Real Situations Teach Best

Here’s a simple recap of what I posted last week put in another way. 

Great, simple decisions are not easy to consistently make. 

The pros are the pros, because they play more and, in turn, make the same sorts of decisions more than anyone else. Defense and offense. All over the court. Live decision. With real defense in a real game.

Drills in isolation are not all bad, but they are not enough. Not even close. Kids need to play. More specifically, they need to play in a variety of basketball situations. 

We can often help them most by creating these various situations for them in breakdown games. What we emphasize is determined by who they are and where they are in their development. But they will often surprise you with their ability to pick things up…if you let them. 

Don’t get in the way. Embrace the messiness of learning. Create new situations and emphasize 1-2 things at a time and you will be very surprised at how quickly they learn. They will begin to have a ‘feel’ for how to move and decide in a game that is more important than all the technical skills you can isolate in drills. 

We want our kids to just know how to play. To be able to make consistently good decisions. So our teaching must consistently put them in real-time situations. And new situations. This is a good education. Coaches and parents, please make it your own.