Coach Ethan Khoza breaks down what AAU coaches look for at tryouts: basketball IQ through fundamentals like cutting and spacing, vocal defense, and playing to your strengths. AAU runs less structured than school ball, so show you can move without the ball and think the game.
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Just ride me, baby. What's up, guys? Coach Ethan here. Today I wanted to talk about how to do well at AAU tryouts. And I got a question about this specifically. And if you guys haven't seen my video on how to make the basketball team, I'm gonna link it above. Make sure you guys check that out. This video is gonna be similar. There's obviously gonna be a couple differences between school basketball and AAU basketball. So let's get into it. Tip number one is make sure that you play basketball the right way. You have to understand that when it comes to aau, it's not like school ball, because you don't have four or practice every single week to kind of drill in exactly what you want to do. Usually you'll have a day or two, maybe three days of practice per week. And the coaches have to figure out how to implement a system that you can learn quickly. And essentially what AAU basketball is is that it's a little bit structured, but typically it's going to be pretty free flowing. So coaches want guys who know how to play basketball. That doesn't necessarily mean that you have to be the best player on the team. All that. That means that you need to mentally know how to play, know when to pass the ball, where to pass the ball to, how to cut, how to sprint the fl, how to do all those things that high level basketball players do. Really what I'm talking about is you need to mentally be able to be engaged and know what you're doing at a basketball game. Because when it comes to aau, you just have to know how to play. And this is developed through obviously playing more basketball, watching basketball, learning about the game, knowing how to run the floor, how to cut. I also have a video about that. Go ahead and check it out above. And the other thing about that is that when you learn how to do those things, sprint the floor, back, cut offensive rebound, you're going to be able to score way more points easily because you do those things well. And coaches really, really love guys who do those type of things. That's a great way to set yourself apart. You don't have to go in there and be the best player on the team. But if you can do those little things very well, you're going to be a welcome addition to that team. So going along with that, what else can you do to separate yourself and show that you're a high level basketball player who's capable of playing good basketball Well? I think that maybe the number one thing you can do is Communicate as a coach, if I go to a tryout and I hear a kid communicating on defense, talking to his teammates, letting them know when screens are coming, let them know he's got ball when they're switching, that he didn't help, those are very little things, but they make such a big difference. And as a coach, I love to have players like that who not only are talking, but show that they can go through the game and talk. Basketball is a team sport. You need all five guys. So when you have a guy who can go out there and make the right play but also communicate as well to help his teammates, he's going to elevate the play of the entire team with his ability to communicate. So make sure that you're communicating on the floor, being that person who's like an extension of the coach, being someone who's going to be there to help your teammates out, and that's going to go a long way in showing that you're going be a very helpful addition to that team. You also want to make sure that you stick to what you do best as a player. So if you're a shooter, get yourself in situations during the tryout to where you're going to get shots of. Typically, AAU tryouts are a lot of 5 on 5 play because again, with AAU, there's not a ton of practice time regardless. So a lot of time you're going to spend just playing and obviously you're going to play a lot of games together. So go to want to get a feel of who can do what. If you're a shooter, make sure you get in positions where you can shoot. If you attack the basket, make sure you do that. Don't try and do something that you're not able to do in the now. Like I said, check out my other video on Hammond basketball team for some more tips too, because a lot of the stuff is going to overlap. But also I want to make sure we talk about AAU in general. So first, before you play aau, make sure you know what you're going to get out of it. Some players will say that they're looking to get recruited or they're looking to get more exposure. But you have to be real with yourself and really determine whether or not you're good enough to even be getting exposure. Okay? Are teams already interested in you? Can you compare yourself to other guys who are getting exposure, getting attention, who are being recruited? Can you say honestly that you can play on the same level as them? If that's not the case, then Reevaluate why you're playing aau, reevaluate what the situation is that you're in and also understand that for you the number one area has to be improving. So that means that the AU stuff is fine. But make sure you're getting in the gym as often as you can to improve your weaknesses to get to a level to where you will be recruited and you will need to get exposure. That's super, super important. Now I've made videos on this before, but playing basketball, like actually playing the game fil on 5 or 1 on 1 in live situation is super crucial to you as a basketball player. So I would never tell you to just ditch AAU because I think that it has a legitimate place in improving as a basketball player. But also make sure that you don't neglect the individual training that you need as well. And obviously I got a ton of stuff on my channel you can check out to help you with that. But make sure that you're having both parts of the equation. You have the gameplay stuff and you have the individual skill stuff. Because when you combine those two things, that's going to give you the improvement as the basketball player is going to take you to the level that you want. If you guys enjoyed this video, go ahead and leave a like and subscribe as well. I want all of you guys right now to click the link in my description below. Join our private basketball training group. I'm giving you guys free workouts, personal coaching, answering all your questions, and giving you exclusive stuff that you're not going to get anywhere else. So like I said, link in my description below. Go ahead and click it. Join 100% free. I'll see you guys in there. Like I said before, if you enjoyed the video, go ahead and subscribe. Hit this little black button right here to make it easy. I really appreciate it guys. And drop a comment for me. Let me know what you guys want to see next. That's it guys. Peace. The child.
