Over Semester 1, I attended 4 Spec Basketball lessons weekly. Our Monday Lesson otherwise known as a “Theory” lesson was held in a screen room. Here, fundamental basketball concepts were taught to us with the assistance of the screen. This included learning defensive plays such as the “Shell Drill”. We also learnt how to make a routine, and achieve sought out goals, both on and off the hardwood court. Our Wednesday Double Period saw us go to Willetton Basketball Stadium, where we ran scrimmage games and ultimately put all the skills we learned on display. Our Friday sessions were our last lesson each week, where we would go down to the Indoor Basketball Courts and put the skills from the “Theory lesson” onto the court. For example, we performed Pick and Roll Drills, Shooting Drills, Playmaking Drills and Defensive Drills. I can safely say I learnt a lot from my time in Specialised Basketball, here’s why.
My Player Profile Below:
My Player Profile gives a brief overview of my skills, physicality, experience and interests. It can be used to refer to me as an athlete.
Reflection from WCE AFLW presenters:
Both an AFLW player, and a West Coast Eagles player attended our “Theory Lesson”. They each individually taught us about the importance of the two essential concepts of Nutrition and Routine. The AFLW player talked about nutrition, and the WCE player discussed how to follow a coordinated routine.
Before I talked with the AFLW player, I used to always eat an abundant amount of the wrong foods before my games. Subsequently, I always felt as if my performance had dropped in-game. For example, I found it was more difficult to play the entirety of the match without feeling prematurely fatigued. After the talk, I was able to link this issue with my poor eating habits pre-game such as eating carbs too close to my game time. Below is a rough guideline of recommendations given to us in regards to pre-game meals/eating.
The WCE player came to discuss how to achieve athletic goals by setting healthy routines. I’ve always had many goals in my basketball career such as improvement in my vertical jump, but I never knew how to methodically achieve this. I would try to perhaps jump a lot more, but this would show little to no results and I had no consistency in my workouts. After attending the prep-talk with the WCE player, I learnt theories/ideologies she followed to achieve her sporting goals To exemplify, she introduced the concept of long-term and short-term goals. This meant I had to chose realistic goals that I could achieve within a given time period. This could be improving my shooting as a long term goal for example. After selecting an area to work on, we must plan how we may achieve this goal. This meant making a weekly timetable, outlining what days, time and type of workout you would commit to. I also learnt about her off-season workouts. Generally, many athletes slack off during this time and decline in their overall athletic abilities. However, she identified this as a potential source of harm to her career, but she made sure it wouldn’t be one. With this in mind, she would consistently work out 4x times a week following strict guidelines during the off-season. She would have 3 “rest” days, following a similar timetable below:
Monday: Workout
Tuesday: Rest day
Wednesday: Workout
Thursday: Workout
Friday: Rest day
Saturday: Workout
Sunday: Rest day
How do I perceive my Skill Training and Personal Physicality:
WEAKNESSES
Passing: I’ve always had a limited court vision throughout my career, and it was an aspect I have been trying to fix. I’ve constantly found myself throwing slow, loopy and weak passes. I also have quite poor court vision and miss out on giving my teammates open looks . During my time with Mr Haxby, however, he reformed my passing mechanics. I learned I had been passing the ball with the wrong technique. I than worked on this, and practised throwing the correct pass technique. I tried different variations of passing such as bounce, chest etc on a wall in my backyard to practise this skill. Below is a clip of me implementing playmaking abilities.
STRENGTHS:
My best basketball feature is my finishing. I especially utilise this of my right hand after spins, euro-steps, hard drives to the basket and jump-stops. I established this strength through practice gainst others in scrimmages and in-game scenarios/situations. I’ve also watched many elite finishers such as Giannis Antetokounmpo, Tracy McGrady, Paul George and Derrick Rose.
Defence:
My interior defence is my best defensive attribute. Below you can see I’m able to block an opponent’s shot.
Where to from here?
I have aspirations to play for a WABL representative club sometime in the near future. This goal is a long-term goal and one I want to achieve in a reasonable time span, upwards of one year. It will require dedication to my craft, and I will continue to use the resources I’ve gained from my time with Mr Haxby to help me fulfil this goal. These resources include offensive concepts such as the pick and roll, opposite-handed finishes etc. I will come to check over this goal in a year’s time and see if I had successfully accomplished it.
Summary:
Ultimately, I can truly say I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time with Mr Haxby. I’ve been able to see the game from a different perspective, and I will cherish the many good times we’ve had.