Lots of shots - Dave Arseneault

Spend any amount of time with Dave Arseneault of Grinnell College, Iowa, and you'll quickly discover that his enthusiasm for his team's style of play is contagious. When Coach Arseneault worked with coaches at a recent Can-Am On-Court Basketball Coaching Clinic, every coach left the gym with the challenges to make practices more upbeat, take more shots, and increase the tempo (by getting out and running) in games. Coach Arseneault's philosophy includes each player taking 100 three's in every practice, shooting (in game) by the 12 second mark of each possession, and taking 60 team three's per game. Beyond that, he offered clinic attendees the following:

• coaches should develop a system that is 'player friendly' and makes kids want to come to the gym each day (takes creativity and lots of prep)
• every practice drill at Grinnell ends with a three point shot
• players need to work on getting shots off quickly (as there is very little time versus a pressure defense)
• shooters need to think in terms of fractions of time and not waste any fractions
• passing is SO important - a good pass (delivered to a shot pocket) makes a good shooter 15% more effective
• a pass on target to the shooter will allow them to no longer think of catching the ball and simply focus on the muscle memory of the shot routine
• on catch, shooters need to keep the ball high and never let it get closer to the floor
• as discussed every season at the COBA camp, "good shooters don't shoot quickly - they PREPARE to shoot quickly"