We have a basketball hoop set up in our cul-de-sac.  This teenage boy (late high school years) moved into the neighborhood about a year ago and is outside shooting on it all the time.

I mean all the time.

He just goes out there and shoots (sometimes with a cigarette dangling from his mouth, but that is another topic for another time).  Most of the time he is by himself.  Sometimes he has some friends and they play H-O-R-S-E or 2 on 2, but the guy is always shooting.

And after all those shots the last 15 months, he is terrible.  His form isn’t that great and he continues to miss shot after shot.  I watch him daily and mutter to myself, “shouldn’t he be better after all this ball he is doing?”

Isn’t that what we tell our youth?

If you want to be good at something and get better, you have to go out and play.  Even when there isn’t anybody around.  You need to work on your skills and continue to hone them and improve.

What if you suck?

Are you just reinforcing bad habits that aren’t helping you get better?  If I’ve only been told a couple times how to effectively kick a soccer ball, but can’t quite remember the proper form.  I go out and kick the wrong way a zillion times am I going to get better?

Possibly.  You might improve, but if you were being taught the proper form more and at the same time going out on your own to practice kicking with proper form, then you would see a lot faster improvements.

So maybe what we need to do is rephrase this motto about just going out and playing.  It is the same as putting your kid on multiple teams for the same sport, but if the instruction is lousy is he/she benefiting from the extra play?  Probably not.

I think what is needed is when you find that kid who has a desire to play a particular sport, maybe you make sure their athletic skills are being developed first before the technical aspect of the sport.

Can they run effectively?  Can they jump well?  How is their throwing?

Get those areas down, then start working on different sport skill sets with a qualified instructor.  Working with that instructor will develop the proper habits you need for a particular sport so that when you go out to play that sport on your own you don’t look like an oaf.

Ultimately, the good athletes will rise to the top in all sports, so let’s make sure the athleticism is being developed properly before the technical stuff.  That teenage boy had neither developed when he was younger and consequently that is why he is where he is today.

I know athletes who are very technically sound, but awful athletes.  That is why they come to me in the first place.  They want to develop speed, but in reality it is to improve their athleticism.

Get an instructor early on to develop them as athletes first, then the sports and I think we will have better athletes when they grow older.