QofD (Question of the Day) Contact Days

[midmoguy]

I am just saying I have seen programs do that that put out a lot of quality teams. A coach I know that did this won 100 games over a 4 year span multiple district titles and went to a final 4. I am not saying its for all programs. Also, I totally agree you must choose wisely when it comes to the parents. They must know what they are doing and more importantly do what they are told to do. Otherwise not a good idea.

His thought was, get the guys playing games and not use up contact days.

 

[Eagles_Ball]

His thought was, get the guys playing games and not use up contact days.

At first I couldn't figure out why. Now I get it. Truthfully, I like the idea now. Odds are, you'll have a parent you can trust to do it. Probably coached youth league teams when they were growing up or something. Makes sense to me. Can actually use the 20 days getting better at individual skills.

 

[oldroundballer]

At first I couldn't figure out why. Now I get it. Truthfully, I like the idea now. Odds are, you'll have a parent you can trust to do it. Probably coached youth league teams when they were growing up or something. Makes sense to me. Can actually use the 20 days getting better at individual skills.

I'm not sure why all coaches wouldn't do this. How much actual coaching do they even do in these summer league games. Many times you don't even have your full team there. The ones I've seen are basically just run up and down with guys trying things they probably aren't going to be doing in season. I've never seen much real progress actually made. I've had two boys go thru it. After the fact both have admitted they'd have been a lot better off spending half as much time just shooting rather than driving around playing those leagues and shootouts. It really does seem like a waste of the coach's allotted time. It would be interesting to hear from some coaches who have went both ways, playing the leagues versus not playing, and see how much difference they thought it made in their team.

 

[you_dont_know_me]

I'm not sure why all coaches wouldn't do this. How much actual coaching do they even do in these summer league games. Many times you don't even have your full team there. The ones I've seen are basically just run up and down with guys trying things they probably aren't going to be doing in season. I've never seen much real progress actually made. I've had two boys go thru it. After the fact both have admitted they'd have been a lot better off spending half as much time just shooting rather than driving around playing those leagues and shootouts. It really does seem like a waste of the coach's allotted time. It would be interesting to hear from some coaches who have went both ways, playing the leagues versus not playing, and see how much difference they thought it made in their team.

The teams going to shootouts and not working on team core concepts and the players "gelling" is a waste of time...I think most successful programs don't just throw the ball out during the summer and see what happens. But, if you do just throw the ball out, then I would agree with the idea that why not just let the parents do it?

 

[Whoa242001]

The teams going to shootouts and not working on team core concepts and the players "gelling" is a waste of time...I think most successful programs don't just throw the ball out during the summer and see what happens. But, if you do just throw the ball out, then I would agree with the idea that why not just let the parents do it?

I have always thought of the summer as a time to teach defensive principles, basketball moves, some base offensive sets, and most of all how to play our way (body language, intensity, being good teammate, confidence, etc.) I usually teach this and do a couple camps- then encourage the kids to be around the game- leagues, pick up ball, individual camps etc. I think having a parent you can trust to continue to build any of these skills would be helpful, but I have seen in other teams it cause some drama - but I have only had positive experiences with it. I also had parents who bought in and took direction on what needed to be worked on, at the end of the season I would open practice up to parents to come watch and only worked on things I wanted them too.

The one bad experience i saw was a parent was coaching and couldn't stand to lose, so they would play the starters 95% of the game, it was quite stressful for the coach, and the parents were very upset.

 

[Eagles_Ball]

The teams going to shootouts and not working on team core concepts and the players "gelling" is a waste of time...I think most successful programs don't just throw the ball out during the summer and see what happens. But, if you do just throw the ball out, then I would agree with the idea that why not just let the parents do it?

Pretty sure he meant that coaches are working on individual skills and the team concepts on the 20 days of contact. Then a parent "coaches" in the shootouts. Not really rolling it out if that's the case.

 

[Whoa242001]

Gotcha

 

[midmoguy]

I talked with the coach that I knew that was having a parent coach summer league games and asked him what he instructed the coach to do during games. He said he had them focus on 3 things. #1 defense, #2 Moving without the ball on offense, #3 finding good shots.

He said as long as kids were playing hard and smart they could play through mistakes don't sub a kid off for a turnover just because. He was way more worried about learning to play with a feel for the game than executing plays so he didn't really have the team run to many plays (almost impossible with groups thrown together anyways). Offensively, movement was more important than anything, and he was ok with some bad shots taken as long as kids were learning what good shots for "that kid" was as games went along through the summer.

Overall he thought it built depth and helped some kids learn that when the star player or players can't play for whatever reason they could still find ways to score the ball creating better depth.

He was also listening to what the parent coach was saying about the games so during his instructional time he could work on things to help get better at those aspects of the game.

 

[you_dont_know_me]

Pretty sure he meant that coaches are working on individual skills and the team concepts on the 20 days of contact. Then a parent "coaches" in the shootouts. Not really rolling it out if that's the case.

I meant that you are assuming that the head coach doesn't have much value added in a game scenario (shootouts) when you think a parent should go ahead and coach. I think we can both agree that the coach adds more value than a parent coaching for both things. I think it also depends on where you program stands and which parents.

 

[midmoguy]

I would also say you have to have the right group of kids to go this way as well. If you have players that won't take summer games seriously without their normal coach then I wouldn't try it. But if its a group that plays hard no matter what and can learn some on their own it could be an option for them. I wouldn't recommend it for everyone but it is a way to get games under your belt without using contact days.

 

[you_dont_know_me]

I just think the downside outweighs the upside. If your kids are skill deficient, use your days for that, if your kids are veterans...go play games. Use your 20 days how you want. I think skills aren't really developed in 20 days in the summer. Kids have to go an do that on their own.

 

[midmoguy]

I agree but kids today need instant gratification to keep them working and sometimes playing games and seeing that the work they are putting in is actually making them better keeps them working hard.

 

[Eagles_Ball]

I meant that you are assuming that the head coach doesn't have much value added in a game scenario (shootouts) when you think a parent should go ahead and coach. I think we can both agree that the coach adds more value than a parent coaching for both things. I think it also depends on where you program stands and which parents.

True. Also think there's some merit to this thinking...For 20 days Coach A can work with his players and team in a practice/camp scenario. Then for an additional 5-10 (???) days Parent A can "coach" the team in summer league games and/or shootouts. My guess is, those that do it think they get more out of this method than simply 20 days, 5-10 that are swallowed up by those same leagues and shootouts. It's basically skirting the silly rule for an extra number of days. I like the idea.

 

[Eagles_Ball]

Kids have to go an do that on their own.

Truth.

 

[Eagles_Ball]

I agree but kids today need instant gratification to keep them working and sometimes playing games and seeing that the work they are putting in is actually making them better keeps them working hard.

Gotta figure out some social media contest on basketball camps or open gyms. They'll flock in. Lol