#1 PLAYER COMMANDMENT - CONTROL

#1 commandment of a good player  – play under control.

Control of the ball – of your body - of your emotions – of the tempo – of the game.

There’s nothing more important for a player to be than under control.  It drives coaches crazy to have a player on the floor that doesn’t play under control.  When the ball is in your hands, you want your coach to feel relaxed and confident.  Not nervous and worried and unsure about what you’re going to do next.

It’s easy to play fast & out of control.  That’s not special, a whole bunch of players can do that.  It’s also easy to play slow & under control.  That’s not special either.  

If you want to be special, you’ve got to learn to play fast & with control. You must play with quickness & composure.  When you think of players that play quick & yet play with control, Steve Nash, Tony Parker, Chris Paul all come to mind.  They play very fast, yet they play under control.

Playing under control is something that you should look to show off and almost be arrogant about.  Too many players try and show off all the wrong stuff about their game.  They’ll try and show off their ability to jump real high and block a shot.  Or show their ability to hit some tough shot while falling out of bounds, or by throwing a risky thread the needle type of pass and what they don’t understand is that stuff like that may impress the average fan, good coaches are NOT impressed by that type of stuff.  

If you want to impress a coach, then you should show off your ability to play quick & under control.  That impresses a good coach.

And one of the best ways to show off that control is using dynamic jump stops. The ability to go fast and stop on a dime and under control is one of the most impressive things you can do.  The ability to race the ball up the court, past defenders, into the arc and into the paint and then stop under control, you’ve got a chance to look special.  AND it makes you extremely difficult to guard.  How many times have we watched Hannah D or Heather jump stop and finish at the basket as their defender flies right by them?

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