Hello, Coach.

My eight year old is probably the most skilled basketball player on his team. Unfortunately, he plays very tentatively during games and scrimmages in practice. If we play at home, he plays fiercely. Part of it, I think, is that he\'s afraid of the contact, partly that he's worried he'll make mistakes and partly just overall nervousness. I don\'t want to turn him off to the game. And I think he's got some pretty good potential. Do you have any suggestions? I'd really appreciate it.

First of all, he's 8 - make sure he is having FUN! Don't worry too much about his play right now, other than he is having fun and learning a little bit about the game.

Explain to him that everyone makes mistakes, high school players, college players and certainly the PROS. Tell him to think about baseball..... .300 hitters are making millions... and that means they are failing 70% of the time. MISTAKES are PART of the GAME... part of all sports. Did you see the goalie fumble that shot and let the ball in the net for the US to tie England? You and I could have made that save.... OK, you could have :-)

I'm not sure at his age he is into goal setting, but you can set a few for him...
#1 HAVE FUN
#2 HAVE FUN

Then let him learn some of the basic fundamentals, dribbling, passing, shooting, playing defense etc.
Does he play with his friends anywhere? Let them play and get used to being bumped around a bit.... its amazing what kids can learn about themselves if you give them a chance.

Are you the coach? Maybe he feels like he will dissapoint you? After games go out for ice cream or pizza or something like that and DON'T bring up Bball unless he does. One thing I did with my teams was to keep the post game talk short.... try to talk about positives.... and the next day in practice I built into the practice plan all the thingswe did poorly

Since Coach Sars nailed it right on the head, I don't know if I can add too much to this. The reason Coach Sars emphasized fun is because 80% of kids quit sports by the time they are the age of 13, because it's NOT FUN anymore.

Also, for the aggressiveness issue, that's very common for youth players. I always like to praise the lacking behavior, in your case aggressivness. As soon as your son displays any sort of aggressiveness, praise it.

These two articles should be helpful as well.

"When Did Steve Nash Start Playing Basketball" http://www.breakthroughbasketball.com/blog/index.php/when-did-steve-nash-start-playing-basketball/

"8 Secrets To Success & How They Relate To Youth Coaching / Parenting"
http://www.breakthroughbasketball.com/blog/index.php/8-secrets-to-sucess-how-they-relate-to-youth-coaching-parenting/

Thanks Joe - I think what you did add was very important and its good that he hears it from someone other than me.

Don't forget, If you or Jeff ever get to this area.... let me know... I would love to meet you guys... I will have to fit you into my busy lunch schedule of course haha :-) One of my X teacher friends always says that the most important thing I do now is to fill in my lunch schedule. She isn't too far off.

You guys keep up the good work here.

Ken

Coaches Sar and Haefner,

I can't thank you enough for your quick and insightful response to my email quesitons. The very last thing I want to do is turn my son off to the game. Great answers, really. It will also help me keep a better perspective re: his progress.

What a great resource this site is! I'm going to bookmark it!