What's Ahead
Parents:
   Supporting a Coach’s Discipline
Coaches:
   Resetting Expectations
Players:
  Applied Listening

Maine Youth Sports
www.maineyouthsports.com
P.O. Box 442
Cumberland, ME 04021
inquiry@maineyouthsports.com
(207) 415-6321

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Overcorrecting

In a car, a sudden swerve or overcorrection can sometimes lead to an even greater risk of a serious accident. These overcorrections are caused by a driver’s mistaken sense of time and force. Either a driver reacted too quickly or with too much force. In youth sports, overcorrections are likely to occur after a game or a practice. Parents, sensing an emergency with their child’s game, apply too much force in too little time and turn a problem into a potential accident.

Before solving emergencies, parents first need to diagnose, analyze and then formulate a plan of action. Problem areas parents should consider include:

• Were there external distractions such as problems at school or with friends or siblings?
• Were there physical difficulties such as an illness, lack of proper nutrition or insufficient rest?
• Is there a diminished lack of interest in the sport caused by burnout or a lack of time for other activities?
• Is physical conditioning in areas such as stamina or strength adequate for playing an entire game?
• Does a lack of fundamental skills hinder more advanced play? Is there a good understanding of strategy and positioning so that a young player knows how to react in specific situations?
• Is the child playing at the right level of competition? Playing with kids who are much more or much less talented can be demotivating and slow improvement.

All of the above problems can look like a lack of “hustle” from a parent’s perspective on the sidelines. If it is not clear what the problem is, parents should have a positive conversation with their child or with the coach to better identify the problem and the corrective actions necessary. Sports is a learned activity and requires time to master. However, the age of the player and the length of time between events gives parents plenty of opportunity to take the right actions to correct sports emergencies.

The Importance of Regular Team Meetings

Youth coaches sometimes joke that the ideal youth team is a team of orphans. Though this approach is one solution to problem parents, there are other more practical solutions that can work equally well. One of the best is regular communication with parents.

In the absence of coaching guidance, parents will form and communicate their own opinions of the status of the team and the steps necessary for improvement.Some parents may be objective and knowledgeable about the sport, but if they don’t speak up, then the overall team opinion may be shaped by others. For coaches, these parent-to-parent and parent-to-player communications can become distracting to their efforts to make team improvements.

Coaches should consider short and regular meetings with all parents to help shape these opinions and give parents better insight into what to watch for in games and practices. In these meetings coaches might cover:

• Recent team performance giving parents insight into the progress the team is or is not making in various areas.
• Approaches taken in practices that are attempting to shape game performance.
• Reemphasis of team goals and objectives.
• Realistic guidance concerning upcoming game and practice performance.
• Positive comments concerning every player. Mentioning only a few players may raise more parent concerns.

Parents help judge the success of coaches, teams and seasons. In the absence of information, the judgments they give will vary greatly based on their own experiences. With information, parents gain better appreciation for the challenges coaches face.

Using Your Teammates

It’s natural to dream of shooting the game winning basket or scoring the go ahead goal or touchdown. However, as team skills increase, it becomes progressively harder for one player to be the scoring hero. That’s when smarter players start using their teammates to help them score goals and win games.

A timely pass, throw or block are effective ways to score points in a game. Though not scoring directly, players who facilitate these goals are guiding their play and, in fact, asking their teammates to finish off their own efforts. It actually takes more player skills to contribute to team wins in this fashion than it does to contribute unassisted.

In hockey, player statistics are kept that record individual goals and assists with goals. Wayne Gretzky, recognized as one of the best hockey players ever, finished his career with over twice as many assists (2,223) as goals (1,016). Though he had the skills to score by himself, he more often used his teammates to get the job done.

Good Game = Good Hands:

A Super Difficult Ball Handling Drill ----------

The great Magic Johnson has always recommended working out with tennis balls to improve your basketball handle. Here's a terrific drill:

1. Get two tennis balls. Dribbling a tennis ball is a lot harder than dribbling a basketball -- It can teach you hard lessons about fingertip control in a hurry.

2. Stand facing the X on the wall, about eight feet away.

3. Dribble one of the tennis balls with your right hand.

4. With your left hand, pass the other ball at the X on the wall and catch it as it bounces off the wall.

5. Try to keep this up for as long as possible, then switch hands and keep going.

6. When you master the drill facing the wall, try standing sideways to the wall and catching the ball off the wall looking straight ahead, using only your peripheral vision.

Don't expect to be able to do it well the firest few times you try it. With practice, coordination will come naturally and the skill will be automatic. Your off-hand will be much stronger and better with the ball, and you'll be much more comfortable going to your left as to your right.

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