The Circle of Madness
The Circle of Madness was created by Gary Rhoades at Harvey Park Recreation Center. Before every practice we would begin with ball handling drills. We couldn't play in pick up games until we finished our ball drills. Sometimes we would dribble for hours. We would dribble to the beat of various types of music including the Austrian Orchestra. Other kids from different neighborhoods would come to Harvey Park to play and would laugh at us when they walked in the gym. They would laugh at us dribbling to this music. They didn't leave the gym laughing though. Our skills were far superior because our coach had a secret. The secret was have great fundamentals and you will be a great player.
As crazy as it seems it was a genius and creative way to develop hand-eye coordination and improve dribbling skills.
Recently I saw a ball that has an app connected that gives players a practice dribbling plan. The drills were the same as we did in the Circle of Madness. I laughed because our app was the Circle of Madness.
The moral of today's rant is don't be afraid of being different. And always, always work on your fundamentals!
