Just Watch And See. This Is Your Saturday Tip

Now that Thanksgiving is in the books I bet there is one exercise you wish you practiced...It's called the "Push Away." The Push Away is performed at the dinner table with both hands. You simply push yourself away from the 2nd, and 3rd helping by extending you arms and when you have cleared your knees from the table stand up and walk away:) Did you eat too much??? Well, you should have practiced the Push Away!

Saturday's Weekly Tip Has To Do With Observing The Lateral Shuffle

As you know it is basketball season and we are going to see a lot a great athletes moving on the court. You will see a higher percentage of pure lateral movement than in most sports. You will see what is called the lateral shuffle. This is how a defender keeps the offensive player in front of them.

I want you to notice the next time you are watching a game on TV or live what the footwork actually looks like. I want you to notice what the lead foot does during the shuffle. I want you to notice how the foot looks when the defender quickly stops or changes direction.

I think the biggest coaching tool a coach has is her or his ability to observe and evaluate. If you watch enough athletes move you will begin to recognize the commonalities of athletic movement.

So when you are observing the basketball players playing defense and moving laterally notice how the lead foot turns out, but also notice how quickly it turns in to decelerate and re accelerate the defender in a new direction. Trust me- it is correct and it is a thing of beauty. Athletes are giving pure athletic abilities to move quickly in all directions. Just because some coach 50 years ago decided it looked wrong doesn't mean it was. You be the judge.

Yours in Speed,

Lee

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