When you are a young player, just starting out, it’s natural for you to concentrate on the action around the ball (or puck in hockey). Your first instinct is to either move toward the ball to make a play or prepare yourself to receive a pass. The fans, the referees, and most of the players are all focusing their attention solely on what’s happening around the ball.
Understand, however, that you don’t always have to look at the ball. You should also direct a portion of your attention to what’s going on away from the ball, how it’s impacting the game, and what you can do to affect the game without necessarily touching the ball.
In basketball, you can run away from the ball to set a screen for a teammate. In situations where your defender focuses his or her attention on another player with the ball, instead of you, the “back door” option is often available—you can cut quickly to the basket, receive a pass, and score a layup basket. Simply moving away from an area can empty the space you occupied and enable a teammate to move into, and take advantage of, the same space.
Other sports present similar opportunities and game situations. In football, ball fakes and deception works because some defenders focus too much of their attention on getting to the ball and not enough on the subtle movements and other clues away from the ball that indicate a play’s true nature.
Don’t focus too much of your attention either on the ball or the players immediately around the ball. If you do so, you are missing opportunities to give yourself or your team an advantage. Always be aware of the plays you can make away from the ball and try to recognize all aspects of game situations.
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Monday, January 25, 2010
Friday, January 15, 2010
Role Playing Within a Team Sport
To provide opportunities for young players to succeed, you should identify the roles best suited to each player—the ones which enable them to immediately contribute to the team.
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.
Read more...
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.
Read more...
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Different Forces Drive Parents and Coaches
Although you want the best youth sports experience for your child, you should recognize that coaches and parents may have different views on how to go about reaching this goal.
As a parent, you are understandably concerned about your child’s best interests and want to ensure that your son or daughter can succeed. You may have decided on a specific path to prepare your child. In some cases, you may expect that the coach will play your child at a certain position. In youth programs that emphasize relatively equal participation, you may think that your child should always get equal playing time each game. And depending on the extent of involvement and the competitive level of the youth sports program, you may decide to forcefully engage the coach to make your expectations known. Think twice, however, before you do so as this can sometimes set a bad example for your child and possibly worsen the situation.
As you watch your child’s season unfold, and observe the coach’s actions as they relate to your child, understand that the coach’s goals and approach may vary from yours. First and foremost, he or she must balance the best interests of your child against those of the other individual children on the team, and the best interests of the team itself. Secondly, a good coach may accurately recognize existing traits in your child, along with potential abilities, that suggest a role for the child that differs from the one you envision. He may see a different path to success for your child. And finally, your child’s coach will have his own method of achieving results. If he follows the guidelines advocated in this blog, he will believe in building a custom framework of opportunities for your child over the course of the season—one that leads to growth and success.
For example, several years back the mother of a seventh grade boy in a middle school YMCA basketball league approached me after a game. In no uncertain terms, she stated that her son should play the point guard position and that he was better than the current backup point guard. Although this boy had reasonably good ball handling skills for a player his age, and showed the markings of a potential point guard, he was undersized and physically overwhelmed by the other eighth and ninth grade boys. In addition, two other boys on the team demonstrated equal or better point guard skills and were better equipped physically to handle the speed and power of the game. For both the boy’s personal development and the best interests of the team, I decided to keep him at the off-guard position.
As the season progressed, I gave the boy opportunities to play the point in practice and occasionally in a game; but his primary role remained the same. He developed an understanding of his role and how he could contribute now to the team in a meaningful way. We won the championship that year and both the boy and his mother were pleased with the way the season turned out.
In a league that promotes equal participation, some parents expect absolutely equal time in each game. Depending on the team matchups, this may not be the best developmental approach. A coach may sometimes choose to play one player slightly more than another and instead balance playing time over the course of a season. By doing so, he can maximize the number of opportunities for both individual and team success. He or she can avoid placing players in situations in which they are overmatched and will necessarily fail. Against weaker opponents this coach will play the less skilled players more than the skilled players, giving them increased responsibility and more challenging roles. In the previous example, this is where the seventh grader gets to play point guard.
If you are confused by the coach’s actions as they relate to your child’s development, talk with the coach to gain a better understanding of his approach. Recognize that his or her responsibilities, along with his knowledge of the sport and experience developing young players, may lead in a direction different from yours.
Read more...
As a parent, you are understandably concerned about your child’s best interests and want to ensure that your son or daughter can succeed. You may have decided on a specific path to prepare your child. In some cases, you may expect that the coach will play your child at a certain position. In youth programs that emphasize relatively equal participation, you may think that your child should always get equal playing time each game. And depending on the extent of involvement and the competitive level of the youth sports program, you may decide to forcefully engage the coach to make your expectations known. Think twice, however, before you do so as this can sometimes set a bad example for your child and possibly worsen the situation.
As you watch your child’s season unfold, and observe the coach’s actions as they relate to your child, understand that the coach’s goals and approach may vary from yours. First and foremost, he or she must balance the best interests of your child against those of the other individual children on the team, and the best interests of the team itself. Secondly, a good coach may accurately recognize existing traits in your child, along with potential abilities, that suggest a role for the child that differs from the one you envision. He may see a different path to success for your child. And finally, your child’s coach will have his own method of achieving results. If he follows the guidelines advocated in this blog, he will believe in building a custom framework of opportunities for your child over the course of the season—one that leads to growth and success.
For example, several years back the mother of a seventh grade boy in a middle school YMCA basketball league approached me after a game. In no uncertain terms, she stated that her son should play the point guard position and that he was better than the current backup point guard. Although this boy had reasonably good ball handling skills for a player his age, and showed the markings of a potential point guard, he was undersized and physically overwhelmed by the other eighth and ninth grade boys. In addition, two other boys on the team demonstrated equal or better point guard skills and were better equipped physically to handle the speed and power of the game. For both the boy’s personal development and the best interests of the team, I decided to keep him at the off-guard position.
As the season progressed, I gave the boy opportunities to play the point in practice and occasionally in a game; but his primary role remained the same. He developed an understanding of his role and how he could contribute now to the team in a meaningful way. We won the championship that year and both the boy and his mother were pleased with the way the season turned out.
In a league that promotes equal participation, some parents expect absolutely equal time in each game. Depending on the team matchups, this may not be the best developmental approach. A coach may sometimes choose to play one player slightly more than another and instead balance playing time over the course of a season. By doing so, he can maximize the number of opportunities for both individual and team success. He or she can avoid placing players in situations in which they are overmatched and will necessarily fail. Against weaker opponents this coach will play the less skilled players more than the skilled players, giving them increased responsibility and more challenging roles. In the previous example, this is where the seventh grader gets to play point guard.
If you are confused by the coach’s actions as they relate to your child’s development, talk with the coach to gain a better understanding of his approach. Recognize that his or her responsibilities, along with his knowledge of the sport and experience developing young players, may lead in a direction different from yours.
Read more...
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