Quote:
Originally posted by bekays
I went to an AAU practice the other day, 8th graders, these kids had terrible dribbling skills and footwork, and an 1.5 hour practice consisted of two trick out of bounds plays, and alley oop play, and back door plays, and a trapping defense, 3 on 2, 2 on 1 drills, then a scrimmage. It was dissappointing to say the least.
|
The answer to your post is in the paragraph quoted above. That's 8th grade. The question is, where will these kids be in six years? Playing D1 ball? Not if they don't have the fundamentals. This coach isn't doing them any favors if he's spending the whole practice working on the tricks, and skipping the footwork, the passing and catching, and dribbling. Refs that skip calling the fundamentals in order to "let 'em play" do a disservice to the game, and to those players who are so busy hot-dogging that they have no clue why they get called for basic travels, fouls, and illegal screens.
If you're an 8th grade coach, you have to accept that your kids are still working on the foundation, and that they aren't going to win a lot of games. But if they are learning how to dribble, to shoot, to screen, to use a screen, to block, and also how to learn, your kids will be the winners in the long run.