February 19, 2021
While attending youth basketball games there’s a great chance you are witnessing bad basketball. It’s not because the skill level of the players are not supreme but because of much larger-scale issues that have become an epidemic for the game of youth basketball. Before entertaining the idea of how we fix’ youth basketball, we must pin point the compound problems first and then work diligently as coaches and leaders of young men and women to eliminate them. Let’s look at the problems we witness in youth basketball today. Parents Competing With Parents Unfortunately, somewhere in the last few years or more, youth sports has become opposing parents number one battle ground. It’s a Clear cut view that kids became the secondary focus for kids competing with kids. There used to be something so wholesome about watching innocent youth basketball players going up against one another for the love of the game. But parent egos have started to get in the way, and everybody wants their kid to be the best. That includes switching teams all of the time, going to multiple different Basketball trainers , constant yelling at their child, belittling of kids that aren’t as talented, and other completely inappropriate actions that should not be a part of youth sports. As a youth basketball coach , you have to get parent buy-in that you’re putting the kids’ best interests at the forefront of your priorities. Also offering reminders that scholarships are not given out at a nine-year-old’s game can help, too. Ultimately, it’s up to parents to put the power back in their kids’ hands and step away from competing with other parents over whose kid can be better. Too Many Basketball Games Necessary sure, games are a fun way to build and Bridge that competitive nature. Contrarily, too many games is actually hurting basketball. Kids are working on their skillsets less so that they are able to play more. This becomes counter productive to the skill development with our youth. There has to be a equal amount of time to implement both perspectives of a players career. Not only does too many games hinder basketball skill development, it burns the kids out at a much younger age. If kids are playing 75 plus games at the age of 10, it increases the chances of them losing interest in the sport by the time that they’re 11 or 12. Instead, kids need purposeful practices and skill development , along with much-need time off away from the game. As a coach, instead of entering your team into a tournament every weekend, along with a couple league games each week, work to lighten the game schedule and work more on vital skills that are necessary for your players to improve. Too Many Plays Nothing is more irritating to me as someone who wants to see the game grow in a positive direction than watching a youth team go out and have a set to run each time they’re on the offensive side of the ball. By running set-after-set, coaches are turning their players into robots that are learning plays, rather than learning how to play. As a coach, rather than working on new plays and sets, teach your players the vital aspects of good offense, like: Floor balance Dribbling with a purpose Passing Shot selection Screening Cutting It’ll be surprising to how good a offense can be without running sets if players are being taught and drilled on what makes a great offense flawless. Ulterior Motive Coaches If somebody is coaching basketball at the youth level they should be concerned for every players experience, if not coaching youth basketball is not suitable for them. A purpose and need in youth coach is the development of those young players. Help teach the essences of the game while creating the positive experience for each and every player. More times than non we witness coaches that exclude a players experience or they’re coaching specifically to stay hands on with their child. Another perspective which is worse they’re coaching to make themselves feel better. No matter what, a coach can’t play favorites to their child. Coaching should never be about anything outside the development of the kids. The game, especially at the youth level, is about the players and never about the coaches. The number one option is, we need people that value the player experience to step up and be the loudest voices in the room. Eventually, youth leagues needs start forcing coaches to go through a few different certification processes to ensure all coaches have one mind when it comes to the mental and emotional support of our young players. Zone Defense Zone Defenses prevent kids knowing how to play man-to-man. Man-to-man principles should be instilled as the first primary defense. Teams play zone because it’s easier to teach and helps a team guard to secure pointless wins at this level. Of course playing zone defense is going to be effective at the younger levels. Basketball training at the ages 8-12 are strictly on fundamentals. Players are no where close to having the skill sets to properly breakdown zone defenses. Their offense of game is fully-developed. But the point isn’t to try and win more games as a youth basketball coach; or at least it shouldn’t be. Instead, you should be teaching your players how to play defense properly and not forming lazy habits in zone defenses. Teach your players about team defense and the shell defensive principles. Teach them the proper defensive stance and how to play on-ball vs. off-ball defense. Teaching your players those skills is far more valuable to them than teaching them a spot to stand in for a zone defense. Too Competitive Being overly competitive at a early age can be harmful. Youth basketball needs coaches that are willing to not focus on winning at such a young age, and parents that are okay with that. Ideally, I prefer younger kids to learn the fundamentals of skill training and skill development. Basketball workouts and playing in games with their friends for a few months out of the year is vital. Entitlement You don’t have to search the web to see how many entitlement issues there are. Entitlement in youth sports, particularly basketball is the new trend. To my disdain, we’ve created a culture of entitlement where kids think that they are above authority. As parents and coaches, we’ve helped to foster an environment that is okay with this entitlement. Talking hoops and expressing concerns is a topic we can talk about all day. Highlighting these concerns about the game is a need because basketball is a game that we love dearly, and we hate to see it head in the direction it’s going in now, especially at the youth levels. PLEASE understand, I know there are excellent youth organizations and coaches, but they are among the chosen few. As a Basketball community we need to make a positive flip with youth basketball, and it’s going to start with us as coaches, player development coaches, trainers and parents.
