Ball handling drills :)

Ok team... Dave (our weights trainer for those new gals that don't yet know) has us doing some ball handling drills twice a week before weights. Although that's a great idea and we are all very thankful he is making that a new requirement, twice a week is not enough. So I challenge all of you to do 15 minutes of ball handling at least 4 to 5 times a week. It's just a challenge, no biggie ;) I have had a few of the incoming freshmen ask what drills I used the other day at weights so that they could practice them over the summer while they were at home. I decided to just post them on here so everyone could see instead of emailing each individual that asked. So here they are. Enjoy :)

Ok, here are some ball handling drills :) Basically, you can do whatever you want and make up your own drills. Try to get 15 minutes worth. 

Warm-Up (no-dribble)

-Circles around your legs moving one leg backwards each time around. 10 times fast one way then reverse it.  

-Rhythm drill (this is the one where you drop it and then bring it in front and drop it again) 10 times each way... FAST.  

When you get really good, you should be able to go around your waist 60 times in 30 seconds (according to Pistol Pete lol).  

Dribbling Drills 

1. one dribble figure eights (10 times each direction) 

2. 50 times behind your back 

3. 5 dribbles big, 5 dribbles small (10 times each hand) 

4. swing crossovers in front (5 big 5 small, 10 times) 

5. in and out in front of your body- 5 dribbles big and 5 dribbles small (10 times each hand) 

6. in and out to the side of your body-5 dribbles big then 5 small (10 times each hand) BY NOW YOUR ARMS SHOULD BE TIRED IF YOU'RE PUSHING YOURSELF 

7. small dribble figure eights without messing up! 5 times successfully one way before switching other direction. Once you get better you can push the number up! 

8. Small dribbles around one leg. 3 times successfully to begin with. each direction with both hands. 

9. small dribble crossovers. Get on your knees and dribbles as small as you can to the side of your body and then cross it over. this should be somewhat challenging. 

10. walk while dribbling behind your back. try to go to half court and back without messing up!  

OK, those are all the warm up drills we did the other day. They should take a while to finish. Roughly 10-15 minutes. They can be done in any order, beginning with the no-dribble warm up. When you finish those, work on your moving crossovers and incorporate your ballhandling into your moves and work on them. There are plenty of other drills, these are the basics. Focus on your footwork with your crossover... that's most important. Have fun :) When you get bored of these drills, youtube is great at giving more ideas.

Good work ladies, I can't wait to see you all again!

Kayla

First Blog for Summer of 2009

Here it is...our UVU Women's Basketball blog for the summer of 2009!! It's especially fun this year since we have so many new girls coming in and so many news things to find out about one another. I will, just as last year, start off with a blog from me, updating everyone on my summer.

Well, so far it's been pretty uneventful. It's come down to trying to find a job, training, and trying to get grad school stuff in order. Not too exciting. I've had the opportunity to hang out with my family a lot which has been really fun. Its easy to take your family for granted and sometime its not until you go off to college and are away from them that you realize how important they are. I love it!

I started training at Parisi speed again. Man they are really good and letting you know that all the working out you thought you were doing.... is not working out! Just their warm up alone kills me! Its hard to understand until you actually do it lol but they even made t-shirts that say "our warm up is your workout" so you can only imagine what the workouts have been like. But i love it! i'm finally starting to get past the sore stage.

Unfortunately all my shows have come to an end (except the Bachelorette, that just started so i'm loving that!). American Idol, Dancing with the Starts, Desperate Housewives, Extreme Home Makeover! I mean, it's just a tragedy what will i watch on TV!? I guess that gives me more time to search for jobs....

I'm not sure there are any jobs out there... i've applied ot so many haven't heard back form one! I may just be a full time volunteer at the hospital which I will start this week. I guess you can never have too much experience and service.... but that still leaves me with no money so that puts me in a bit of a crunch. How will I save up for a plane ticket to go visit Adam? That has yet to be determined!

Anyways enough rambling from me. nothing too exciting going on. I can't wait to hear from all of you and see pictures!

Love,

Blake, B-lake, Unis... (for you freshman Unis and B-lake are my nicknames which you can call me by if you'd like or can you can just stick to Blake whatever you'd like...well within reason here!)

Summer

Hey Everyone, I guess I better do a blog before school starts! I've never done one of these, so yeah I'm not sure exactly what to say! But my summer has been pretty uneventful, just seeing friends before we all go to different schools. (weird!) But i did get to go to Lake Powell in June, which was amazing, I love that place. It was amazing except for the fact that we almost got stranded because rope got stuck in the engines, the engines failed, and we blew into a rock wall! It was very scary, but we pulled out :D The water was amazing though, it was like a bathtub, and it was gorgeous! That is pretty much the highlight of my summer, haha, so now i'm just counting the days til college! Ah! well i'm excited to see you all soon, see ya!

Erika

Busy Summer!!!

Sorry we are late with our post! We hope everyone is having a great summer. The first fun experience in June was Jake being in HSM3. He had a blast and worked late hours. Thanks to Coach Nixon's friend Jen he even got to meet so of the stars!

We have been busy with spending time with Chris in between recruiting trips. We made it to the ward campout. The kids had a great time. Although Ethan had sprained his ankle and had to be carried everywhere by everyone!


We have had fun swimming at seven peaks. We even got to see Veva there! It is so fun to see the girls outside bball.


We made a trip while Chris was gone to This Is The Place in SLC. It was fun to see all the Pioneer a ctivities and go for a pony ride. The boys cousin wanted to ride the pony but she was 14
and the age limit is 12. Nick was 11
and she had to let their cousin ride also because she was smaller than Nick!! Nick had to ride the biggest pony!



We had a great Primary Pioneer Parade around the neighborhood, and of course the princess was pulled in her wagon that had been decorated by the boys! We are sad the summer is almost over and school will start too soon! We enjoy August with Chris home but are also excited getting ready for the new season! We welcome Jenna, Erica and Coach Chessman!

Isabel in her wagon!

Greetings from down south

HELLO ALL!

Well this is my assigned month for the blog update and I feared if I had nothing on this thing I would get a beat down from Blake.jk As many of you may know I am currently a beverage cart girl at the local golf course, Deerwood Country Club. This has in many ways been the dream job to have for my summer here in Texas. I have gotten to know many of the regulars and I can honestly say I enjoy going into work. Besides work, I enjoy playing pool and sand volleyball.

During this summer we have had some interesting creatures break into the Beaman house. We were hearing noises above our activity room so my dad put a trap in our attic which connects to the roof of the room. The next morning we found a full grown raccoon in our trap. So we took it 5 miles away (cause that’s what you are suppose to do so they wont find their way back) and were hopeful that this catch would be the end to our troubles. No such luck. That same day we heard crawling and scratching noises in the same room. Come to find out our first catch was a mother of five baby coons. So we gradually caught them all baiting them with sardines and tuna. We had to take care of them (fed them each night) for a while until a lady who has a farm of them came a got them. My grandparents who live a few streets over had a pair of wild cats have kittens in their backyard and they are still living there and growing and growing by the day. LOL they will not leave because my grandma keeps feeding them. I have a favorite kitten that I want to keep and have tamed it to let me hold her. Wish the apartments allowed animals

Well ladies I just want yall to know how much I am looking forward to coming back in August and finishing out my senior year. I could not pick a better bunch to spend it with. At the course I am constantly bragging about what a great group of girls yall are and have many of them looking at the website and learning all about the Utah Valley women's basketball team.

I know many are concerned with Jordyn and her status right now with the surgery. She does not have access to a computer right now but I told her I was going to put a message on the team blog. She is currently only allowed to walk and bike. No twisting movements or running yet. Her biggest challenge right now is gradually getting takin off the pain pills. Because she was taking them for so long before even the surgery it is very difficult to get off of them, but she is doing great. She appreciates all your support and is very excited to return back in August.

I have nothing too exciting left to tell but I love you guys and hope you all are enjoying your summers!

Look at all those people! We were thinking about you all and wished we could all celebrate together. We will (exept, I'll be in SD cheering for you) when you get back! I will update my info this week and let you know all the details. I love you all! Hope life is spectacular in every place that you are! :) Coach Larson

UVUphoria!

Hi to all my favorite players! I thought for my blog contribution I would update you on all of the fun happenings here at your school. Yesterday and today was the big celebration for our official name change to Utah Valley University. Last night was a concert (Josh Grasin, Collin Raye, and Joe Nichols - : ) for all the country girls). It was fun and there were over 15,000 people at the baseball stadium to see it. They let people sit on the baseball field in the outfield on blankets and in the bleachers. After they had fireworks and a dance (of course I stayed and did some amazing dancing!)

We got a new sign on the outside of the McKay Center and it is very cool. It lights up at night and can be seen from way far away. It stands out so much and everyone who drives by knows where UVU is!

Coach Larson is still here in town but has started on her transition to South Dakota. (Lauren came by today so we took a picture.

We have a new assistant, Danielle Cheesman. Many of you have met her and she is excited to get to know all of you better. She will be recruiting with Coach B and me this month and will be working hard to help us build our amazing program.

Some of my family is coming in from Texas for the 4th of July and we are all excited to see the Wolverines (Kayla, Kim, and Asumi) performing in front of 65,000 people at the Stadium of Fire. Miley Cyrus has nothing on those girls.

Please let me know if you haven't gotten your workouts and nutrition infomation from Dave at AMP. Hopefully you all got it and are working hard to prepare for our season that is coming so fast. We have an awesome schedule (even though it isn't quite finished) and we play some tough teams but noone is tougher than the Wolverines at our best!

I love you all and hope you are doing great.

Coach Nixon