CKal - developing to be a PG

[CKal]

OK. Some basic info first...

Height: ~1.6m (I think it's about 5'2")

Age: 15 (16 this November)

Brief words that can describe myself: Thin, weak, ~50 cm vertical (jump), started playing b-ball this year, not consistent

Brief description of playing style: penetration, inside scorer, short range off-balance shots, running shots, bankers, so-so mid range, off-the-dribble passer, steals occasionally, above average rebounder

Somewhat Rajon Rondo and CP3 like - playmaker, slasher, rebounder, defensive player

Skills right now:
Impressive lay-ups, but only with my right hand
So-so mid-range jumpers
Somewhat a dribbler
Off-the-dribble passes
Above average in boxing out and rebounding
Steals occasionally
High defensive intensity

Weakness:
Bad "clutch"
Cowardy against better men
Don't know when to pass
Don't know where to position when without the ball
Very non-consistent - can be real good one day, and air-ball layups the other day
Un-lay-up-able left hand
Reaching in quite often
Short and weak
Don't know much plays except Pick and Roll

Worst thing: I don't get to play very often - less than once a week

And that's basically it. For now, I just want to be a player that will not be considered "bad", and try getting my friends/teammates to trust me - let me handle to ball.

And the reason that I'm posting here, is that I want to keep track of my development each time I get to play, and hopefully some tips from you experience ballers.

Thank you very much.

[Fitzy]

firstly bulk up a bit, and maybe try one of those "better basketball" instructional dvds on dribbling. my brother had some of them and they are really good

[[Q]]

Weakness:
Bad "clutch"
Cowardy against better men
Don't know when to pass
Don't know where to position when without the ball
Very non-consistent - can be real good one day, and air-ball layups the other day
Un-lay-up-able left hand
Reaching in quite often
Short and weak
Don't know much plays except Pick and Roll

Worst thing: I don't get to play very often - less than once a week

you can't be cowardly. you have to be confident in what you can do.
bad decision-making especially when passing comes from a lack of experience. this is not good if you're going to be a PG.
I love to play defense, and i have to calm myself when i try to reach too much or be the hero to steal the ball. defense comes naturally when you move your feet to stay in front of someone.
and it IS the worst thing that you don't play often. it takes practice practice practice. practice? yeah, we talkin bout practice. you're not allen iverson you really need to play more and reinforce good playing habits.

[airBerlin]

If you want to be a solid point guard I wouldn't focus too much on shooting. I'd work on dribbling, passing, and defense. As far as "running plays", I don't know. It's kind of hard to say because you're still quite young and I don't know if plays would really work. Like for example, you watch an NBA game and you'll see a lot of point guards drive into the paint, and the defense will close in on them leaving guys at the perimeter open. I wouldn't expect the people you were playing against to close in, so I doubt a play like that would have much effect. That's another thing you should probably work on is driving the ball. I remember when I played a lot I was very short and very thin as well and I was afraid to drive. I didn't think I could do it but there's not as much to it as you'd think.

[Sam The Man]

Well I'm the same age as you, 16 in November. 6ft tall, I play C on my team, but I think I play best at PG.

First of all, Fitzy is right when he says try those Better Basketball videos.
I have them all, and if you stay committed to the drills they will help you improve.
Confidence is the biggest key. When I am lacking confidence I play like crap, but when I'm confident I can do anything on the court.

Now first of all is you have to play to your strengths to gain confidence and improve your weaknesses when you train. (this might be hard for you since you don't play often).
If your not naturally skilled the best thing to do is try to become the best defender and hustle player you can be. A coach will take someone who hustles their ass off, over a player who only focus's on shooting. Defense is the key, if you can stop your man from scoring, he will lose confidence fast, and most likely not play at his best. Which can give you an opportunity on the offensive end.
To improve your decision making on passing, remember to always use your peripheral vision. The key is to see plays before they happen. But before that, put your teammates in a position that is easiest for them to catch the ball.
When I always make a pass in the middle of action, I think, if I was the player im passing to, where would I want to receive the ball, and how.

If your good at layups, and have a good handle on the ball, you should drive as often as you can if you want to score. Its difficult at first, but you only draw a bit of contact, and being the smaller player, you will get a lot of fouls drawn, giving you free throws.

[Andrew]

I would say work on your dribbling and passing first and foremost if you intend on being a point guard. Even if you have a growth spurt, it will pay to be fundamentally sound in those areas if you intend on playing basketball at a high level. It's natural for one hand to be stronger than the other but if you're a point guard you should ideally be more than competent using your weak hand.

As already mentioned, confidence and poise are very important. Develop an understanding of when to pass the ball to a teammate and how to get them the ball. You'll want to make sure they can catch the pass so don't throw it at their feet or try to pass to them when they can't get to it as the defender is just going to pick it off. Don't try to lob a pass over a taller defender either; bounce pass past tall defenders, lob over smaller defenders.

Don't telegraph your passes. That doesn't mean being Magic Johnson and throwing no-look passes all over the place but if you're staring at the player you're going to pass to then the defense is going to read that easily. If you're a strong dribbler you won't be looking at the ball so you'll be able to look around the court at where your teammates are, where they're going and who's in a good position to score.

When you don't have the ball, don't stand around and watch. You should be moving around to places where you can score or help out your teammate if they're trapped by the defense. It's just a matter of knowing whereabouts on the floor you feel most comfortable and are the most effective.

I know this is pretty vague, so I too would recommend that you to invest in some videos and books that suggest good basketball training techniques. From there, it's the old adage of practice, practice, practice (and then practice some more). If you're serious about playing, you should also find a way to play more often. Are you involved in a junior league? If not, you might want to consider it. You might be raw to start off with but you'll certainly get experience and hopefully enjoy yourself immensely.

[CKal]

Thank you all for your attention. Some of the tips sound really good. I will focus on my dribbling with my left hand, which is rather bad, and also better passes.

Again, the worst thing is I don't get to play often. But when I'm in Hong Kong (I'm going on the 28th) with more friends around, I think I will play a little bit more b-ball than in here.

I am not afraid to drive. And that "cowardy" I mentioned above, now that I come to think of it, is because I was kinda triple teamed. I lost confidence when I saw 3 men closing in with better open teammates out there that I couldn't pass to.

As for basketball videos, are there like some on YouTube, because I don't think I can get them since I don't think I'm allowed to go out by myself here in Canada now. And that b-ball in Hong Kong is a much less popular sport.

Thanks Qballer for the defensive tip. I think this is one of the best tips I've seen here.

I'll post a summary whenever I get to play, which I think I won't until when I'm in Hong Kong.

[mvpshaq32]

If you really can't go out and practice, just do it indoors. You know, like against the wall of your bedroom or something...
Practice your form when you do left handed lay-ups and if it feels weird or not right to you, do some right handed ones and reflect that form onto the left.
Your qualities make you sound more like a SF, but if you're going to be a PG,
dribbling and passing should be your main things to work on. Don't try anything fancy, just stick to the basics.
Have fun in HK, the food is amazing....Even fast food stores like McDonalds serve pizza and fried rice and such...

[CKal]

Thanks mvpshaq32, and don't forget I'm just about 1.6m tall, and I'm not that stupid to play SF.

And yup - I miss McD in Hong Kong so much.

[Oskar]

You're really short.. REALLY. If you can't play very often, then you should do weightlifting, pushups and situps, something else if you want to also, as you said you're weak. I used to be much weaker last year when I didn't train, now after training a lot I have improved very much. I suggest you to do atleast 50 pushups and 50 situps a day. Do you have a good stamina, btw ? If not, you should go to forest and run in forest or somewhere. If you can't go to forest, then somewhere in nature, and run like 4 km's once a week.

[CKal]

My stamina - well put it in Live, I think it rates about 60-ish, since I play soccer. And I will do some push ups and sit ups. As for weightlifting, any suggestion for weights replacements? A heavy textbook?

[Oskar]

Haha. Can you go to fitness gym ? I actually use a dumbbell for biceps, but today I figured out something I can press off my chest. It weighs around 25 kg if I'm right, it's not really hard, but it's good for training. I do biceps with 6 kg, you're 4 years older, I'd go with 8 kg then, or maybe 7 kg, because I'd probably do with 5 kg, but the weightwheels are stuck on the dumbbells. Good luck, anyways.

[Indy]

Develop that left hand. Can't say it enough how important that is.

I coach an AAU team of kids your age and I make them all brush their teeth, change channels with the remote, open doors etc. with their left hand to get used to using it when you usually would instinctively just use your right.

Having a strong off hand is incredibly important for any position, but for a point guard its essential.

My point guard is a lefty and I wouldn't let him dribble or shoot layups with his left hand for 3 weeks in practice during the offseason and when I started to let him do it again he became twice the player he was before.

[Angelo]

I didnt know that you were short bro Ckal

[Modifly]

Here in Thailand weightlifting are not recommended until you stop growing or about 18 years of age.

Regular weightlifting like arms and legs are fine, but I've heard that lifting weight above your shoulder will slow down your growth.

As other said, practice makes perfect.

I'm a pretty consistent player for my age and the only reason behind that is because I've got an indoor basketball court just infront of my neighborhood.
I improved a lot just in 3 years time because I play basketball almost everyday.

So if you play more often, by often I'm talking about 2-3 times per week or more, I guaranteed that you will become twice better than you are now in a year time or even less.

And for left hand layup, before I wasn't able to do them either. However, practice makes perfect What I do is concentrate on the steps and remain relax. If you put pressure on yourself you wont succeed. Try practicing by start dribbling from the three point line and head towards the basket at 45 degrees. This makes it a lot easier to bank off the glass.

Never be a coward with a better men. If you are scared or unconfident, you will not develop. You have to be confident and got faith in yourself. If you think that you cannot do it, then you will not be able to do it. This is important.

If you dont know when to pass, what I strongly suggest from my own experience is, dont hold onto the ball for too long. When opening a play try to pass it to your nearby teammates first. Dont try to pass it to someone under the basket and get an assists. The important thing is, dont always aim to get an assists. It's not that important. What's more important is how you make your teammates better by helping create space for them with good passes. Remember, assists is not your main goal. As I said, dont make a bullet pass to the player under the basket straight away. Set up the ball movement continously by passing it in one direction first. If the ball came to a dead end it will most likely return to you. And when this happens, you can start the ball flow again. Another thing is, do not hesitate. If you want to pass then do it quick. If you hesitate for even half a second the defense will be able to read your mind since they see it coming. When making a pass, you dont only see the player you're passing to but you must also see the defense and whether or not they can intercept your pass.

When you dont have the ball, you should be making cut to free yourself up. However, if your teammates is struggling with the ball, you have to help him out by running to him in a way that he can feed you the ball. Always keep an open eyes out incase someone need you. A good PG always try to help their teammates when they are in trouble. If they are struggling with the ball, your job is to get the ball and set it up again.

To be a good clutch player, you have to understand the situation you're in first. You'll learn more and more from experiences. The important thing is to trust yourself. Impossible is nothing.

Dont think about you being short. Earl Boykins and Nate Robinson are capable of many fantastic things. It's not the height that matters. It's the heart and skills.

What you should develop as well is perimeter shooting. You will find yourself open quite often in the perimeter area. This will help boosts your game and make you much more effective as you can be dangerous on the outside as well.


I hope that helps more or less

[CKal]

Thank you very much. I used the mouse with my left hand, and ate with my left hand this morning.

Now I'm gonna do the 50 push ups and sit ups, then go to the basement, grab the soft ball the size of a soccer ball, and dribble with my left hand and lay up banking off the wall without a rim.

As for shooting, Jom, I will develop them eventually. Right now is to prove myself that I can handle the ball, pass, penetrate, and score inside.

And talking about the lay ups on my left side, this was one of the major problems. When I drive pass the defender's right, my left, I got inside and always attempted an off-balance running shot. I hit like 80%+ when no one is bothering me. However, people can easily put a hand up my face and grab the air ball.

And now a question for you - since my jump height is not that bad, should I jump as high as possible when doing layups and jump shots? But when I hang in the air, I don't have enough strength to shoot the ball - I think... Weights please!

[Andrew]

Layups yes, jumpshots not so much unless you're trying to out-jump a defender. Whatever feels natural though.

[Oskar]

I actually would rate my jumpshot pretty good in like.. Free throw range, but I only hit from the highest point of my jump when I'm near the basket, like 3 meters, other than that, my shot goes like this:

At the time I crouch, I put the ball a little higher than my forehead. I push myself to the air fast and at the same time I push my arm in front and pull a screw to the ball, so it won't bounce off very much. I don't try to do bankshots unless I'm on the side or under the basket, + layups. That's how I shoot, you should try it. Search for Ray Allen's shooting tutorial video from youtube, it helped me.

EDIT: Sorry for talking about me in your thread, wrote it because it might help your technique and stuff.

[CKal]

Thanks Drew and Oskar. My biceps are burning right now.

Recap:
I went to the basement and did the following:

1. 10 push ups
2. 10 sit ups
3. Grab the ball and dribble with my left hand for quite a while
   
   • Results: left hand dribbling feels more natural now
4. 15 sit ups
5. 15 push ups
6. Attempted left-handed layups
   
   • Note: quite often having the wrong steps (e.g. should be left-right-up, but I keep doing it right-left-up)
   • Results: I have to keep telling myself that I should go with my left foot first. If I don't I would come up with wrong steps
7. Kicked the ball around with my left foot to regain my both-feeted status
8. 15 push ups
9. 25 sit ups
10. 10 push ups

Pretty good start for my first real "training" day.

[Oskar]

Good job. Do you stretch at all ? If you do, your muscles shouldn't hurt. If you don't, then I want to see what you say tomorrow.

[Jing]

wow 50 pushup and situps, you've gotta look like Arnold.

[Oskar]

Jing, wow e-man, you've got to look like Bill Gates.
Atleast he works out, if he does that thing everyday, he develops. It's much better than doing lots of stuff once a week, or not doing at all.

Yet another internet example of an 'owner'.

[Modifly]

Personally I think it's not crucial to jump as high as possible when doing layups.
It's just a matter of protecting the ball while you're in mid air and how you bring it out before releasing.

If you have good hangtime then it's a lot easier to adjust your shots if you get contested.

[CKal]

Thanks for the tips - today I might get some "playing time" - I'm not sure. I will write a "match summary" if I do.

[GaZuN]

Man.. I am younger than you.. You know this.. But I am playin' b-ball every fuckin day.. ANd that's why I am progressing so fast.. And do you wanna know what keep my motivation up... - When i lose game.. That make me want better.. If i lose some 1on1 or some school match.. next day i am traing all day.. So i wanna telll.. You can become a good PG if you have will to be a pg..

Also the jump isn't so important.. Yeah it's good to have big hangtime.. But you know.. THe big jump is natural.. You have it.. You don't.. I have 65~70 sm vertical and for me that's enought.. I can finish the leyups.. THat's what i need..
Also i have good 3pt shooting... ( 60 threes every day) TRY IT you will become a good sharpshooter.. Belive me !!


Btw i wanna ask.. Can someone give me some tip or info.. How to do Fadeways..? There must be some tehique? OR..? Pls tell me to know.. Really it will be usefull..