Book Private Basketball Lessons with Coach Raphael

I've been involved in sports my entire life. I spent the first 8 years of my life in Europe and although soccer was the predominant sport where I grew up, I mainly just wanted to dribble my basketball incessantly. I was heavily involved in soccer and kick boxing in my youth, but as soon as I came to the states at the age of 9, basketball became my sole focus. I was the best defensive soccer player 2 years in a row and MVP of my basketball team in middle school. I made the varsity Basketball team in 9th grade and went on to be the MVP my 10th and 11th grade at my private French school. I then had to transfer schools to get ready to start adapting to the American curriculum in order to prepare for college. That is when I stopped playing competitively.

Although I gave up on my pofessional hoop dreams I never stopped playing and have now accumalated an arsenal of moves built up over 30 years.

I can give you the ability to figure out how to score off of any angle so you never feel stuck on the court.

The sessions would vary dependent on skill level but the goal long term would be to follow the model I used with my more advanced clients.

1. Start with dribbling and layup drills to establish rhythm and touch.

2. Close range form shots slowly working your way further from the basket.

3. Incorporate all different types of foot work and ways of getting into your shooting pocket.

4. Work on specific combos that the athlete could use in a game where they would feel comfortable knowing they could score from.

5. Show them how to build off these combos and add counters to all their moves. (This process is essentially endless and my favorite part of the game). These sequences would always end with a made shot or layup so the athlete could start gaining confidence in what scoring options were realistic for them.

6. I would then rebound for them and have them shoot 5 spot up threes from each of the 5 spots that they use in the three point contest with the goal of at least making 2 out of 5 before moving to the next spot.

7. Finish with a freethrow shooting competition, best out of ten. My Clients typically lose:)

A lot of times, If I have more time with them we end the sessions playing some variation of a live game (king of the court, 21, or 1 on 1) so they can try to integrate the new things they have learned into actual competitive real time play.

I will link examples of all of these to my instagram so you guys can get a feel for what I’m talking about.

Myself. I know that sounds corny but you have to believe in yourself for your dreams to come true, people can help guide you and show you things along the way but you have to have faith in yourself that your goals can be accomplished. This is especially the case if you want to play pro basketball.

First things firsts, I think one of my best attributes as a coach is I'm able to connect with kids in an uncanny manner that makes them feel like I'm not trying to be their superior, but more like an older brother.

Also I'm a big believer that if your child is not in love with getting better, they will always fall short of their goals. I'm a master at making kids fall in love with the process of learning with a mix of flash and substance.