How to get our of a slump

[Tonyc]

The first thing you need to do is take a day or two off. Go to a movie get away from the gym. During the season thats tuff to do with so many games bunched together. Then its back to basics. Begin shooting from a few feet from the basket. Shoot until you make 10 in a row from one spot. Start slow and develop a rhythm. The move to the left then the right and do the same thing. What your trying to build on is confidence and seeing the ball go through the hoop gives your brain an image of that happening. Visualization is very important in building the right mind set. I remember having problems with my golf swing and I took 3 days off and just visualized hole by hole and perfect shots. Every golf shot went down the middle and every putt went it. I did that with alot of enthusiasm. No mechanics just the ball flying in the air perfectly each time. A few days later I went out and played great. When your slump gets inbetween your ears you need to go back to basics. Have fun with it, make it fun. Fun makes you smile and smiling clears your thought process. Slumps cause stinkin thinkin.

After you make 10 shots in a row from 3-5 spots close to the basket move back and continue. Keep doing that for as many days as it takes and do it 2-3 times a day, and as many times as it takes for it to become fluid and brain free without thinking. Follow that up with taking 50-100 foul shots in groups of 10 until you can make 9/10 or better. Do that 3 times a day too. Repetition is the mother of skill.

The one thing you dont need when your in a slump is negativity. Especially having people tell you that you stink or your no good or whats wrong with you. You need to get your butt out there and work it off. It may take a little bit more time then you want it to but your mind is not a microwave where you turn for a few minutes and bingo its done. I think that when your shot is not falling and you follow these thoughts within a week you'll be shooting better. The more you do it the better you get.

 

[hoopsfan22]

The team is 15-1, ranked #1 in the Coach's Poll, and fresh off a victory over the then #1 team in the country. I don't call that a slump, but to each their own.

 

[Zinethar]

COVID certainly helps compound things as it makes it much harder to actually get away from things to clear your mind.

 

[blkkirk]

Trying to make something happen when it is not working adds more pressure to the situation. Trying to force and adding more pressure sucks the fun out of it and over magnifies it's importance (adding more pressure). I like what Meg said focus on other things: defense, rebounding, finding people open. The scoring or slump will take care of itself.

 

[oldude]

I agree that a break from practice would be good, but with a game tomorrow, I would expect UConn to have a light practice today and review the scouting report for Georgetown. The Huskies should get a break this coming weekend as they don’t have another game until next Wednesday.

 

[Cornell Lt]

I recall a time when a team I was on went through something similar. Coach opened up the gym to us, just players w/ no coaches for our normal 2 hr practice. After that we came together as a team and went on a long unbeaten streak. If you can imagine 15 16-18 year old kids in a gym all by themselves you can get a lot off your shoulders.

 

[MooseJaw]

The first thing you need to do is take a day or two off. Go to a movie get away from the gym. During the season thats tuff to do with so many games bunched together. Then its back to basics. Begin shooting from a few feet from the basket. Shoot until you make 10 in a row from one spot. Start slow and develop a rhythm. The move to the left then the right and do the same thing. What your trying to build on is confidence and seeing the ball go through the hoop gives your brain an image of that happening. Visualization is very important in building the right mind set. I remember having problems with my golf swing and I took 3 days off and just visualized hole by hole and perfect shots. Every golf shot went down the middle and every putt went it. I did that with alot of enthusiasm. No mechanics just the ball flying in the air perfectly each time. A few days later I went out and played great. When your slump gets inbetween your ears you need to go back to basics. Have fun with it, make it fun. Fun makes you smile and smiling clears your thought process. Slumps cause stinkin thinkin.

After you make 10 shots in a row from 3-5 spots close to the basket move back and continue. Keep doing that for as many days as it takes and do it 2-3 times a day, and as many times as it takes for it to become fluid and brain free without thinking. Follow that up with taking 50-100 foul shots in groups of 10 until you can make 9/10 or better. Do that 3 times a day too. Repetition is the mother of skill.

The one thing you dont need when your in a slump is negativity. Especially having people tell you that you stink or your no good or whats wrong with you. You need to get your butt out there and work it off. It may take a little bit more time then you want it to but your mind is not a microwave where you turn for a few minutes and bingo its done. I think that when your shot is not falling and you follow these thoughts within a week you'll be shooting better. The more you do it the better you get.

Wise words for sure. Earlier in my life I tried golf lost my swing after 3 days, I stepped back and sought sage advice from a very good golfer, Hale Irwin {perhaps you remember him} I think I received the best sports advice I ever received, "get as far away from golf, as you can, quit find something else, wise man, Hale I thank him to this day. Not an option for our Husky's we have a 5 day stretch between games very soon, a few of our own could benefit from Tonyc's advise.

 

[Florida Fan]

The first thing you need to do is take a day or two off. Go to a movie get away from the gym. During the season thats tuff to do with so many games bunched together. Then its back to basics. Begin shooting from a few feet from the basket. Shoot until you make 10 in a row from one spot. Start slow and develop a rhythm. The move to the left then the right and do the same thing. What your trying to build on is confidence and seeing the ball go through the hoop gives your brain an image of that happening. Visualization is very important in building the right mind set. I remember having problems with my golf swing and I took 3 days off and just visualized hole by hole and perfect shots. Every golf shot went down the middle and every putt went it. I did that with alot of enthusiasm. No mechanics just the ball flying in the air perfectly each time. A few days later I went out and played great. When your slump gets inbetween your ears you need to go back to basics. Have fun with it, make it fun. Fun makes you smile and smiling clears your thought process. Slumps cause stinkin thinkin.

After you make 10 shots in a row from 3-5 spots close to the basket move back and continue. Keep doing that for as many days as it takes and do it 2-3 times a day, and as many times as it takes for it to become fluid and brain free without thinking. Follow that up with taking 50-100 foul shots in groups of 10 until you can make 9/10 or better. Do that 3 times a day too. Repetition is the mother of skill.

The one thing you dont need when your in a slump is negativity. Especially having people tell you that you stink or your no good or whats wrong with you. You need to get your butt out there and work it off. It may take a little bit more time then you want it to but your mind is not a microwave where you turn for a few minutes and bingo its done. I think that when your shot is not falling and you follow these thoughts within a week you'll be shooting better. The more you do it the better you get.

Amen; it gives "shoot around" a whole new meaning.

 

[Bama fan]

Wise words for sure. Earlier in my life I tried golf lost my swing after 3 days, I stepped back and sought sage advice from a very good golfer, Hale Irwin {perhaps you remember him} I think I received the best sports advice I ever received, "get as far away from golf, as you can, quit find something else, wise man, Hale I thank him to this day. Not an option for our Husky's we have a 5 day stretch between games very soon, a few of our own could benefit from Tonyc's advise.

I do not golf at all , but earlier in life I tried it. A good friend who was also a good golfer took a look at my game and advised me to never golf again. Saved both of us a great deal of angst! My wife was eternally grateful, too. More money in the bank and less trouble all around!

 

[Littlemin]

With all due respect to all, there is no “formula” to regaining confidence. An assistant coach on my staff used to preach over and over again “Never up, never in” to players who lost confidence when it would manifest by passing up shots or overthinking and taking shots out of rhythm. If it‘s a good shot, fire away. There are always caveats, time and score, someone had a much better shot, etc. but all things being equal I would never tell a player not to take a good shot. It was part of the coaches job to teach a player what was a good shot for them.
Some here preach don’t shoot if you’ve missed a few, I don’t agree. There is a law of average effect and things even out over time. Of course the key is understanding what a good shot is and that obviously varies from player to player.
Williams in this case needs to figure it out with the obvious help of the coaching staff and her teammates and they certainly know her better than any fans from afar. Here’s very much hoping collectively it gets figured out and we see the return of that beautiful joyful smile she has.

 

[Carnac]

Agreed!! Cabin fever is real!!! After you've been "cooped-up" for a period of time, you've got to get out of the house (apt/dorm) even if it's only for a couple of hours. How many people have we heard on TV complain about being on mandatory government lock down? They were frustrated with most or all of their entertainment venues being closed. You can't even go out to dinner. They wanted to get out of the house, stretch, do a little imbibing and have some fun. Man was NOT meant to hibernate for long periods of time.

 

[ccwarrior]

With all due respect to all, there is no “formula” to regaining confidence. An assistant coach on my staff used to preach over and over again “Never up, never in” to players who lost confidence when it would manifest by passing up shots or overthinking and taking shots out of rhythm. If it‘s a good shot, fire away. There are always caveats, time and score, someone had a much better shot, etc. but all things being equal I would never tell a player not to take a good shot. It was part of the coaches job to teach a player what was a good shot for them.
Some here preach don’t shoot if you’ve missed a few, I don’t agree. There is a law of average effect and things even out over time. Of course the key is understanding what a good shot is and that obviously varies from player to player.
Williams in this case needs to figure it out with the obvious help of the coaching staff and her teammates and they certainly know her better than any fans from afar. Here’s very much hoping collectively it gets figured out and we see the return of that beautiful joyful smile she has.

 

[ccwarrior]

Interesting thougthts.
What "average" are you hoping some players return to? If any player hasn't established by their junior/senior years that they are consistent (against good teams, and not only bad teams) scorers, when will it come?

 

[NEforceUConn]

An alcoholic or medicated 1 day bender might work.

 

[MD#12Fan]

Devil's Advocate: You fight through it. You get someone to look at your swing and you work on your weaknesses. Practice with a purpose. Remember if you repeat something that is wrong, then the repeated action is merely reinforced. It serves no purpose to rest or back off or take a vacation. You'll eventually just be right back here again. You want to get past this.
"sometimes you have to take one step back in order to take 2 steps forward". Good players accept that. Poor players are unwilling to take that step back, therefore they never get past the crossroads where they are.
We're learning to play offense with the best offensive player in the country. If she gets open and shoots, the ball goes in, what, 56% of the time regardless of whether the shot is a 3-pointer or not. Right now the team is shooting, what like 40% as a team over the last couple of games.
IMO the offense has to open up shots all players on the floor can make. Liv's gunna make 30% from the top. AG is gunna make 30% from the wing. CW.... ugh, sorry. There are places on the floor all these players can excel from. We've got to get them open in those places, so they can excel. It's our offense. We have to find the happy medium, the sweet spot, where Paige is dominating and everyone else is also prospering.

 

[Huskee11]

Let me offer a ray of hope. I think.

Our vision of this team is clouded by our laser like focus on the immediate, the here and now. We look at every game, every play in that game, and analyze it from this angle, that angle. We regard things that happened a week ago as ancient history, if we remember them at all. We write players off, only to welcome them back. Until we write them off again. And so on. I am as guilty as anyone.

How about we take the long view, like three whole weeks.

Christyn was 8 for 18 from the field against Tennessee on Jan. 21
7 for 17 Arkansas Jan. 28
12 for 15 DePaul Jan. 31
8 for 12 Marquette Feb. 5

Four quality opponents.

Not much of that came from three point land over that stretch, but we already knew that the three point game is not her strength. Even in her memorable 28 point game as a Freshman against Notre Dame, she made just two three pointers.

Unless your name is Paige Bueckers, there will be peaks and valleys on offense. We can`t get too caught up in what happened five minutes ago.

 

[BBallF]

Devil's Advocate: You fight through it. You get someone to look at your swing and you work on your weaknesses. Practice with a purpose. Remember if you repeat something that is wrong, then the repeated action is merely reinforced. It serves no purpose to rest or back off or take a vacation. You'll eventually just be right back here again. You want to get past this.
"sometimes you have to take one step back in order to take 2 steps forward". Good players accept that. Poor players are unwilling to take that step back, therefore they never get past the crossroads where they are.
We're learning to play offense with the best offensive player in the country. If she gets open and shoots, the ball goes in, what, 56% of the time regardless of whether the shot is a 3-pointer or not. Right now the team is shooting, what like 40% as a team over the last couple of games.
IMO the offense has to open up shots all players on the floor can make. Liv's gunna make 30% from the top. AG is gunna make 30% from the wing. CW.... ugh, sorry. There are places on the floor all these players can excel from. We've got to get them open in those places, so they can excel. It's our offense. We have to find the happy medium, the sweet spot, where Paige is dominating and everyone else is also prospering.

I agree with this. Players have to play to their strengths. Otherwise make Liv the point guard and Nika the center and just make them practice a lot and they will be good at it? It's an absurd proposition. So what does CW do really well on offense? She drives left and right, gets out in transition and can pull up from close. We don't need her as one of our most frequent 3 point shooters. What about Liv? 23% from 3 range. What does she do well on offense? Post ups with her back to the basket, shoots better within 15 feet than beyond it,, and goes to the basket well on a pick and roll. Neither of these lists are exhaustive but only examples. When players are taking low percentage shots because of their own shooting percentages for those specific shots it favors the opponent. That is the key here. If AG took 100 3s every practice, she would still not be one of our better 3 point shooters. It's just not her game. CW can and does help this team immensely when she plays her game but hurts us when she doesn't. She just needs to take everything down a notch and go out there with the focus on helping the team in any way she can, not whether she is going to make the next shot or miss it. Everyone is using a golf analogy here, so let me ask you, do you have a better chance of making that 5 footer when you are worried about missing it?

 

[jabstep]

The reason Paige is such a good shooter is form and practice as Tony said. I used to coach my girls and many teams. I would have them start against the wall with the proper wrist and follow thru. Get that topspin on the ball and make sure the non-shooting hand only was there to keep the ball in the proper position. Secondly, I would have the girls start on the side of the basket and take a 2ft shot then 3 ft, and so on. As the girls got older they wanted to shoot 3 pointers. So as most girls did they developed a push shot from low to high to reach the basket. Saylor to this day still shoots like that. Paige and Azzi developed good technique early on as they reached HS and now can hit 22 to 23 out of 25 going around the circle of the three-point line. Why all of our girls are not shooting properly by now is a concern. Nika had Paige show her some pointers and she now is starting to get a better form with topspin and follow thru. It is not natural yet but at least her shot is heading in the right direction. Liv, Aaliyah, Aubrey, and Christyn need a good shooting coach and get at it. I don't think UConn spends that much time on teaching you how to shoot. They are too busy doing team things like running the offense and defense.

 

[BBallF]

The reason Paige is such a good shooter is form and practice as Tony said. I used to coach my girls and many teams. I would have them start against the wall with the proper wrist and follow thru. Get that topspin on the ball and make sure the non-shooting hand only was there to keep the ball in the proper position. Secondly, I would have the girls start on the side of the basket and take a 2ft shot then 3 ft, and so on. As the girls got older they wanted to shoot 3 pointers. So as most girls did they developed a push shot from low to high to reach the basket. Saylor to this day still shoots like that. Paige and Azzi developed good technique early on as they reached HS and now can hit 22 to 23 out of 25 going around the circle of the three-point line. Why all of our girls are not shooting properly by now is a concern. Nika had Paige show her some pointers and she now is starting to get a better form with topspin and follow thru. It is not natural yet but at least her shot is heading in the right direction. Liv, Aaliyah, Aubrey, and Christyn need a good shooting coach and get at it. I don't think UConn spends that much time on teaching you how to shoot. They are too busy doing team things like running the offense and defense.

I agree. I taught and coached girls from 4th grade through high school AAU. It is different when you are training kids who do not have ingrained defects in their shooting form or bad mechanics and you are teaching them first. By college, bad habits aren't just habits they have become part of that player. When is there time to make these corrections but more importantly when is there time for the 2 or 3 thousand shots the new correct way to make muscle memory? That's why I think the answer is to go to that player's strengths in season, not try to fix something or "shoot through it" because all you are doing is practicing and reinforcing bad form.

 

[MD#12Fan]

I agree. I taught and coached girls from 4th grade through high school AAU. It is different when you are training kids who do not have ingrained defects in their shooting form or bad mechanics and you are teaching them first. By college, bad habits aren't just habits they have become part of that player. When is there time to make these corrections but more importantly when is there time for the 2 or 3 thousand shots the new correct way to make muscle memory? That's why I think the answer is to go to that player's strengths in season, not try to fix something or "shoot through it" because all you are doing is practicing and reinforcing bad form.

The counter to your idea is that players tinker all day long, every day. Some players are actually intellectual about their craft, constantly honing. Once one gets out of the superstitious part of it, it's freeing to fiddle around. Coaches should feel free to talk to players about shooting fundamentals. At the end, what the heck do you have to lose. It's up to the player to heed the advice or ignore it. When I played, I shot before lunch, 1st on the floor at practice, practice itself, last to leave practice, and at night.

 

[BBallF]

The counter to your idea is that players tinker all day long, every day. Some players are actually intellectual about their craft, constantly honing. Once one gets out of the superstitious part of it, it's freeing to fiddle around. Coaches should feel free to talk to players about shooting fundamentals. At the end, what the heck do you have to lose. It's up to the player to heed the advice or ignore it. When I played, I shot before lunch, 1st on the floor at practice, practice itself, last to leave practice, and at night.

Same with me when I played. I wasn't trying to change my shot though. I was practicing it, maybe working on a new move, or working on my speed. Trying to radically reconstruct a jump shot or set shot takes thousands of shots and a lot of time. It sounds to me that you didn't need to redo your mechanics. CW does. Watch her motion both on the free throw line and when she is stationary on a shot. I am not as optimistic as you are so I think she should stick to what she does best during this title run.