Sunday, November 1, 2009

Never Tell Your Players to "Post Up" Again

Been a while since my last post, but I'm back at it! Sorry for the gap.

Recently I watched Coach Petetigoue's Zone Dribble Drive Motion DVD and he did an EXCELLENT JOB! One of the best points he made was he was telling his post player to "box out" the defense and not "post up". After seeing him make that point, I will never again tell my post player to "post up" but instead will have him "box out". Boxing out envokes ideas of contact, being low and wide, having your hands ready, fighting for position, and really getting into the person you are boxing out, which is what you should do when you post up as well. If you are told to post up, there is the mental image of a guy standing on the block, hand up, looking for the ball - he is not being aggressive and not making contact. So start this season by introducing your players to the concept of boxing out when looking to get the ball.

1 comment:

Coach Lok said...

I like the visual. I'm big on the mental images we get from our terminology. I don't like using a single word for two different things - unless it's making a comparison like this. The message I get from boxing out is to move the opponent out, and I'm not sure tehy let you move them as much when calling for the ball. As I read it I'm thinking instead of "Post-Up" to "Box-Up". A cross bewteen "Boxing-Out" and "Posting-Up". Plus, many people call the block "the box" so it might give you a location too. Anyway... good to get us thinking.