Week 1.

The Lebron 14 #ComeOutOfNowhere Experience continues with four more weekends of basketball training with select media members. Led by FEU Tamaraws’ assistant coaches Jonathan De Guzman and Ryan Betia, we had our first session last Saturday, March 25.

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Week 1 was all about handles and basic footwork. You can’t be great without mastering the fundamentals first. Coach Jonathan eased us in to the training session with some core workouts first and stretching to loosen up the body. Once that was done, we went straight to dribbling.

First up was a series of resistance dribbling drills designed to strengthen your core, legs and arms in able to keep your dribble alive while going through a lot of bumping, grabbing and pushing from your opponent. Imagine how much beating Lebron gets on his body while driving down the lane and going against double and triple teams along the way to the rim and still maintaining his balance and focus. We did backing down dribbling, forward dribbling, and side to side dribbling, all with resistance from the front, back and arms, trying to get us out of balance. For the Lebron 14, it was important that the shoe had solid traction so you don’t slip and slide when trying to back down and get through your opponent. The floor conditions that day were not the best and slightly dusty, but the Lebron 14 held up pretty well.

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Next, we did a series of shooting drills around the basket. We started with curling around the cone and finishing with a layup using our right and left hand. From there we moved over to floaters, short jumpers, and drives to the basket. Basic footwork and timing are key in mastering these drills, and of course this tested the Lebron 14′s support features, making sure you can curl, stop, and change direction without missing a beat.

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To close out the session, Coach had us run from the half court line, take two dribbles, and go for a layup. That’s right, just two dribbles from the half court line  a la the greek freak! Naturally we all thought it was impossible, but coach Jonathan broke down the proper technique and timing to accomplish the drill. It was hard at first, but once you get time timing of your strides and dribbles, it all becomes easier. The Lebron 14′s cushioning was in full effect here as we had to push off to get our momentum going on each stride and reach the basket in just two dribbles. This is definitely one of my favorite aspects of the shoe because you get full impact protection all the way without sacrificing responsiveness.

With that, week 1 was a wrap. Check out photos from our session below and stay tuned for more Lebron training in week 2!

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