freshmen basketball

I just attended a freshman high school basketball game. This game happened to be with an inner city team participating against a well to do school. Immediately the suburban school took a commanding lead. The inner city coach was continually barking orders to his players, even going past the mid court line to yell instructions. On a few occasions as soon as one of his players made a mistake he was yanked from the game. This went on for the entire first half the team was getting blown out.

             Even with all his constant instructions and reprimands the kids were not playing well!!! The kids started to talk back to him and the three kids sitting on the bench, yes he only had eight players, were frustrated. When he admonished them for something that was going on the court they were dumbfounded. Why was he yelling at those boys sitting on the bench for problems that were going on in the game?

            During the half time he was nonstop talking to his players. Once the other team came back out on the court you could see his players being distracted. They just wanted to play basketball. They had had enough of the barking at them, the constant instructions and criticism. The coach even announced to the general public as the second half started that he had such a headache that he could not talk as much. Lo and behold his team started to play better. As soon as they got within 12 he started up again and down the drain they went. At one point, and I stopped counting at this point he yelled out instructions to one of his players during the first three quarters 23 times!!!

            Now let me explain what I interpreted from this game and why I do seminars and give talks about youth sports to coach’s schools, organizations, parents, and children, sometime on a one on consulting basis.

             First, there is no such thing as multi tasking. Scientists have proven that. An athlete, in this case, just goes from thing to another more quickly than someone else. Two, a player on the court is making more than one decision a second on the court. If you doubt that, go watch a game and just follow one player for a bit. Count the decisions he or she makes. Three, constant yelling just confuses the situation. Coaches sees college and pro coaches yelling and doing all sorts of gyrations and attention getting hysterics on the sideline during TV games and try to emulate that behavior. There is no connection between what a professional or college does on the sidelines to a high school or youth sports coach, none. These are highly paid professionals who know on some level that they could never have this kind of job with this kind of prestige with this kind of money in any other area of their lives.  They need to win to keep that lifestyle alive and, quite frankly, many get addicted to it as you saw with legendary coach, Joe Paterno at Penn State.

            During the game there were assorted JV and Varsity players of the suburban school in the stands. I started to question them about what was happening on the court. Here is the unanimous consensus from these players. Players, within the first quarter, turn the coach off who is constantly yelling instructions at his players, whether positive or negative. Ironic isn’t it, the more the coach yells the less the players listen.

             Next, I asked the kids whether they would tolerate this for very long. All said eventually they would quit. They also said they had many friends who had coaching like this that no longer play sports. I then asked the kids if the coach then started to praise or try to be nice to the kids, how they would react. All said too late, they were done.

            The coach could not see what I could see behind him. The kids just wanted to play, he even asked at one point who wanted to go in? One player who did not get much playing time raised his hand and was ignored. When he was finally put in he played a couple of minutes, got yelled at and was pulled out of the game. So how could he get better sitting on the bench? Why would he try anything creative on the floor? Why would he be anything but a robot? He just wanted to have fun and enjoy the experience with his teammates.

             After the game a friend I was sitting with said I should give the coach a copy of the book I am writing on youth sports. (It’s called STOP THE TSUNAMI IN YOUTH SPORTS. Achieving balanced excellence and health while embracing the value of play for fun.)

            So I asked the ref after the game what he saw. He said the coach had to get his kids going at the beginning of the game because they were lethargic. Maybe that explains how they got down 15 points in the first 8 minutes. Imagine what would have happened if the coach hadn’t yelled at the kids so much?????

            I then talked to the suburban coach. He was very gentle and easy going with his players and made a point of getting all the players into the game more than once. He said that this coach had improved and was one of the better coaches. O.K., I guess if we are lowering our standards for coach’s behavior we should do the same for the layers, shouldn’t we???

I have attended over 1,000 youth sport, travel sports, elite youth sports, modified, freshmen, junior varsity, and varsity games over the last 4 years. I have attended well over 200 practices. My point here is not to single out a particular coach, player, ref, parent, or fan to criticize and attack them. What I am trying to show is that this happens a lot more than anyone realizes. Sometimes, it happens so often it is taken as the rule, or the way things are. NO it is not. My mission is to return the fun to high school, modified, youth and travel sports through education. It is my goal to be able to go to a game and see good competition, good competitors having a great time. I am trying to educate as to the reality of the situation and the consequences of those actions and reactions to our children and their parents coaches referees and organizations.

life

I am trying to give you as much information as possible in as many different areas as possible so that when you engage your attention to the subject matter i present. You can then pick and choose the information that is personally applicable to your life and journey.

modified fun

I am working with a modified basketball  coach. His team won easily over a weak opponent. Even up 25 he made sure to keep at least two of his better players in the game at all times. He had reasons not to play the weaker players, all coaches do that follow this pattern of coaching. None are valid in the long term best interest of developing the most players athletically. I explained how that was hurting his team and stopping them from getting better. What he didn't see that I could is the unhappy players on his team. The good players playing in the game were acting up because they could basically do whatever they wanted on the court because the opponent was weak. They weren't getting better.Players coming out of the game were not happy. Kids sitting on the bench were unhappy.  They weren't paying attention to the game. Why should they? They weren't getting to play, and make no mistake about it, kids join a team to play, not sit. No  one ever dreamed of being Micheal Jordan while he was sitting on the bench. You don't get any better sitting on the on the bench. A lopsided victory had a price. I talked to the coach after the game and he was not receptive. He had explanations for why the kids stayed in. I explained to him what I saw. I told him with 10 kids at the game he could play shifts. He could rotate the kids and in a 32 minute game, four eight minute quarters, he could play the shifts equally and see the difference. I explained that you don't really have starters, just starting positions and any kid can fill that spot at any time depending on how well they play. You can use practice as a competitive tool and scrimmage with equal teams and see who plays the best. (tell the kids what you are doing) He could start many different players during the season, and still be competitive. He could adjust when they went in to start and finish a game rewarding better play in practice and in a game. I'm for more competition, not less. I also explained that when the better players were sitting on the bench and the score got close, this made the game more competitive for them when they went back in the game, thus helping them to get better.

Flash forward to the next week. He didn't start his better players. Almost immediately the players on the floor started playing harder.One boy who hadn't played much the week before was starting and when he made a basket the place erupted in applause. He was smiling and the coach was smiling. One boy, not a previous starter, got more points and rebounds in the game than he had gotten all season.

Interesting side bar happened. When the better players came out, even with a big lead they were unhappy. The coach calmed them down and I saw them start to react positively to their teammates on the court. After the game I congratulated the coach on what he did. He and the assistant were beaming.They commented on how well using "SHIFTS" worked and how much more fun they had and all the kids had. I  told him that he could explain to the better players that first it was a team. Meaningless points on their stat sheet at the expense of others playing time was not a good lesson to learn. When these players were not the best players on a future team they might feel differently when they had to sit. Also, the better the players on their team got, the better they would get as practice would be more competitive, and so would playing time during games. These players, after the game could complain to others, but after such a wonderful game, they would stick out like a sore thumb.

I am a very competitive person, but there is a way to compete that can help every one on the team improve and be successful.That inter team competition is the single most important coaching tool for young kids to experience and learn for future success. Life lessons are taught about getting along, success and failure, and feeling positive and good about your self and team. But the more some kids play and the less some kids play on pre puberty teams the less competitive it really is. The better players don't have the competition to get better because the other players who have not developed as quickly start to fall behind. The players strengths actually become a weakness as they develop bad habits. Players not getting playing time lose interest. They don't try as hard and eventually, quit.Oh by the way, they won big again.

POP WARNER VIDEO

Go to http://frozenshorts.com and watch a youth sports video where the kids play a modified flag football pick up game and have alot of fun!

Fill 'er up

If you are trying to fill the glass with knowledge and successful while only a few are helping to fill the glass, then it will take much longer and with much more effort to fill the glass then it would if everyone is pitching in a contributing to filling the glass.

Academics

If you have an academic problem on your team instead of dressing a player and benching him or giving him limited minutes during the game, get there an hour early and tutor the student so he can earn playing time.

Enable or disable

An educator is not here to disable you by telling you what to do all the time.  That type of education makes you dependent on on teacher or distracted by the teacher as you try to gain enlightenment on your own path in life.  An educator's goal is to give you choices and educate you to the wisdom and consequences of those choices.  It is only then that true learning takes place away from the teacher and inside your own mind and soul. 

Team

The idea that a team can be successful any long term run without benefit to to the least talented members on the team only that shows that winning a particular game or games without positive participation from all is actually harmful in the long run. The gap between the haves and the haves not widen and effort decreases. The very definition of team excludes "me" and values inclusion over separation. The win is cheapened by that lack of inclusion.

winning over participation in youth sports

Isnt it interesting that most people who clamor for winning over participation in youth sports are unhappy at home or work. They think winning will cure all ills. What they dont see is that winning becomes like a drug. The more you do the less effect it has on you. You want more and more , but its never enough, and the good feeling you got from winning in the beginning is harder and harder to find Winning becomes a crutch.

.momentum

Let's talk about momentum. It has been stated by many pundits that Eli and the Giants are peaking at the right time. Lets examine. The Giants had been struggling. they faced a team in the Cowboys who had been struggling. Fact, In a game like this one team will lose. So the Cowboys struggled and the Giants won. A lot of times in a team sport, one team loses the game instead of the other team winning. Then a dysfunctional Jets team. They imploded. Giants win. Now they are feeling better about themselves true. falcons next, and another victory Next against the Packers who did not have a good they win. Great

. So if the momentum theory is correct why do teams try to win early in the season? Why bot sit back lose, and then turn it on when the playoffs approach? Because momentum, game to game does not exist, confidence does though. What if both teams are hot? Again the theory does not hold true. What does happen is convergence and timing. Your world as an athlete converges with the other team and the confidence you have allows you and your team to be successful. If not the Patriots would not have lost to the Giants.
Confidence and momentum can are confused with each other. There is momentum in a game for sure, but it is confidence and timing that lead to winning streaks. confidence leads to you being relaxed and when you are relaxed you play better.When you play better you are more relaxed and and the game slows down for you because the stress that tenseness causes zaps your reserve and you tie more quickly. That in turn causes you to make mistakes.

JV Basketball

Went to a J.V. Basketball game and saw something wonderful happen. The coach had 15 players on his team. He divided them up onto three equal teams and let them play equal amounts during the entire first half and the most of the game. His team won easily. When   I asked him about it after the game he said," I thought some of the kids weren’t getting enough playing time so I decided to do this." I asked kids after the game what they though and almost all said they had fun and enjoyed what happened.

This made me so happy and I told the coach how great the experience was for me. I watched other people at the the game and talked to a few after the game was over. ALL said they thought what happened was great and enjoyed watching ALL the kids get to play.