Club, AAU, Super League, and… Practice?

The basketball off season is here, and hoopers at every stage of their development are faced with more choices on how to further their game than ever before. When I was growing up, getting on an AAU team meant that you were a VERY good player, and one who knew (or their parents knew) the right people to make sure their athlete was playing on one of these elusive teams. That is completely not the case anymore. Now, there are MANY different organizations promising to take your athlete to the next level if they just join their program, their team, their squad, etc… And depending on the program’s ambitions with regards to traveling or playing in various tournaments or leagues, this can be thousands of dollars.

So what is a parent or guardian supposed to do? The biggest thing that I think needs to be stressed is that players don’t get better from playing a bunch of games. It’s great to jump into pickup games and play some organized games, but the off season is really a time to practice and become confident in the skills we’re developing. And how do we earn that confidence in our skills? By practicing! So what I would recommend is not signing your athlete up for every league and team because it’s going to give them the opportunity to play a bunch of organized games; your athlete will not get better if there’s not attention paid to practice. I would say for younger kids, try to practice consistently 2 to 3 times a week for an hour, working on defensive mechanics, shooting in game like and game speed situations, and general agility, footwork, and speed. Let them play all the fun pickup games they like. As far as organized games go? Maybe like 1 per week? It’s really more about skill development during the off season. The tricky part is making sure that practices are effective; it makes no sense to mindlessly shoot around for an hour. Drills, at the very least, should be run at game speed. Try to find drills that mimic game like situations; you can definitely dial the intensity up or down, but don’t be afraid to have a team mate play “fake” defense to give young kids the sense of having a body near by while they are ball handling, or rushing out with a hand up while a player is shooting. You and your athletes can know full well that there is no intent to steal or block a shot (at least during the learning stages), but getting confidence by initially adding in some aspects of a game will really pay off down the line and in games.

Anyways, all that to say, I highly recommend focusing on practice during the off season with limited formal games, especially at younger ages. Let your athlete play all the pick up ball they like, but make sure that is complimentary to dedicated practice emphasizing efficient skill development.