In February Peter Lonergan, Head of High Performance and Talent Identification at Basketball Australia visited our academy or one week to deliver a coaches clinic and coach at our Shooting Camp.

Here are some key takeaways and observations by coach Lonergan on his visit.

Program ethos & approach

  • Playing the “long game” – focus on long term athlete development through the journey rather than results driven
  • Holistic approach to athlete and staff development

Teaching and development methods

  • Focus on skill development through “Games Approach”
  • Use of small-sided games and advantage/disadvantage breakdowns for teams/players of all ages
  • Strong emphasis on developing creative skill – big focus on footwork, finishing skills and shooting

Athletic development

  • Functional movement seen as a key element of player development, not a necessary “add on”
  • Wide variety of influences and adaptation of different approaches to athletic development and wellbeing
  • Strong links with the functional movement to the skill development
  • Developing shooters – energy flow and linking to the kinetic chain

Coach development

  • Ethos of having “transformational coaches” in the program, not “transactional coaches”
  • Conversation and engagement a high priority across all aspects of the program

We recorded some of the ideas, drills and games Peter shared with players and coaches during the camp and the coaches clinic. Below you find over 2 hours of videos listed together.

All of the video content of guest coaches that visited us last year (Lonergan, MacKay, Nocera) you can find in the Video Library under Basketball > Guest Coaches.

If you would like to visit our Academy and discuss a camp/clinic collaboration contact me at joerik.michiels@eliteathletes.be.

Enjoy,
Joerik