Do You Sub To Keep Your Players Fresh And Out Of Foul Trouble?

I just came upon your article after being speechless at our quarterfinals playoff game today . Our coach made NO substitutions the entire game . We were winning by 6 at half and then things went south after half time. As a parent of a boy who sat and watched from the bench what is a good explanation for this? Everyone was in disbelief … I loved all of your comments on coaching . Obviously our school is lacking in that area …

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My son is on 7th grade team. When your team is 20 points behind or so and only minutes to play, does it not make since to bring the leads out (since they lost the game anyway) and put subs in for play time.

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What is the etiquette in A varsity basketball game to remove the seniors and starters in the last couple minutes of the last game of their season when they are loosing by more than 15 points? Also note it is senior night for these kids. Replaced by putting in JV players?

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Jeff says: 2/21/2018 at 2:35:23 PM Generally you sub out one senior at a time with a younger players so fans can show appreciation each senior as they come out. But it depends a little on the situation, how many players you need to sub out, if you need to sub a senior in, and how much time is left when the game is clearly out of hand. Sometimes opposing coaches and/or referees help out by calling timeout, etc so you can sub out the seniors. The refs usually understand and I have even seen refs call a timeout and pretend they are picking something up off the court and then resume play. Like     login   register

Last night our freshman boys played the freshman from a neighboring team Unfortunately there aren''t enough teams in our area to have a regular freshman rooster so these are specially arranged non conference games. Only freshman played and all got to play. A good thing as there are so many on our JV team playing time is at a premium.
When the freshman games was over the JV played. What did the coach do--he played mostly freshman again leaving sophomores with a minimum of playing time. My grandson has started for JV all year did not start. I don''t know if he was given a reason, but I will ask him when I have a chance to visit with him. The coach put him in shortly after the game started, he did well, making a basket, getting a couple rebounds and doing well--for abut three minutes--then he fouled and was immediately sit on the bench. Later he was put back in--probably less than a minute when he fouled the coach again immediately sit him on the bench. However, the freshman were allowed to keep playing after making one mistake--or more and played for a large part of the game. We lost by about 20 points and that has been the story of our JV team the past two years. There are two freshman who the coach played in nearly all the freshman game, then again in the JV game. I never saw the coach offer any reason or encouragement when he pulled someone out. I see a player who loved the game, is considered a better than average player gradually loosing his confidence and spirit while the coach overlooks him in favorites of his favorites. I know my grandson is not the only one who is discouraged. I think some coaches have no empathy for kids who aren''t his favorites. If we were winning with his chooses that might be different--but were not.

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It is important for coaches to communicate with players and parents as to expectations of the team, player, playing time and development. This all depends on what competitive level you are playing. General Advise: Coaches like to win, players like to win. Parents and players make sure you develop your skills to contribute to the team/level you are playing. Ask the coach, what does my son/daughter need to do to EARN more playing time. How can I help them get better. Parents must put team before player when having conversations. Do not over estimate player talent, decide what is the correct level for them to play and enjoy the game. If they struggle under pressure, help them in a positive way, ask coach for advise. The most common mistake I see in youth basketball is the lack of personal development of both players and coaches. Too much importance is put on playing vs. learning and developing skills. Great players are not born they are made through correct skills and development. Find a good trainer, coach that can help.
Your child''s development is more important then playing time. Every time I get asked to coach, I try to make each player better and teach them more about the game. Winning and losing is a product of the work we do in practice. Conditioning, Skills, Personal Development, and Team Strategy.

CoachCater

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This is a great post Chief! There is no reason to yell at little kids... that will get you nowhere!

The game is made up of mistakes.... your coaches needs to get over it. Coach / teach them the fundamentals of the game and then let them have FUN....

You need to have a little talk with this boy and let him know that you want him to shoot when he is open..... and NO ONE expects him to make them all. Look up some Michael Jordon quotes....

“I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”
- Michael Jordan

He needs to see this for sure!!

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I think the coach forgets the power and influence he/she has in the lives of the kids we coach. Some of the comments above really bear that out. In Australia the highest level of junior basketball is representative, where you play for your local association against other associations in the metropolitan region. As a coach at that level now into my third year, where there is massive expectation from the associations, the kids, and the parents, and coaching 12 and 13 yr old boys, I have seen some unbelievable behavior from coaches. Belittling, humiliating, screaming at what really are just little boys. I have seen good kids, with skills, try something on court, fail, and run back up the court with their head hung low while the coach berates them. So what did that kid just learn? Back himself, trust his ability, try something to build his confidence? No, he learned that if you mess up, you're an idiot, and you let your team down. Infuriates me to see this happen. Yes, at some levels, winning is important. And while sport is about fun, there is no doubt it is more fun to win that get smacked every week, but you can win, while making mistakes, and helping kids find their inner belief. I have one boy in my current team who is a great little baller. But he refuses to take outside shots because of the fear of failure. And what is saddest of all, is that this fear of failure has been coached into him - and he's only 11. Pretty sad. Coaches, encourage, don't belittle.

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The coach must always explain to players (Starters and Subs) how and why he allocates different people in the game, especially to Subs why he seldom places him/her in the game. All players have right to know and harm the team spirits.

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Coach -

This is what I have seen around here at that age group. 5 players start the game and another 5 players play the 2nd quarter. There might be 13 players on the team ( give or take )

The second half anybody can play, depending on who is playing well that day, it could be a sub.

This seems to work around here - you playing everyone at least 8 minutes sounds good to me with your age group.

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I am a coach of 7th and 8th grade boys travel team and was reading these comments to try to help me figure out how to sub a 10 person squad in 8 min. quarters. There are a lot of interesting ideas and they all seem to make sense depending on the situation. I would have to disagree with playing all players the same times at my level anyway. Half of the kids on my team will be in high school next year and I think the coaching staff has a pretty good idea about the talent level from our #1 kid to our #10 kid. However, we will always make sure even the #10 kid gets at least 8 minutes in a game and if we have a comfortable lead he will get more. The only time this may change is in playoff implications. When people say it isn't about winning but developing players I think there is a fine line. I firmly believe all the kids want to win and the starters may resent the fact that they are given equal time when they know the team has a better chance of winning if they are in more. I believe most of the "bench" players would also agree. This is just my take on the situation.

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As a parent there might not be anything you can do. You can try talking with the coach but the odds of that doing any good are pretty low. Start the conversation positive. Ask the coach for advice about keeping your daughters confidence high, versus accusing the coach of hurting her confidence. Coaches like to give advice, hence their ego. Just explain some situations. The best thing is if it ends up being the coaches idea not to sub in that fashion, versus it being your idea.

Maybe talk to the head varsity coach too.

Beyond that you could reinforce that it's ok to make mistakes.
http://www.breakthroughbasketball.com/blog/index.php/improve-your-basketball-mentality-learn-from-derrick-rose/

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My daughter plays for a coach that subs immediatley after any player messes up.
at the very moment of the mistake..the player is called from the bench to run to the table to check in at next dead play.
It is horrible...to the self esteem of the players...to the confidence of the players as well
The team doesnt focus on what is positive. they are trained to look for mistake of teammate and be ready to run to sub in...if the poor one who makes the mistake has to stay in for few minutes before dead play...heaven help them. Because they will only focus on the mess up from 2 mins ago and how they are waiting on sub to come for them. Its like the sub is the grim reaper or something.
It is just a horrible way to coach. but these kind of coaches have no idea how to teach kids...the have no interest in teaching kids anything.
these coaches try to live thur their players. they try to make up for the mistakes they made in life. and try to become the champions that they didnt become when they had the chance.

My daughter is in 10th grade now. She has played basketball since she was 3rd grade. But this is the worst coach she has ever had. And it has effected her self esteem and confidece so bad that I can see a huge problem. What should I do as a parent???
Any suggestions please.

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I am on a middle school girls basketball team and I don't play that much, sometimes never. But the sad thing is I am first off the bench. So no one plays behind me either. Some games my coach doesn't sub at all unless we have taken a 20 point lead and no less. When I do go in it's with all the bad players so I can't show my true potential. At most in a close game 6 of the 12 people on my team will play including the starters. He only subs post. I don't understand. Then in the locker room he lowers our self-esteem even more by saying he didn't want to risk the game by putting us in or he didn't think we could handle it. Also when we lose he blames it on him saying he shouldn't have subbed in me or another girl. I try to show him in practice but I am put on a team with not as good players so again I can't show him my talent. Please help!! What do I do just take it. I'm only 13 and trying to really get up there, I've been playing basketball since 3rd grade.

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Kerry, I would find a time that believes in fairly equal playing time. A player is never going to develop on the bench. I also don't believe in "competitive" at that age. What's more competitive, the kids or the adults?

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Coach/Parent Relationship: When is it okay to discuss playing time with my daughter's coach. She's on a competitive 4th grade team, and there are many times that neither she or I understand why she is removed from the game. For example, she is a very aggressive defensive player and rarely allows the other team to score. She rarely fouls. But, at the last game she got two fouls on her in the first period (they play 4 periods). The coach pulled her and only put her back in the game for a few minutes. He never gave her an explanation, and since she's only 9-years-old she doesn't understand what she did wrong. Even though she's only 9 - she is also smart and realizes that she wasn't the only girl on the team to make fouls that game. And, that some of the other girls foul every game and they do not get pulled from the game. Shouldn't he have explained to her why she was sitting?

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BB says: 5/10/2019 at 11:34:58 AM As a Middle School Coach, I also do not discuss playing time, so my advice would be to not do it. As for taking a player out, it is not always because they did something wrong, (if that is the case the coach should make sure to coach/talk to the player at the next practice or right away if he has the ability). The point is there are many reasons, could be something he saw, could be something from practice, could just be a gut feeling, could be he was trying a different combination. If he was focused on the game he might not even remember the exact reason. Like     login   register

I coach 3rd and 4th grade girls. We have 14 kids. How can I get a pattern of substitution that will allow for equal playing time? It is required in our league and I firmly believe in it!

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this is a good one
i like to sub players by a number situations like tempo and fatigue ive even used a sub to be able to communicate a strong point to a player in crunch time. So i beleive subs are a very important part of the coachs strategies

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Coaches,

I'm looking for a 9 man sub rotation plan. I have one PG and have back-ups for the rest (2,3,4,5). My 2G can play the Point in order to rest the starting PG. Concerned about keeping starters out of foul trouble and at the same time getting 4 on the bench valuable varsity minutes.

Please email me at mdmckinley@hotmail.com with any/all suggestions.

Thanks and Good Luck to You and Your Team this Season !!!

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I make out a substitution pattern for all my games. I don't like for my players to have to go more than 3 or 4 minutes without coming out for at least :30 or a minute. This rotation is not set in stone and is adaptable to foul trouble/score of game/how well or poorly a player is performing. I like doing this because it helps me to get more players in the game and also allows me to control who is on the floor making sure to always have each position covered. My backup pg is also my starting 2 guard so this helps me to make sure not to have both of them out at one time.

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Coach Davis,

Please understand that in order for players to learn, they will make mistakes. They need to play out of their comfort zone and learn things they can and can't do at this age level. If you take them out whenever they make a mistake, you get a scared, timid player. I highly advise to listen to this interview by Don Kelbick (former college coach and currently trains NBA players) where he talks about the importance of reducing the fear of failure: http://www.breakthroughbasketball.com/audio/news7kelbick.html

For kids under 14, you should try to keep fairly equal playing time. If you don't, you could be hurting the players and the team's future. The reason I say this is that so much happens between ages 14 to 18. Somebody who is riding the bench right now may have the most potential, but is developing slower than others. If this player doesn't get playing time, how does he improve?

And never punish a kid for a disagreement that you have with a parent, that is extremely unfair to the child.

You need to ask yourself. Are you coaching to win games or are you coaching to develop players? At the youth level, this does not always go hand and hand.

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I coach a 14Uboy's competitive basketball team and I still have not figured out just how to sub. Honestly, I tend to remove them from the game after a couple mistakes or turnovers. I am never too concerned over a missed shot unless it was an easy layup that was missed. I have been told to leave the player in and when I do, more mistakes. I don't intend to blow their confidence, but they leave me no choice. They turn to you and say "my bad," then make another turnover. I usually try to play all of my players except for discipline reasons. And a lot of my most serious problems is parents. We have played many teams this season and a lot of those teams don't play all of their players, yet I have still have complaints. One of the parents even verbally attacked me. I hate to punish the kid, but since then, things just have not been the same. Please advise on how to deal with parents. I will need this for next year.

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Coach Jackson says: 3/5/2016 at 7:07:31 AM Coach Davis, I think your most effective strategy is going to be discussing this before the season even starts. If you have a parent/athlete informational meeting before the season starts, this is a great time to address this. For my team, I have a concise list of "non-negotiables". These are basic expectations that I have which I will not waver or be flexible with. For example, among my non-negotiables are: respect, hustle, on-time, and not discussing playing time. The last part is more for parents than my athletes. I tell parents early on that I will NOT discuss playing time with them under ANY circumstances. I will be more than happy to discuss things their athlete can work on at home or on their own time to improve their skills, thus potentially leading to more playing time, but that I will not discuss an athlete's playing time with anyone besides my coaching staff. Hope this helps, best of luck! Like     login   register

I coach Middle School Girls Basketball. My district requires that everybody on the team play at least 4 minutes and if you play in the 1st quarter, you cannot play in the second quarter. I play my strongest group in the 2nd quarter in order that they do not sit too much on the bench. To make a long story short, this allows me to use the players that did well in the 1st quarter to give my best players "a blow" in the second half.

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Thanks so much for this article. I coach an 20 and under male basketball team and that is a question I get asked quite a bit. "Coach, why did you take me out". For the most part my players are in foul trouble or it is becasue there is no flow amongst the player''s that are on the floor. I have subbed also to help a player get his emotions under control.

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We also like for players to let us know right when they think they are starting to get tired. If they take themselves out we will get them back in quicker. We tell them if they get too fatigued and we have to get them out they will sit a lot longer. Giving them some control on this has worked for a lot of players.

If we sub for other reasons we let the players know when they come out. Also, we may tell players going in why they are going in, especially non-starters. It could be just to give somebody a quick breather. A lot of times we may tell them something like "You're goong in just for a couple minutes. Don't worry about scoring unless it's a layup. Take care of the basketball and let's see how many rebounds you can get."

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thank you.
your articale give me new idea!

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