Winter Break

Please mark these dates on your calendar as we have our next tournament the week after we come back from break and need all the gym time we can get to get ready for the Hawley Hot Shot Tournament! It is very important that we have all players at the next few practices to help prepare for the upcoming tournament.

• Sunday, January 3^rd, 2 – 4pm in the Community Center (2 hours instead of 1.5 and new location!)
• Monday, January 4^th, 6:30 – 8pm in HS Gym
• Saturday-Sunday, January 9^th – 10^th, Hot Shot Tourney, Hawley Schools (time/date TBD)
• Sunday, January 10^th – NO PRACTICE

If possible, we strongly encourage you to visit Open Gym over the holiday break to work on shooting and ball handling. Open Gym is on Sundays, 3:30-4:30pm. If you can’t get to Open Gym, there are five drills you can practice inside that won’t drive your parents crazy! Visit http://tinyurl.com/h5zk3zk for details and videos on how to do the drills.

Floor Shots – All great shooters practice with plenty of repetition. You can practice your shot laying bed or on the floor.

• Lie flat on your back
• Slightly bend your legs
• Set your hands in a shooting position and shoot the ball directly upward to the ceiling
• Follow through, catch the ball, and repeat

Ball Circles – You don’t have the dribble the ball to improve your ball handling skills. Strengthen your hand-eye coordination.

• Stand with your feet about shoulder-width
• Swing the ball around your torso from front to back
• Work in 60 second intervals and switch direction
• Work circling the ball around other areas of the body: head, knees, and ankles

Finger Tips – Building up strength in your fingers will help with your ball handling, passing, and catching.

• You can do this while standing, sitting, or lying down
• Hold ball in front of you with your fingertips, tap ball back and forth between your hands as quickly as possible
• More advanced players can move arms around in different locations while moving ball back and forth
• Set goals of how long you can tap ball back and forth without making a turnover

Ball Slaps – another drill that you can perform to increase finger strength.

• Hold basketball in one hand then pound it in your opposite hand
• The receiving hand should squeeze the ball upon impact
• Repeat process for 60 second intervals

Defensive Stance – Just as repetition helps your shot, muscle memory also applies to your defensive stance. Increase your strength and stamina.

• Set your feet slightly wider than shoulder-width and bend your knees to a defensive position
• Keep your hands extended
• Hold this position till fatigue

Happy Holidays and see you in 2016!