Mr. Bob Goes Back to School: Never too Old to Learn Something!

Drills during the camp.

Drillwork Training Held a Skills Camp in Atlanta.

July 8, 2025

On Sunday, June 29, 2025, I attended the second annual DWT Elite 40 at Southwest DeKalb High School in Decatur, Georgia (just east of Atlanta). Presented by Drillwork Training (Mike Holloway II and Rod Weaver), the camp (running from mid-morning to mid-afternoon) had 32 participants (mostly from Georgia) ranging from rising 8th to rising 10th graders. The goal was to expose these young players to various drills which (if repeated regularly after the camp) would improve skills to make each a better player. While I cannot tell you what any one player learned, I can give you some of what I gained (sometimes re-enforced, sometimes altered) from attendance.

Watching the drills…

No left hand!

How often have we seen a player improperly attempt the layup on the left side of the basket with her right hand resulting in two points missed. Some of those that struggled with this finally got it right in the drills. Success? Not exactly as in game situations they reverted to the use of the right (dominant) hand on the left side of the basket. Some succeed and some fail! The point here is that good fundamentals can be taught, but it is up to the player to work on his/her own to instinctively do this correctly.  Left side, left hand; right side right hand!

Stop and pop!

One drill emphasized the ability to come off a dribble, square up to the basket quickly and shoot at mid-range. It was not surprising how few players could do this correctly, let alone make the shot go in. The instructors gave a few tips on how to improve this skill. The question again is how many will work on this on their own?

Four dribbles to the rim

This was a drill to improve a player’s ability to break out in the backcourt and get to the other rim quickly. Here more seemed to adapt more quickly.

Simple passes please!

This one really fooled me. The goal was to move the ball up the court from the backcourt without an opponent deflecting a pass. There might have been 10 players on each side. There were plenty of open players to advance via short passes. However, so many players instinctively went for the “home run” pass to get the ball over the baseline at the other end, and failed.

Other useful drills

Finishing vs contact as a camp instructor brushed the player heading to the basket. This seemed to toughen up some players, at least momentarily.

Another was dribbling between what represented two defenders (see photo above). The idea was to force players to dribble as appropriate with each hand while moving toward the rim.

Game versus drill success…

It did not surprise me that some of the players who stood out in drills were not the players that stood out in game situations. I saw this at USA U16 trials in May.

Watching game action…

As seen elsewhere, too many players do not seem to recognize what is a good shot for them. Play to your strengths! In practice, work on your weaknesses! Players tend to get better at what they are good at with weaknesses remaining too poorly addressed.

Questions from our young players

Players were given a couple of opportunities to ask me questions.  At age 77, I do not consider myself that threatening, but these youngsters were close to petrified to ask me anything. I was told that they are afraid that they would look foolish in the eyes of their peers, so they all remained silent initially.

A couple of questions were asked. I had hoped for more.

1.        How did I get involved with this? The answer was I started as a high school teacher supporting the school’s teams. A parent from another team told me to consider attending AAU Nationals in July which I did for about the next 20 years . I got involved with scouting thanks to Lin Dunn (then Miami (FL) head coach; more recently with the Indiana Fever) urging me to start a scouting service in Florida which lasted for about 15 years. When I moved to Georgia, I got more into the media side of the sport (now over 40 years involved in some capacity).

2.        I was asked if I knew a particularly well-known college coach. I surprised them that my first recollection was of her being cut from a USA Basketball related trial. The individual went on to have success at high school, college and pro levels and now as a successful NCAA Division 1 coach. The point being is not to let setbacks discourage you from overcoming your goals.

3.        A parent of an eighth grader asked about having her daughter repeat eighth grade to enhance her scholarship potential (reclass downward). This practice is becoming more widespread lately as it has been for a longer time amongst boys.  The goal is to make the perspective student-athlete a more valuable recruit. Today, this could translate into bigger direct money from major D1 schools and possible lucrative NIL deals sooner than later.  As a few of you may know, I am one of the most outspoken opponents of downward reclassification (very popular in the NEPSAC in New England and increasingly so amongst parents in Federation schools doing the deed before high school where the four-year rule kicks in). My reasoning is simple in that a year of adult life is more important than basketball. In conjunction with this, if a player works hard enough, they can catch up to where they want to be. Also, with the transfer portal the player can easily move to chase the money, if desired. I see so many reclassed players who are going to wind up where they would have regardless (and have essentially lost a year of adult life). I for one am an advocate of a player being allowed to go to junior college (as an option) and then play four years in D1. American society would be better served with more citizens completing a master’s degree than repeating seventh, eighth or nineth grade subjects to become more attractive recruits out of high school.         

Final thought for the day:

Life is like a combination of a conveyor belt and roller coaster. You are born at one end and drop off at the other. In the interim, you have highs and lows hoping to pull out of the lows quickly and not get too over the top with the highs. Finally, you do not want to get stuck in a bad place on the belt, also hoping the belt will move more slowly in the sweeter spots.