March 29 – Bounce Off & Be Clever

Bounce Off & Be Clever Workout
by Rick Torbett

Whenever a player tries to dribble penetrate and gets stopped or simply doesn’t like what he or she sees, then I train them to Bounce Off, that is, keep your dribble and simply back-out to the perimeter. This came out of Read & React Layer 4 Dribble Penetration Circle Movement, but I didn’t invent it. Many non-Read & React players and coaches use it and call it by the same name. Let me give you a couple of game examples from the Read & React:

In Layer 4, if a perimeter player drives to the goal going right, then everyone on the perimeter is required to move one spot to their right, something we call Circle Movement. If he or she drives left, then everyone moves one spot to their left. Now, I’d like to say that the penetrator is going to either get to the goal or they’re going to draw help defense and be able to pass to a rotating teammate for an open shot. But that’s not realistic. Sometimes the defense wins and I don’t want our penetrator trying to beat 2 or 3 defenders or making a pass that leads to a turnover. So we give them an “out”. In the Read & React, there’s always an empty spot available at an angle from where you drove. If you keep your dribble and simply bounce-off to the open spot, we can continue to attack with our offense.

However, what I’ve noticed is that the bounce-off creates a sort of close-out. When you bounce-off to the open spot, many defenders will eat up this space either too aggressively or too short. Either way, there’s a scoring opportunity, or maybe I should say a “re-attacking” opportunity every time you bounce off. This is a great time to be a CLEVER ballhandler and take advantage of a good scoring opportunity!

The Workout consists of two parts: Teaching and Training. During the Teaching portion of the workout, I need you to slow down and work on the technique. Most young players don’t’ want to do this and that’s why they have a limited game. So, during this learning curve, make sure your footwork and balance is correct. If you have someone like a coach or a trainer with you, this would be a good time for them to give you high amounts of feedback. If you have to repeat the same move several times in order to get it right, then do so! I only show 2 reps per move in the teaching section, but most are going to need more than that while learning the moves. Learning how to do it right will keep the officials from blowing the whistle. Learning how to do it right; getting comfortable with your fakes, your change of speeds, and your body language is how you create deception in your game. It’s not always about being FAST! And you can’t always be the quickest, but you can build an element of cleverness into your game.

Good luck. Get Better and Get Clever!

[divider]