Kid wants to play but not into the Game

My son loves basketball, he will shoot the ball from sun up to sun down.he ask me to play with all the time. we go to the park and play. He loves doing drills and wants other kids to do the drill with him. Im not a fan of sports so im not a parent that pushes my son. my problem i have is when it comes time to play a game or Practice game he just stands there almost like he has no idea what to do. the kids and coach want him to play because coach kept stats on the shooting and he is 85% hitting on shooting drills. I never say anything to push him i just say good job or something to that when he does a good job. I cant understand how a kid would put so much time into practicing on his own time, no one pushing him to do so but not play. the season is almost over and he wants to find a local spring summer league to play in. the problem i have is he just stands there and i feel its unfair to the other players for him to play. the league they play in every one must play 1 qtr. I have also noticed at the parks when he plays 1 on 1 he will take it to the kid but the moment the other kid get a little aggresive he will stop playing and kinda jog around. I told him i though it would be a good idea for him to not play summer basketball and try baseball, he got upset and cried. He is very very shy even the coach said to me "you know your son has never said one word to me can he even talk". the coach says on the drill my son is probly the best kid he has and has told my son that many times.

Dad:
I'm not an expert on this but in my opinion, your son is craving for your attention. You have made it quite clear to him, that you don't like sports, and you don't push him into doing anything related to sport. I think, if you show a little interest in what hes doing, play with him a bit, you just may see a change in him. However, If that doesn't work, perhaps some counseling with a professional in sports psychology, will help. I am a coach, and far from an expert with matters of this nature. God Luck Coach Mac

Dad & Mac -

Sounds like he is very shy and just maybe he is afraid to fail?

You might remind him that baseball players hitting .300 make milions of dollars.... and that means they fail 70% of the time.... Most of us can only wish we coild get paig like that.

Also remind him that the idea of the game at his age is to have FUN..... so relax, go out, play hard and have FUN.

You can also remind him that when he plays he is helping another player get better. Do you play one on one against him? Keep trying many methods. Hopefully one of them will work.
Good luck

Keep taking him to the park.... let him play and get some confidence in himself. One of these days the light will go on.

I need to know, what's this boys age? and does he have close friends? What is Dad's job and what interests does Dad have. Is your son incredibly shy in all situations or just basketball. Coach Mac

Sounds just like my kid as well. He is in all kinds of camps, select Bb club, AAU and then he just alcadaisically plays. He wants to play, just when it comes to game time goes numb

Give him a hockey stick and skates, right Mac... getting out on the ice changes one's pesonality pretty fast.

Somebody takes a run at you on the boards, slashes or spears you.... watch how fast you react.

Let me claify this.... I am just saying that it might bring out some aggressiveness if he were to play a a game like that.

Here is a game that we played at our summer camps... it can be 3 on 3 or 4 on 4. Play a game to ONE MORE point than you have players.... 3 players, game is to 4, 4 players game is to 5. EVERYONE must score before anyone can make the game winner. This definately brought out the "player" in the kids.

Keep trying things until you hit that hot button that turns on the light and all of a sudden he gets more involved.