PeaceLoveBasketball Friday: Old Man Strong
There is something to be said for experience. When I play basketball these days, physically I can’t keep up with the girls who are half my age, but there are times I still feel strong. Not in the way that I pull down rebounds or run the court, but in my knowledge of the game, my understanding of what makes a winning team. When my son can’t get the upper hand wrestling against my husband, he complains, “It’s not fair, you’re ‘Old Man Strong.’”
Old Man Strong = Experience.
My husband is a three-time state wrestling champion and a former college athlete. He has muscle memory and more important a history and knowledge of how to use his body. A different but very real strength that is often more powerful than the ability to lift more weight.
Why am I telling you all of this? For you coaches it’s a reminder of how important your knowledge is in building the strength of your players and your team. Do they understand how to use their body to block out and get a rebound so they have the upper hand against a bigger, stronger opponent? Do your players understand how to keep their bodies low and ready to move when they are on defense so they can beat a faster player to their spot? Have you taught them to use ball fakes so they can attack the basket and leave their defender behind? Your knowledge of the game will make them stronger.
If you’re a player, listen. Listen to your coaches. Be open to learn as much as possible about the game. Sometimes you can even learn from old ladies like myself, who shuffle up and down the court, but who know how to run an old-fashioned fast […]
PeaceLoveBasketball Friday: Because You Can
Injuries suck. I’ve been babying a bad wrist and knee all summer. These injuries make everything hard to do, the chores and the fun stuff. My daughter has been rehabilitating a knee injury. This morning when we were working out together she said, “I can’t stand doing the elliptical machine, not playing basketball is killing me.” Boy, do I know what she means, there is nothing like playing a game of basketball or doing something that you love to get your workout in. And unfortunately, most people don’t truly understand this until the time comes when they can no longer play.
My husband hasn’t been able to play much basketball for quite some time because he has bad knees, but recently he hurt his back and he couldn’t do anything at all for about three months. Since his recovery, he has been working out like a madman. When someone asks him why, he replies, “Because I can.” He wakes up at 5:30am to go to the gym to lift, condition and play racquetball, and he has been doing something he once said he would NEVER do, riding hundreds of miles on his bike. This weekend he is even participating in the STP (Seattle to Portland) bike race. He is the picture health.
He is in the shape that I strive to be in. So, I’ve decided to adopt the “Because I Can” attitude. Too often I adopt the “If I workout I’ll have to take another shower” attitude or “I should do the bills” attitude or “I need to (fill in any excuse here)” attitude, but something tells me the “Because I Can” attitude would better serve me.
It was so nice to have my daughter ask me to workout today and it’s good to have […]
PeaceLoveBasketball Friday: Blocking Out
Yesterday morning when I was playing basketball a teammate of mine went flying by me to the hoop when a shot went up by the other team. I on the other hand was stepping toward my man to block him out (also known as boxing out). I was taught that it didn’t matter if I got a rebound only that my man should not get it. If everyone on your team has this mentality in the end, someone on your team will get the rebound, because by blocking out, the defense has control and have better position to get to the ball.
Blocking out consistently is not an easy task and not an easy skill to instill in players because the player generally has to move away from the basket and away from the action. It doesn’t seem right, but it can make all the difference in the world. I was a top rebounder at my college and I was only 5’9”. I blocked out. My daughter is one of the top rebounders at her college and she is 5’8”, she does the same. You don’t have to be tall to get rebounds (though it can help), but you do have to be tough and block out.
When you’re on the court remind yourself to block out, if you’re coaching make sure to spend time working on this skill, and if your watching basketball, watch closely and learn to appreciate this part of the game. Blocking out seems to go against the grain as it takes a player away from the action, but in the end it’s one of the best ways to help a team win.
More information on blocking out:
Boxing Out by ExtremeBasketballSkills
How to Block Out in Basketball by HoopSkills
PeaceLoveBasketball Friday: Court Dreams
Basketball has been a part of my life since I was a kid, and at forty-nine years old, I still can’t seem to get enough. Whether I’m playing, coaching or watching the game, when I’m near a ball, a court, or I hear the squeak of shoes on the hardwood, I feel at home.
The game has given me good times and bad times. It’s kept me in shape, it’s taught me life lessons, and once it even gave me a reason to live (read more about how basketball helped save my life after I lost my fiancé and was nearly killed, in Court Dreams: A Life Worth Living, at the Awesome Sports Project).
Find time to do the things that you love. Enjoy this life, it is truly worth living.
Meet Sonya
Meet Sonya
Sonya Elliott’s memoir, Back on the Court: A Young Woman’s Triumphant Return to Life, Love & Basketball, is her story of finding hope in the wake of tragedy after she and her fiancé were hit by a train. She blogs about writing, basketball, and life and is currently working on a Young Adult Novel and a Non-Fiction Coaching book. Stories of her career as a fashion model are woven through her memoir, as both the Soloflex and Easy Spirit Shoes commercials were filmed during that time period, and this unique and intriguing business continues to be a part of her life.
Sonya played basketball at Eastern Washington University and was a starter for the Big Sky Champion team that went to the 1987 NCAA tournament. She coached for almost 25 years and was voted Seattle Times Coach of the Year, Seattle Officials Women’s Basketball Association Coach of the Year, and twice voted Metro League Coach of the Year. She loves the game of basketball and is thankful, not only for her husband and kids but for her ability to continue to get back on the court.
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PEACELOVEBASKETBALL: Always Be Prepared
As a coach it’s important to be prepared. To be prepared for upcoming games, for your upcoming season and especially for your practices. Yet at the same time, you need to be flexible. When I was coaching I would spend a lot of time planning for the approaching season, what skills and concepts we should work on in practice and when. And though the plans often changed as the season progressed, had I not started each season with a plan, our teams would have struggled.
As an assistant coach I remember thinking that ten practice days (the mandatory practices needed to play in the first game) was plenty to get a team ready for the first game. As a head coach, there is never enough time. There is a lot to cover before that first game, especially if you have a lot of […]
Monday’s Pen to Paper: Why Do We Write?
This week I was reading about creating, and why we do it, and what keeps us going. As a writer, it’s easy to forget, it’s easy to wonder why the hell we spend hours upon hours jotting down words and then rearranging them into unsatisfactory combinations, until we find that we kind of like them, or we give up. Oh, occasionally there are the moments when we are truly happy with the results, but that is not often and comes with a lot of work and so we wonder, why? Why do we torture ourselves this way? And then we get a reminder. Sometimes it’s a nudge, sometimes it’s a 2×4 across the head, but whatever it is, it resonates with us, and keeps up going.
That’s what happened to me when I read this one line. “We write to share.”
Ah, yes. That’s it. […]
PeaceLoveBasketball Friday: Which Defense is the Best?
Defense is my favorite part of the game and man-to-man is my favorite defense. It’s my favorite to play, my favorite to teach during practice, and my favorite to use when I’m coaching a game. I also believe that every player should be taught man-to-man and play a lot of man-to-man, even though it’s not always the perfect solution in a game.
Players and teams should be taught man-to-man because it can be effective against opponents and because when players learn man-to-man, they learn the basic fundamentals of defense. I used the “10 to Win” Westside Rules of Defense when I was coaching at West Seattle. These rules set a precedent for what was expected; for players to stay low and close out aggressive but under control, to keep their hands up and out and to read their opponents, to jump […]
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