Please Don't Roll Eyes

[jeans15]

My son just turned 10 a month ago and I'm working hard on his game. I really respect this boards opinions on basketball. Can you please take a look at this video and give me some critique of his game. I am biased, so I need an honest feedback on his progress. Compared to 4th graders you have seen play.

Sorry if this seems ridiculous. But I need some 3rd party feedback. He is a Carolina fan and would love nothing more but to play at UNC.

He is number 15 in black. He scored 36 in this game. This is about 19 of it.

After 3 minutes fast forward to the 8:00 minute mark.

 

[alabamaheel]

Well Jeans I'm in the same boat with my son. Same age, same set of skills. First off, great handles. Uses his left on the dribble and some change of direction with some behind the back moves. One question, why are they still on 8 ft goals? Not a bad thing, just different here. Things I harp on and teach my team and son right now are go left and finish with your left. Use the left side of the court. A lot of times its wide open. Plus its a must the older they get. Also, and this one is hard when they know that the kids cant do anything with it, but pass the ball. Create for others even if its only a two man game with that big kid in the middle. Because, when they get older, the competition gets harder. I know you now these things, but you asked. Good luck BTW my sons team moved up to 10 ft goals this year, and at the beginning of the summer I had my son only finish with his left hand for 6 months. LOL he couldn't do it at all, but when bball started in the fall he could finish consistently with his left. Now he chooses to do so because its so comfortable. Hard for kids to guard both ways at this age. Thanks for sharing

 

[jeans15]

Well Jeans I'm in the same boat with my son. Same age, same set of skills. First off, great handles. Uses his left on the dribble and some change of direction with some behind the back moves. One question, why are they still on 8 ft goals? Not a bad thing, just different here. Things I harp on and teach my team and son right now are go left and finish with your left. Use the left side of the court. A lot of times its wide open. Plus its a must the older they get. Also, and this one is hard when they know that the kids cant do anything with it, but pass the ball. Create for others even if its only a two man game with that big kid in the middle. Because, when they get older, the competition gets harder. I know you now these things, but you asked. Good luck BTW my sons team moved up to 10 ft goals this year, and at the beginning of the summer I had my son only finish with his left hand for 6 months. LOL he couldn't do it at all, but when bball started in the fall he could finish consistently with his left. Now he chooses to do so because its so comfortable. Hard for kids to guard both ways at this age. Thanks for sharing

Thank you so much....yeah I'm having him shoot one handed with his left to build up the strength, but when he gets in the game, he reverts to his right hand on the left side.

You are so right about passing. He doesn't trust the kids on his team so he won't pass it unless he has too and he ends up taking bad shots.

I make him play against older kids in pick up games so that he can understand the passing aspect of the game.

They play on an 8ft goal in this league. But we practice on a 10ft that's why I tell him not to worry about outside shots and that's also why he uses the backboard on free throws. I am thinking about playing him up in age so he can play on a 10 ft goal with better players.

Thank you again for the feedback, good luck with your son as well.

 

[gauchoheel]

Seconded on the not understanding the 8ft rims thing. Even in 3rd grade we were at 10 ft? That is odd to me that they aren't playing at regulation height.

He looks pretty good and I'm certainly not an expert enough to provide feedback. My only advice as someone whose high school and college sports years were somewhat ruined by parental pressure to treat it like a job: let your son play just for fun. The odds are so infinitesimally small that he'll ever get paid to play basketball (especially if you're not 6'6" or taller), so make sure any instruction or practice is done at his own prompting. If he's not pestering you to help him get better, leave him be.

 

[alabamaheel]

Thank you so much....yeah I'm having him shoot one handed with his left to build up the strength, but when he gets in the game, he reverts to his right hand on the left side.

You are so right about passing. He doesn't trust the kids on his team so he won't pass it unless he has too and he ends up taking bad shots.

I make him play against older kids in pick up games so that he can understand the passing aspect of the game.

They play on an 8ft goal in this league. But we practice on a 10ft that's why I tell him not to worry about outside shots and that's also why he uses the backboard on free throws. I am thinking about playing him up in age so he can play on a 10 ft goal with better players.

Thank you again for the feedback, good luck with your son as well.

And you are right. Its hard to pass when the others can't even catch it or if they do, they take off running with it. Looks competitive. Keep up the good work. Two of my favorite passions, My kids and bball.

 

[gary-7]

My son just turned 10 a month ago and I'm working hard on his game. I really respect this boards opinions on basketball. Can you please take a look at this video and give me some critique of his game. I am biased, so I need an honest feedback on his progress. Compared to 4th graders you have seen play.

Sorry if this seems ridiculous. But I need some 3rd party feedback. He is a Carolina fan and would love nothing more but to play at UNC.

He is number 15 in black. He scored 36 in this game. This is about 19 of it.

After 3 minutes fast forward to the 8:00 minute mark.

View embedded media

Never worked with kids that young --- we usually first saw them in 6th grade in camps --- but little guy's got a nice handle and offensive skills. I would stress getting his teammates involved and court management whenever possible because, as you said, it's tough when the other kids aren't reliable. Looks like he has a future as a PG. And yes, playing with older kids will do him good, especially in becoming a distributor.

 

[Prof C]

Agree with both alabama's and gaucho's assessments, especially about having fun and not pushing them too hard at this age. I've seen plenty of parents thinking they have the next LeBron only to see their kids quit the game they used to love due to the pressure. And this applies to all youth sports. Your kid looks ahead of the curve so I'll just add a couple minor points.

- Teach him how to shoot the ball with rotation in his dominant hand. Kids this age lack the strength and coordination to shoot properly so they use 2 hands to shoot jumpers. Nothing wrong with that but they will carry those bad shooting habits as they get older. Start practicing shots close to the rim with the ball in one hand, and gradually extend to develop the feel and muscle memory. There will be A LOT of airballs, but stick with it and it will pay dividends down the line.

- Nobody plays defense anymore. Coaches need to teach more team defense because it is so underrated. As for individual defense, there's nothing more exciting to me than a kid who can frustrate an opponent by playing lock-down defense without fouling. We had a kid like that on our 5th grade team and he guarded the best player every game. There were some games where he harassed his man so much, that they didn't even want the ball!

Good luck with your son and I hope he does play for UNC someday!

 

[jeans15]

Thank you all for your input. It is so appreciated. Yes it's hard to not want to push him, but he does like to go to the gym after school.

All of your advice is much appreciated. I don't want to ruin it for him. This was his first year playing on a team. He really liked his coach, so that helped him enjoy his experience. He's a big Steph Curry fan. I told him to play more like Kyrie Irving, don't hate me for that....lol

My brother, sister and myself all played Division 1 basketball. So he has had plenty of influence on him to play basketball. I showed him video of my games in the past, so seeing his Dad and Uncle playing on TV helped seal the deal. He likes the identity of being a basketball player.

Plus it keeps him off the dang computer. Again, thank you for your time.

 

[gauchoheel]

Thank you all for your input. It is so appreciated. Yes it's hard to not want to push him, but he does like to go to the gym after school.

All of your advice is much appreciated. I don't want to ruin it for him. This was his first year playing on a team. He really liked his coach, so that helped him enjoy his experience. He's a big Steph Curry fan. I told him to play more like Kyrie Irving, don't hate me for that....lol

My brother, sister and myself all played Division 1 basketball. So he has had plenty of influence on him to play basketball. I showed him video of my games in the past, so seeing his Dad and Uncle playing on TV helped seal the deal. He likes the identity of being a basketball player.

Plus it keeps him off the dang computer. Again, thank you for your time.

Now I don't trust you. You like Kyrie (a Dookie!!) over Steph?! Big mistake!

 

[jeans15]

Thank you so much....yeah I'm having him shoot one handed with his left to build up the strength, but when he gets in the game, he reverts to his right hand on the left side.

You are so right about passing. He doesn't trust the kids on his team so he won't pass it unless he has too and he ends up taking bad shots.

I make him play against older kids in pick up games so that he can understand the passing aspect of the game.

They play on an 8ft goal in this league. But we practice on a 10ft that's why I tell him not to worry about outside shots and that's also why he uses the backboard on free throws. I am thinking about playing him up in age so he can play on a 10 ft goal with better players.

Thank you again for the feedback, good luck with your son as well.

Now I don't trust you. You like Kyrie (a Dookie!!) over Steph?! Big mistake!

Just his game. . ....lol

I like Curry personally, just wish he was a little tougher inside the arc.

 

[ajklum]

Been coaching youth basketball for 7 years 4-6 graders as my two boys progressed thru. My sons have both been the best players in their league. My older son was just blessed with incredible speed and hands so he scored in bunches on layups. My younger son (4th grade now) has the prettiest left handed jumper and the strength to not push or throw the ball but to shoot it. But the reason they are good ball players is that I stressed dribbling over shooting because if you cant dribble you will never get to shoot. When I work on shooting with them I found a gym that would rent you a Shoot-A-Way Gun for an hour. I would bring 5 kids for 65 bucks and they would get hundreds of shots in that hour. The kids made a game out of it and it was a great spend for me. While a kid would shoot, I could correct form issues with the other kids that were waiting to shoot. Also at 4th grade, I stressed passing the ball. We would do the 3 man weave full court as conditioning, and during the game I always kept track of the passes made to other players that normally dont get to shoot, and didnt care if the kids could catch it or not. After the game I would not mention the points scored but put more emphasis on team play and great passes. I had one kid that was so bad this year, my 4th grader would draw a few defenders and then throw passes to the kid that wasnt very good. The kid dropped 9 out of 10 passes, but on the ONE that he caught he got to shoot. It didnt go in, but for him just getting to shoot was a thrill. My son got more enjoyment out of that one shot, then he did with the 12 points he scored. You kid has talent for sure and it was fun to imagine a scenario where my 4th grade team could play against mine.

 

[alabamaheel]

Been coaching youth basketball for 7 years 4-6 graders as my two boys progressed thru. My sons have both been the best players in their league. My older son was just blessed with incredible speed and hands so he scored in bunches on layups. My younger son (4th grade now) has the prettiest left handed jumper and the strength to not push or throw the ball but to shoot it. But the reason they are good ball players is that I stressed dribbling over shooting because if you cant dribble you will never get to shoot. When I work on shooting with them I found a gym that would rent you a Shoot-A-Way Gun for an hour. I would bring 5 kids for 65 bucks and they would get hundreds of shots in that hour. The kids made a game out of it and it was a great spend for me. While a kid would shoot, I could correct form issues with the other kids that were waiting to shoot. Also at 4th grade, I stressed passing the ball. We would do the 3 man weave full court as conditioning, and during the game I always kept track of the passes made to other players that normally dont get to shoot, and didnt care if the kids could catch it or not. After the game I would not mention the points scored but put more emphasis on team play and great passes. I had one kid that was so bad this year, my 4th grader would draw a few defenders and then throw passes to the kid that wasnt very good. The kid dropped 9 out of 10 passes, but on the ONE that he caught he got to shoot. It didnt go in, but for him just getting to shoot was a thrill. My son got more enjoyment out of that one shot, then he did with the 12 points he scored. You kid has talent for sure and it was fun to imagine a scenario where my 4th grade team could play against mine.

I totally agree. I keep assist and passing stats more than any other. Especially with my son. He too gets more enjoyment out of his friends getting their first points or even touching the ball.

 

[jeans15]

I totally agree. I keep assist and passing stats more than any other. Especially with my son. He too gets more enjoyment out of his friends getting their first points or even touching the ball.

I play 2 on 1 against my boys to encourage sharing the basketball. Draw and kick and passing around a defender off the dribble.

 

[uncfan in ky]

Is that video from a rec league?
If so, get him into AAU/ travel ball ASAP. The competition is so much better.

 

[jeans15]

Is that video from a rec league?
If so, get him into AAU/ travel ball ASAP. The competition is so much better.

Yeah...it was his first year playing on a team. I wanted him to learn the game and rules first before I attempted to get him on a select team.

The basics, in bounding, lining up for free throws. Kids from the area elementary schools and his own elementary school play in this league.