DRIBBLING TO OPEN SPACE Bounce! Bounce a basketball, bounce around the house, bounce ideas off of friend and come up with different ways to stay active. Get outside and pick up a game, take a walk around the neighborhood, or bounce to the park with your dog! Fresh air and bouncing you can never get enough!
READY POSITION AND THE PIVOT In basketball you use the pivot to gain an advantage over a defender. Our bodies use pivot joints to gain an advantage over inanimate objects like rocks, doors, and video game controllers. An example of an important pivot joint can be found between 2 bones in your arm (the ulna and the radius). Try shooting a basketball without the ability to bend your elbow. Looks ugly. To help protect your pivot joints, use strength and flexibility exercises to keep the muscles surrounding them strong and healthy.
PARTNER PASSING Practice passing at home. While a basketball is preferable, use any round bouncy ball available. Pass the ball back and forth with a brother, sister, friend, neighbor, mail carrier, or even a fairly athletic adult. If no one can play, find a wall (no windows please) or garage door for practicing your overhead, bounce and chest passes.
PASSING STATIONS The Harlem Globetrotters have been the Ambassadors of Goodwill since 1926. But, did you know that the birthplace of the Globetrotters is not Harlem? In fact, the team was formed on the South Side of Chicago and traveled the mid-west challenging local teams to competitive games. In 1939, they were beating a team 112 5 and began to entertain the crowd with spectacular passing and funny antics. Today, they perform for people all over the world and have even made the Pope laugh!
MOVING TO OPEN SPACE Can you create your own pass-and-move drill? Get some friends and come up with a drill together. Practice and perfect it. See how many times in a row you can do it without an error. Extra Credit if you can turn it into a game with a point system.
GIVE AND GO Nutrition has a give and go, too. Healthy carbohydrates like whole grains, fruits and vegetables GIVE you energy so you can GO. Your body can quickly turn these good Carbohydrates into energy, while fats and proteins take longer to convert. Need a quick pick-me-up? Grab some fresh fruits or vegetables for the Give and Go your body needs!
GIVE AND GO WITH POST PLAYERS Here s a new Give and Go that s good for the planet. Give it some thought before you Go and buy something new. You ve heard of Reduce, Reuse, Recycle put it into action! Give it a try and Go reuse that old equipment you have in the back of the garage. Clean it up, pump it up, and get it back in the game.
ADVENTURE RACE In basketball, poor follow-through can really mess up a shot or a pass. The same is true in life! Practice your follow-through with friends, family, and teachers. When you say you re going to get that assignment done do it! When you tell your little brother or sister you ll play that silly baby game do it! When you tell your parents you ll take out the garbage, wear protective clothing, but do it!
DEFENSIVE CHALLENGE Start the day with a strong defense! A bowl of oatmeal with a handful of blueberries, washed down with a glass of orange juice. Check the stats. You just built a great defense against flu and cold viruses along with fighting cancer-causing cell damage. Vitamins, minerals, and great antioxidants the best offense starts with a great defense!
ZONE AND PERSON-TO-PERSON DEFENSE Are you In the Zone? Workouts are divided into two basic types: Aerobic and Anaerobic. Aerobic workouts have a lower target heart rate and use stored fat as the dominant source of energy. They re good for losing weight, improving and maintaining fitness. Anaerobic workouts have a higher target heart rate and use carbohydrates as the dominant source of energy. These workouts are very intense and build strength, speed, and power. Balance both with your overall fitness goal and work In the Zone.
KEEP AWAY (2-ON-1) Be your best and Keep Away from things that can ruin your future. Drugs, cigarettes, alcohol, watching as someone bullies another student, or hanging out with negative friends. We all make mistakes, but learn from them. Play Keep Away when it comes to health risks and be in it to win it!
KEEP AWAY (3-ON-2) Need a quick game to play at home that s fun and doesn t take any set-up? Get together with a few friends and play Keep Away. Use the same point system used in class. Use any kind of a ball. If you don t have a ball you can use a towel with a knot tied in the middle. Remember to move to open space preferably out of the kitchen so there s nothing breakable that could end the game with a crash.
3-CATCH WITH A POST PLAYER Quick and powerful passing is an important skill in basketball. To improve your passing power and quickness, work on improving your shoulder, chest and triceps muscles. Do as many push-ups as you can in a row. Take a break for a minute. Do another set. Take another 1-minute break. Do a 3 rd and final set of push-ups. Do this workout 3X a week and track your progress on a chart.
PASS OR DRIBBLE? Pass or Dribble? Move it or lose it? Sounds like we ve made a connection here. Pass on that video game imaginarydunk-fest and go dribble for real! Zombielike video game trances are no substitute for calorie-roasting ball games. Play 3-Catch or 3-on-3 pick-up. Seriously, step away from the game controller!
INTRODUCTION TO SHOOTING Shoot for the stars when it comes to citizenship. Look at your local community, your state and national communities, your global community. You ll find a world that needs you to be at your very best. Don t know where to start? Try the Youth Volunteer Corps of America. Since 1987 they ve been helping 11 to 18 year olds get involved in making the world a better place. Check them out at www.yvca.org.
3-ON-3 Playing a game of basketball requires a lot of skills. Staying healthy requires a lot of vitamins. It is recommended that you take a multi-vitamin or eat foods containing the following vitamins on a daily basis: Biotin, Folate, and Vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B12, C, D, E and K. The best way to get your vitamins is by eating a variety of fruits and vegetables of all different colors.
CREATE A ROUTINE Design your own ball-handling/fitness routine to do at home. Make it 5 minutes long and incorporate exercises like pushups and curl-ups along with ball-handling skills. You ll get stronger and your ballhandling skills will improve at the same time. Harlem Globetrotters meet your next basketball ambassador!