Circus Drills and no Skills...

In the era of colorful social media, where it is estimated that our brain has to process about 34 GB of data per week, we get used to the "wow factor" in every aspect of our life's.

"... A new study published in the “Journal of Depression and Anxiety” found a link between high usage of social media sites and increased depression. When social media and depression are compared, it was determined that those who used social media the most were about 2.7 times more likely to be depressed than participants who used social media the least..."

Most of the things that we see on the internet is "wow"! "Wow vacations", "wow cars", "wow bodies" and even "wow cats and dogs". Where in reality, most of those things are a product of multi million dollar marketing companies with a goal of selling you a product.

Just like all addicts we get desensitized, in this case to plain information and subconsciously are seeking more and more engaging pictures to satisfy our brain.

Basketball training industry is no different. A lot of the Instagram trainers became influencers first, salesmen second and trainers or coaches third. The drills and concepts shown on their pages are simply click baits to make you dive into the world of products they can sell you.

Unfortunately most of the click baits are just loud and colorful pieces of  nonsense like: "You've been shooting wrong you whole life...", where the so called trainer teaches you to shoot with both hands and do 4 pushups prior to every shot, just because "it will make you better, trust me...". Videos like this get hundreds of thousands of views, because it is something different, new and "wow".

I have been seeing this plague myself for the past few years of teaching basketball full time. Every week I have a kid or a parent who comes with a new "nugget" of basketball wisdom from youtube - turn shooters, straight legged defensive players or 5 step layup finishers... The list could on and on.

The last time I watched youtube for basketball was my first year of university, and that's also when I realized that seeking knowledge from youtube makes as much sense as trading stock without any preparation (unfortunately done that too).

As the level of my fundamental knowledge about sports had started to increase my appreciation for education and simplicity grew with it.

I have had a chance to be a part of training sessions with some NBA players: Kyle Lowery, DeMarcus Cousins, Kristap Porzingis, Nick Young, Tyron Lue and a few more. And I have to admit that the most exciting part about working with the pros is the fact that you've seen them on tv! The stuff they work on is as boring as it gets - mostly shots: off of a pick and roll, pick and pop, curls, fades, lifts - only fundamental game movements with and without the ball, no circus drills..

Unfortunately with the increased usage of social media and the fact that our population is becoming more and more dumb, clown coaches will keep on trying to sell you microwave success secrets that may look exciting on the outside but are nothing more than a colorful piece of nonsense.