June 01, 2021 | Tagged Parenting
Developing a Summer Basketball Skills Plan: A Parent’s Guide
How to help athletes and others build greater intrinsic motivation
By: Matt Logie, NBC Basketball Consultant and College Coach
As college coaches, we travel the summer “circuit” to watch thousands of high-school prospects and summer teams compete in various events across the country. Some student-athletes are competing for opportunities at the next level. College coaches are searching for the next player that will take them to the top. Additionally, many high-school coaches these days plan grueling summer schedules with team camps, tournaments and practices even before you factor in the club teams that are popping up all over the place. It’s a competitive environment, and time is what everyone is fighting over. So, how as parents do you balance all of these competing priorities?
Lost in the shuffle of doing what’s right for their high-school programs and the rush for “exposure” and “opportunity” is the fact that many of today’s student-athletes are doing themselves a disservice by not utilizing their off-season for personal improvement. These off-season months are critical in the development of an athlete. Not only because the bodies of younger student-athletes are constantly changing, but also because the off-season is when people can invest into themselves. Coaches, both club and high-school, can only invest so much of their attention into the personal development of each student-athlete. Finding the proper balance between competitive tournaments, team camps, and personal improvement opportunities such as individual camps and working out alone is something that needs to be addressed in today’s climate. Here would be my advice as you turn the calendar from winter to spring and plan your off-season months:
1) Communicate With Your Son/Daughter: Have a discussion with your son or daughter regarding their goals for the summer. It’s very important to make sure we listen and allow them to follow their own path. Some kids will be highly motivated to reach the next level, some just want to have fun, some play for their parents, and some play for their friends. It’s important to understand what drives your child in order to put a plan in place they will be able to enjoy and maximize. Knowing the priority that your child has for their time will allow you as a parent to help guide them.
2) Communicate With Coaches: It’s very important to gather the anticipated time requests from all competing parties as early as possible. Talk to your club and high-school coaches as soon as possible and find out what the schedule of practices, events, tournaments, etc. looks like for each program. It’s important to know which of these are considered “mandatory” for each program, since prioritizing personal development will come at the cost of something.
3) Find Balance: One of the most common mistakes families and student-athletes make is over-working themselves. They play in everything – every practice, every team camp, every tournament. Ultimately, they wear their bodies down. Open themselves up to injuries. And often times will end up hurting not only their evaluation by college coaches, but also their ability to develop because of the toll on their bodies.
4) Invest In Yourself: The most common short-changed priority during the off-season is personal skill development. It used to be that players would go to individual camps in the summer, compete against other great players, but also get terrific coaching in more one-on-one settings. This investment not only provides competitive opportunities, but also provides time to work on your own personal skills. I would highly encourage every family to make the investment to spend two weeks on personal skill development. This might mean a week off from your high-school team in June and a week off from your club team in July or August. But it will be a week well spent!
About NBC Basketball Camps
NBC Camps has grown to become the largest overnight basketball program in the world with locations around the United States, Canada, the UK, Austria, Italy and now Thailand. Campers have gone on to play in the NBA, WBNA, professionally overseas, and play or coach at many colleges and university programs. NBC Camps is a member of US Sports Camps network of outstanding summer sports camps throughout the world. Players, coaches, parents and members of the media interested in learning more about NBC Camps are invited to check out our website or phone 1-800-406-3926.