Developing basketball players is what we do every day. For the past 7 years, working with everyone from beginners to pros of all ages, we have seen the full range of sizes and abilities. Primarily, we work with players who have little to no experience when they start. We work with multiple athletes who have been with us for 5 or 6 years and can hold their own with most players their age and older. Every one of those players had no experience when they started.
We’ve helped multiple athletes who were at best role players in high school earn full scholarships. That’s not easy to do, but we know what it takes and as we say “The Work…Works.”
When we interview potential employees, we will ask them to talk about a training session with a beginner level player. 95% of them want to teach players how to shoot first. That tells me everything I need to know. It doesn’t mean we won’t hire them. It just means we’re going to have to have them adjust how they think. It probably also means that we’re going to have to teach them how to teach players how to shoot. My guess is they don’t do it the way we do.
Many male players are still growing and developing even after the age of 18. Trying to spend a lot of time breaking down shooting mechanics is counterproductive until they are strong enough to actually shoot it the “right way”. Shooting requires coordination of the whole body. As the body changes, so will their shot. It doesn’t mean younger players shouldn’t shoot or that they shouldn’t work on their shooting. But to spend a lot of time breaking it down at younger ages seems like a waste of time.
Lonzo Ball changed his shot at a much older age than your son. Brooke Lopez couldn’t shoot and learned. Younger players have PLENTY of time to figure out their shooting. Shooting is very technical. There are a lot of parts and pieces that have to flow together. I don’t know that any younger players can shoot “correctly”. They just aren’t strong enough. But learning how to dribble when you’re older is really hard. Learning footwork at an older age is hard. Or maybe i should say it this way. It’s a lot easier to learn that stuff when you’re younger, and then the shooting part has a foundation to build on. If you’re trying to learn how to shoot but you’re not comfortable with everything else, it makes it too complicated.
The development of basketball starts with their feet. Your feet are your foundation. Understanding how to move quickly, efficiently, in different directions, and with rhythm is critical. Next comes manual dexterity. Dribbling. Catching. Controlling the ball. It’s not necessarily anything fancy. But if you can’t catch, you can’t shoot. I see way too many older players who want to work on their shooting, but they can’t catch.
It’s because they’ve wasted time doing things that don’t matter and not enough time working on the things that actually do. Like playing 5 on 5. Why do we play 5 on 5 at such an early age? I don’t care if it’s rec league, “AAU”, or whatever. Kids are still developing. Mentally and physically. Their skill sets are still developing. Why don’t we put them in an environment to let them develop? 3 on 3 is less stressful on the body. It’s complicated enough to make them have to make reads but not too complicated. They get more opportunities to rep different skills in a competitive setting as opposed to a 5 on 5 game, which can turn into a track meet crossed with a layup competition. That’s not really the kind of basketball you see played at high levels.
Of course we believe our development of basketball players is second to none. But the proof is in how players who come into our program improve. It’s not always pretty, if players stick with it, they will be more than competitive in any setting they go into.
