Coach sar and others

This weekend we participated in our first tourny! We was the only 4th grade team in a 5th grade tourny ! I think as does there coach that we competed better each game we played! We played 3 games and each game our point totals went up and we played a little better defense and our intensity went up more! Game 1 we kinda looked like a deer in the headlights ! Game 2 was some better and game 3 was even better ! One thing that was consistent was we lost the rebounding big time but I feel that when we play in our age group that will be a lot better! Something u can't control and that's the size of the older kids! As far as Blake he played ok ! He averaged about 12 points a game! I could tell that he was thinking and not reacting ! I really believe that's cause he is a little unsure what his coach is wanting from him and these are a group of new players he is playing with ! He passed the ball well also, made a few nice passes! After game 2 his coach came up and told him Blake for us to be good u need to be a little more selfish ! We need u to score for us ! I think this weekend was a good learning tool for the kids and blake and I feel that as we get games under our belt we will get more comfortable with each other and learn our spots and spacing and improve over time! Game 4 is tomorrow night against a legit 4th grade team in a AAU league we are playing in ! I'll keep u posted on our growth! Any advice of comments is appreciated!

Being a little nervous/anxious is pretty normal in your first tourney... and playing older kids doesn't make it any easier. Just try to keep them calm and play within themselves. Play to your strengths.... and try to execute the things you teach in practice. Patience is a virture here... make sure they are having fun and that winning is NOT the #1 priority.

They WILL get better as the season progresses as you work on the fundamentals... winning is a by product of a fundamentaly sound team. Keep up the good work and I hope Blake relaxes, has some fun and you will be surprised how much better he will get. I hope the coach doesn't put too much pressure on him to be the big scorer all the time.....

Good luck and stay in touch.... let us know how things are going.

That is just what AAU ball is all about...GROWTH.

Not so such much about the wins but growth, skill development, player improvement and having fun. Wins matter later on in life when Blake plays high school ball and above. AAU and middle school will prepare him for that.

This spring will be my 4th year coaching AAU ball and I love it. It is so rewarding watching the girls gain valuable experience and seeing how they improve every practice, every tournament and every year. There are also special bonds that form during AAU. My daughter loves it because it allows her to get away from playing with classmates and lets her play with the friends she'e made via AAU with girls from other towns.

Your son Blake with have good games and bad games. He will learn and develop and most important have FUN playing what I feel is the best game in the world...BASKETBALL!!!

Tell Blake good luck the rest of the season!!

Coach A

Great advice Coach A.

There are so many coaches out there that are all about the Ws! AND for young kids like Blake its all about having fun while learning the game and gaining some great experience. Blake doesn't need pressure to win right now. like you said, that will come when he gets to the high school level. He is a very good player for a boy his age... I think that with his work ethic he will continue to improve and be able to play at the next level and be successful.

I remember holding summer camps for younger kids and I made sure they had fun..... we taught fundamentals, had a lot of shooting contests where everybody had a chance to win - prize was popsicles..... and I made sure that everyone won at some time or another.... they loved the camp and always showed up. Everyone got a camp T shirt too...... I remember one year when this little kid shows up.. maybe 8? His mom said maybe this is not for him... the kids were all a few years older than him. I told her - let him stay today and if he likes it, he can come back tomorrow and pay. Today is on me. She came the next day and thanked me .... saying that when she suggested he not come back he said NO WAY ... I WANT TO GO. I'm having fun. Isn't that what its all about?

I agree 100% about winning isn't the main goal Now and that development is and I think from what I see his coach is the same way! He is concentrating on the basics and see how they do them and not worrying about the end result but how the kids does it and reacts and handles the task! And as far as pressure on Blake to score , I don't think he meant it that way ! I believe it was more of a Green light type thing and encouraging him to shoot by u can make those shots and we need u to shoot them ! If u seen the game he was passing up shots and drives that in LL he normally would take and it looked as if he was passing them up because he is still kinda unsure what his new coach wants and his role is with the team! Blakes words to me after the games was I had shots and drives but I didn't want to seem like a ball hog! Which is good because I stress being a good teammate ! I just really don't think he was trying to add any pressure to him! Now after 2 more games which make a total of 5 now we all parents can see growth ! We are just amazed how playing better competition and what we think is good coaching and getting experience can do!

The more Blake plays with these kids the more comfortable he will become... and right now... being a good teammate is much more important to him than being the leading scorer... which is a GOOD thing. The older he gets the more shots he will take... by passing up some shots he is learning to look for other kids, maybe better shots?
I'm glad he has a coach that is stressing fundamentals... and I hope FUN is the #1 goal. I would hate to see a kid of his potential to quit for one reason or another. I hope things continue along these lines for him and the team. IMPROVEMENT is what everyone should be looking for... getting better every time you set foot on the floor, whether it be games or practice.
We used to have our kids come up with a 3x5 card stating what they were going to work on this day... 1 offense / 1 defense... in this age group... maybe one thing would be good..... ie; I am going to work on my helpside defense.

Let us know how things progress.

Coach sar You guys always make sense on here

Being that some say I am 10 years older than dirt... I have a few experiences that I can share which may or may not help... but I hope they do.

There are some very good coaches that have great advice here.... take a little from each and form your own philosophy. Some of my best ideas came from other coaches... I just tweaked them to fit my personnel.

Believe me, I have made many mistakes in my coaching career, the key is to correct them so you don't make them over and over. Now that I am sitting in the stands I NEVER make any LOL Good luck and I hope things continue to improve for Blake and the team.

There are a few videos of this kid... he is 12, but maybe something that Blake can work towards? This kid has some quicks and can really handle the ball... and yes he can play.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEb-QUHfNAU&feature=related