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Offseason Ballhandling
by Rick Torbett

Rick TorbettOnce the season is over, most players want to take a little time, perhaps a few days or more, to recuperate from the daily practice and game schedule. But once a player has “unwound”, how does he or she recover the love and joy of basketball that will propel them to get better in the off-season?  I have a suggestion:

Forget about “working” on your game for a little while and have some fun with ballhandling. Most players have a new dribble, a new “trick”, or a new move with the ball that they want to add to their game. There’s a lot of satisfaction awaiting any player who sees themselves getting better and adds a weapon to their repertoire! If you’re not sure about what you’d like to add to your ballhandling, then I suggest you look through the 30 workouts and 200 drills in our Better Ballhandling DVD (see discount below).

Could you hit the weight-room, get stronger, and feel good about yourself? Of course, and I hope you do, but that takes time.

Could you add a new shot and/or increase your shooting percentage? Of course and I hope you do, but that takes quite a bit of time as well.

But adding a new wrinkle to your ballhandling can take very little (relative) time, it can stir your creative juices and bring back the joy of the game that you had in the first place. Creativity is the key:

Try “Urban Dribbling”: This is where you dribble off every object you can while weaving your way down a street, a path, an alley, a playground, etc.

And by the way, EVERYBODY can use a better handle on the ball!

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Hardwood Hustle Podcast:
Chillin’ with ESPN’s Jay Williams (Part 1)

In Episode #34 of the Hardwood Hustle Basketball Podcast, Alan Stein (Stronger Team) and Adam Bradley (Ball Hogs Radio) headed to Bristol, CT to sit down with ESPN basketball analyst and former NBA player (Chicago Bulls) Jason Williams to talk life and talk hoops. They dove deep into questions like:

LISTEN NOW>>

Full Time-Out with Rick Torbett @RickTorbett

This Full-Time-Out is the video version of the audio played at the end of the Hardwood Hustle Podcast with Jay Williams above. Listen for new Full Time-Out at the end of each episode of the Hardwood Hustle! 

Watch as Rick Torbett throws punches and does his best Muhammad Ali in One Punch Knockout

Please share your questions, comments, thoughts, experiences, etc. in the ‘Leave a Reply’ section below…

4 Responses

  1. I loved this video. A great selling point of the R&R system. I cannot stand the set plays with one scoring opportunity. Such a great analogy for the R&R. Stick and move….. on to the next stick and move…

  2. That was so funny seeing you as a boxer Rick. Thanks for giving me a good laugh. Good point about trying different actions to score, I totally agree

    On another note I have discovered some good ways to use the R&R (or maybe basketball in general) in games for players that are fatigued, sick or have minor injuries. Today my team played a great inspiring game in a big win, an easy win, with six players where one had a minor knee injury and the other one was sick with the cold against an opponent that showed up with 10 players. No problem, we outplayed them and won 51-18.
    Anyway, to save one of my players knees and spare him from cutting and filling actions I told him he could just stay in the post and do post screens, back screens or post slides. This is also good for your fatigued, sick, slow and heavy players and even for those “dorks” who doesn’t react quickly enough to the actions taken by the ballhandler. Great way to hide players weaknesses.

    1. I’m glad we can have a little fun at my expense!
      Your use of the post tells me you understand how to operate the Read & React! By the way, how’s the weather in Norway?

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