WHY ARE SO MANY KIDS NOT DEVELOPING😥🙏

So today I am going not a RANT. Today I am going to try and past along a little knowledge and hope a few people will listen. Today I am going to talk about why so many kids are not developing and fulfilling there potential. I will be quick and right to the point.

These days personal trainers are all the rage. I have seen it all this summer, like no other time. First there is the trainer who pushes kids hard. Then there is the trainer that makes kids feel good about themselves. Finally there is the trainer that is near by and Convenient. They all serve a excellent purpose because a kid is getting a basketball in there hands and that is always a good thing. But it doesn’t always lead to development. which gets me to my point today. Too many kids are working out and becoming drill masters and not moving there training to the court.

I laugh when people talk about teaching at NBS. Folks there is no dam teaching going in at NBS. NBS is all competitive situational play. Bow your person trainer should be all about teaching. But here are a list of things that I have witness this summer and make no mistake this is not an exaggeration. One handed passes in traffic, players with little ability or refusing to jump stop in the lane. Players inability to handle simple basic traps. Players with zero ability to read and use screens. Players feeding the post from 25 feet, kids inability to read second level defenders, bad shot selection because they cannot stop… folks I can go on for days. The reason for these things are simple, too many kids are not training with a purpose.

I watch kids dribbling around cones and I simply do not understand it. I realize there are times when cones are necessary but when they are the staple of a kids work out it shocks me. When I see kids doing a different drill everyday with no purpose other than to bring creativity ..for some dumb reason it still shocks me no matter how often I see it. Many will tell you it’s due to kids lack of attention span these days, you must keep drills fresh and new they say. I say great as long as a kid is developing. As long as there is a end game. Meaning they are moving those drills to games and Im sorry…. I AM NOT SEEING THAT IN MANY CASES. Many kids are simply working out and doing drills.

I beg kids to shoot everyday. But guess what they rather do? Go workout and sweat. That is until they realize nobody is recruiting non shooters anymore. Do they work on coming off screens? Nope, why? Because its boring until a college coach says she can’t use screen correctly. Do they work on playing off two feet? No because that is not fun until they go up a level in competition. Do they work more on keeping there off hand up when dribbling? Nope, they spend twice as much time working on there behind the back razzle dazzle, one handed layups? That is until they see a next level defender like NINA EMANCE for example. Most kids workouts involve dribbling, shooting and creativity, that’s it… defensive slides? Nope… basic two handed passing? NEVER… Foot work? WHY BOTHER…watch video tape? HELL NO… Target training? ARE YOU KIDDING? everyone is doing the same thing regardless of there size, strength, talent level, position or weaknesses.

Remember years ago when the best player in 5th grade was the worst player in 12th grade? That’s because the great equalizer was skill development . But sadly I am seeing less and less of this and it is hurting our game.