What to Eat on Gamedays

I was at the mega gym by my house on Saturday and had just gotten done doing bench press when two friends showed up. They were there to shoot hoops, so I decided to join them. Well anyone who has ever tried to shoot baskets after working out can attest that you are not at your best. The weights negatively affect your shot. You will have no arch on the basketball Your arms will not raise up and you won't have a solid follow through on your shot. Basically, you will not be able to really play hoops after working out. Given a few hours for your muscles to recoup, you will be fine, but don't plan on working out immediately prior to a game of basketball.

There are things you can do before your game, though, that will help you reach prime potential, especially eating.

Most experts recommend eating about 4 hours before your big game. This will give your body enough time to digest the food as to not give you cramps and not to make you feel stuffed. You should still watch the amount you eat, but given enough time you can generally take in what you want.

Professional athletes generally have a chef on hand to make them pre-game meals. The team usually gets together 4-5 hours before their game to fill up. So what do they eat?

Usually pro athletes stack up on carbs, vegetables and protein on game day. These foods are easy to digest and give the body lots of energy. Baked chicken, steamed veggies and pasta seem to be the athlete's favorites. Not only good for you, but the right combination of essential nutrients to keep your body in motion for your game.

Athletes also take in lots of water, as they know they will be sweating buckets while playing. If you have an evening game, try taking in a glass of water every hour or two. This will prevent dehydration and the liquids will lube up your muscles to avoid cramping. You can basketball until you feel full, but stop that practice an hour or two before the start of the game.

Now if you have a day job and an evening basketball game, you cannot always time your meals perfectly. In this case, eat the healthy lunch described above and try sampling on some toast or a bagel 3 or so hours before your game begins. This, again, will allow your body time to digest while at the same time giving you the strength you will need to play the whole game.

Try this for a game or two and see if you can notice an increase in your energy level, especially towards the end of the game.

Keep sporting!

Evan Pfaff is co-owner of Who's In First.
Who's In First is an online league management system for leagues of all sizes and sports. Our state-of-the-art software enables league managers the ability to quickly create and deploy schedules and standings over the Internet.
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Sebastian Telfair NBA Or How to Dunk a Basketball

You may know Sebastian Telfair from the documentary "Through the Fire". Then you know the 23-year old guard can play. You know he's got some mad handles. But did you know the 5'11'' guy can dunk? I can't remember him dunking in the NBA, but there is a video on YouTube showing him dunking in high school.

Actually, you don't need to be tall to dunk! Former NBA player Spud Webb, standing basketball 5'9'', won the NBA Slam Dunk Contest in 1986. And what about "KryptoNate" Robinson (5'9''), the 2-time NBA Slam Dunk Champion? His dunk over the 6'11'' Dwight Howard in the 2009 NBA Slam Dunk Contest was simply amazing! So, it can be done - you can dunk even if you are under 6 feet!

But how can you improve your basketball jump?

1) Work on your overall fitness. Lose the extra pounds (or, if you are already in a good shape, try to reduce your body fat).

2) Use the Jumping Rope. It gives you explosiveness and calf strength.

3) Try calf raises and squats, as they train the most important muscle groups in the jumping process. (max. 1 set of 8 reps 2 times/ week).

After 4 weeks your legs should be prepared for a concrete vertical program.

But jumping is not only about strength, but quickness! Here is what you can do to improve in this area:

1) Sprints
2) Quick Jumps (for example rim jumps)
3) Plyometric exercises

P.S. Don't forget to stretch before and after your workout. It not only prevents injuries but also keeps your muscles flexible - a huge point in the vertical jump!

personal trainer

http://www.howtodunk.org

Youth Basketball - Teaching Offense to 9 and 10 Year-Olds

I am often asked about how to teach offense to 9 and 10 year-olds.Those asking usually fall into two categories: 1) Those in rec programs and 2) Those in competitive programs. While the former would like to win, it isn't their overriding motivation.They really want to know how to teach offensive skills and what kind of an offense would be appropriate for that age group.

The latter group cares more about having a winning offense and less about teaching the whole group offensive skills. They will usually verbalize something about preparing the kids to be successful high school players, but inside they really want a group of the best 9-10 year old studs/studettes they can muster.After all, winning is their real motivation for asking my ideas about what kind of an offense to run.

I have consistently stated that I think 9 and 10 year-olds don't need offensive systems. They need to be taught fundamentals--how to move without the basketball. When one player has the ball, the other four teammates should be moving with a purpose without the ball. This means cutting to the basket for a pass, screening away for another player or moving to balance the floor. This is continuous motion, and when the player with the ball passes, that player also joins the purposeful movement. The player with the ball is looking to pass, shoot or attack the basket. On offense, it's an unending cycle of cuts, screens and floor balance movement.If you teach these things to a 9 or 10 year-old, with everyone moving purposefully, in unison, you have offense. Some coaches either don't understand this or still want to have a set offense.

So, quickly, here's my idea about how to win at 9-10 y.o. basketball-and it doesn't basketball much teaching of offense.Teach aggressive zone defense, trapping the dribbler at every opportunity (because they usually don't dribble all that well).Force the other 4 offensive players to move well, pass well and shoot well from long distance-all of which they don't usually do well at this age.Defense trumps offense here at this level.Teach aggressive team rebounding, especially from the zone defense. Teach fast break from every opportunity, utilizing the rewards of tough zone "D" and rebounding.The fast break will become your offense, resulting in layups and saving all that practice time trying to teach more sophisticated offensive sets.

The above scenario would basketball better for a competitive situation where they have more practices and more games to hone their skills.It works well for coaches who just want to win and aren't too big on teaching skills.Competition leagues usually allow for more practices, an expanded game schedule where they gain playing experience, and have no rules about substitution (so the STUDS can stay on the floor together), pressing defenses or running up the score on opponents.

The biggest drawbacks for rec programs are lack of practice time and rules of play within the program. YMCA programs at this age level, as an example, usually require that everyone plays at least half the game, substituting every 4 minutes with an 8-minute running clock, have no fast break, no pressing defense, and a 20 point rule for stopping keepingscore.In rec programs a couple of 2-man plays will work better than any offensive set involving 5 players who may have questionable skills.My opinion--I think designing offense at this age for rec programs is a waste of time.Teach the fundamentals instead and let offense happen as a result of play.

Frankly, no competitive offense will function well without each player being able to understand the nuances of playing both with and without the ball, keeping good floor spacing for the players, making good and timely passes, dribbling with control, able to finish at the basket, rebound, shoot, and play man defense.Having 5 players on the floor who can do all these things well, at this age, seems a stretch,much less to run a continuity, flex, 3-out, 4-out, or whatever flavor-of-the-week offense.Yet... coaches still want to have offenses that will have a WOW factor.

There are so many offensive elements that need to be taught, drilled and perfected at 1-on-1, 2-on-2, 3-on3 levels, before even attempting putting the five-man game together-and this is at the high school level.Sadly, lots of youth coaches think their group of 9-10 year-olds are going to be up for it.

If I haven't dissuaded everyone yet, for those die-hards who must have an offense, here's a place to begin.Go to this page on my website to read the rest of the article:http://www.top-basketball-coaching.com/9-10offense.

Coach Ronn Wyckoff has spent more than fifty years in basketball. As an international consultant, his programs have reached hundreds of players and coaches around the world. He has coached four national teams and conducted national player camps. In forty-plus years of coaching boys, girls, men and women, from the playgrounds to national teams, they won over 70% of their games. The international club teams he coached won over 80%.

His 4-hour teaching DVD, "Basketball On A Triangle: A Higher Level of Coaching and Playing", has received high praise. His newly released book of the same title has received accolades from those who have reviewed it, as being unique in it's detailed approach to teaching life lessons through the teaching of the game, as well as teaching coaches how to teach fundamentals.

For more info go to http://www.Top-Basketball-Coaching.com