How I Would Train Dwight Howard
By: Dan Barto, Director of the Post Grauate Program IMG Basketball Academy
The Olympics were fascinating and though I could write fifty blogs based on what I saw, my most convincing thoughts about Dwight Howard had to come first. Yes, athletically he is a freak, and not much of a challenge in the grand scheme of things because the packaging is so pretty. However, there are numerous things in my mind that a typical NBA coach or skill trainer might disagree with, but I think would help DW currently and especially down the road when the bounce wears off.
Absolutely no more dunking in practice
I would imagine that a majority of his finishes on James Augustine and Adonal Foyle end in posterizing moments. Since he was old enough to dunk, which was probably around age 12, he has been using a majority of his repetitions accelerating towards the rim. Focusing on his Olympic moments, where he resembled more of a baby giraffe than a fluent scoring threat, I would suggest this constant acceleration makes it difficult to slow the body into a coordinated soft movement. His LEC or leg energy control is so powerful that this motion of verticality is few and far between. Enter contact. The ability for a player to adjust mid-move with tremendous body control in which the skill loop can still be completed even with an outside stimulus distraction, comes from the practicing of creativity and skill.
For those who have studied Dirk, we all know the craziness that his trainer has put both his skill and mind through. Yes, Dirk is a freak when it comes to eye hand coordination, but his outside-the-box style of body control training made up for the lack of physicality and “toughness”. Would dunking have made him mentally a little more physical on the court? Probably, but I do not think too many people would trade his production.
In order for Dwight to reach the next level of feel around the basket, he needs to develop a completely unstructured creative environment each time he enters the court. If I were on staff, I would go as far as to say challenge his creativity on a daily basis by requiring him to only shoot “fade-aways”, “freeze-fakes”, “dream shakes” and “Kobe leans”. Over time his body will adjust to these types of movements resulting in more connected movements.
Force a push shot of all free throws
Leg energy control (LEC) is one of the most unique concepts in all basketball skill development. The legs and squat mechanics of all athletes are completely different based on the biomechanical make up of a player. Dwight is in the most difficult segment for shooting form improvement. His high hipped, long armed build makes him all extremity. If you watch him shoot free throws you can see his knees pop significantly earlier than he releases the ball. One of the keys to ball flight control when shooting a basketball is allowing the energy to smoothly transfer from your extended ankles up through the legs, past the extended knees through the extended hips, into the arms and through the wrist. Dwight never extends his ankles, pops his knees hard as can be, pushes his hips forward, extends his back, brings the ball above his head and sends a variety of ball flights towards the rim.
It is not his wrist, balance, arc, or elbow. I would have him stand around practicing just the feel with his ankles and the ball locked in right above his eye brow. Next we would work on extending the ankles, knees and hips in order with the ball not moving from above the eye. Then we would work with those issues combined into a one-handed, guide hand mirroring work. This would have the energy being transferred all the way through the wrist, but not into a shot. After building into the one-handed shot with the NOAH measuring ball flight control, we would go dead hand/guide hand. We would be focused not on the end result but the softness of every shot with proper ball flight control. If the guide hand sends any second force it will be apparent in the result.
Though he is moving into the 60’s percentage wise, his flaws are correctable with the proper work.
If he is in the 70’s and can demand more double teams because of improved finishing around the rim, the Magic get to that next level quicker. He is at the stage of his career where the motivation for the details of his weaknesses may or may not matter. I would also think that being around the OBCD guys in Beijing he may have a heightened affinity for individual development and preparation. Only time will tell. Good luck Coach Ewing.
