Isn’t it just so obvious when you see a player that just blows by a defender that there is no mistaking speed and quickness? But, the focus may be on the wrong end of speed. Now, don’t get me wrong. First step speed and acceleration is king in the sport of basketball. The issue is; basketball isn’t just a linear sport by any means. There are stops and starts, lateral and angular cuts and deceleration, basketball require players to have great multi-directional speed.

Some of the fastest players are not the quickest. Let me explain what I mean. There are some players that can accelerate to near top end speeds in only half the courts distance, yet when they need to change direction they are slow. Why is this the case? The issue with this type of basketball player is the fact they have poor body control and techniques when it comes to deceleration. You see, they can’t control all that momentum they built up going in one direction and stop it, and re-direct it into a new direction.

Let’s cover some reasons why deceleration is used in the sport of basketball

1. Deceleration can be in the form of stopping, slowing down, or cutting. Stopping and slowing down are the actual intended act of decelerating purposely. Cutting may or may not be a purposeful act of slowing down. It just may be the fact that the cut was at a sharp enough angle it requires the athlete’s momentum to be slowed down some what, even though the hoop player is trying cut aggressively. 2. Deceleration is either a tactic or a reaction to a tactic. What this means is that if the offensive player wants to make the defender think he is stopping so he can get the defender to slow down and maybe let his guard down, and then blow by him with a quick first step acceleration. Now on the other side of the ball, the defender must decelerate as a reaction to the offensive players move. So you see deceleration isn’t always planned. 3. Obviously there are many reasons why an offensive and defense player will decelerate. The keys to doing it well are to eliminate any unwanted actions that may lengthen the deceleration more than needed or wanted, and use the deceleration in conjunction with the skills of the game of basketball. If you can’t maintain your dribble while cutting (change of direction dribble), or faking the deceleration does you no good. From a defensive perspective- if decelerating is a weak point in your movement skill, playing good hard defense will be a chore!

There are actually so many elements that get involved when breaking down deceleration that are way past the scope of this article such as; the speed going into the deceleration move, the angle at which the deceleration is being made and so on. But there are a few important biomechanical technique points I would like to cover:

1. The position of the body in regards to alignment is important. Now keep in mind that most athletes will naturally just react and perform the deceleration skill correctly, the problem comes in when there are athletes that don’t do it correctly and subject themselves to potential injuries. Even the athletes that do decelerate quickly may be doing it incorrectly, but it is a natural motor program for them due to hundreds and thousands of repeated repetition in that pattern. These are the athletes that are difficult to break old habits with. 2. I am going to start with the lower leg on deceleration. I will use the lateral shuffle or defensive slide for example. In order for the defender to be able to decelerate and stop quickly moving to his right the following things must occur. a. The right leg must be quickly positioned wide enough to stop the momentum of the body, yet not so wide that the player slips. Conversely, if the right foot is positioned to close under the hips the momentum and the weight of the upper body will cause the player to stumble or take several stutter steps to stop. b. Next, the right foot should be pointed straight ahead if not a tiny bit turned in. The ankle must also be dorsi-flexed (cocked ankle) for 2 reasons. The first is because it will close down the ankle joint and take the play out of it. This is important in reducing the rolled or sprained ankle. Secondly, the dorsi-flexed ankle creates a stretch reflex action within the muscle and tendon complex which allows for a more powerful push off if needed. The weight of the athlete should be on the balls of the feet but the heels should not be elevated for the reasons mentioned above. Keeping the foot pointed straight ahead is a more athletic position to move in any direction. c. Moving up the body. The knees need to be inside the width of the plant foot. This allows the force of the momentum to travel straight down the leg, into the foot, and into the ground on the exact angle needed to stop the body. Many people feel the foot should be over the toes when decelerating laterally; this is completely dangerous and non-conducive to greater performance. The knee lined up over the toe vertically when trying to stop horizontal forces is going to potentially cause the ankle to roll, the knee to push out laterally, and the hip to take on more forces than it should. The knee should also be pushed slightly forward helping to create the dorsi-flexed position of the ankle joint. d. To the hips we go! When decelerating laterally one the things that can cause loss of balance and slowness to recover if re-acceleration is needed, is the extreme lowering of the hips. The hips need to maintain a level height through out the movement. If they dip too much the athlete is put in a position that will require even more strength to be used just to maintain that stance. Don’t over emphasis bending the knees to an extreme. Allow the athletes to be comfortable in their stance and correct the fundamental mistakes that are slowing the movement. e. Finally, the upper body. The shoulders can be stinkers if you are not careful. There is a term that I use and it is called “Swaying”. The shoulders, not unlike trees, can have a tendency to sway to the sides, forwards, backwards, or even rotate. When this occurs during deceleration, namely stopping lateral movement, it can drastically reduce the efficiency of the skill. Especially because in most cases stopping lateral movement is simply to re-accelerate with a change of direction in the opposite direction. If the player is trying to stop a defensive shuffle to the right and quickly go to the left to stay with the ball handler, and his shoulders are still moving to the right, the quickness of the direction change will be hindered quite a bit. In order for this to not be a factor the athlete must consciously attempt to be strong with the core region, abdominal and low back, to control movement. Now, this should not be what they are thinking about when trying to stop, but during strength training this region may need to be a major focus. The body usually follows the head, so it is important for the head to stay still and eyes focused on target. If the head is bobbing and leaning to the side while attempting to stop or change direction it will negatively affect the movement skill.

Hopefully you can begin to see how much is involved with decelerating. Like I mentioned earlier; this should happen naturally for most basketball players but many will still need some coaching to make the movement more efficient and safer.

What is really important to remember is that deceleration, in my opinion, is usually the first step in accelerating in most court and field sports. This means that the athlete needs to know that stopping isn’t the major focus- change of direction is. If the body (feet, legs, hips…) are positioned correctly during the deceleration or stopping action the re-acceleration process is a continuation of that move. The athlete should be able to start the acceleration out of the same stance used to stop or decelerate. If this is not the case the athlete is going to always be slower in acceleration and in sport.

I certainly hope this help to open some eyes as to the importance of deceleration and its impact on court speed and the basketball player! Please contact me at lee@sportsspeedetc.com if you have any questions.

Lee Taft www.sportsspeedetc.com

About the Author

Lee is an internationally known sports performance coach specializing in multi-directional speed training. He has produced many products on the topic of speed. He is a frequent speaking at many clinics and workshops around the country. Lee and his company SportsSpeedEtc.com runs speed camps around the country for athletes of all ages.

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Naismith served as at the YMCA Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts, USA in 1891, and this is where the sport of basketball was born. Naismith was faced with the challenge of finding a sport that was suitable for play inside during the winter for the students. Naismith wanted to create a game of skill that could be played indoors in a relatively small space. The very first game of basketball was played with a soccer ball and two peach baskets used as goals. The history of basketball started right here.

James Naismith devised a set rules for these early games as follows:

?? The ball may be thrown in any direction with one or both hands.

?? A player cannot run with the ball, but instead the player must throw it from the spot on which he catches it.

?? The ball must be held in or between the hands, not any other body parts.

?? No shouldering, holding, pushing, striking or tripping in any way of an opponent is permitted. The first infringement of this rule by any person shall count as a foul; the second shall disqualify him until the next goal is scored.

?? If either side make three consecutive fouls it shall count as a goal for the opponents (consecutive in these rules means without the opponents in the meantime making a foul of their own).

?? A goal is scored when the ball is thrown from the ground into the basket and stays there. If the ball rests on the edge of the basket and the opponents move the basket, it shall also count as a goal.

?? When the ball goes out of bounds, it shall be thrown into the field and played by the first person touching it.

?? The umpire shall be judge and have the power to disqualify or foul players as required.

?? The referee shall be the judge of the ball and decide when it is in play in bounds, to which side it belongs, and shall keep the time.

?? The time shall be two 15-minute halves with five minutes’ rest between.

?? The side scoring the most goals in that time shall be declared the winners.

Today basketball has grown to become one of the world’s most popular sports, all thanks to Dr Naismith.

About the Author: Come and avail of your free basketball equipment from our promotional site. Check out our current basketball offers

There is nothing that can be more exciting than being a member of a fantasy basketball league. It allows you to be the manager and owner of your own team. You can draft players, trade players or bench players, very much like professional managers and owners do in real life. You even have a commissioner who makes sure that the league is played according to rules, and no one who is part of the league cheats.

No wonder the fantasy league has become an addiction. Millions of Americans join fantasy leagues set up by different organizations before the season starts. These leagues operate very much like professional basketball leagues. You are first required to register your team. Generally, a league has 12 teams though this is not a fixed rule. Some leagues have as many as 20 teams.

The roster size of teams varies from league to league though generally this number is around 14. However, only nine players are allowed to start every week. The remaining five are in reserve, and their points are not counted.

The most exciting day is the draft day. Each team is allowed to pick its stock of players, based on their performance. This allows teams to pick up several superstars in different positions. However, the draft rules make sure that each team manager in a league has a fair chance, and that no one individual walks away with the best players.

There are two points system that are followed in deciding the winner. These are Head-to-Head and the Rotisserie. In the Head-to-Head league each team enters the points that its players have scored against a rival league team during that week. These include points, rebounds, assists, blocks and steals. The team that gets more points, based on the way its players have performed on the court, wins that week. In the Rotisserie League, the player’s statistics are tallied up against the entire league.

Before each game you are required to prepare your line ups. This is where your skill and knowledge of the game is tested. You may have superstars on your team but if you do not play them in the right position you may not derive the right benefit.

Either way, the success of your team depends on how the players you have chosen are performing. Of course, you have the right to trade off the players who are not performing well, or get a rookie who has taken the tournament by storm. The trade off is done in a very just manner, and is supervised by your league commissioner.

The team that tops the fantasy league walks away with the jackpot.

About the Author

David Barnes phd. Social Sciences, UTSA http://www.ifantasy-basketball.info

What basketball shoe you wear is a crucial part of your game, especially at the competitive level. Oh, sure you can play in any pair of tennis shoes but you risk the chance of sliding, being slowed down by weak grip or worse of all, injury. Competitive ball players take their basketball shoes very seriously. I know I do. In today’s market there are so many different styles of bball shoes. So how do you choose what’s best for your game? There are a few important things to look for in your shoes. By nature, basketball puts a lot of wear and tear on your shoes. All the constant starting, abrupt stopping, high jumps and quick side-to-side movements really take it’s toll. So what do I look for in a basketball shoe? I’m glad you asked. The most important factors are durability, support, traction, comfort and for most ballers, style. DURABILITY: Have you ever seen the movie “Like Mike”? Lil Bow Wow plays an orphan boy who finds a pair of magic shoes with “MJ” written on the tongue. He suddenly has super bball skills. Anyway, in the most important game of the season “Calvin” drives the lane and gets fouled. When he gets up his magic shoes have completely fallen apart. Magic shoes or not you want to make sure that never happens to you. Buy quality shoes. And yes, sometimes that means paying a little more. SUPPORT: Different types of players require different types of support. Power players like “Shaq” need high tops with maximum ankle support and comfort. All-around players like “Kobe” or “T-Mac” usually will wear a midsole type of shoe and speedsters like “Iverson” wear low tops for light weight and non-restriction of the ankles. TRACTION: Have you ever played on the hardwood floor of a gym that didn’t clean the floors? Your slipping, sliding away and it’s hard to cut and slice your way to the hoop. Wearing the wrong shoes can have the some results. You must be able to stop and start on a dime. Look for good traction on both the forefoot and the heel. COMFORT: The goal is to find a basketball shoe that fits like a glove. You don’t want your foot to be swimming in any area. Since the toes, arch and heel all have different needs for comfort, you want a shoe that provides comfort in each area and still provide the support you need for your type of game. STYLE: And, of course, you gotta look good on the court. Whether you’re wearing the “Jordan Retro”, the “T-Mac 5″, the “Air Zoom Kobe I” or either of the “Answer 1 - 9″ pair of shoes, style is definitely key. The bottom line is you must think of your shoes as an investment in your game. If you’re looking to excel, then don’t cheat yourself when it comes to your gear, especially your shoes. The right pair will not only help you play at top level but most importantly help prevent injury. If you’re hurt you can’t play! So go get some quality kicks and get out there and play!

About the Author

Matt & Dave run http://www.basketball-plays-and-tips.com/shoe and have written the free coaching report, “How To Fly Higher With Plyometrics”. Pick up your free copy along with one additional free report by sending a blank email to basketballtip@aweber.com We give full permission for you to use this sport coaching article in your newsletter or on your site as long as you include our Resource Box with our website link and email link included.

Off the top of your head, give me a quick answer: When you think of Duke, would you classify the Blue Devils as a slow defensive-oriented team, or a wide-open, run-and-gun team?

The answer is easy: They run. That’s not surprising, as the program is able to stockpile McDonald’s All Americans each season, bloating their depth, not to mention the fact that Coach K always has a brilliant ball handler or two capable of running the break. Sports bettors should notice that Duke started this season 15-8 over the total. Their wide-open running offense and capacity for nailing three-pointers is key factor in this correlation.

Naturally, coaching philosophies are tied into this, as well as personnel. Certain coaches prefer the uptempo game, like Gonzaga’s Mark Few, Roy Williams and Coach K. Then that program has to balance this with the right personnel.

This season the lack of personnel and an overabundance of youth have been problems for coaches like Bobby Knight and Rick Pitino who also prefer an uptempo approach. Pitino had to endure the loss of Tarquan Dean for several weeks, and even with Dean, Pitino has admitted he has a young team that is a few years away. Louisville started 14-5 under the total, while Texas Tech is 16-8 under the total. This is where public perception comes into play. The general betting public thinks of Texas Tech and Louisville as explosive offensive teams under those coaches, and they have been in the past, yet they just don’t have the offensive personnel this season for several reasons.

Other coaches prefer a slow down, all out defensive approach. The contrast has been very noticeable in the NBA this season, as the Pistons went from defensive-oriented Larry Brown last season to coach Flip Saunders this year. Saunders has let his troops run and be more creative offensively, and the difference in Detroit’s points scored and points allowed has been stark.

It happens in college, too. Temple under Jon Chaney comes to mind as a program that plays a slow, stifling defense. Temple started 14-9 under the total. Nobody likes to play Air Force of the Mountain West Conference with its strangling defense, and notice the Falcons are 11-6 under the total. Northwestern and Wisconsin? Two Big 10 teams with defensive reputations. And what do we find when examining their over/under tendencies? Northwestern is 13-5 under the total, while Wisconsin is 9-4 under the total at home.

That last point is worth reviewing carefully. Some teams fit into their preconceived model at home but not so much on the road. Wisconsin’s defense has been sensational at home, allowing 58 ppg, but on the road they allow 74 ppg! So it is wiser to look at the Badgers under at home, but either lay off a totals play when they go on the road.

This has been the case with Dave Odom’s South Carolina squad, too. Odom likes tough defense and this season they allow 57 ppg at home (7-3 under), but 70 ppg on the road. Washington State: 9-5 under the total at home, where they slow things to a crawl. The same is true for slow-down St. Louis at 13-4 under the total overall.

Southern Illinois has been a sensational defensive team the last few years and they take great pride in defending their home turf. Southern Illinois is 15-11 under the total on the season and 9-2 under at home. Coaching strategies, personnel, home/road play and even reputations need to be examined when assessing college basketball over/under spots.

About the Author

Bryan Leonard is a documented member of the Professional Handicappers League. Read all of his articles at www.procappers.com/Bryan_Leonard.htm

An NBA basketball jersey comes in all sizes and textures. Every team in the NBA has a replica jersey that you can buy.

Name an NBA basketball player, and you can find an NBA basketball jersey. Do you like Mike Bibby?

You can find an NBA basketball jersey printed with Mikes name and number

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Reebok and NBA logo on left strap

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Do you like Yao Ming?

Authentic Jerseys are available with Yao’s number.

You can even find throwback NBA basketball jersey’s.

Whatever you’re looking in for in NBA basketball jersey’s, you can find them today on the internet.

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by: Jason Blackston

In my previous life…..

Actually, my previous JOB life, I was a physical education teacher and the varsity girls basketball coach. This is where I learned about testing, or as my mentors on the internet say, “Pulling Web Metrics.”

Simply put, pulling metrics is just testing your product or service. Your objective is to see how many sales you get out of a certain amount of clicks to your web site.

So what does my previous life as a coach have to do with your success on the internet? Great question, and now I will give you a great answer.

As a coach, I would test my girls in practice to see how many free throws each girl could make out of 100. I would do this everyday.

*For those of you who are not familiar with Basketball: A freethrow, also known as a foul shot, is awarded to a player who gets fouled by a player on the other team.

*I could get more technical with the rules, but this is all you really need to know about, for me to get my point across.

Now if Jane averages 70 made shots out of 100 freethrows, she is a 70% freethrow shooter. O’kay, next let’s say Cathy averages 45 made shots out of 100 freethrows. This means Cathy is a 45% freethrow shooter.

Here’s what I’ve learned from testing these players:

First, Jane makes more freethrows than Cathy. So if the game is close at the end, I want the ball in Jane’s hands.

Why?

Well, if the score is close and Jane gets fouled, the odds of her making the freethrows are better than if Cathy gets fouled. This means more points…

And more points means victory for Jane, Cathy, and the entire team!

**Online Business is not much different**

On the internet you can test your products similar to how I tested my players in basketball. Now as a coach, I put my players on the freethrow line and asked them to take the shot.

Same rules apply online. You want your products put to the test. An easy way to do this is by utilizing Pay-Per-Click search engines. Google Adwords is a great place to start.

You can find out more about Google Adwords at: https://adwords.google.com/select/?hl=en

By utilizing Google Adwords you can test your products. Pay-Per-Click means you’ll pay a certain price each time someone clicks on your advertisement.

However, you can find great keywords at low cost. If you need help finding good keywords, I suggest downloading Good Keywords. It’s a free software program and has helped me find some great search terms.

http://www.iwanttips.com/gkwds/index.html

Marketing on the internet is somewhat different than my coaching experience. The statistics are much different. In basketball, I wanted someone who could make 70 to 80% of the freethrow shots taken in a game.

On the internet, I am shooting for a 2 to 3% conversion rate. That’s right, I’m looking for 2 to 3 sales out of every 100 clicks. That doesn’t mean I don’t want more, but 2 to 3% conversion is a good mark.

Let’s you are paying 10 cents a click, and out of 100 clicks you got 3 sales. And your price for your product is 40.00.

* 3 x $40 = $120.00

* .10 x 100 = $10.00

* $120.00 - $10.00 = $110.00 Net Profit.

You’ve got a good product that you can continue to test and market. If you had gotten 300 to 400 clicks and no sales, you’d have to take a good look at your product.

Sometimes people fall in love with a product before they test it. I’ve been there! It’s always best to test, test, test!

Going back to my basketball analogy. The fact remains that Jane made more freethrows than Cathy. I want her on the line when the game is on the line.

Same rules apply when it comes to marketing online. I want to promote the products that “Pull the best Metrics.”

And you heard that straight out of the ex-basketball coach’s mouth!

* You can download this article at:

http://www.govisitors.com/jb/article3.html

About The Author Jason is one of the owners of 2003 GoVistiors.com which offers website traffic and the best traffic education. Your free 5 day ecourse is waiting for you at http://www.govisitors.com/epackage.html jasonblackston@govisitors.com

]]> http://www.official-sports-home.com/what-does-an-ex-basketball-coach-know-about-pulling-web-metrics-103/4640/feed/ http://www.official-sports-home.com/the-fearless-beginning-of-basketball-103/4639/ http://www.official-sports-home.com/the-fearless-beginning-of-basketball-103/4639/#comments Wed, 09 Apr 2008 19:00:02 +0000 Administrator Sport news http://www.official-sports-home.com/the-fearless-beginning-of-basketball-103/4639/ Five years before Jackie Robinson broke baseball’s color line… Four years before Kenny Washington took the field for the Los Angeles Rams… Sixteen years before Willie O’Ree skated onto the ice for the Boston Bruins… The National Basketball League (NBL) was already making strides against segregation in professional sports. Instead of integrating one African [...]]]> >

Five years before Jackie Robinson broke baseball’s color line… Four years before Kenny Washington took the field for the Los Angeles Rams… Sixteen years before Willie O’Ree skated onto the ice for the Boston Bruins… The National Basketball League (NBL) was already making strides against segregation in professional sports.

Instead of integrating one African American player into the game as it happened in baseball, hockey and football, 10 African American players hit the hardwood in 1942 and made history.

When World War II called the men on the field to the trenches, American sports suffered a loss. Baseball players like Joe DiMaggio, Yogi Berra, Warren Spahn and Ted Williams headed overseas. Two of the seven NBL teams folded prior to the 1942-43 season because of the national call to military service. So Sid Goldberg, owner of the Toledo Jim White Chevrolets, made a decision. He went to the league and told them he would be replacing the athletes at war with local African American players.

The United Automobile Workers at the Studebaker factory decided to front another team. Since the factory was being used as a defense plant, workers were exempt from service. The Chicago Studebakers signed six Harlem Globetrotters players (Duke Cumberland, Bernie Price, Sonnie Boswell, Roosie Hudson, Tony Peyton and Hillary Brown) to challenge Toledo.

1946 marked the 20th anniversary for the Globetrotters, and while the NBL was busy trying to make up for lost players, they were busy entertaining crowds around the world. The Globetrotters played their 3,000th game in Vancouver British Columbia, and were featured in the pages of Time LIFE Magazine in the Dec 2, issue of that year.

Other teams in the NBL began to add African Americans to their rosters, including Cleveland, Tri-Cities and Rochester. Ultimately, the two teams that pioneered integration, the Studebakers and the Chevrolets, folded and so did the NBL.

The League was replaced by the National Basketball Association, and 1950 proved to be a very good year.

Red Auerbach drafted Charles ‘Chuck’ Cooper to his Boston Celtics team, making him the first African American player to be drafted to an NBA team.

Former Harlem Globetrotter and first baseman for the Chicago American Giants, Nat ‘Sweetwater’ Clifton, followed as the first African American to sign with an NBA team when he joined the New York Knicks.

But it was Earl Lloyd who was the first African American to take to the hardwood in his inaugural game with the Washington Capitols. Lloyd later became the first African- American to serve as a bench coach for the Detroit Pistons, 12 games into the 1971 season.

In the next ten years the NBA saw the arrival of prominent African American players like Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, Oscar Robertson and Elgin Baylor.

While Bill Russell dominated the defense of Auerbach’s Boston Celtics dynasty, Chamberlain was leading the attack for the Philadelphia 76ers.

Chamberlain set records that few have broken, and remains the only player to have scored 100 points in a single game.

Robertson led the 1960 Olympic team and played in the NBA for 14 years with the Cincinnati Royals and the Milwaukee Bucks. Meanwhile, Elgin Baylor was busy taking the Los Angeles Lakers to the NBA Finals eight times (Although they never won).

Basketball’s deliberate integration of more than one player to the hardwood opened doors to players who have astounded audiences for generations. Players like Chamberlain, Julius Erving, Shaquille O’ Neal, and Michael Jordan paved the way for today’s superstars like Kobe Bryant, Allen Iverson, Lebron James and Tim Duncan.

Mitchell & Ness Nostalgia Co., which specializes in authentic throwback jerseys of players past, ranks Shaq, Larry Johnson and Magic Johnson among their top selling NBA jerseys for fans looking to pay tribute to the heroes of the hardwood.

Though the fanfare didn’t come in one big rush as it did in other sports, basketball remains a sport for all ages. Fans will continue to pay tribute to some of the NBA’s finest as the 2006 NBA All-Star game approaches and spectators gear up for what should be a spectacular show.

About the Author

Nina Nocciolino is a copywriter for DMi Partners, an interactive marketing firm specializing in higher education, real estate, retail and finance.

The computer age has bestowed some unforeseen blessings on the sports world. Math whizzes are now using the personal computer to track game results to a level never before possible, and sports are the better for it. The book “Moneyball” chronicled the way Billy Beane, general manager of the Oakland Athletics used obscure statistical analyses to scout and deal for talent. Now, a variation of this method has spilt over into basketball with a number of NBA teams using statistics in a similar manner. These methods were described in a recent Sports Illustrated article titled “Measure of Success.” Described as simply as possible, these statisticians track how well a team does when a player is on the floor, versus how well they do when they aren’t.

These measures disregard a player’s contribution as represented by their scoring, rebounding and assists totals, and simply asks, “Does the team do better or worse when this player is on the floor?” They also in many cases contradict the conventional wisdom concerning the relative worth of certain players. Jason Collins, a fifth-year center for the Nets of little renown gets ranked as the fourth best defensive center in the league. Conversely, high-scoring Michael Redd of the Milwaukee Bucks is such a disaster on defense that his teams tend to lose with him on the floor, and win while he is on the bench.

While amateur coaches are sure to find these analyses interesting, is there any way in which they can employ these metrics for their own use? Amateur coaches might be able to get team assistants to gather the data needed to maintain these stats, but there is a much better way these concepts can be applied.

Virtually all teams rely heavily on scrimmage play as part of their practice routine. By adopting what I call a Roster Round Robin format during scrimmage play, coaches can get a much clearer picture of how and when individual players perform better than others. The format simply requires that sides be set to 3v3, 4v4, or 5v5, depending on available players. Players are issued reversible jerseys, and score is kept for each side. Stages are set to 3 or 4 minutes, and at the end of each stage, a team score is recorded, with each player earning points for themselves on the basis of their team result. Two players are then directed to exchange sides by flipping their reversible jersey, and a new stage is played. This pattern is continued until all possible roster combinations have been used.

For a 3v3 contest, this would equate to 10 possible combinations, thus requiring a 30 to 40 minute game. Each player earns a plus/minus score across all stages. As everyone plays under all roster combinations and points can only be earned on the basis of team results, an individual’s result reflects their team contribution across all stages. In order to maintain game continuity and ensure rapid roster rotations, the roster rotations are predetermined and printed on a grid used for scoring.

Some may notice that the one thing seemingly not taken into account in this format is position play. A roster rotation schedule that disregards position play will likely result in some oddly balanced sides - think 5 guards versus 5 forwards and centers - that wouldn’t reflect anything resembling a real-game matchup. This difficulty can, however, be overcome by taking positions into account when devising the roster rotations. For a 4v4 game, with players restricted to either a center/forward or guard position, there would be 9 different roster combinations required. For a full-sided game, a center position could be added, but 18 stages would be required. With three minute stages, this would be a 54 minute scrimmage game. Coaches may wish to split this size of scrimmage across multiple practices.

Would the results from any particular scrimmage mean much? For one game, probably not, as we all know the ball can bounce funny for a time. But if this format were used on a regular basis, the results should reveal which players are contributing the most to their team. These results will either confirm or deny a coach’s sense of who his best players are, but there are two even bigger benefits that can come from the use of this format. First, as players come to understand this as the new measure of their play, they will be more receptive to a coach’s instruction on team play. As well, players will intuitively respond to the demands of the game, and adjust their play accordingly. Simply put, the ability to measure team play translates to a better ability to teach and learn it.

The second benefit may be even more important. A system that clearly and demonstrably measures a player on the basis of their team contribution fosters team chemistry better than any other. The talented offensive player who lets down on defense can be brought to the table when the impact of his lackluster defense can be shown. Players who are frustrated because they think they should be playing more can either makes their case in the round robin practice, or be shown they’re not there yet. Regardless of the case, team chemistry is advanced.

The only real barriers to this practice format are logistical. Running this practice format requires pre-numbered reversible jerseys, and scoring/rotation grid sheets. Both are available at Rejersey.com.

The format can also be adapted for tryouts and tournaments. If your team or league would like to use this format and would like help with logistics and obtaining reversible jerseys please contact customerservice@rejersey.com.

About the Author

Tom Cobb is an avid soccer player and the owner of Rejersey.com. Rejersey.com is committed to providing the best jerseys for team sports while also supporting the sports that create the need for our products. Our jerseys are perfect for practice or pick-up, as well as team and tournament play. On top of this, we go a step further, and help those who are passionate about team sports with fund-raising, and organizing their teams, schedules and facilities.