As we witness increasingly more kids today race to play in the most advanced youth sport leagues possible, there is an important tradeoff occurring that’s not receiving the attention it should. Specifically, I am talking about kids learning the fundamentals of their chosen sport. When kids accelerate quickly into advanced sport leagues at the expense of first learning the basics, it creates an unintended gap in training that will ultimately surface again and again as the kid ages through his or her sport. And when I say “learn the basics,” I am talking about developing a really high proficiency (though not perfection) for doing the most common skills for a sport. For example, in baseball/softball, if a kid still doesn’t have any idea of how to properly stand in the batters box and get comfortable, teaching that kid how to do an advanced drag bunt does not make a lot of sense. Yes, the basics are often boring and mundane, but they are vitally important to use as a solid foundation of which future skills can be built upon.
Mastering the Basics FIRST!
Many sport families race to the next big, shiny thing when it comes to youth sports. Travel teams, fancy uniforms, and new equipment can be very alluring, but kids still need to not only learn the basics of a sport first, they need to feel confident in their basic skills as well. For example, for kids who still struggle to dribble a basketball, racing to learn how to run a basketball fast break may be a bit advanced until the kids first feel comfortable dribbling the ball around (unguarded) and with their head up so that they are able to dribble and walk at the same time. Only when kids take a disciplined approach to training will they master basic muscle movements (muscle memory) and automatic, conditioned responses (meaning the moves will happen naturally because they have been repeatedly driven into muscle memory). This process cannot be detoured or quickly passed through, but the great news is once kids develop these automatic responses they will play with more confidence, experience fewer mistakes, and ultimately enjoy more sport success.
During “basic” training, it is also important to use psychology skills like shaping, and to make sure that the new skills being developed are as close to textbook as possible (meaning it is important to learn the proper ways to dribble, skate, throw, catch, etc). Keep in mind that casual, disinterested training will lead to bad habits, and bad habits become even more difficult to break as kids age — making it really important to get it right when first developing basic sport skills. For example, when beginning a basic training program you might want to think about like this:
- Stage 1. Learn the skill by means of coaching and/or video, then replicate the skill by starting slow and easy. We are making layups from the paint (unguarded), putting a bat on the ball off a T, and simply hitting tennis balls over a net into the proper box (no opponent). This level needs to be direct, simple, and designed to build a strong base for many of the basic movements/actions in that sport. These drills also need to be performed regularly with precise focus, and not viewed as some sort of punitive measure. As kids near the end of this stage they should almost be able to do the drills with their eyes closed because they have conditioned their mind, and synchronized their thoughts with behavioral actions.
- Stage 2. Ramping up after the basics have been conditioned, we now work on the next level of skills, and introduce competition as well. If kids are comfortable dribbling and shooting layups, now try the fast break. If kids can successfully hit line drives off the T most of the time, now try some live pitching. With tougher conditions kids won’t succeed as much, but that’s where great coaching comes in to keep confidence high, while offering specific feedback so the kid can get back to what he or she just learned during Stage 1 training.
- Stage 3. Once kids have mastered the basics, improved upon the basics with real play and competition, kids can then begin to specifically develop/refine their abilities. A kid who now knows how to shoot might begin trying 3’s, or another kid who can now throw consistent fastball strikes in baseball might want to begin tinkering with a solid off-speed pitch. At this point kids need to continue working on the basic skills most important to their position in order to keep the muscle movements automatic, meaning shooting layups and doing T-work should still be happening even while the kids works on mastering his or her skills.
Another way of looking at the model above is to map it to any basic education model. For example, in school we must first learn the letters of the alphabet until we know them automatically. Next, we begin learning short words, simple sentences, and eventually we are able to read books. But what would happen if you first tried to read a book before being 100% confident that you knew all your letters? Obviously you would perform poorly, similar to the kid being raced to elite-sports before he has mastered the basics.
Final thoughts
There are a number of reasons why so many kids are jumping to advanced sports, even though they have barely developed basic skills. The competitive leagues are fast, fun, exciting, and include great uniforms, gear, and travel opportunities. Many parents get caught up in this hype, and lose sight of the importance of their kid playing the sport with a full understanding of the basics, as well as the confidence needed to execute those skills during actual games. Don’t brush off the basics when it comes to your child’s sport development — what your child puts into his or her sport now will pay nice dividends down the road when the competition stiffens.
drstankovich.com
