A child’s sense of success comes from performing certain tasks well. Each child has his own actual and potential set of abilities, body type, personality, and level of confidence. It’s your job to match these traits to the specific individual and team roles that best fit each child. Ideally, you will also perceive each child’s latent abilities (and potential roles) that may emerge during the season under your tutelage. By finding and assigning appropriate roles, you will give each child a better opportunity to experience individual success and a strong sense of fulfillment in the knowledge that they have meaningfully contributed to their team.
When assigning roles to a player, it’s important that you do not limit a child’s potential. In practices, you should teach every skill to all of your players. Highlight the need for each player to practice newly learned skills on their own. Expose each child to different positions and roles. Judiciously look for game situations that can challenge and stretch a player’s abilities (putting newly mastered skills to use). A child’s physical traits and skills will often undergo quick transformations and you must teach toward this possibility.
It is essential that you teach beginning and less skilled players how to play a specific role. Many times, these players are overwhelmed by the speed of the game, its rules, and their physical immaturity relative to older or more experienced players. They often cannot process game information fast enough and may feel that they can’t compete because of their body type or lack of skills. For these players, roles simplify the game. The tasks associated with each role represent realistic, achievable goals. They provide the beginner an opportunity to make a difference and contribute to the team’s success.
When I am faced with instructing a child who has never played basketball, I usually concentrate on two roles: staying with their opponent on defense and setting screens on offense. Many young beginners initially lack the concentration to stay with their man on defense, tending to look at (and move toward) the ball. Getting these players to position themselves between their opponent and the basket is often a challenge. On offense, most first time beginners cannot dribble or shoot the ball well. They may also struggle passing the ball. Providing these beginners with a specific position in an offensive set, and having them set a screen toward the ball is a good starting point. With these simple roles and assigned tasks, a beginner has a framework for success that they can understand and goals they can achieve. As their skills and knowledge of the game increases, their roles are gradually expanded to include more responsibilities.
It’s also vital that you emphasize the importance of these roles to the team’s success. Each time a beginner performs a positive action, vocally recognize the behavior. Make sure that other players see your reaction so they understand the importance of the beginner’s contribution. In basketball, when one of my beginning players sets a screen during a game that frees a player to score, I loudly congratulate the beginner from the bench. Do it in games. Do it in practices. You will start to see smiles appear on the faces of these beginners as they too realize that they can succeed and play a meaningful role.
Copyright 2009-2012 Jeffrey S. Rhoads; All Rights Reserved
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