Time to Get Something Out of Your Practice Time

We have heard the old adage of "practice makes perfect." And we have heard the updated version of "perfect practice makes perfect." Now let me give you a scenario: You are a youth-league coach, you have 60 minutes per week for practice with 10 third graders, two basketballs and one hoop. Now try putting that old adage to work. Youth basketball today, whether it be at the YMCA, Upward, Parks and Recreation, City League, or whichever league you are in, is in a downward spiral. The players get one practice a week and one game a week. Football teams practice at least three times per week and baseball teams get at least two practices and two games per week. But basketball players are falling behind at a young age. They don't get enough skill development, practice time, and game time. One hour per week, plus one game per week - is that enough for your child to learn anything at all? There are lots of dads and moms out there doing their best coaching their kid's teams, and they only working with what they are given. These weekend warriors have a full time job, have to take a night of the week to get these kids together, spend the first 15 minutes trying to get the kids to just settle down, then take the next 45 minutes to do a couple of drills and try to put in some offense that they got out of a book or they ran in high school. So now they are trying to get kids who may not be able to dribble, pass, or catch, trying to run the flex. Is it any wonder why our kids are falling behind other kids all over the world? One hour per week, this is all we are giving them to be successful. What if your child only took reading or writing or math for one hour a week? Now don't let me over exaggerate the importance of basketball in our society, I am merely making a point. As parents, you should not expect your children to get much better in this type of scenario. So now what is the solution to this problem? One would be to put them into a supplemental program to develop their skills. If you thrust kids into competition without developing their skills, you will turn them off to that activity. Programs such as Sports City Universtiy (SCU) have individual training sessions for kids of all ages and abilities. These training sessions and camps provide the kids another opportunity during the week to work on their game and focus on fundamentals. SCU also has teams for these players who may want to get more game time. SCU teams typically have a practice night each week and a skills night each week. Youth coaches can also bring their whole team in for team training sessions. Coaches can also come to an SCU clinic or skills clinic to pick up some pointers on how to conduct a practice, and how to organize a team. Let's start correcting these problems that exist in youth basketball, let's not continue to see more and more bad basketball at the youth level. Just because this is the way it's always been done, doesn't make it right. It is now time to begin thinking outside of the box. The real adage should be "Practice makes permanent." If you do it right, it will be right, but if you do it wrong, it will be wrong. We want to do it right. We hope to see all of you on the court this winter. For more information on how to get your kids involved at SCU, go to www.sportscityhoops.com