Kelvin Sampson on the need for kids to play 5 on 5, not just train 1 on 0 • Decision Making • Application of skills • Competition • Finishing through contact • Defending a live body Hard to simulate those things (Via Chris Baldwin 🎥)

5 Traits of Successful Coaches:

“We are trying to make the right plays for the team — which is a good thing because the more team basketball you play, the better — but guys are still thinking about it instead of just doing it." dailymemphian.com/section/sports…

Less players. Smaller pitches. Bigger impact. The new 3v3 format is about to change the way kids learn the game in the UK. Some are worried, but here’s why this could be the most exciting change in youth football yet. 🧵

Coaches are trying so hard to invent original constraints to prove their CLA credentials that we've just about circled back to the Insta drills that spurred the need for more game-based and CLA practice in the beginning...

3v3 > 5v5 for children’s basketball skill development and enjoyment.

Play > drills. Constraints through different defenders & rules, not flashing lights & cones. Real skill development.

Brian McCormick, PhD Playmakers League, LLC 3️⃣ Alec Vucinich 3x3, I believe, will become what beach volleyball has become to 6-person VB. Eventually, I think schools will start offering it as a school program.

Maximize time with the ball for young players. As they gain comfort & confidence, their game expands. They try new skills. They enjoy practice. It starts with the ball in their hands, not lines, drills, instructions, toughness, following directions, etc. Possess the ball & play.

Luka doesn’t develop this pass in two-line passing drills, but through play, often small-sided games.

Children learn rapidly thru large variety of movements, few repetitions & tendency not to follow directions (Torrents & Balague, 2006). Practices reduce variety, increase repetitions & demand directions be followed. Then we blame children when they “don’t get it”. More play!

“A child loves his play, not because it’s easy, but because it’s hard.” - Benjamin Spock Play is not unserious; it is an age-appropriate challenge for children.

'Si está solo y no tira, no jugará ni un minuto. Le volveremos a dar otra oportunidad, y si cuando esté solo no tira, no jugará. Jugará otro'. Esto de Sito Alonso debería ser norma de obligado cumplimiento para todos los niños, desde que empiezan a jugar.

Free play and small-sided games are vital for development.  So is mastery of the ball through practice. But you don’t need a $100/hour skill coach.  A ball and a little imagination is where it starts.

We can agree children learn the fastest & the best. We can agree on how children learn (exploration, fewer reps, less following directions). We can’t agree that maybe, just maybe this is how teens & adults would learn best too. Instead, teens need lots of reps & instructions.🤷‍♂️

This is why I also think pick up basketball is so so important for growth. There you can try and work on skills that might not be game ready

Most ideas about coaching are based on competitive levels where the goal is solely to win. These ideas may or may not be correct for those levels, but few are directly applicable to young children. The goal isn’t to limit and restrict, but to expand and grow. Play more.

The goal should be to grow. 👍

Playmakers League, LLC 3️⃣ Brian McCormick, PhD The idea of having grade school kids doing college level calculus would be outright ridiculous. But we expect them to practice like a college team without a second thought. It’s just madness.