In my role as the blog master of the entire universe I get the priviledge to try out a lot of products and items that people want me to talk about and mention.  2 specific products that I’ve used recently I had to give a shout to. 

I grew up a point guard and consider myself a gunner at heart.  I never saw a shot that I didn’t like.  Recently I was able to try out what is called the Get It Up Shooting Hoop.  I loved this thing.  One issue I have working with players is the inability to understand how important your elbow is to your form.  A correct shot has the elbow going ‘to the ceiling’.  This hoop creates that because it gives you instant feedback on each shot.  The shot with arc has a greater chance to go in and this product promotes that.  I recommend players using it for foul shots to ensure the proper repetition before moving it farther and farther away from the hoop.  I learned it does adjust in height and I loved it.  Thanks to Barry Hecker for creating this.

I get asked all the time which video series a player should get because there are so many of them out there and I always recommend the Better Basketball Series.  They have a dvd devoted to just about every topic out there and they are all very good.  I really enjoyed the Better Basketball Defense DVD and have already used some of that in my coaching exploits.  I never realized how much time I spent focusing on offense as a young player and this set helped me to realize that I should’ve focused on defense because I was and still am a very poor defender. 

I don’t do these very often but I was very impressed with these two products and wanted to make sure that I mentioned them in my writings.  I’ve been doing some product reviews for other things as well that can be found on www.hoopskills.com in the training articles section.

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I wanted to devote a blog to one of my favorite products that is being sold on the market right now.  I love the strength shoe.  If you have read any of my articles on www.hoopskills.com you would find that I reference them a lot throughout as they played a huge role in the development of my speed and quickness. 

I had one of the original sets and in fact I still have them today.  They are old and worn down and the tread is absolutely useless at this stage in the game, but I can’t give them up.  Part of it is sentimentality and the other part is loyalty.  How could I throw away something that played such a large role in getting my schooling paid for?

When I was younger and they had just come out people would make fun of my shoes as I played regular games with them.  But when I could compete with players with those shoes on then they knew I’d do better when I took them off.  The most obvious effect for me was in my first step and in my ability to accelerate quickly.  People ask if it helped my jumping and I can’t say that it did, but for many others it has for sure helped their jumping ability. 

I would love to get some comments from other people who have tried them but let me leave with a story of mine.  They didn’t stay in the closet and they weren’t put away when other people were around.  I wore them.  I wore them when I was doing conditioning and I wore them while i practiced each day.  I did all my drills in them and I didn’t allow my results to decrease as a result.  I didn’t let the shoes become an excuse.  Was I a better ballplayer because I wore those shoes?  Yes, I believe I was.  But I can say that I was a better ballplayer because no matter what kind of shoes I was wearing I was playing and working to get better.  That’s what matters and if you get the shoes and work at it you’ll see the results like I did.  Again, i’d love to get some stories on how people have used the shoes or I’ll field questions on them as I get some questions that come in occasionally through the site.

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