Whats the purpose?

I have been to many camps during the years coaching or just watching the game I love.
In many cases I wonder whats the purpose of it?

To make money?
To develop god habits?
To have fun?
Getting new friends?

Non above is wrong as I see it, BUT I think every camp should have clear goals of what the camp want to achieve in that 4-5 days. For many of the younger players they practice in one camp as much as they do in 3 months during the regular season. So my question is, what have they gotten better at when the camp is over?

I have been to camps where they try to cover everything during 5 days and what does they players remember and what have they gotten better at?

Answer is very little of lots of stuff, I think after 5 days you should at least have 2 maybe 3 specific things that there is BIG improvement in.

It could be shooting technic, passing, Basketball position (looking like a basketball player), cutting (moving without the ball and so on.

A camp should put more tools in the toolbox and if it just puts half a hammer, half screwdriver, half a screw have it really fulfilled its purpose?

Well a answer is maybe the kids had fun, YES, but to quote a boss of a camp I was at " We dont care if you have fun, we care about if you learned something after this week is over" - Amen!

And guess what thoose kids learned something and had fun :-)

My first non basketball summer...

....in many many years. Instead working as much as possible at my job in a store. Will work at our Camp here in Hørsholm between 2-6 of july and after that I will hold 3 practises a week for all the kids in the club, this is something new here. Normally the gyms closes and kids who wanna practise have to pray that the weather goods are with them and in nordic countries the rarely are. The weather changes are so many and that restricts your chances to practice outside.

I`m very glad to got this going and I know that many kids will be very happy when they hear about it.
Creating players or talent management is in many ways your effort to give the players possibilites to reach their highest level, you give them what they need to succeed.

If you give them all that they need its now up to them to take what is given.

What do I mean by "Non basketball summer", well 1 camp and only 3 practises a week is for me non basketball summer.
I remember one of my greatest achievements as a coach at least its veru near that for me. When I was coaching in Lobas I decided to give the players that wanted good training and as many hours as needed to develop. I held the gym open for almost 30 hours every week. There where 5 players that really used what was given. One played division 1 ball in sweden for several years before knee injures stopped him at a young age. One girl made they national team but was cut just before European championship. That nationalteam later on won silver in WC, so to be cut from that team is maybe not so bad. She has now played highest womensleague for several years. She practised around 25 hour a week and her development that summer was incredable I actually had to dismiss her from the gym since she needed rest.

Two other girls both made the nationalteams (several years later) and now play in the highest league, they at a age of 11-12 practised about 15 hours a week.

The fifth one suddenly stopped playing after a stopped coaching him and the reasons are many, but the biggest he was pushed into playing to much on a to high level to soon. he wasn`t ready especially mentally to play and I think he just lost the passion that he used to have when he played.

That summer was one of the most fullfilling summer I have had as coach, dedicated players sweating and coming  back for more day after day, hour after hour. Thats a feeling I just love.

Before that summer I was almost into changing sports and becoming a soccer coach instead since basketball players where I was had a hard time putting in the time needed and I just hated that they didn`t wanna be the best the could be.

But thanks to Johan, Cris, Erika, Sofie and Marie that summer made me even more in love with the greatest game ever invented. Before that summer I had my doubts, but I learned if you give the players the possibilities there are always some that will go for it and thats the players I wanna coach.

I called it "Drills for skills" and my good skills they drilled. :-)

Workuts & practices online so far

I already know that next season will be....

....the most fun I ever had as a coach. So many things happening and still i have a life on the side with normal work and more rest time than I have had in 7 years.

I will continue with boys 98 and their progress has been great so far and its much up to me to continue developing and in the last days I have found out which my other team will be for next season, but its not official yet, so I have to make you wait for that.

But to teams that have many things in common and the passion is there, so next season will be the most fun in 18 years and to be able to call that out already is just awesome :-)

Can hardly wait to get going witht he new team also :-)

Had a strange hot weekend

Well was supposed to work last saturday extra at my work, but that changed into giving the shift away and babysitting my sisters daughter in Sweden.

Hot like hell both in denmark and in sweden and whiel still in sweden this afternoon my phone rang and it was one of players on the phone: "I`m been bored all weekend can you come and train me in the gym?"

F**k second player from the team that has called me and asked this is for me on of the biggest things since I started coaching 18 years ago. "My answer I`m in Sweden, but cant you call someone on the team?"

I found out he did and they where up in a gym playing 3vs3 great stuff.

Tomorrow I will have the final young coaches academy for this season and the young coaches that will attend will have practical exercise with my boys.

15minutes in drilling them and I will give them feedback good and BAD and give them concrete ideas on what to do instead and so on, will be great fun. Just to bad that everyone cant attend, but thats just how it is.

Have started putting together the second Workout I have taped so far, but babysitting messed up my plan to be finished this weekend.
I call it "big"man series, so keep you eyes open.

Summerpractise makes the season easy

In the summerpractise many talented young basketball players future are decided. Are they on vacation from school or vacation from school and basketball?

Well, talent only takes you to a certain level and then its just plain STOP.

I`m glad to hear that 9 of my 16 players are going directly after season ends around the 20th of june to one camp and then after that most of the 16 will go to our own Camp here in Hørsholm and then there will be possibilitys to train until season starts again.

I´m really looking forward to how my kids have used there freetime from school.
Will there be any surprises in development after this summer, well I sure hope so :-)

Workout: Steve Nash Series

Have started to record some workouts I put together several years ago for my 98 boys, so they can practise wherever they will be this summer. There will be at least 6 more recorded and put up on the tube.

I call this one Steve Nash Series since it has a lot of hand eye coordination drills and he was/is a great passer and that has a lot to do with how coordinated eyes hands, feet are. So hope you like it, its not pro made and no retakes but made out of passion for the game.