Larry U.

My experience as a skills development trainer goes back to my first position as an instructor/teacher over 15 years ago. As a physical science teacher, I've been blessed with the gift of making difficult concepts simple to understand. So, when I volunteered to coach middle school basketball in 2002, I applied the same strategies to simplify the game to increase understanding and ability to my players Throughout this time I focused more on individual development and less on coaching. By concentrating on breaking bad habits and strengthening weaknesses, I have gained an extensive knowledge on basketball movement mechanics, which has been the key to my success as a skills development trainer. I have trained players of all ages (both boys and girls) from grade school up to the collegiate level. My coaching career began at School #3 in Paterson, NJ, where I took my middle school team to the finals for 2 consecutive years without teaching any plays, only basic basketball concepts like "give-n-go, help defense, and set a pic-get a pic." Since 2008, I have assisted the Ridgefield Park HS basketball team as a skills development coach.

Most recently, I have started my own basketball training academy, where I have partnered up with Nathan Lopez, former student and CCNY graduate, who played point guard at the collegiate level. Most of my clients come to me before puberty influences their motor skills, balance and agility. I also cater to college players who are determined to improve on the little things that can elevate your game. My philosophy as a trainer is to teach basketball efficiency through fundamentals, footwork and muscle memory repetition. I am currently preparing to take my career to the next level as a certified strength and conditioning specialist, CSCS. This will allow me to incorporate speed, agility and explosiveness training through proper resistance training at the professional level.

Ironically, I will not showcase a list of basketball achievements and/or accomplishments because I was recruited to swim for a D1 program at Saint Peter's College in Jersey City, NJ. However, as a D1 swimmer, I definitely understand what hard work, dedication, and determination means.
I am a certified USA Youth Basketball Coach/Trainer and pursuing a second career as a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist.
Basketball has been and always will be my passion. With that said, my goal is to use my gift and ability to simplify the game through fundamentals and develop basketball efficiency.

As a school teacher, I approach my training accordingly. There is a pre-assessment where I put my clients into game like situations and I evaluate their abilities and disabilities. A beginner will start off with hand eye coordination drills with ball in hand as we progress into stationary dribbling and dribbling while walking and talking with a tennis ball in the opposite hand. As the player progresses I incorporate footwork agility drills. We end the session with form shooting mechanics (B.E.E.F.) and lesson application. I have the player perform each drill to real game situations in order to assess and evaluate.