Quentin Goodin in area April 9

[commish118]

There are a number of professional programs out there to teach speed and quickness. For basketball the heavy focus in on quickness, not speed. A center needs the most straight line speed because he has to cover 84' during transition. But he also only has to cover 12 feet of lateral movement. A guard on the other hand has to cover 58' - 73' depending on the transition to the FT line or to the basket. But he also has 50' of lateral movement. So for a guard to drop back defensively from his offensive position to his defensive position is less than 20 yards. This is very similar to cornerbacks in football. In that space it is more important to have quickness, footwork and anticipation, than straight line speed.

For basketball it is all about footwork and anticipation, or as explained earlier, the mental part of the game. It is like an outfielder getting a good jump on the ball. You can teach it, but it really comes with experience. I had a number of drills I utilized when I coached. I used to use cones and chairs to teach footwork and quickness. I liked the chairs because they were harder to get past. I used to teach players how to create space with movement (feet, shoulder and head) and how creating 1 foot of separation, horizontal and/or lateral is more than enough to shoot, drive or pass. It's about creating movement in a defender or defense in a certain direction to create an advantage. And with great footwork, that advantage can easily be exploited. That is quickness.

I knew enough to be dangerous. I read a lot and watched tons of videos while I was coaching. But there are some phenomenal experts out there who know a hell-of-a-lot more than me, and they steal from martial arts and other sports. I am sure the assistant coaches at Xavier fall into that category of experts, as do the assistant coaches from most other programs..

[natesteve]

My point being:
Is that while training, learning about speed improvement techniques, and meditation and any other Mumbo Jumbo and can all help increase speed and agility to some extent, and allow a player to get closer to his potential; there is a reason we all get excited when we see a player like Sumner show up on our team. You can't teach that!
If all that other training stuff could equalize players, or even make them improve by a standard deviation, then recruiting basketball players and breeding horses would not be as important as they are. The NFL would stop timing wide receivers in the 40. In addition more white men would be able to jump and likely work their way into the NBA, Secretariat would have had less sex, and you could dunk.

[kyzrex]

I'm not sure you quite understood what I was saying. I'm not in anyway saying that you can take a person with no physical talents or potential and make them a great athlete. I am saying that you can take a player and make them a BETTER player by helping them to improve HOW they play the game. A player that can anticipate correctly what the opposition is going to do, before they do it, has a better chance of stopping them than someone that can only react what the opposition does. This can help a player to make the correct pass at the correct time, or take a charge on defense (Myles Davis anyone's?)' even if they aren't great athletes. The ability to "slow down" the game allows a less quick player to still be effective, and allows a great player to be even greater. Read about virtually any NFL QB and they will tell you that adjusting to the speed of the NFL is the biggest hurdle they have to overcome as a rookie or young player. NBA players will tell you the same thing. These are all great athletes, some with exceptional quickness. Yet everyone of them will tell you that they could not play their best until they mentally adjusted to the speed of the game. If this is the case for the "great" athletes, why would it not be the case for more "average" athlete as well?

And yes, I have heard of people that with a change of training became much better (and quicker) athletes than they had been before. In fact, there are training facilities located all over the world that are in business to do just that.

[commish118]

You can't coach talent. But it is no "mumbo jumbo". There are a lot of players with average talent who have had long and successful careers. And the New York playgrounds are filled with extremely talented players who never played past high school.

[JTG]

Is anyone going to the KY Derby festival all star game Friday nite ? Haven't seen if it's televised. Goodin is playing against Allstars from around the US.

[Shadow]

Doesn't this kid ever go to class?

[skyhops]

Most of these players now have begin "fast twitch" as early as 13 years old, so they are not going to become much quicker than they are at 19-20 years old. Goodin is going to fill the role left by Remy and be an instant contributor.

[muskieman]

Most of these players now have begin "fast twitch" as early as 13 years old, so they are not going to become much quicker than they are at 19-20 years old. Goodin is going to fill the role left by Remy and be an instant contributor.

body builders improve fast twitch muscle fiber by the type of weights program they employ. I am sure you know that slow twitch can be transformed into fast twitch so it is possible to increase fast twitch. About 40%+/- of your muscle fiber can change from fast(FT) to slow(ST) or from slow to fast. Sprinters have and improve fast twitch muscles while old farts like me have the problem of out fast twitch changing more to slow twitch. Use of Heavy weight programs that include short periods with strength, power, and speed dominant activities can increase FT fiber. Genetically we all have different levels of FT vs ST muscle fiber so someone with more FT to start with has a decided advantage but they also must continue to work their FT or it will eventually become ST. A Good example is a marathoner versus a sprinter. Marathoners have and develop ST which gives them endurance while a sprinter needs the FT or quick twitch fiber. There are other factors to be sure but if a player is slower improvement can happen but the ratio of FT to ST should also be considered depending on the sport. Someone practicing martial arts needs to have both but quickness is more important than stamina as contest are normally decided in 2-3 minute periods and in a fight you better be able to take of the situation quickly for your own sake. BUT THEN YOU KNEW ALL THAT SKY, RIGHT.

BTW Sky you might like this article for basketball players. http://livehealthy.chron.com/fast-twitc ... -4320.html

[skyhops]

Skyhops Jr (age12) was asked to participate but was a little too pricey for me. I think AH and Shasow should attend classes

[muskieman]

Skyhops Jr (age12) was asked to participate but was a little too pricey for me. I think AH and Shasow should attend classes

cut down on your beer nights with "woods"