However, these problems develop before high school. Players need to have access to better trained coaches at the youth levels because players develop their practice and game habits early in their participation years, and if they develop bad habits, it is hard to change later.

On the other hand, Tim Duncan did not start playing basketball until he was a teenager and he is as fundamentally sound as anyone in the NBA.

The issue with youth basketball, now, is that since kids play year-round from the age of eight, they automate their skills at a much younger age, which does create a greater need for better youth training.

I know a player who I trained as a nine-year-old, the youngest player that I have agreed to train. He played year-round at that age and I expressed concern that he would burn out. I talked to him about playing football or soccer, but at the time, he said he didn’t like it. Eventually, he quit AAU basketball, wrestled, played football, took up dirt biking and wakeboarding, etc. He’s pretty good at everything he does.

Does that mean that he is a natural athlete? Maybe. Or, it could be the training that he received as an 8 and 9-year-old that created a solid foundation of athletic skills, as beyond training with me, he also trained at a Velocity Sports center.

As a freshman, despite not playing AAU basketball as a 7th or 8th grader, he may make the varsity at his high school or he will play J.V. His dad is of the opinion that the most important thing that hi son did was to learn the basic fundamentals at an early age and develop with good shooting mechanics and ball handling skills. Even when he takes a break and plays other sports, he always has the solid fundamental base to return to.

Other players play year-round from 8-14 with proper fundamentals and automate these skills, which prove difficult to change during the high school years.

So, to answer your question directly, yes, quality instruction should start before the high school years. My next project coming in August is aimed in that direction.

However, in the U.S., varsity high school basketball begins the competition stage. Coaches should utilize their players to maximize their ability and talents. For most players, high school is the end of their competitive careers.

Also, I am one who believes in personality. I think point guard is as much personality as it is a skill. So, when you play a player with a point guard mentality off the ball, he is underutilized. Combine him with a ball-hog shooting guard and a turnover prone point guard, and he’s not getting much development in the 8-10 possessions per game that he gets to use.

Also, I don’t necessarily agree that “well-rounded means playing several positions.” I think being ” well-rounded” means being a global player – that is, a player with all the skills. In a team full of global players, positions would matter much less. However, on a typical high school team with a typical high school coach with typical high school players, moving a player from his best position because of height usually has a negative impact on the player’s and team’s performance and the player’s development.

In this case, it did not stifle the player physically. He possesses global skills and is a 6′3 point guard. However, imo, it slowed his psychological development on the court.

The word “mistakes” does not appear in the article which you’ve cited.

IMO, it would be more accurate to represent what McArn actually had to say in the following way:

“He builds confidence by focusing on the things that they do right.”

Here is the exact quote from the article itself:

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McArn also tries to take an upbeat approach, even when hitters are struggling.

“If I just concentrate on what they’re doing right … They’ve got the ability to make adjustments and get back to where they need to be.”
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In addition to #1-3, above, especially when working with young players, it’s important to:

1. Correct the mistakes which players are making, on a consistent basis; AND,

2. Tell them what they happen to be doing properly already; AND,

3. Instruct them on the proper way to perform a skill; AND,

4. Remain upbeat.

The LTAD and Deliberate Practice provide the core knowledge any club needs. Supplying your coaching team, whether volunteer or paid, with the learning tools in order to support LTAD across all player ages/sexes and for the indentification of players possessing the motivation to commit to Deliberate Practice, I believe, is the key to long term success.

Why not open a simple discussion on the skill of the “Pivot”. Here is a skill that can be taught to 5 year olds and worked on for the rest of your basketball life. How are coaches instructed to coach the “Pivot”? Is it different for 5, 9, 12 and 15 year olds? What and when do we introduce variations of the pivot? What way of teaching is best for which kids? Is their a teaching progression and what are the signs the player is ready to move on to the next progression? Etc., Etc.

I wish I could take a new group of youth coaches entering the realm of coaching with their 5 year old children and say the following.

Don’t worry we have you covered:
1) Follow these pre-designed weekly coaching plans
2) Watch the videos we have posted on our website showing the skills to be taught and how to teach them
3) Try your best to let the kids have fun learning what you saw in the video
4) Don’t worry whether you are doing it right because our head coach will stop in an do some follow up.
5) While you are doing your weekly coaching please look for any child that seems to try harder than the rest or the one who seems to focus on getting better. All we care about is the child’s attitude don’t worry if she isn’t the biggest or strongest. Attitude is all that matters.
6) If we didn’t say it before have fun. If you have any ideas that the kids seemed to love please pass them on to us.

Why isn’t this the way it is done?

Regards Ross
http://www.passionpracticeperformance.wordpress.com

I know many families sacrifice family vacations during the summer in order to participate in the AAU National Tournaments (something the Disney corporation quickly picked up on in developing an association with the National AAU organization). Working parents only get a week or two for vacation each summer and more often then not, these end up being spent at a national tournament of some sort. It would be interesting to see all the different ways families deal with this situation (especially with sibling children that may not be into basketball).

Bloom’s study of America’s top performers (in widely divergent fields) found that a supporting family environment had a significant influence. In these families, kids were important and parents were willing to do almost anything to help them, but there were also obligations and responsibilities to be met. Parents modeled strong work ethics where work came before play and one’s time was to be used constructively. This type of culture seems less valued these days.

In addition, Bloom’s study found that while these top performers were developing, it became increasingly important for the parents to find the right teachers as they progressed to higher levels…and this was not often convenient. It required increasingly greater sacrifices of time, money and energy by both parents and students. These days I think more energy (and money) is spent by parents on AAU travel teams than appropriate skill training…the ‘cart before the horse’ syndrome. In many cases valuable training years are being squandered on weekly tournament play that exposes under-developed fundamental skills and reinforces poor work/play habits. How constructive is the use of that time?

Rick Allison
LoneStar Basketball Academy
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