Book Private Basketball Lessons with Coach Matt

I played high school basketball at La Salle College High School. During my time there, I was named a team captain. We achieved a state ranking of #8. I shot 52.5% from beyond the arc in my junior year of high school.

I played college basketball for Ursinus College. I shot a league leading 42.3% from the field in my senior year. I was named a team captain as a senior.

Other Honors:

NABC Honors Court (2021, 2022)

Centennial Conference Academic Honor Roll (2019-2022).

My framework for coaching depends on where you are with your game, but follows a general structure:

1. Developing the fundamentals (Shooting, Dribbling, Finishing, Passing, Defense, Footwork, etc.)

2. Learning the Principles of the game (Practice Practice Practice, Shooting Mentality, Spacing, How to Utilize Your Teammates, Dealing with Frustration, etc.)

3. Internalizing the External (Example: Seeing a move that speaks you -> breaking it down into steps -> Practicing those steps 1-by-1-by-1 -> Creating Fluidity between those steps -> Internalizing those steps so they become second nature -> Personalizing the move so it becomes yours -> Executing the move in game like scenarios)

Fundamentals Breakdown:

Shooting - Form Shooting, Shooting Mechanics, Shooting on the move, Mid Range, Long-Range, Creating Your Own Shot and more

Dribbling - Stationary Dribbling, Dribbling on the Move, Dribbling Against Pressure, Developing Your Dribbling Moves "Toolkit", Dealing with Pressure and more

- Left Hand

- Right Hand

- Inside Out Move

- Cross Over

- Hesitation

- Through The Legs

- Behind The Back

Finishing - Right Hand, Left Hand, Right Hand - Right Foot, Left Hand - Left Foot, Jump Stops, Floater, Jalen Brunson Series and more

It's best if players come 5-15 minutes early to warm-up properly, so we can hit the ground running to maximize the time of each session. (I can provide a recommended warm-up if needed)

1-5 Min Visualizing your success, Setting your intent for today's training and Bringing your awareness to the session

Example of three workouts from each of the three of my specialties

~25 Minutes of Dribbling:

5-10 minutes Stationary Dribbling

5-10 minutes Dribbling while moving (crossover, behind the backs, through the legs at cones)

5-10 minutes Dribble Moves to Finishes

1:30-3 Minute Water Break

~25 Minutes of Shooting

5-15 Minutes of Form Shooting (Deep Focus on the Mechanics, 1 Hand, 2 Hands)

5-15 minutes of Shooting on the Move (Coming off of screen, Learning to Move & Set Your Feet)

5-15 minutes of Shooting off the Dribble (Pivot => Pump-Fake => Dribble => Shot, Dribble => Dribble => Hesitation => Shot)

~25 Minutes of Finishing

5-15 Minutes Stationary Finishes (Directly In Front of the basket)

5-15 Minutes of 1 Dribble Finishes (1 Dribble To Finish)

5-15 Minutes of Finishing Off the Dribble (Dribble Move at a cone, Dribble, Finish)

It's important to note that the drills required to improve your game are about the same between every (good) trainer. The differentiator is often the philosophy, skills & experience of the trainer. As someone who's recommended trainers to my teammates in the past - I usually recommend choosing someone you feel personally in line with in terms of their beliefs, experiences and their background.

That's a toss up!

In no particular order:

Coach Joe Dempsey (La Salle College High School) - Coach Dempsey taught me how to grow into a man, above all else. To him, it was about the game of basketball, but also about becoming a leader. Your goal was to become the best person you could possibly be. That meant showing up on time, going to church Sunday and putting in the working off the court to earn your minutes on the court.

My time under Coach Dempsey represented the idea of brotherhood. "Play for the L (L for La Salle) on the jersey and what it stands for". "Enter to Learn, Leave to Serve" was our school motto. These were but a few of the basketball & life lessons Coach Dempsey gave to me during my time playing for him.

Coach Kevin Small - Coach Small has a deep understanding of the fundamentals and principles of the game of basketball. He also has a vast knowledge of human dynamics, human behavior and flow. He does a great job of applying that to what, how and why he coaches.

It was known that in playing for Coach Small, the game of basketball was a means to the end of learning the greater depth of life. "Servant Leadership", "Pound the Block", and "Ubuntu" ('I am because of you') are some of my favorite lessons during my time playing for him.

There's 3 reasons "why" I love being a basketball trainer:

1. Bettering Performance

2. Creating Experiences

3. Optimizing the Learning Curve

Bettering Performance -

First and foremost, the reason most people seek out training is to become a better basketball player. You want to improve your shooting, dribbling, finishing, etc. You want to play minutes, score more points, make the team, etc.. Your goal is to compete. It's the foundation of what makes any game fun to play.

Bettering your performance comes down to doing a few simple, but admittedly hard tasks, over a long period of time:

1. Becoming clear on your goals - both short-term (1-month, 3-month, 6-month) and long-term (1-year, 5-year, 10-year, etc.)

2. Giving yourself over to the daily actions required to become great (Dribbling, Shooting, Finishing, etc.)

3. Placing yourself in the "challenge-skills" balance as many times as you possibly can - This is also know as "finding flow" (Effectively, doing drills that aren't too hard where you become anxious and avoiding drills that are too easy that you become bored)

4. Finding time for rest & recovery

Creating Experiences -

An easy to neglect part of the game of basketball is creating experiences. I can't say with 100% certainty, but my guess is a large majority of retired athletes recognize the following scenario:

Time and time again, the last game of the season brought tears for the seniors of the team. Grown men, standing in a locker room, balling their eyes out (guilty!). Every time I found myself in these locker rooms, the message from those in tears was the same:

"I just want 1 more game with the guys on this team"

That's what's it's about. Not one of my teammates said anything remotely close to:

"I just want 1 more chance to score 32 points, in a semi-final game, at XYZ gym".

...They just want 1 more game, playing with the people they care about.

That's what it's really, truly about. And it's my promise to share that message - that perspective with your son or daughter.

Learning -

This is my personal favorite of my 3 core tenets.

My mom was a reading specialist - so learning has been a core value of mine since I was a kid. "Enter To Learn" is the first sign you see on your way into La Salle College High School. Also, one of my favorite book's is "The Art of Learning" by Josh Waitzken.

I've found from personal experience that people aren't natural basketball players. I've yet to see a baby or a toddler dunk a basketball on a 10 foot rim, or cross over an adult or shoot a three with stellar accuracy.

Yet, from a young age, kids demonstrate a natural ability to learn. Whether it's Walking, Talking, Running, Laughing, Dancing... You name it. Kids seem to learn faster than anyone. It's amazing.

So every day, session, workout, drill etc., your son or daughter has the opportunity to learn something new and fast. That's huge!

Yes, it is about learning the game of basketball, and getting better.

But also, it's about learning the fundamentals, principles, frameworks, mental models, etc. and how to apply that to other aspects of your life.

Learning how to get out of your own way. (i.e., overcoming negative self talk)

Learning how to handle victory or defeat.

Learning how to set goals and work towards achieving those goals

As you cultivate this skill - you now know how it works in every other aspect of your life - for the rest of your life.

It outlives the game of basketball!

That's why I love training and if given the opportunity to train your son or daughter - these 3 core values (Performance, Experience and Learning) will be my guiding philosophy.