Over the last semester, I have been part of the Specialized Basketball elective. Throughout the course, we looked at many different aspects of basketball such as shooting, passing, defense, dribbling, and many other things. This has led to me learning and improving skills and making me a better basketballer. Playing with other people similar to my skill level has also improved me as I can learn from other people’s games and add specific skills to mine. Playing with people older than me has also improved my physicality and strength. Specialized Basketball has also given me the chance to try out new moves in a game-like setting.
How I have improved as a player
Something I have always excelled in is my shooting, but one thing I struggle with is consistency. Sometimes I go through phases where I shoot really badly for a certain period of time and my normal form feels abnormal and weird. Specialized basketball has helped me with this because on the Friday skills sessions I have time to take a high volume of shots to improve the consistency of my shot. It has also let me shoot in game-like situations when defenders are present. Another skill I have improved on is my jab step and how to use it effectively. I have learned that you should move the ball first and keep your feet still so that you can push off both feet while they are close instead of them being wide and far away.
A defensive concept that I have improved on is my help defense. Prior to the elective, I was already quite familiar with this concept, but over this course, I have refined it and learned specific ways to help. Something I learned was that when you are a split-line help defender and there is a baseline drive then when you help you should meet the player outside the keyway and perpendicular to the baseline and the defender of the player.
Some clips of my shooting and use of jabstep,