Hi,

I am a co-director of a boys basketball feeder program. We have teams at each level; 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th grade. Our philosophy is to develop the fundamental skills needed to prepare the boys for high school basketball. The other co-director and I disagree on the game format that should be implemented for our upcoming season. We plan to play about 25 games over a 12 week span. Which format is better and why: A) playing in 2 tournaments per month for a total of 6 tournaments or B) playing in 3 tournaments and 12 to 15 single games throughout the season?

Thank you for your input.

-Howard

Hi Howard -

You and I have discussed this before and you know my thoughts on this....all tournaments make the program more like an AAU program vs 12 - 15 games and 3 tournaments. ( which is more like a high school schedule )

My main concern is PRACTICE time, how many practices between games? IF you are playing in just tourneys, you play 3-4 games in a row without any practice time to correct problems. This is a recipe for disaster in my opinion. It does not give you a chance to correct problem areas and develop the necessary skills to play at the next level.

The practice to game ratio (at least in your limited season) should be at least 2-1..... if you don't practice between games the kids will develop bad habits which will be tougher to break later on..... kids need practice time to learn fundamental skills. After everyone of our games, my assistant and I wrote down every problem that we wanted to correct.... I put those into the next few days practice plans. The last thing you want to do is go into the next game committing the same errors.... practice is the only way to do that.

Being successful ( winning in your parents case ) is a by product of being fundamentaly sound..... your philosophy is to prepare them to play HS ball..... just because they win at the lower levels does not guarantee that they will make the HS teams. But, IF they go into HS knowing how to play solid M2M D, read and use screens, be able to pass, dribble and shoot.... their chances are greatly improved. JMO

I have a suggestion for you -

Take each age group and write down what skills you want them to learn.... each level should include a few more things and improve upon the ones learned the year before.

5th graders are not going to be able to do the same thing 8th graders can do, there needs to be a natural progression - (and I hope that zones aren't one of them) 5th & 6th graders can win simply by pressing all over the floor.... that wont teach them a thing... and it should be banned.... playing in tourneys gives you no control over that. You do that to some kids, they will end up hating the game and NOT have any FUN.,.... and that should be the goal for the younger kids.

I hope that Jeff, Joe and Coach Mac weigh in on this... (along with some of the other excellent coaches on this forum)

Yeah, need a little more info to give good advice. (How many practices? What time of year? When do they play school ball?)

I have actually been thinking about the same thing with some local players I work with. They start middle school ball in January. I think the perfect schedule for them is:

- 2 or 3 skill development practices each week (ex: Mon, Wed, Fri).
- 1 or maybe 2 games each weekend
- Take a week or two off of games before season starts. Just a couple easy skill practices before season starts. (You don't want them burning out)
- Take a month or 2 off basketball after the school season
- Do some skill development and maybe some weekend games during the summer
- Take time off
- Start preseason development again

Of course, it all depends on the situation and what works for the kids. But ideally, they need 2 or 3 skill development practices each week. Then some games. I think 2 practices to 1 game is a pretty good ratio.

Hopefully that makes sense. I guess my general rule would be to have a ratio of 2-3 practices for each game played. And play a max of 2-3 games per week. Tournaments can be fun sometimes, but from a skill development stand point long tournaments (with a bunch of games on one day), don't do much good.

I think the ratio above is really good because it's fun for the kids and they get maximum development out of it.

I think 'B' would be the ideal situation. I agree with Coach Sars that the crucial element is getting more practice time than game time and it would also give you a better chance to evaluate how you are doing and slightly adjust things when needed.

As long as your getting a proper amount of practice time, I'm not sure the schedule makes as big of a difference at the youth level as it would at the high school level. At the youth level, I'm going to work on most of the same fundamentals and principles no matter what; where at the high school level, I might completely change a schedule plan based on the results from a previous game.

I'm going to be coaching a team this winter that has two 90 minute practices every week and 2 tournaments every month. Is it ideal? No, but I believe in the program and their principles of empowering the kids not enabling, no BS policy from the kids and parents, and focusing on player development.

Thank you for your input! If I ever have any uncertainty, I ask somebody with more knowledge and experience...you guys! As long as you have the history, experience and facts to back-up your beliefs (which you do), I accept them as fact, not opinion. Thanks again!

Coach Jeff,

You asked for more information...here you have it:

How many practices? - Practices begin in October, 3 days per week, 90 minutes per practice (less holidays, school breaks and a couple other dates that the gym is unavailable). We will have about 20 practices before we play our first game and we will focus on fundamentals and making basketball fun. Games begin in January. However, the 7th and 8th graders may miss practice due to their school basketball schedule.

What time of year? - see above

When do they play school ball? - the school schedule conflicts with the opening months of the practice schedule; October through January. This applies to 7th and 8th graders only.

Thanks again for your input!

-Howard

Howard, to have that much practice time available is great. You certainly will be able make a lot of progress.

Maybe you already planned on doing this, but you could mix in a few scrimmages within those first 20 practices. The kids will like it more and it will help you gauge your progress.

Maybe you have a scrimmage at the 7th, 12th, & 17th practices.

I agree Howard.... try to get (maybe) a practice game in there? Certainly you need to scrimmage during those practices, especially after the 7th - thats a lot of practice time without playing..... but, IF you can get a practice game in with another team after your 14th or 15th practice, you will be able to guage exactly where your team is at and what you need to focus on to improve.

Kind of like our Blue - White game? But with another program in your case.

Howard - It sounds like you have a nice plan for the kids. I think option B would be better (assuming you can still work in enough practices and maintain that ratio). I know players can get busy with other things, so the extra days might make it tougher for them.

But I don't think you can go wrong. You have your priorities right, so which ever option you choose I think you'll be in good shape. I hope we can get more youth programs to be run like yours.

BTW, how many coaches are there? Do you have a training program for them (so they keep thing fun, don't run a bunch of plays, teach the right skills, etc, etc)?

Let us know how things turn out.