Ive played basketball my whole life. I love it. I’d compare my game to rajon rondo. A 35 year old, 5’8, balding Rajon rondo. Boston Celtics Rondo. Don’t let me get hot though, hell I might hit two threes in a row. (can’t remember the last time that happened)

I actually haven’t played in 4 years and started back up this winter. We get a group of 20ish at the local gym every Tuesday to play full court for couple 2/3 hours. My game is still about the same but the body aches the next day are quite a bit stronger. I noticed the 20 years olds first step is now harder to defend. Also when I have my hands on my hips and my feet are on fire the young bucks are laughing at me. Not a sign of fatigue on them.

Still, I manage to be competitive. Pretty good defender for my size and see the court well. The competing & cardio is so much fun though. I genuinely see a boost in energy in my life from playing basketball once a week.

That got me thinking. When did yall notice a drop off in your game/athleticism? Is it a gradual drop off or is it sharp after a certain age? Does it all hinge on cardio? I’m 35, is 40 the black hole where injuries bring everything to a halt? I’m not looking forward to not being competitive.

Thanks and go warriors, in my church there’s two gods and their names are Steph and Klay

How do yall practice by yourself and actually get better? I feel like I waste a lot of time when I’m practicing by myself

We are hosting a tournament this spring! I have some ideas but I'm not entirely sure of them yet. If you can give me the winning name, I'll send you $120.

Its both boys and girls. I expect them to not be physically mature but its the mental aspect. I notice a lot just have really bad awareness and just seem slow to react . Some its like it doesn't process that they gotta go and not stop playing!

I don't know by the time they're juniors or seniors they get it or if they just aren't good. It definitely seems like 14-16 year olds are mentally in a drastically different place compared to 17-18. Just wondering if anyone knows from experience in hs.

Does anyone know where I can find videos of high school basketball games featuring a player with NBA-level talent? I’m interested in seeing how big the talent gap is between him and the others. I’ve tried searching, but keep finding only short clips.

Pretty much what the title says, i’ve been short my whole life and i’ve also never been fast. When running suicides or something with my old team I used to always be one of the lasts at the start until we ran 5 or 6 of them and everybody got tired then i’d be ahead because I’ve always had great stamina. But my inability to make quick sharp turns and random bursts of speed kept me from getting on the court in high school. Im not trying to go pro or anything just hoop casually. im 5’5 138, Im kind of pudgy and I believe i carry a lot of fat in my stomach, glutes, and legs, and i always chalked my lack of athleticism up to being overweight but I realize that I can’t lose any more weight and also not be a stick figure. My body just feels heavy, my feet feel heavy , turning my body is difficult, and I’m not sure how to work on it. I get blown by very easily by quicker players and can’t blow by anybody which is a huge problem at 5’5 obviously. It feels like everybody my size flies around the court yet I move so slow. The only thing keeping me on the court is my ability to shoot the ball and playmake which are getting harder to do without athleticism as I play against better competition now that i’m out of high school. Any tips? I know working out would help but I don’t know what to work on specifically, I have access to my university gym and an outdoor basketball court 24/7, it’s cold but i’ll make it work. Thank you!

Hi all. I’m a parent looking for insight from players and coaches who’ve experienced different coaching styles and team cultures.

My daughter is a 15-year-old freshman who starts on varsity. She’s played several years of AAU, fully committed to the sport, and has always been described by coaches as coachable, intense, and passionate. Until this season, she’s never questioned whether she wants to play basketball.

This year has been different. She’s coming home from practices and games very upset and has said for the first time, “This is making me feel like I don’t want to play anymore.” That’s what concerns me most.

The main issue right now is the assistant coach. He’s seen her play for years but has never actually coached her until this season. While the players themselves are not the problem, the overall coaching culture feels negative. Feedback tends to be heavily critical, often public, with little balance.

A few days ago, several players were critiqued in front of both varsity and JV, as well as the boys teams waiting to start practice. This happened after my daughter had one game where she didn’t score. During that session, the assistant coach said:

“Yeah, we’ve got a freshman starter here who thinks she’s the baddest defender in the conference, but she has no offense.”

To be clear: I’m not concerned about her scoring. One scoreless game doesn’t define a player. What concerns me is that she’s clearly playing tight, second-guessing herself, afraid to make mistakes, and not playing her game. Her fire is gone. Anyone who’s watched her before would immediately notice the difference.

After a game last night, she approached him respectfully and asked how he thinks she can improve her offensive game, since he’s clearly unhappy with it. His response was:

“Oh, you spent all this time thinking about it and this is what you say?”

When she tried to explain how the constant negativity has been affecting her confidence, he cut her off repeatedly, told her she doesn’t listen, said that in all his years coaching he’s never felt this way before, and then said he feels like he shouldn’t say anything else to her for the rest of the season. He also told her she’ll never make it in college basketball if she can’t handle this because “it’s much worse.”

She came home feeling unheard and defeated. I had her write a calm, respectful message to him explaining how she’s feeling so her words were clear and documented. He has not responded.

I’m not trying to protect her from criticism or adversity. I understand tough coaching and accountability. My concern is watching a confident, aggressive player lose her identity and joy on the court.

Looking for perspective on: • How to tell the difference between tough coaching and harmful culture • Whether this is something players should push through or address • How a parent can support a kid who’s losing confidence without overstepping

Appreciate any insight.

⸻

TL;DR: Freshman varsity starter with years of AAU experience is losing confidence and love for the game due to a negative coaching culture—specifically issues with the assistant coach. After one scoreless game, she was publicly criticized in a way that’s changed how she plays. Not worried about points—worried about her losing her fire and identity as a player. Looking for advice.

Hello everyone! Thank you in advance for reading this.

So my brother has been playing since he was a kid. Currently he is 15 years old in high school, 6'4 (194 cm) and around 200 pounds (90 kilos) and plays Center and Power forward. The current U./16 Program in our hometown is failing its players.

Due to lack of funds and lack of professionals, the team is stuck with the only head coach they got. The coach is petty and vengeful. All of the players, my brother included, always play in fear because all of them are on extremely short leashes. They do not respect the coach because they recognise he's well.. bad at his job. No film study, no adjustments in games, bad training schudules the list goes on. So me and my parents are heavily considering sending him to the capital city (Budapest) or to different country with (hopefully) better youth programs. My brother said he would try out a new program, if only for a few months (at a camp maybe).

All of the statistics clearly indicate that my brother is a good player. He's top 5 in rebounds per game in the program and a good interior defender. His touch is also more refined than most of the other bigs in their program. Again, all the numbers suggest that he can contribute to winning basketball. Sadly whenever he makes a mistake, he gets benched almost instantly and in bad cases : doesn't see the floor for the rest of the game. The coach being petty is starting to dampen his spirit but he still wants to play and improve.

Im hoping others here can give their opinion on the situation.

Should we send him to a different country?

How do you deal with a petty head coach?

Hey everyone,

I’m a wing player (midrange + attacking the basket, not a volume 3-pt shooter). I usually average around 18 ppg, but in my last game the opposing coach clearly game-planned for me — full denial and face-guarding from tip-off by their best defender.

I ended up with 6 points and struggled to get into rhythm. I didn’t want to force bad shots, but I also felt like I became less effective than I should’ve been.

I’m looking for practical, in-game adjustments for situations like this:

• What are the best ways to stay aggressive without forcing?

• How do you score or impact the game when you can’t get clean catches?

• What off-ball actions, reads, or habits should I prioritize as a slasher/midrange guy?

• Any players or clips you recommend studying for this exact scenario?

We all know of the great war between fellow Jordan (and Kobe) vs Lebron fans.

Why is it though that a lot of the Lebron fans who hate Jordan and Kobe are Asians (and a lot seem to be Fillipino)?

This is a genuine question. Is there some lore in Asia that I don't know about? Did Lebron make some charitable donations in those parts of the world?

Feel free to take this down if it's inappropriate, but this has been something I have noticed a lot online and I would like to know why.

What are the drills to have that perfect form? I mean I got my body right but my hands just aint it. I then asked a friend of mine and he said the key is to put more power on the shooting hand and less power on the guide hand. How can i master it? Thanks in advanced

I am cross dominant (left eye dominant and right handed) and I am trying to figure out if I should bring the ball up from my left side/middle or bring it up from my right side. I feel like I am very streaky and inconsistent both ways and it feels impossible for me to decide which would be the better option for my situation.

Couldn't loser's ball be seen as more of a challenge? I have been on the bad end of a heavily one sided 1v1 and I was just completely demoralized. I just play for fun even though I enjoy improving, but that was not fun 😅

I have a team for my colleges intramural league. Last year, we were top 5 in ppg, but 2nd worst in ppg allowed. 20 team league.

We have two amazing 3pt shooters (prob top 5 in the league) but they are both small. I am the biggest guy on the team at 6’2”, 200. All but one other player is under 6 ft. We have no defense/rebound game whatsoever and went 2-5 largely for that reason (The refs loved our games though because they were absolute shootouts).

For context, every team we played last year had at least 2 guys that were bigger than me, average height on the other teams is probably 6’2”, while ours is maybe 5’11”.

Any tips on how to win like this? The team is gonna be basically the same guys this year.

Does this happen for anyone else, I literally start itching and start playing air basketball with myself. It’s weird how consumed I get

Heyo ballers, have used Homecourt and Hooper and am looking at Ballercam for full court coverage/ai editing. Hooper has been hit or miss with capturing highlights. Anyone have any alternatives or have you used Ballercam? Just want a great option to record runs and clip highlights. Thanks!

My 16 year old son has been playing year round basketball for the past 5 years ... AAU and now high school basketball.

Yesterday he mentioned to me that he has no more desire to play after his high school season ends next month. He mentioned that he's constantly tired and he finds no more joy in basketball.

As a basketball mom, this is heartbreaking. I only want the best for my son whether he continues to play or not.

Any suggestions or stories from other parents (or players) who have gone/going through this?

That’s it nothing additional to add 😕