Recently an email came into my inbox with the subject line: Need More Games? I seriously thought it was a joke. It was from a sports center advertising a summer league. More games?! You have got to be kidding me.
In my opinion, as well as the opinion of several others, kids play way too many games. Competition is emphasized over skill development, which leads to burn out and a disinterest in competition. Think about it. In some tournaments teams are guaranteed 4 games on ONE day. No matter if they win or lose at 9AM they still play at 11AM, 2PM and 5PM. Why does it even matter if they win or not? Too many games leads to a decrease in competitive drive because there is no consequence for losing and no reward for winning. Studies also show that young players get much more enjoyment out of learning new skills and making individual improvements than competition. If players are developed, their skills are honed and they reach their potential the end result will be winning games.
http://learntocoachbasketball.com/burnout-and-long-term-player-development
Unstructured games: Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I think kids are playing too much basketball, nor am I anti-AAU, I just think they are playing too many structured games. Players are constantly being evaluated by scouts or their high school coach. This leaves no room for creativity because every time a kid makes a mistake he is punished for it.
A soccer academy in Brazil, which has produced some of the top soccer players in the world developed a game called futsol to be played indoors. This dramatically increased the amount of repetitions they are getting – as much as 600% more than in a full field and full soccer team! Their philosophy is to let the kids play and figure out mistakes on their own based on instant feedback from the competition.
Many of the top Brazilians played futsol until the age of 14 instead of using real soccer balls.
This is a reason that we play a ton of 1 on 1 at our camps. I haven’t done the exact math, but to me that close to 500% more repetitions than going to play pickup games.
I think my college coach, Eddie Andrist, said it best. If you start out the beginning of the summer with a weak left hand, go play 100 games in the next few months — when August rolls around you still will have a weak left hand. Structured games should be rewards to test the skills that you work on in practice.
—
Mike Lee
Be sure to follow me on Twitter @mikeleehoops!
PS – If you didn’t sign up to receive the FREE Stephen Curry Skills Academy Curriculum make sure you do so here!