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Court Sense: Winning Basketball's Mental Game
The best basketball players and coaches are known not only for their success in the sport but for the manner in which they manifest their knowledge and abilities in playing, coaching, and teaching the game.
Oscar Robertson, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Steve Nash, Diana Taurasi, and other great players past and present share a special grasp of what is needed in every situation on the court and how to maximize their own effectiveness as well as that of their team. Teams coached by John Wooden, Phil Jackson, Pat Summitt, and Mike Krzyzewski won many championships because of their coaches' amazing ability to teach, motivate, discipline, and unite players to perform to their potential individually and as a group.
Court Sense highlights all those qualities that make players and teams great, and it provides practical ways to improve any intangibles that might be lacking. The first half of the book covers all the basics a player must have in place, on and off the court, in order to excel. The second half features the six Cs that are crucial to on-court coachability, communication, cohesion, capacity to lead, competitiveness, and concentration.
Author John Giannini brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the subject as a former collegiate player and veteran coach who has earned a PhD in sport psychology. His insights and advice are combined with real-life examples and supported by stories shared by these top
John Beilein, Tony Bennett, Tom Crean, Jamie Dixon, Steve Donahue, Joanne P. McCallie, Sean Miller, Oliver Purnell, Bo Ryan, Tubby Smith, Sharon Versyp, and Jay Wright.
Playing like a winner first requires preparing like one. Use Court Sense to your advantage and you'll be one step closer to cutting down the nets.
Oscar Robertson, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Steve Nash, Diana Taurasi, and other great players past and present share a special grasp of what is needed in every situation on the court and how to maximize their own effectiveness as well as that of their team. Teams coached by John Wooden, Phil Jackson, Pat Summitt, and Mike Krzyzewski won many championships because of their coaches' amazing ability to teach, motivate, discipline, and unite players to perform to their potential individually and as a group.
Court Sense highlights all those qualities that make players and teams great, and it provides practical ways to improve any intangibles that might be lacking. The first half of the book covers all the basics a player must have in place, on and off the court, in order to excel. The second half features the six Cs that are crucial to on-court coachability, communication, cohesion, capacity to lead, competitiveness, and concentration.
Author John Giannini brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the subject as a former collegiate player and veteran coach who has earned a PhD in sport psychology. His insights and advice are combined with real-life examples and supported by stories shared by these top
John Beilein, Tony Bennett, Tom Crean, Jamie Dixon, Steve Donahue, Joanne P. McCallie, Sean Miller, Oliver Purnell, Bo Ryan, Tubby Smith, Sharon Versyp, and Jay Wright.
Playing like a winner first requires preparing like one. Use Court Sense to your advantage and you'll be one step closer to cutting down the nets.
- GenresBasketball
256 pages, Paperback
First published October 17, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
May 20, 2015
Court Sense
By: John Giannini
This book is about how to make athletes really good at the game of basketball. I have learned about this book by having strong passing, back-up plans, dribble low, and to keep your elbow in when your about to shoot the ball.
This paragraph is going to explain why you should make strong passes in games and in practices. You should always give strong passes to your teammate because it’s harder for the defender to get. It’s also easier for your teammate to square up and to prepare to shoot the ball or pass it to another open teammate. Make sure when you pass the ball, it goes to your teammates chest, not feet or head.
The reason why you should have a back-up plan especially at point guard is because if your coach calls a play and tells you to give it to the shooting guard behind the 3 point line and the defenders change their defense to man to man instead of zone, the point guard needs to have a back-up plan such as calling a different play or just passing it to an open player. It’s important because you don’t want a turnover and have the opponents win the game.
Man, dribbling is so fun, but I didn’t know that you need to dribble low. The reason why you should dribble low is because you don’t want the defenders to steal the ball and cost a turnover. The goal for offense is not to have turnovers.
When you begin your shooting routine, the first step is you should make sure your feet are facing the hoop, also known as squaring up toward the hoop. Then bend your knees and put your right hand in the middle of the ball, if you shoot right handed. If you shoot left handed, you put your left hand in the middle oft the ball. After that, you should always keep your elbow in because you have a better chance for making shots and aiming for the hoop. When you shoot the ball make sure it rolls off your fingertips. Then flick your wrist down. That’s how you should shoot the ball in games or practices.
I have learned a lot from this book. I think it will help me a lot when I play the game of basketball. I like reading this book because basketball is by far my favorite sport and I can learn from it for the future games I play.
By: John Giannini
This book is about how to make athletes really good at the game of basketball. I have learned about this book by having strong passing, back-up plans, dribble low, and to keep your elbow in when your about to shoot the ball.
This paragraph is going to explain why you should make strong passes in games and in practices. You should always give strong passes to your teammate because it’s harder for the defender to get. It’s also easier for your teammate to square up and to prepare to shoot the ball or pass it to another open teammate. Make sure when you pass the ball, it goes to your teammates chest, not feet or head.
The reason why you should have a back-up plan especially at point guard is because if your coach calls a play and tells you to give it to the shooting guard behind the 3 point line and the defenders change their defense to man to man instead of zone, the point guard needs to have a back-up plan such as calling a different play or just passing it to an open player. It’s important because you don’t want a turnover and have the opponents win the game.
Man, dribbling is so fun, but I didn’t know that you need to dribble low. The reason why you should dribble low is because you don’t want the defenders to steal the ball and cost a turnover. The goal for offense is not to have turnovers.
When you begin your shooting routine, the first step is you should make sure your feet are facing the hoop, also known as squaring up toward the hoop. Then bend your knees and put your right hand in the middle of the ball, if you shoot right handed. If you shoot left handed, you put your left hand in the middle oft the ball. After that, you should always keep your elbow in because you have a better chance for making shots and aiming for the hoop. When you shoot the ball make sure it rolls off your fingertips. Then flick your wrist down. That’s how you should shoot the ball in games or practices.
I have learned a lot from this book. I think it will help me a lot when I play the game of basketball. I like reading this book because basketball is by far my favorite sport and I can learn from it for the future games I play.
Currently Reading
January 27, 2011WEEKLY PROGRESS:I've sort of been skipping around in the book, about a third done
WEEKLY GOAL: Finish before season ends
TIME SPENT: 2 hours over the weekend
ENTRY:
Different chapters of this book cover different aspect of playing ball, however I've settled in on a chapter on mental toughness and development of confidence. Being a shooter, confidence is probably the most important tool in my arsenal so I'm really delving deep into what the different coaches who wrote this book have to say. Reading something so relevant to one of my hobbies is definitely a bonus and really keeps me engaged in the book. Mostly because I directly benefit from what I read. In fact, I recommended this book to Grossman because it may help him from a coaching standpoint. It feels good to suggest a good book to somebody. Also, because every chapter has something different, I can bounce between chapters and read what I need to learn, so I guess it's more utilitarian than recreational. Either way, I feel like I'm getting a lot out of it.
WEEKLY GOAL: Finish before season ends
TIME SPENT: 2 hours over the weekend
ENTRY:
Different chapters of this book cover different aspect of playing ball, however I've settled in on a chapter on mental toughness and development of confidence. Being a shooter, confidence is probably the most important tool in my arsenal so I'm really delving deep into what the different coaches who wrote this book have to say. Reading something so relevant to one of my hobbies is definitely a bonus and really keeps me engaged in the book. Mostly because I directly benefit from what I read. In fact, I recommended this book to Grossman because it may help him from a coaching standpoint. It feels good to suggest a good book to somebody. Also, because every chapter has something different, I can bounce between chapters and read what I need to learn, so I guess it's more utilitarian than recreational. Either way, I feel like I'm getting a lot out of it.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews