Kawhi Speed stop into crossover into step back. The Footwork and combo of this 9 year old made possible by purposeful educated training!

Working Jab cross into right had spin when cut off into step back. This advanced combo move is executed smoothly by this 9 year old athlete as a result of consistent footwork training .

Here you see the third level of a progression from drop footwork, to thru cross from a drop to a double move: drop thru cross => cross. We drill these elements and treat them as building blocks of skill for our athletes to combine as the situation necessitates.

This "tripod" setup is used here in order to drill three different moves -- all in authentic contexts--Jab Cross, through cross (between the legs); "Kawhi" hesitation into a crossover -- and if you're counting; a 4th skill -- left to right veer finish-- is here as well ;) Notice the small details however; the cones are placed at EFFECTIVE HORIZONTAL distances ; athletes need to get horizontal distance in order to make their moves effective; and lastly, the veer finish from this spot in the court is an authentic context.

Real Basketball requires REACTION to a stimulus. Yet so many drills and trainers straight up ignore this fundamental fact. We don't. You will see us using this "tripod" setup with your athlete as we use this structure to provide authentic game situation reactions. As the athlete approaches the first cone we will provide them with a stimulus that they must react to. We'll say either "Right!" or "Left!" Sometimes we'll use the color of the cone, or sometimes we'll call out a move they must execute; and sometimes we'll play live defense! The point of course is to train the mind, and body, to be able to react to a stimulus. There is a time for planned out moves and drills -- that is the "on-boarding" stage of a skill. However once an athlete is fluent with a skill, they need to level up. Thus, this drill demonstrates two core philosophies: Authentic training and purposeful drilling of skill. In addition to the reactivity training; three different skills are practiced here: Jab Cross, float cross and a hop into the shot.

This drill demonstrates our "layered" approach to training. Three skills: Jab Cross; Kawhai speed stop, and the 'hop' component of our shot instruction were learned independently and then combined in this 'game situation' drill. You see the athlete jab cross to beat his man, who stays on his hip, to get space, the Kawhai speed stop is used and the athlete "hops" back into his shot.

As the athlete perfects the initial combo of: Jab cross into Kawhi speed stop; we teach the athlete to be able to "float" the ball coming back from the speed stop and hit their defender with a crossover. As this becomes more comfortable, we'll layer in additional skills such as an emphasis on including a head fake pre-cross. This demonstrates how all our training is purposeful, everything we do leads to something else and athletes are educated in regard to the "why" behind their training. This empowers them as basketball players and allows them to deploy their newly learned skills in novel situations.

This video demonstrates the result of footwork training, Pro Shot Training, as well as game situation structure--all core elements of educated basketball. Here you see the athlete, 9 years old, executing a jab cross to beat his defender, attacking the basket with his weak hand, only to be cut off and responding with a step back. Notice the distance on his step back--US HS 3pt range (the court is a FIBA court). This can be accomplished due to footwork and pro shot training.