The belt pass

I am hopefully going to coach this year and have decided to take the bull by the horns and stop teaching the chest pass. Instead, I will teach the belt pass which differs only in name...and perhaps in the mental image the name conveys. The most common error for many players is to make the chest pass "from the chest". I don't think that it's because of the name but who knows?

For a while I thought that the push pass was more important and that it could even replace the belt pass. There are clear advantages to catching the ball with the hands ready to shoot which means that the push pass is a natural option. I still think that the push pass with either the left or right hand behind the ball is a great pass. At the same time, I think that there are big advantages to teaching the belt pass first. Let me count the ways.
- It is easy to learn the push pass once the belt pass is mastered. The inverse is not necessarily true.
- The chest pass is a great pass for a quick long pass to ignite the fast break.

By the way, I am firmly opposed to either catching or throwing a pass with one hand unless it is absolutely necessary. I realize that some people do it well but none of them have ever played for me.