Why 79% of Youth Basketball Trainers Are Ineffective

At the age of nine, my parents made a crucial and pivotal decision which forever changed my basketball journey.  It was shortly after we had just moved from Durham, NC to Tulsa, OK. 

I was in the fourth grade and was falling in love with the sport of basketball.  Not long after getting settled into our new apartment, new school and new life, my Dad decided it was time for me to start working with a youth basketball trainer.

Working with a youth basketball trainer was a new experience for me. Up until that point all my basketball training had been with my Dad.  We would regularly find a goal at a local park, or a piece of pavement to work on ball handling, passing and body-weight strength exercises.  To work with someone else was foreign, but I was ready for the challenge.

Dad took me to work with Steve Bontrager, a local high school and college legend, who is still training youth basketball to this day.  Steve had been a standout at Oral Roberts University and was renowned for his shooting touch.  We began to meet weekly to focus on offensive skills, mainly shooting and dribbling.  

At every workout, my Dad would be in the stands, closely watching and taking notes.  Later in the week, after every workout, Dad and I would go through the drills Steve was showing me in my workouts with him.  Not only would Dad provide additional instruction but he would also provide context around when and where to use the skills I was learning.  Whenever I was playing pickup with friends or my rec team, Dad would constantly remind me of the skills I had developed and where to use them in live play. 

While Steve applied patience, Dad applied practicality. Both enhanced my performance.

I now realize that Steve was my basketball Trainer, but Dad was my Performance Coach.  Without both, I never would have developed the skills along with the tendency to use them, nor the results that followed.   A youth basketball Trainer is like a mechanic who never test drives the car. He aims to make the car run optimally, however, he can never be sure without seeing it work on the street. 

Nowadays every young basketball player has a basketball Trainer.  However, most young athletes lack a Performance Coach. 

You see, context is key to development. Performance Coaches focus on context rather than only skill set. Initially, I was also ineffective as a Trainer. When I  began working with my young son, I was purely focused on developing his skill set.  However, this led to his frustration because I wasn't accounting for context.  

He was six years old and had developed great ball-handling skills. However, in his rec league, every kid was taking off and running with the ball without being called for travel. While other kids were playing football on the basketball court, sprinting full speed past their opponents, making shots and getting loose balls, I forced him to slow down, dribble, and focus on using his skills; which he in turn hated.

Rather than focusing on my son’s overall performance, I was solely focused on skills.  This is the downfall of every trainer. Only seeing what young athletes as skills performers rather than real performers is short-sided and lacks context. Most youth basketball trainers have no clue how the skill development is being deployed or relates to the players overall performance.  

I should have worried less about my son’s dribbling skills and focused more on other aspects that would have helped his overall performance (ie speed and agility) (take our Player Performance Plan survey to ensure your young athlete is working on the right skills).

Players & Parents should stop focusing on skill sessions and start focusing on systems.  While skill work is a critical piece of the puzzle, it is only one component of Performance.  However, Performance actually has 5 key areas which are critical for growth. The fact that trainers are focusing on one of five areas leaves young players lacking and desperately in need of attention in alternative areas.

And we are just talking about the Performance piece of the overall player development framework.  Two other key areas exist for building young athletes: Psychology (Mindset) and Parenting (Environment).  While those topics are beyond the scope of this writing, the point is that youth basketball trainers are barely scraping the surface when it comes to player development.

 You may be thinking, ‘How can any youth basketball trainer have time to do this for each player?’ or ‘Who could possibly afford to pay a youth basketball trainer for the amount of time it would take to focus on the complete player?’ But my answer to you is that youth basketball trainers should change their focus from skill work sessions to player development systems. 

I always say, “Forget sessions, get a System!”

A system entails a measured process for tracking every aspect of player development, specifically Psychology (i.e Mindset), Performance (i.e Skill Set)  and Parenting (i.e Environment). Once created, the system will track inputs to direct specific outputs.  Strategy sessions would involve feedback about the process and adjustments needed.  Film review also allows real-world analysis and discovery. Parent meetings will help prepare a positive mental and physical environment.

These inputs transform basketball trainers into Performance Coaches by allowing young athletes to make the most of the resources at their disposal.  Some athletes have a knowledgeable parent or a dedicated coach on their side; but are they using them? Some athletes have access to high levels of structured play or strength and conditioning, but do they realize it?  The goal of a Performance Coach is not to be the answer for every aspect of athlete’s development, but to have an answer (ie. present a plan) for every area of athlete’s development.

So how do you know if you have a basketball trainer or Performance Coach? Here are some telltale signs. Does he/she conduct emotional check-ins to gauge the players mindset, motivation, and momentum (or lack thereof)?  Is he or she invested in the athlete’s overall development? Or only their skill development?  Does he or she provide regular assessments, tracking a plan of growth?

If you answered ‘no’ to any of these questions, you likely have just a basketball trainer and not a Performance Coach. But do not despair, you have options at your disposal. First, we offer stand-alone services like weekly Mentoring sessions which provide mindset and motivation calibration; and Film sessions which provide individual game-specific strategy; not to mention Performance Plans which track every critical component of player development.

These ancillary services are often overlooked but they are what enable athletes to activate the talent, knowledge and skills they have at their disposal.  Without the encouragement, challenges, and accountability my Dad provided, I never would have become the all-time leading scorer in my school’s history, a Division I 2x All-American, and had a six-year career as a professional basketball player.

You can also become your own Performance Coach for your child, just as my dad did.  As a parent, you are present more than any Coach or Trainer who will ever instruct your child. It simply entails being present and aware, even if you do not know the game. Glean elements from your trainer’s instructions, coaches’ instruction, game feedback and mental/physical outputs.  Using these inputs, you will come to realize the areas in which your athlete’s growth demands more attention and which areas are being served adequately.

You can even get a copy of our free JP3 Performance Plan to serve as a guide in your journey of developing a success system for your young athlete.