the squares that they accomplished as a team, which gives a great visual representation of goals that have been met and those that still need to be worked on.

Some examples of goals:

- Fewer than 12 turnovers

- One 6-0 run

- No BLOB or SLOB baskets allowed.

This document provides a really simple and effective goal tracking system!

Lesson #2 of the Building a Program Series - Delegating Power to Assistants and Leaders

This lesson is one of ten in our Building a Program series. This series focuses on a combination of off-court and on-court ideas that can take your program to the next level or build it from the ground up. These ideas have been built through 25 years of running a highly successful high school basketball program.

Each course in this series is a 2,000 word article that includes highly specific examples and ideas that can help you build your program. These writings are easy to read and are downloadable PDFs, so you can always save them. 

Here is a short excerpt from this lesson, titled Delegating Power to Assistants and Leaders:

"A valued and committed assistant coach is a better assistant coach. My assistants helped with scouting and game planning and were certainly an important part of every practice. What was the result? They were more engaged overall and more likely to make constructive comments and adjustments that helped the team succeed. If your assistant coaches spend most of practice just watching and making a comment here and there, I urge you to rethink how you’re utilizing them."

This course is all about the power of delegating responsibility for the good of your program!

Lesson #1 of the Building a Program Series - Have a Plan and Sell that Vision

This lesson is one of ten in our Building a Program series. This series focuses on a combination of off-court and on-court ideas that can take your program to the next level or build it from the ground up. These ideas have been built through 25 years of running a highly successful high school basketball program.

Each course in this series is a 2,000 word article that includes highly specific examples and ideas that can help you build your program. These writings are easy to read and are downloadable PDFs, so you can always save them. 

Here is a short excerpt from this lesson, titled Have a Plan and Sell that Vision:

"You can see that these plans are usually a combination of on-court and off-court qualities. By no means is your plan a catch-all for everything you’ll do as a program. But, the overall plan should provide a hook or a big picture for everyone associated with your program to hold onto.  You’ve probably heard of the “elevator pitch.” Well, imagine yourself in an elevator with someone who asks you what your program or team stands for. You should be able to start with your one-sentence plan and then expand on it for no more than 20 seconds. When that person steps out of the elevator, he should know your plan. He might not believe in it and could have a totally opposing viewpoint on how things should be done, but he at least should understand clearly what your vision is for your team or program. "

This course is all about the power of identity within your program!

Lesson #4 of the Building a Program Series - Do Extra and then Talk About It

This lesson is one of ten in our Building a Program series. This series focuses on a combination of off-court and on-court ideas that can take your program to the next level or build it from the ground up. These ideas have been built through 25 years of running a highly successful high school basketball program.

Each course in this series is a 2,000 word article that includes highly specific examples and ideas that can help you build your program. These writings are easy to read and are downloadable PDFs, so you can always save them. 

Here is a short excerpt from this lesson, titled Do Extra and then Talk About It:

"Until last year, he held the school record for most threes in a game with nine and still holds other three-point shooting records. He did extra. And, I talked about it all the time. I am convinced he made so many shots for two reasons: first, he made himself a great shooter, and second, he actually believed that he DESERVED to make every shot because of all the extra time he put in.  His morning shooting was the impetus for me to make a point to do extra whenever possible and then to talk about it later. These things gave us an edge. They gave us a reason that we should win. They gave us belief."

This course is all about the power of doing extra within your program!

"Player-led teams outperform coach-led teams"

One of the best ways that you can build a team or program culture is by delegating responsibility to your captains. This captains contract is a unique way to connect with your captains and give them a lot of responsibility. This contract has been used by both high school and college teams and has been a key tool to help give captains a sense of leadership.

This contract contains 22 points that captains must agree to by signing at the bottom of the contract. Ideally, the coach or coaches would meet with the captains and go over the contract, talking through the key points. This is a solid way to develop a relationship with the leaders of your team.

Examples of points included in the contract are:

"Captains make sure extra shots are not taken and distracting actions are eliminated prior to the captains meeting to start practice."

"Captains make every effort to be one of the last to leave the gym after practices."

"Captains “echo” directions and plans after every timeout and quarter break in a “re-huddle.”

This contact can be instrumental in getting your season off to a good start, and your captains will appreciate the conversation and responsibility.

This transition offense scheme is patterned enough to provide your team with needed structure, while also giving your players space to make plays. As a team, we ran this transition (with its various options) after every made basket by our opponent. This system gave our players structure and direction while increasing our overall movement and activity. This course includes a detailed run-down of the options off of this scheme as well as 10 videos examples of the scheme in action.

Lesson #5 of the Building a Program Series - Control and Minimize Slippage

This lesson is one of ten in our Building a Program series. This series focuses on a combination of off-court and on-court ideas that can take your program to the next level or build it from the ground up. These ideas have been built through 25 years of running a highly successful high school basketball program.

Each course in this series is a 2,000 word article that includes highly specific examples and ideas that can help you build your program. These writings are easy to read and are downloadable PDFs, so you can always save them. 

Here is a short excerpt from this lesson, titled Control and Minimize Slippage:

"On the first day, everyone is counting together, doing the same stretch at the same time, and clapping in unison after every stretch. As days go by, the circle gets sloppy, the counting quieter, and the clapping grows less enthusiastic. This is slippage — and slippage in your pre-practice stretching sends this very clear message to the players: slippage is acceptable. If slippage is fine in your pre-practice routine, then how can you expect your players to execute their plays correctly or handle defending a ball screen appropriately?"

This course is all about the power of controlling slippage within your program!

This course provides a detailed overview of five set plays to use against zone defenses. It includes detailed play diagrams and various video examples of the plays in action. These sets are simple, effective, and have been used at the varsity, JV, and freshman levels. 

Outcomes of these set plays include:

- Corner threes for 2/3 guards

- Lobs to the 3 man

- Layups for the 4/5 bigs

Lesson #7 of the Building a Program Series: Timing and Picking Your Spots

This lesson is one of ten in our Building a Program series. This series focuses on a combination of off-court and on-court ideas that can take your program to the next level or build it from the ground up. These ideas have been built through 25 years of running a highly successful high school basketball program.

Each course in this series is a 2,000 word article that includes highly specific examples and ideas that can help you build your program. These writings are easy to read and are downloadable PDFs, so you can always save them. 

Here is a short excerpt from this lesson, titled Timing and Picking Your Spots:

"Two specific situations from the last couple months stick out to me as examples. First, I officiated one game where the coach yelled “Close out! Choppy feet!” on every single close out for an entire game. I could not believe it. I’m sure he said it close to 250 times during that one-hour summer scrimmage. You could tell he was a very good coach because of how his players competed, and they definitely closed out well. But, there is absolutely no need for him to yell “Close out! Choppy feet!” every time one of his players comes from help or rotates to guard someone. I’m sure his players do not even hear it any more. He certainly could be using his time and voice differently."

This course is all about the power of timing and picking your spots within your program!

This course includes detailed play diagrams and various video walk-throughs, which provide a solid understanding of the set plays.

These 5 baseline out of bounds plays will provide your team with a basket or two each game, as well as various options to enter the ball and get into your offense. These sets have a variety of outcomes, including:

- Layups for your 4 or 5

- Threes for your 2 or 3

- Post-ups for your 4 or 5

Lesson #10 of the Building a Program Series - Balancing the Negatives with the Positives

This lesson is one of ten in our Building a Program series. This series focuses on a combination of off-court and on-court ideas that can take your program to the next level or build it from the ground up. These ideas have been built through 25 years of running a highly successful high school basketball program.

Each course in this series is a 2,000 word article that includes highly specific examples and ideas that can help you build your program. These writings are easy to read and are downloadable PDFs, so you can always save them. 

Here is a short excerpt from this lesson, titled Balancing the Negatives and Positives

"Playing for an angry coach does not improve performance. It might improve effort or intensity in the short term (out of fear), but it does not lead to better passing, shooting, or ball handling. These are activities that require skill and practice and confidence. Being constantly yelled at actually makes executing these fine motor skills more difficult."

This course is all about the power of balancing the negatives and positives within your program!

The start of practice is one of the most crucial times as a coach and team. It sets the tone for the day and often determines whether the practice will be a "good" or "bad" one.

These five simple drills and concepts are perfect ways to start a practice for a variety of reasons:

- They get your team moving and thinking.

- They allow players to "get shots up" in a purposeful way.

- They force your players to talk.

- They get your team in a competitive frame of mind.

All of these drills and concepts take less than five minutes each, and when combined or alone, can be ideal ways to start a practice and get your team off on the right foot.

This continuous ball screen offense will provide your team with a variety of scoring opportunities. This offense is the perfect blend of pattern and freedom, and it allows for all five positions on the floor to be threats from various spots. This course provides a diagram for each of the 5 options along with a video breakdown.

With downloadable diagrams and video examples, this course will give you a great understanding of what an effective ball screen offense looks like.

Looking for something to run at the end of the shot clock that is quick and effective? 

These five set plays will give your team an edge during the crucial last seconds of the shot clock, and these simple and effective sets can also be used at the end of quarters/games as well.

These sets result in a variety of possible outcomes to get you an easy basket, including:

- Backscreen layups for bigs

- Backdoor layups for guards

- Flare-screen threes for guards

This course comes with a downloadable 6-page document that provides multiple options for each play and detailed diagrams.

Lesson #9 of the Building a Program Series - Excuses and Body Language

This lesson is one of ten in our Building a Program series. This series focuses on a combination of off-court and on-court ideas that can take your program to the next level or build it from the ground up. These ideas have been built through 25 years of running a highly successful high school basketball program.

Each course in this series is a 2,000 word article that includes highly specific examples and ideas that can help you build your program. These writings are easy to read and are downloadable PDFs, so you can always save them. 

Here is a short excerpt from this lesson, titled Excuses and Body Language

The varsity players realized quickly that making excuses would lead to a stoppage of practice and a very brief running session. Here are a few examples of the types of excuses we typically encountered early in a season:

“I got picked.” - after giving up an open shot 
“It slipped.” - after badly missing a shot
“____________ wasn’t where he was supposed to be.” - after messing up execution of a play
“Where was my help?” - after getting beaten off the dribble
“Nobody is moving.” - after over-dribbling or turning the ball over

Unless you are a first-time coach, you’ve heard these excuses and many more."

This course is all about the power of eliminating excuses and poor body language within your program!

Lesson #8 of the Building a Program Series - Communicating with Parents/Players - Openly, Honestly, and Often

This lesson is one of ten in our Building a Program series. This series focuses on a combination of off-court and on-court ideas that can take your program to the next level or build it from the ground up. These ideas have been built through 25 years of running a highly successful high school basketball program.

Each course in this series is a 2,000 word article that includes highly specific examples and ideas that can help you build your program. These writings are easy to read and are downloadable PDFs, so you can always save them. 

Here is a short excerpt from this lesson, titled Communicate Openly, Honestly, and Often:

"Knowing up front that your parents will have bias means that you can take one of two stances: communicate openly and often with an understanding of this bias, or avoid communication with parents at all costs. I highly recommend Option #1 even though it will be uncomfortable and awkward at times. And, of course, it requires boundaries."

This course is all about the power of communication within your program!