Most coaches will teach a skill in a closed environment. i.e. using cones with no defense. When you remove defense you remove all outside stimuli that creates decision making.
Why is my player not getting better?
Think of the last game your child competed in. Did you find yourself saying "Dude, what are you doing?" or "What is he/she thinking?" The reason this happens is because they lack decision making skills. The separation between elite and average players is two-fold. One, elite level players are great at making decisions. Next time you watch an elite player, see if you ask yourself the same questions as when your child is playing? Two, elite level players understand the game deeply. These players understand defensive rotations, time and score, etc. Their basketball IQ is much higher than the average player.
Let's ponder the following question and how it relates to basketball;
Would you teach your child to drive a vehicle without letting them drive on the road?
Of course not, most parents will teach their child to drive in a parking lot or equivalent before putting them on the road. This is an example of a closed enviroment so they can aquire the skill of operating a vehicle without cars or pedestrians involved.
Closed Enviroment = controlled situation with no outside interference other than what the parent allows. This is the same as adding cones to a dribbling drill. The coach is able to remove all outside stimuli from interfering with learning how to execute a dribble series. There is a time and a place for this. i.e. when first learning a skill such as what foot pedal is the gas. But how much can they really learn in a parking lot once they understand the basics? This is why your player is not getting better.
Traffic equals defensive stimuli
The next stage of driving would be the back-roads or light traffic areas (Traffic = defense or the stimulus needed to learn,) followed by a route with a heavy traffic area such as the freeway (Small-Sided Game.)
A player who has an average or better skill set cannot learn the game further on a cone. They need to execute skills in an open environment. An open enviroment involves decision making with outside stimuli to do so. - Coach Todd
What would happen if we skip from the parking lot to the freeway without teaching them first about how traffic/defense operates?
This is why basketball skills must have traffic and stimulus built in to learn. Otherwise, it's going to be a train-wreck!!! Your teenage driver has never had an opportunity to drive on the freeway and we cannot expect them to pull these skills from a black box.
Black Box Theory
It seems most skills coaches believe that a player stores away necessary skills to be successful in traffic, but that is not the case if you do not already possess these skills.
Register today!!!
Our Thanksgiving break skills camps are an excellent place for both parents and players to learn. We invite parents to stay and watch the drills we use at Mayhem Basketball Camps. We do not add fluff drills into our camps. Fluff drills are filler drills coaches use that do not serve a purpose other than using up time.
"At Mayhem basketball we challenge the old ways of thinking, we challenge what has always been, and we replace it with how the new generation of players learn." - Coach Todd
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