Get YOUR timing down with “Thirty Three”

Feb

2012

“Thirty Three” Is a new spin on the classical basketball game “Tip it” . In the original game of “Tip it” the objective is for each player to catch the ball after a shot attempt from another player with both feet in the air and then shoot it at the goal before landing. “Tip It” or “Tips” is a great game the only issue with classical “Tip it” is that there is no defense which limits the effectiveness for competition. Well that was the start and the creation of the game that is now known as “Thirty Three”.

Played on a 10ft goal or even a mini hoop,“Thirty Three” is a great way to improve, timing,anticipation and scoring off of different movements and angles in the air. The game has quickly become a house favorite at Sierra Strength and Speed for all our athletes not just basketball players. I guarantee that once you play you will see why NBA players are using this to warm-up and let loose and why every age group and skill level can play and develop new skill sets with “Thirty Three”.

Objective:

To avoid pitfalls and opponents on your way to “33″ points.

Rules:
1. Catch and release basketball in air
2. Must get to ball within two bounces
3. Must go in player order-established prior to game, often decided by last games score.( Winner goes first)
4. On made shot in field, go to free shot line your choice:
Free Shot Line :FT 1pt,College 3pt=2pts,NBA=3pts (once you pick a line you must stay for remainder of trip at line, not whole game) Continue reading →

New Year New Content

Jan

2012

Two weeks and the blog will be ready with new features and guest columnist. In the meantime enjoy the video.

Posted in Performance, Player Development | Leave a comment

Athletic Breakdown: Austin Rivers Crossover

Dec

2011

I have been fascinated by Austin Rivers unique stlye and unorthodox angles on the basketball floor since his high school mix-tapes. Austin displays a crossover at Ohio State that literally froze his defender in his stance on his way to the rim. River’s ability to generate power and speed on his counter movements is so quick that I have to break it down to guide you through 1.0 second of his signature crossover.

1. Size em Up- After backing up from his defender to create space, Austin aggressively steps at the defense with his inside foot to create the initial angle for the right to left crossover and the start of the counter movement.

Creating Space and Taking Space

2. Take Space & Create Angles- Stepping into the defenders space with his (L) inside foot Austin plants his (L) left foot and brings his (R)outside leg through to sell the forward movement. The (L) inside leg becomes the initial stabilizer and generates the first action in the crossover. While selling the move he will not bring his outside foot down for contact until the inside leg has performed its secondary function. This technique is what gives him the pop and jerk that leaves the defender stuck in stance and Austin to the line to complete the and 1.

Selling Forward Movement

Check the shadow of his shoes foot is ready for contact

3. Hop and Skip-The real athleticism and footowork in Austin River’s move is the point in time when both feet are off the floor simultaneously. Austin’s (L) foot does a quick power skip or “A” Skip (jump and land same foot) to start the hesitation and to create a plyo response on contact for his next step with the (R) foot. This will allow Austin to create a stretch shortening cycle off of the left foot, right foot combo on contact and give him the change of direction needed to sell the COD. Continue reading →

Posted in Athletic Breakdown, Player Development, Sports Specific Training | Tagged Austin Rivers Cross, Austin Rivers Crossover, Austin Rivers Crossover Ohio St, basketball movement, How to Crossover | Leave a comment

Three Movements to Build a Quick First Step – Featured on “Stack Basketball”

Nov

2011

THREE MOVEMENTS TO BUILD A QUICK FIRST STEP

Author BrandonGuarneri

FILE UNDER: BASKETBALL, BOSTON, CELTICS, DRILL, EXERCISES, FIRST-STEP, MOVEMENT, NBA,QUICK, ROUTINE, TRAINING

A quick first step, like Boston Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo’s, is a valuable weapon on the basketball court. First-step speed keeps defenders from pressuring you too closely, since they want to avoid being burned by a drive to the hoop. That extra space gives you more opportunities to impact the game.

You can improve first-step quickness by training with specific exercises and movement patterns. Michael Atkinson, Elite Pro Performance national consultant and A.C.E. certified personal trainer, put together a series that can help any player get to the rim on a regular basis. “Speed can be found in the details of the movement,” says Atkinson. Continue reading →

Posted in Performance, Player Development, Sports Specific Training | Tagged brandon | Leave a comment

Stack Magazine Basketball Experts- Mike Atkinson

Sep

2011

Elite Pro Performance Trainer Mike Atkinson is now featured on the Basketball Expert page of Stack Magazine and Blog. Mike has contributed his expertise in movement and strength for the game of basketball with new content and videos for Stack Basketball’s web site.

Links to Featured Stack Basketball Topics

Posted in Player Development, Sports Specific Training, Sports Training, Strength Training | Tagged basketball movement, Basketball Performance, basktball training, Media, Mike Atkinson, Seattle Basketball, Stack, Stack Basketball | Leave a comment

Five Training Keys for gaining quickness on the court

Sep

2011

Article by: Brandon | August 11, 2011

Being quick on the court isn’t all about genetics. According to Michael Atkinson, Elite Pro Performance national consultant and A.C.E. certified personal trainer, “While it may seem that some of the best basketball players in the world were naturally born with an explosive first step, training can help gain fractions of a second on your first move.” And those fractions of a second can be the difference between an uncontested layup and a turnover. Continue reading →

Posted in Performance, Player Development, Sports Specific Training | Tagged Basketball Performance, first step, quick step, spee, Stack | Leave a comment

3 Movements to Improve lateral quickness via StackBasketball

Sep

2011

IMPROVE YOUR DEFENSE

FILE UNDER: BASKETBALL DRILLS, DEFENSIVE COVERAGE, LATERAL QUICKNESS, SPEED

AUTHOR- Brandon Guarneri Twitter @BrandonGuarneri

The key to playing shut-down defense is lateral quickness. If you can move quickly side to side, you can stay in front of the ball handler and get more stops.

Too many players think moving laterally involves sliding or dragging. Instead, when thinking about defense or lateral movement, push into position. “Athletes should push through the spot and be the aggressor on defense,” says Michael Atkinson, Elite Pro Performance national consultant and A.C.E. certified personal trainer.

Here are three exercises that can help get you moving more efficiently to frustrate your opponents.

Three-Point Line Defensive Pushes

Start in athletic stance facing the hoop at the intersection of the baseline and the three-point line
Move laterally around the three-point line in a defensive stance
Keep hips and feet pointing toward rim while pushing laterally
Keep feet square; do not bring them together

Sets/Reps/Rest: 2×2 times around the three-point line, rest as needed after first set
Coaching Points: Keep knees inside feet to create an angle for greater force production // Keep majority of force production on inside foot

Lateral Lunge to Defensive Push

Start on baseline, facing sideline
Perform Lateral Lunge with leg closest to baseline
Push away from baseline leg toward the opposite baseline into a series of five lateral Defensive Pushes
Decelerate into Lateral Lunge with leg away from baseline for quick change of direction back towards baseline

Sets/Reps/Rest: 2×10 [five in each direction], rest as needed after first set
Coaching Points: Do not let knee go past toes // Keep knee inside big toe for power and change of direction

Two Lateral Pushes to Crossover Step Continue reading →

Posted in Performance, Player Development, Sports Specific Training | Tagged basktball training, Lateral movement, Lateral quickness, Reno, Seattle Basketball, Stack Basketball | Leave a comment

Build Single Leg- Explosiveness

Aug

2011

BUILD SINGLE-LEG EXPLOSIVENESS

AUTHOR- Brandon Guarneri Twitter @BrandonGuarneri

Basketball is not played standing still on both legs. You only had to watch a few minutes of this year’s NBA Finals to see how Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki made himself a Hall of Fame career from one-leg fadeaway jumpers.

At any level of basketball, from JV to the NBA, you stop, start and are always off balance. Still, you don’t need to sacrifice strength, power or explosiveness in your training. You just need to work a little differently.

Instead of grinding out long sets on Leg Press or Leg Extension machines, work more unilateral movements—like Single-Leg Bodyweight Lunges. They’ll help your body get used to the way you’re asking it to move during games.

You can take your training one step further by working with a Keiser Triple Trainer Infinity, a multi-functional cable machine that forces you to deal with resistance as you learn how to balance on one leg. The equipment’s pneumatic technology lets you work against constant resistance without shocking your muscles, so you can move freely through your exercises, just like during a game.

You’ll more easily create space for yourself on the court if you’re used to changing directions, says Michael Atkinson, Elite Pro Performance national consultant and A.C.E. certified personal trainer. “The ability to create leverage from deceleration in the lead leg allows for quick counter movement and separation from the defender,” he says. “This allows the player to create space while being tightly guarded.”

The Keiser Triple Trainer Infinity can help train any athlete for three different basketball situations: Continue reading →

Posted in Performance, Sports Specific Training, Uncategorized | Tagged DALLAS MAVERICKS, DIRK NOWITZKI, FADEAWAY, JUMP SHOT, lunge, nba, NBA FINALS, Reno Basketball, Seattle Basketball, single leg, Stack | Leave a comment

Fueling Basketball Players

Jun

2011

A small High School female player training for an hour a day may need only 2,000 calories per day but a 7 foot professional player may need up to 6,000 to 7,000 calories per day.

Male athletes who train for more than 90 minutes per day may neeed more than 23 calories per pound of body weight. 200lb Ball player = 4,600 Calories

Basketball has eight different changes in movement and players average 997 changes in movement during a 48minute game- that equals to a change of movement every 2 seconds.
Only 15% of playing time in a basketball game is high intensity, but the high intensity is the determining factor between winning or losing.

Basketball players need more than 2.7 grams of carbohydrate per pound of body weight per day. During heavy training and competition carbohydrate needs increase 3.6-4.5 grams per pound of body weight per day.

Basketball players need .6 to .8 grams of protein per pound of body weight per day. (lean proteins are ideal)

Basketball Players need at least .45 grams of Fat per pound of body weight. (Healthy fats: Olive oil, nuts, avocado)

SOURCE: American Dietetic Association

Posted in Nutrition, Performance | Tagged basketball, Basketball Performance, Basketball personal training, basktball training, Seattle, seattle basketball camp, seattle basketball training | Leave a comment

Basketball MAUI-Pro AM game

Jun

2011

Once again I had the opportunity to train on the Westside of Maui in Lahaina for the third consecutive year. Had a great time working with the various coaches and players that attended the NBC Camps that were hosted by a legit non-profit Basketball Maui. The week of camp was capped off by a charity game that included some NBA players, International pro’s and some of the coaches that staffed the camp. I had a great time playing and look forward to next year!

On Saturday night June 4th over 2,000 people came out to support Basketball Maui’s “Night of Shooting Stars” charity basketball game and fans were not disappointed as the game went into overtime with a 3 pointer by John Salmons to tie the score at the end of regulation and then Corey Maggette hit a 3 pointer with 3 seconds left in overtime to win with a final score of 107 to 106!
more info at WWW.BasketBallMaui.com