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PostPosted: 27 Nov 2014, 20:59 

Posts: 2
When I was in 8th grade, I was one of the taller kids, and became a back-to-the-basket center. I was one of the leading scorers and rebounders in a travel league. After 8th grade, however, I didn't get much bigger (I'm about 6' 0"), and ended up riding the bench in high school. All of the factors that made me dominant in middle school (size, strength, athleticism, post play, rebounding, etc.) were of little use to me because I was not one of the bigger players.

Therefore, I'm wondering, would it make sense to encourage my son to focus on skills that would be appropriate for a guard (passing, dribbling, ball handling, etc.), almost to the point of avoiding post play altogether?

Obviously, we should develop his ball handling and passing skills, regardless of where he is going to play, but my experience makes me want to tell him to avoid any post play like the plague.

Thanks!


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PostPosted: 28 Nov 2014, 06:04 
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You're personal story is the exact reason we've been telling youth coaches to avoid assigning positions for years:
http://www.breakthroughbasketball.com/fundamentals/Youth-Players-Positions.html
http://www.breakthroughbasketball.com/offense/3-player-development-offense-tips.html

I don't think he should avoid the post like the plaque. However you definitively do NOT want him pigeonholed into that post position! I think he should learn all positions and learn all skills. Having a guard that can post up and has good footwork can be a great skill. And the footwork learned in the post can be applied to the perimeter as well.

If you ever make it to one of Don Kelbick's camps, you'll see that he starts teaching everyone in the post. He teaches 3 pivots and 3 counters. He starts close because it helps with confidence and allows them to get more reps. Once they are proficient with the footwork he brings them to the high post, to the perimeter, and to all other areas on the court and shows them how to use that same footwork and same mentality in all aspects of the game. This really speeds up the learning process and works extremely well.

If you want to learn more about his skill development system, it's all covered in his DVDs.
https://www.breakthroughbasketball.com/pr/attackandcounter.html

Like you said, ballhandling, passing, shooting, lay ups, finishing... that is all important. I think all kids should work on those skills regardless of their size and position. Along the same lines, I think all players should at least be introduced and challenged to learn point guard skills. That's what we do with our youth and high school team. We try to get to the point where we have 5 point guards and 5 post players on the court at all times. We rarely get all the way there, but we get pretty close and those teams are very successful.

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Jeff Haefner
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PostPosted: 28 Nov 2014, 13:35 

Posts: 900
Solid advice from Jeff. My son was 5'11" as a 6th grader, which isn't amazingly tall these days, but he was usually one of the tallest on the team. By default, he ended up being one of the "big guys" because we needed someone who could hang with the other team's 6'0 + players and be effective. I could see him getting in to a rut of just being the "big guy" which meant he wasn't working on the guard type stuff as much. Big guys taking 3's or bringing it up the court seemed taboo.

The genetics pool in our family tree didn't point to anyone over 6'2", so we decided it might be time to work on those guard skills. We hooked up with an excellent private coach and explained that we wanted to emphasize guard skills, but still deal with the post play. Worked out great. He became a much more well rounded player and ended up more as a wing in 8th/9th. Looks like he's stopped growing at 6'2", age 16, so I think we made the right decision.

Regardless of where your son ends up, those "guard" skills can only make him better. I highly recommend working on the weak hand and lots of two ball dribbling drills with various tweaks to make them harder than real basketball.

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CRob


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PostPosted: 30 Nov 2014, 21:25 

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Thanks for the great advice guys! I will definitely check out those videos!

Yeah, in hindsight, I'm wondering why I didn't see where I was headed when I was in 8th/9th grade: clearly there was no way I was going to be 6'9" or even 6'6". I should have spent more time on guard skills. I definitely should have seen this coming, but at least I can help my kids avoid a similar trap!

You know, it never even occurred to me to hook up with a private coach. When I was a kid, my parents got me set up with one for baseball, but for some reason I never thought about looking into one for basketball, which, I believe, involves so many more different types of skills than baseball. Sounds like a great idea!


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PostPosted: 03 Dec 2014, 14:12 
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Every coach should understand that all players need to have all the skills . We ran an oen t offense so every work ed on perimeter skills too. There were times I had my center run the point for match up purposes.


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PostPosted: 06 Feb 2015, 10:43 

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My son is having the opposite problem, they dont coach post play at all around here, aside from telling him to post up, he had no clue what to do when he got the ball because no one ever showed him.


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PostPosted: 06 Feb 2015, 17:03 

Posts: 157
I actually like Don Kelbick's teaching philosophy on this; regarding this fact: You do the same things again and again from everywhere on the court.

He can be taught a drop step, an outside pivot, and an inside pivot and he can perform those moves from any point on the court, regardless of whether or not he is playing inside or outside.

If he keeps those things in mind, he can be good regardless of where he is. Check out some of Don's drills he has posted here and the material on his Attack and Counter (camps and DVD's). If he learns the footwork necessary to attack, he can perform those moves and counters anywhere on the court from any position. Wing, Pinch, or Post won't matter, he will have the tools necessary to attack and score if he learns those 3 pivots and the counters to the pivots.

Brian Sass


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PostPosted: 16 May 2016, 09:58 

Posts: 62
As usual the coaches have the best information and advice. Thank you for all.


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