HoopClinics

Contributed by Coach Ken Sartini This is a subject that is near and dear to my heart….. Most of the more seasoned coaches understand this already, the new guys might or might not, but they have so much on their plate already it might not be first and foremost in their minds. I learned early [...]

by Coach Ken Sartini I think that one of the most important aspects of coaching is planning your practices.  There might be times when you run a drill (or whatever) just for the sake of filling in time. Several years ago when I met Dave Stahnke in a coaching group we were discussing some of the [...]

Contributed by Coach Ken Sartini I know that I have written about how we prepared for our opponents…. but this is more about the mental preparation. One year we were having a good season, and a reporter asked me what I thought about a team that we were playing a couple of weeks from then.  [...]

By Coach Ken Sartini When I first joined the high school ranks and the basketball program, there were good coaches on every level.  I was the assistant varsity / JV coach at the time.  We had a great team then.  That summer the Freshman A coach left and the Varsity coach called me and asked [...]

by Coach Ken Sartini I’m sure that I am not the only coach that went about setting up a game plan for an opponent.  Everybody has their own way of planning and it is for doing the best thing for their talent. There are others that say, we will do what we do best and [...]

Ken Sartini I had breakfast with an old friend of mine, we went to high school together… she also works for a school in Human Resources.  Our conversation turned to why some teachers take this as their calling.  I am going to give you some of my thoughts knowing full well that its easy to [...]

Brian Williams The Coaching Toolbox Football Coach John McKay said, “Coaches have to watch for what they don’t want to see and listen to what they don’t want to hear.”  One area that I have always applied that to is keeping an eye on our players grades. We have always made it a rule that [...]

Contributed by Coach Ken Sartini I think that any team that runs sets exclusively is going to have a hard time… just as many set patterns as they become easy to scout and defend.  JMO I feel that you need a good combination of a continuity type offense (s) and some sets to compliment your style.  I [...]

Contributed by Coach Ken Sartini There is an old saying…YOU PLAY LIKE YOU PRACTICE. Your team will play their games almost exactly like you practice.  We always told our players that other teams might be better at times but they WILL NOT outwork us. We purposely made our practices harder than any game we might play.  [...]

Contributed by Coach Ken Sartini Some coaches talk to their players and explain to them what their role is during games.  As for myself, I was never comfortable with that approach, I took the approach of doing certain things in practice that helped define their roles, WITHOUT coming right out and saying it. IF certain players never practiced [...]