The Making of a Basketball Player

In the old days, when a kid began playing basketball he would get assigned a position. Many times what position he played depended on his size, quickness, and his ability to shoot. If you were tall, chances are you played inside. If you were short and quick, chances are you played on the perimeter. What coaches would then proceed to do would be to have the post players exclusively learn post moves and then perimeter players exclusively learn outside moves. What this practice actually did was limit the players development.

Lets face it kids grow at different intervals. Tommy might be a tall fourth grader who levels out by the time he is in eighth. The problem lies with the fact that Tommy has been taught post moves all his life and is not prepared to play outside against other perimeter players because his coaches didn't think it was necessary to play Tommy anywhere but on the blocks.

At the youth levels, it is so important to keep the kids well rounded. Do not separate your team by height. Make sure that all of your players are exposed to as much of the game as possible. Have your bigs participate in dribbling drills and have your smalls be exposed to back to the basket plays. By doing this you will be assuring that your players are on the road to becoming well rounded ball players.

I'm happy to say that the practice of limiting all players exposure to all facets of the game is improving. Coaches are understanding more and more that their job at the youth levels are to expose players to all facets of the game. This needs to continue. We need to get to the point where bigs and smalls can take advantage of different skills regardless of height, depending on the what the situation in the game calls for.