The Summer is upon us and while many players will be crossing the country playing tournaments, do not over look the importance of skill development during this time of the season. Whether you coach a team or specialize in player development, it is essential to know the difference between being a skill coach and a drill coach.
One of my absolute favorite Coach Meyer-isms is:
Be a skill coach, not a drill coach.
Like most of his philosophies, this concept is so simple – yet so profound.
Coaches and skills instructors often get too caught up in their players doing drills… instead of teaching and developing their actual skills.
Skills and drills are not synonyms folks.
What’s the difference?
You use purposeful drills to build the basketball skills of shooting, passing, ball handling, rebounding and defending.
Drills are simply part of the process… they are not the end result.
Drills are the canvas, the paint and the brush. Skills are what it takes to create the Mona Lisa.
Just remember – the goal isn’t to get good at doing drills – it’s to improve your performance when you actually play. Anyone can get good a drill with enough practice. But it must transfer over to game performance for it to truly be effective.
The more purposeful the drill… the greater the impact it has on improving the skill.
Here are some purposeful weak hand development drills to help improve the skills of passing, ball handling and finishing at the rim:
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Player Development – The Read & React Way
