10 Top Core Exercises

1. Plank
Begin by resting on your forearms face down with your palms flat on the floor. Pushing off the floor, rise up onto your toes and rest on your elbows. Keep your back flat and in a straight line from head to heels.

2. Side Bridge
Lie on one forearm positioned under your shoulder with your feet stacked together. Contract your glutes and abs to push your hip off the floor, creating a straight line from ankle to shoulder and keeping your head in line with your spine.

3. Planks with Arm Lift
Begin in Push-Up position with your feet shoulder-width apart. Lift your left arm up and slightly to the left and hold for 1 or 2 seconds, then return to start position. Repeat with right arm.

4. Leg Lowers
Lie on your back with your legs extended straight up toward the ceiling. Keeping your heels together, place your hands behind your head. Lower your legs to six inches above the floor. Press your lower back into the floor as you curl your upper torso up off the floor.

5. Wall Crunches
Lie with the small of your back resting on a physioball and facing a wall. Place your feet hip-width apart on the wall with your knees bent 90 degrees and cross your hands over your chest. Perform regular ab crunches.

6. Bridge
Lie on your back with your hands by your sides, your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor under your knees. Raise your hips up and create a straight line from your knees to your shoulders. Squeeze your core, keeping your abs pulled in.

7. Superman Planks
Lying facedown, extend your arms over your head with your thumbs pointed up. Lift your right and left legs simultaneously, as high as you can.

8. Oblique Crunch
Lying on your back, bend your knees and swing your legs to the left until your knees rest near the floor. Place your fingertips on the sides of your head just behind your ears. Crunch up. Lower back down and repeat for specified reps. Reposition your legs to the right and repeat set.

9. Lying Wind Screen Wipers
Lying on your back with your arms out to the sides, lift your legs straight up in the air until your hips are at 90 degrees. Keeping your legs straight and maintaining the hip angle, rotate your legs to one side. Go as far as you can while keeping your upper back and shoulders on the floor. Stop. Pull your legs back to start position and perform to other side.

10. Side Lying Hip Abduction
Lying on your side, keep both knees bent and flex your hips to a 30-degree angle. Keeping your heels touching and your pelvis still, open your knees. Close and repeat on other side.


When training core muscles, it's important to maintain good form. Take the time to learn proper form for each exercise, including body position, pace of movement, and controlling your breath. Good form and body control will lead to faster gains in core strength and will help prevent unwanted injury.

Point Per Pass

I use this drill to improve  3 on 3 games in youth clinics as well as in season as a practice drill out of 4 on 4 and 5 on 5.

The drill has several objectives:

1. Keep 3 on 3 games at lower levels from being a dribbler and 2 watchers.
2. It emphasizes the give and go.
3. Requires players to get open to receive a pass
4. De-emphasize dribbling
5. Encourages team play on offense
6. Makes the defense play harder to stop the points for passes and guard the basket cutter.
7. It can be used to practice a delay game offense and defending against a delay game if you don’t set a limit for the number of passes.

Rules:

1. Regular scoring for two and three point baskets.
2. Every completed pass followed by a basket cut is worth one point for the offense.    It is important that only a pass followed by a basket cut counts as a point to promote cutting in our motion offense.  Pass and stand is not a point.  If we use it with our high school teams, then a pass and screen is also worth a point.
3. (Optional) You can set a limit of no more than 7 points from passes if there is lack of attempting to get a shot.

I teach passing to the outside hand away from the defense, meeting the pass, and other areas I want and that are appropriate for the age of the player that I am working with while running the drill.

''When I first came into the league I always asked myself, 'Do I want to be good or do I want to be great?' Paul Pierce said. ''Every time I stepped out and worked on my game, that's what I asked myself. I always got here early and worked on my craft as hard as I could because I wanted to be one of the great players.''

1 on 1 Drills

Manager 1 on 1:
2 Managers/coaches (or chairs) stand 35 feet out from the baseline with one about 7 feet away from the sideline and the other 8 feet inside of that.
On coaches “Go”. the defensive player sprints to run around the chair/manager closest to the middle of the court while the offensive player runs dribbling the ball around the outside chair (closest to the sideline).
Once around the chair, the offensive player attacks the rim and the two play 1 on 1.

Inside the Three 1 on 1:
Two players begin underneath the hoop. The defensive player begins with the ball and he dribbles to any spot inside the three point arc to place the ball down. Once the ball is placed down, the offense runs to pick it up and the two play 1 on 1 live.
You can control where you want this drill to happen if you make the defense put the ball only in the paint.

Turn and Run 1 on 1:
Drill starts like a zigzag ball handling defensive slide drill but the defense allows the offensive player to beat him off the dribble up the sideline. The defensive player works on his speed and recovery to get back in front and square up the offense. Once the defensive player gets in front of the offense, the ball handler throws the ball to a manager/coach at the top of the key. The defensive player jumps to the ball in Help side and  when the offensive player catches it again, the two play 1 on 1 live.

Baseball:
This is a 1 on 1 drill that uses two teams playing 1 on 1 vs members of the opposing team counting the score like a baseball game. Start from the top of the key with a member of team 1 guarding a member of team 2 – if the defense gets a stop. then that’s 1 Out. If the offense scores than they get 1 run and there are no outs. On the first foul, you re-check the ball.  On the second, the offense gets a point. When three outs are up. You switch offense defense. When each team has gone for 3 outs, then you have just played one inning. You can do this drill from any spot on the court and can facilitate post players by allowing coaches to feed them w the post instead of playing 1 on 1 from the perimeter.

"I know you've heard it a thousand times before. But it's true - hard work pays off. If you want to be good, you have to practice, practice, practice. If you don't love something, then don't  do it." - Ray Bradbury

Ten Simple Habits Players Can Develop to Become Better Teammates

 by Coach Peterman

Coach Sen contributes an excellent article on how to develop teamwork:

Coaches develop teams based on two primary concepts, hard work and teamwork. And the results follow either individual improvement or the ability to help teammates. Our job is to help players individually and collectively change. It’s a never-ending challenge.

Personal habits:

1.     Pressure the ball. The principal responsibilities of defense are to prevent scoring opportunities and regain possession. Attack the offense. Accept nothing less at all times.
2.     When you force the dribbler to pick up the dribble, make a call (e.g. “pinch”) and attack the pivot foot to prevent the dribbler from improving their passing angle.
3.     Never allow free ‘front cuts’ to the ball.
4.     If a defender presents a ‘lead foot’, attack the basket to that side.
5.     Never criticize a teammate. If a player has concerns about another player, have her bring it to the coach who can assess the problem and address it  quickly and privately.

Team habits:

1.     When you enter a new gym, have the players evaluate boundaries, lighting, boundary symmetry, clock position, et cetera. Invariably, we see players violate boundaries or lose possessions needlessly.
2.     Communicate. Except for when the coaches are talking, the players on the floor should communicate both verbally and non-verbally.
3.     Regularly remind players at practice and pre-game about the importance of dictating tempo and establishing toughness.
4.     Maximize “compete level” as an expectation. Make as many drills as possible competitive and confirm scrimmage wins “Celtics style” with made free throws.
5.     Cultivate team spirit through community activity. Clean up a park, hold clinics for younger players, serve at a food distribution facility. Help players see their collective mission.

Ron Sen, MD, FCCP @rsen01 on Twitter
Ron Sen is an assistant coach in a middle school girls basketball program and a primary and specialty care physician. 



 

When you teach or correct one player, present the point in a manner that teaches all the players. Instead of presenting the mistake, present the solution. Instead of, 'Dont cut there!' try, 'Cut this way. It creates more space.'- Don Kelbick