The Fundamentals of Designing a Successful Basketball Offense

Every basketball team should have an organized basketball-offense attack, and a "system" of play with solid back court players. In this way, every player will know what is expected of him. He'll know where to go. Moreover, a system play will often overcome individual weaknesses of one or more players.

Over the years, basketball coaches have devised many kinds of basketball offenses. In general, they fall into two groups; those designed to defend against the man-for-man defense and those put together to crack the zone.

These basketball offenses have many characteristics. Some basketball slow and basketball involving a series of "set" plays. Others are of the slam-bang variety, sometimes referred to as "race horse" basketball.

Regardless of how the basketball offense is paced, it must be "sound" to be successful. By that we mean that the offense must have certain features; it must give its players short, medium and long shots. It must give the team good rebound strength off the offensive board. It must be able to switch to defense quickly in the event the ball is lost.

Most of all, the basketball offense must include passing "options." If player A wants to make a pass to player B to start a screen play and suddenly finds B covered, he should have the option of starting a play with another teammate. And without stopping the attack.

What Kind of Offense?

Ideally, any basketball coach would like to have players suited to every position; however, it doesn't always turn out that way. The type of players you have as a coach will dictate how the offense is to be shaped.

This places the responsibility of selecting an offense on the coach. The coach must be imaginative and sensible when he sits down to plan his basketball offense. He has to carefully analyze his team of players and come up with an offense that will take fullest advantage of the type of players that make up the team.

If a team is small, for example, a "possession" type of offense would be best. The offense should be designed to keep the players moving constantly, to give them plenty of good screens; screens that will lead to medium and short range shots. This team wants to rely, too, on specialty and spot shooting. A possession game and a good shooting percentage will go a long way toward making up for lack of size.

If the team has one or two big players, the basketball offense can be built around a single or double post system (against man-for-man).

Since the principles of the man-for-man defense differ from those of the zone, the principles involved in the attack against each of these defenses differ too.

Attack Against Man-for-Man Defense

In any attack, the objective of the basketball offense is to make the defense move; to get it out of position so that an offensive player can have an opportunity to shoot.

In the man-for-man defense, the guards play the man. To move the guard, you must move the offensive man. In moving the offensive man, however, you must maneuver the defense out of position. The best way to do this is to set up a series of screens,a "pattern."

What kind of pattern you establish for your offense depends on the kinds of players making up the team. Let's assume you have three players of average height who are fair outside shooters and better than average drivers. Let's also assume the remaining two making up the first five are big men that are poor from the outside.

The pattern might take this form. The two big men establish post positions on either side of the foul line. The other three bring up the ball. From this three-out, two-in pattern, you can devise all sorts of screens. It will give you a long, medium and short attack. It will give you rebound strength and defensive strength.

In building up the pattern, remember that the offensive players must keep moving in order to move the defense. To get continuity of movement, the passing pattern must include several options. In order for a basketball team and its players to be successful, it must have a basketball offense that can handle any and all kinds of defense that an opposing team throws at it.

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Bigger Vertical Leap - 3 Awesome Barbell Exercises to Jump Higher For Basketball Players

With the major advantages that just a few extra inches in vertical leap can give a basketball player, it is no wonder that exercises basketball jump higher have always been popular. Those additional inches can mean the difference between a block and a basket, depending on which player has the better vertical leap. But which muscles and exercises should be focused on to make the most effective jumping increases?

The critical muscles involved in leaping ability are the calves, hamstrings, and quadriceps. So it makes sense that for basketball players to maximize their vertical leap, they'll need to train their legs extra hard.

3 Awesome Barbell Exercises To Jump Higher For Basketball Players:

1. Barbell Calf Raises. This exercise really works the calves. From a standing position, be sure to have the barbell safely on your shoulders. To complete one repetition, raise yourself on your tip toes, and then lower yourself back down until your feet are flat on the ground. Be sure to squeeze your calf muscles when you get to your top of your raise. You should have enough weight to fatigue yourself at between 5-8 repetitions per set (do three sets in total).

2. Barbell Deadlifts. A classic exercise that will work out your hamstrings. The basketball position has you standing with your feet shoulder width apart, and a barbell in front of you on the floor. One repetition involves squatting straight down (making sure to keep your back straight), grabbing the barbell, pushing up to a standing position, and then lowering the barbell back down to the floor. Again, make sure to put enough weight to sufficiently fatigue your muscles during three sets of eight repetitions.

3. Barbell Lunges. This traditional exercise activates the muscle fiber in your quadriceps extremely well. With a barbell on your shoulders, take one large step forward. Be sure to keep your back foot securely in place. Complete the rep by pushing your body back into the starting position. Your quads should be burning by the end of your routine.

After a few weeks of doing these three exercises, you should begin to notice an increase in your vertical leap. In additional to raising the amount of weight you are using, finding other exercises to jump higher will keep your body from becoming accustomed to this routine. Although it is a lot of work, try to keep the end goal in mind as your train. The greater your vertical leap, the better your basketball game will be.

Want to learn more about how exercises to jump higher can maximize your vertical leap?

Visit my blog at http://www.DoubleYourVerticalJump.blogspot.com to get more information on not only increasing your vertical jump in basketball, but also on how that increase can totally change your basketball skills. Be sure to check out the SICK video I included of a guy who's less than six feet tall, but who has a vertical leap of almost 60 inches! You'll be amazed at the dunks he can do. Michael Jordan's got nothing on him.

This article can be reprinted by newsletter/ezine owners and webmasters as long as the links are kept active and none of the content is altered.

How to Obtain a 40-Plus Inch Vertical Jump

Have you ever seen an athlete in basketball, football, or any sport for that matter, make an amazing, gravity-defying, play and thought to yourself I wish I could do that? If you have had that thought, you may very well be selling yourself short. One of the most common basketball about an athlete with a high vertical leap is that they were born with their athleticism, and it is all purely based on genetics. While some are born with the natural ability to jump higher than others, I assure you that many people you see that blow your mind awaywith their leaps are not and had to work for every inch of it. With a proper training program, diet, and work ethic, anyone can obtain jaw-dropping hops.

First of all you must have a proper vertical jump training program if you ever hope tosee a sizable basketball in your vertical leap. This MUST include workouts that increase your strength as well as workouts that increase speed and explosiveness. The basics of how high any person can jump are how much force they can exert upon the ground, and how quickly they can exert that force. To improve upon these two factors, one must combine the most effective aspects of weight training, resistance training, and plyometrics into a well structured routine. Although you can very easily put together a decent workout routine for yourself that will more than likely produce results, I would highly recommend that you pick up a professionally designed program from one of the vertical jump fields' experts. These people have spent their entire lives researching how to add inches to the average persons' vertical leap, and you will no doubt experience far greater gains by following their programs. Look into and read reviews of the top vertical jump programs before you make any decision and/or purchase.

Another major factor in determining how many inches you can add to your vertical jump is how healthy you are, and more specifically how healthy you eat. Unless you were lucky enough to be one of the small few who were born with the genetics for a giant vertical, you might as well start eating right now if you ever want to reach your goals. If you are packing a few extra pounds of fat that you don't need lose them; this is only more weight you need to take up in the air with you. And it is well known that in order to maximize the potential of muscle training, you need to eat a healthy and protein rich diet. You may also consider using supplements, but that is up to individual discretion. If you do decide to supplement, make sure to do your research and get the right stuff.

One final and often overlooked variable in the equation of gaining vertical leap is work ethic. You have made it this far so you are clearly interested in the topic, and are very likely motivated, but can you keep it up? After six weeks of intense training will you still keep to your workouts and diet with equal enthusiasm? In order to maximize gains, your vertical jump program should be followed religiously, and all workouts and exercises performed correctly and with full effort. This will determine whether or not you achieve the amazing results you are looking for, or become one of the many who burn out and never reach their goal.

Obtaining a giant vertical leap of forty or more inches is not easy. Nothing worth having ever is. However I promise that if you follow a professionally constructed vertical jump program, eat correctly, and work hard consistently you will gain multiple inches on your vertical leap and eventually reach your goal, however many inches that may be.

Click here to read reviews of the most state of the art vertical jump programs on the market today.

Vertical Jump Explosion