Mr-D
As I was watching and helping coach my stepdaughter, Alyson, and her YMCA 3rd-4th grade team, I noticed it was very difficult for the team to shoot the ball with a defender guarding them. The first thing they would do was cover up and try to get rid of the ball. All they really needed to do, was square up to the basket and shoot. Why did they do that? I paid close attention to this in our next practice and noticed that even in practice this was happening even though we would encourage them and practice how to shoot when there was a defender on them. They were not used to or confident and comfortable enough to shoot the ball in that situation. Even the older players, girls and boys, were not confident or comfortable shooting over a defender. Of course I'm not talking about encouraging taking a bad shot where the defense is in good position and a pass is the right decision.
So as I sat on my porch thinking of a better way to help these young players with this, the idea of making an object for my stepdaughter to practice shooting over in our driveway so she would have more opportunities to practice shooting over a defender instead of having to wait until we had another practice. This way she could become more confident and comfortable shooting over a defender come game time. It also dawned on me that something like this could be very beneficial to all players at all levels (see My 50-75-100 rule). The players that are successful are the ones that practice on their own, in their driveway or backyard, or have keys to the gym and shoot 500-1000 shots. With Mr-D they will be able to take that type of practicing to another level by being able to practice their shot and post up moves with a defender on them when practicing on their own. This is something players could not do in the past when practicing on their own and the majority of the time, that's how they are practicing, on their own. Again, "the more and better you can simulate game situations while practicing, the better your opportunity to be successful come game time." That's the most important point on why anyone wanting the opportunity to successfully improve their shooting needs to have a Mr-D.
