SELFISHNESS IN YOUTH BASKETBALL

I’ve been thinking a lot about selfishness in youth basketball lately.  I see it watching college/pro sports and have been talking about it with the kids I coach at the youth level.

Selfishness is pretty easy to recognize on the court.  Head-down dribbling…and more dribbling until the 1-on-1 results in a crazy shot and turnover.  Or not defending so once a shot goes up you can run the court for a cherry-picked bucket.

My older kids are just 10 years old.  They’re starting to develop some ball handling skills and like the feeling of scoring in front of their friends and family.  I get that – they’re starting to feel themselves a bit and I do want to nurture that confidence.  But too often it becomes one pass and the other four players standing around watching.

I want my kids to understand that that type of play is selfish, not just ineffective.  I’m starting to talk about that a lot in practice.  It’s not about who scores the most points but how the team plays as a unit.  I’m placing extra emphasis on – and praising! – the extra pass for a better shot, the screen to get a teammate open, a hard cut to open the floor for a teammate, crashing the boards for rebounds, etc.

I guess selfishness in youth basketball is to be expected as the kids learn.  But I like the idea of framing it around the concept of selfishness vs. selflessness.  It’s definitely a new concept for many of them but I know it will make them better players.