Posting #8, August 12, 2008   

REBOUNDING IS A HABIT

When you get up in the morning, you have a routine. For me it’s making coffee, brushing my teeth, and reading the paper. I do that every morning without thinking about it. However, when I first began unconsciously developing that habit, I did have to think about every step—how much coffee to put in the machine, brushing my teeth while waiting for the coffee to brew, and going to get the paper. Not now. As soon as I get out of bed, I find myself going to the coffee machine.

The habit of aggressively pursuing the missed shot is as much a habit as going to the coffee machine after waking up. If you have a player that passively allows himself to get blocked out, or depends on others to get the defensive rebound, telling him to go get the ball will only do so much. It is not a problem of motivation; it’s the absence of habit. The habit has to be developed through repetition in carefully devised drills.

That habit was created for me at Cypress Community College and UCLA.  My coaches, Don Johnson and John Wooden devised drills that were specifically designed to produce thousands of repetitions of going after the ball when it was shot. I would love to take the credit for being a great rebounder but I have to give credit where it is due; it was mostly the drills that created the habit of going after the ball. Like going to the coffee machine when I wake up, in time, I found myself seeking the basketball whenever a shot was taken.

You will have to devise your own drills based on the needs of your players. However, as an example, the following three drills were part of every UCLA practice. Coach Wooden carefully designed these drills so each time the ball went up on the glass, the player went after it.

Drill One: “Anti-Over”
In my book, John Wooden’s UCLA Offense, this drill is explained and the accompanying DVD demonstrates it. Two players line up close to the basket on the right side. The first has the ball. A third player positions himself on the left side. The player with the ball throws the ball on the square so it rebound to the other side (toward the third player) without touching the rim. The third player jumps high and, in the air, grabs the ball and throws it back to the other side (toward player two) while the first player sprints behind him. The ball is tipped back and forth as players tip and sprint until they have tipped it ten times. The player to tip it the tenth time puts it in the basket.

Drill Two: “Rebound Pass-Out”
This is also explained and demonstrated in the book/DVD mentioned above. This drill is too complex to explain without diagrams. But, one of the components is, when a player receives a pass in the key, he throws it up on the glass and, like a jet, goes after it before releasing the outlet pass. Each time a player throws it up, he goes after it. The habit is developing.

Drill Three: “Throw It Up and Go Get It”
Before every practice I ever had as a player, I tossed ten shots high on the glass and jumped as high as I could to get the rebound. After every practice, I did the same. Bill Walton once said, the greatest rebound drill is tossing the ball up on the glass and going to get it. It sounds too simple, doesn’t it? But he has a point. What would happen if, six times a practice, all your players take a ball and throw it on the glass ten times, and, with proper fundamentals, fly after it? Then they shoot two free throws and get a drink before going to the next drill.

DO THE MATH: While discussing with my pastor the subject of how one can learn to choose doing right over doing wrong, he recited a poem that made a lot of sense. He said:

“Two natures beat within my breast.
The one is cursed; the one is blessed.
The one I love; the one I hate.
The one I feed will dominate.”

It’s simple math. When players go after rebounds more often than they don’t, the desired habit will begin to dominate. The opposite is also true. For example, what habit is being formed when a shooting drill does not include rebounding?

Next Posting: Team Rebounding Alignment