I have watched a lot of sports involving young kids.  The age group I’m talking about is approximately 5 years old to 11 or 12.  Sports at that age doesn’t look close to how the sport is actually supposed to be played.  These kids are running around like chickens with their heads cut off.

I don’t start working with kids until at least 10.  I choose not to work with kids younger, basically because I would lose my mind working with kids that young.  I know my limitations.

But, it doesn’t mean that after 25 years of coaching I can’t provide some positive instruction on how to coach these kids.  And I feel there is one thing missing in the coaching of these young kids at an early age.  It seems rather obvious, but I don’t think it is being addressed properly.

No matter what sport I watch – soccer, flag football, baseball, softball, basketball – this step takes a while to really be addressed.

For example, I hear these phrases being yelled by parents all the time at these games (or something similar):

 

  • “Johnny press up, press up.”
  • “Go down low to the box.”
  • “Run to the top of the key.”
  • “Stop the ball, stop the ball.”

 

  • And on, and on, and on…

Those phrases are also being yelled by their coaches as well.  Even though the parents are going, “why isn’t the coach telling him to do that?”  

First off, parents stop yelling those phrases.  Keep your yelling to cheering and encouragement.  Stop yelling directions to your kids.  They can’t process it, half the time they don’t hear you, and during the game isn’t the proper time to explain to them what you are yelling.

The second thing is my point.  I don’t think we are doing a great job explaining the sport to our kids.

We basically sign them up for a sport and hope our coach can do that in the 2 practices a week they maybe get.  

Now you might be saying, “wait a minute, they know how to play the sport.”  I’m going to say not real well.  So let me elaborate.

A lot of these kids know about the very simple objective – score a goal, score a basket, score a touchdown, outscore the other team and win the game.  But, a lot of the intricacies are absolutely not discussed with these kids.

Instead of really hammering home some of the simple objectives of the sport, you go right to your specialty offense and defense.  

If I were coaching a young team (and I realize I’m not, so people take my opinion and observation for what it’s worth), I might spend several practices just on explaining the game to these kids.  What are the different objects used in your sport and field/court details?  Going over terminology with them – that is HUGE.

I asked my daughter if she understood what the term, “You have to hustle” or just the word “hustle” means.  She didn’t have the foggiest notion, yet the coaches and parents are yelling “HUSTLE!”

We yell all these phrases and these kids have no clue what 90% of them mean.  We yell go down to the block and they have no idea where the block is.  Just because you explain this stuff once to these kids, does NOT mean they get it.  My older athletes need telling multiple times before stuff sinks in, how many times do you think these little kids will need being told?

Start with the basic terminology of your sport and the names of the details of your court or field.  Make a game out of it.  Spend several practices going over this stuff so these kids have a much better idea of positioning on the court or field.  When to go down for defense?  When to inbounds the ball? Etc.

Do THAT first and foremost, then start giving them drills for the skills of the sport.  No sense doing the drills first if they don’t understand what the heck the game is about.

I tell my athletes all the time that their biggest asset when they compete is their brain.  They have to know the sport inside and out so it becomes an advantage to them on the field.  That being said, start when these kids are young and educate them on their sport.

If you don’t do that, then you have no one to blame, but yourself when you are yelling at them to stop ball and they are just running right next to the kid smiling not doing a darn thing.  

Photo courtesy of Farmerdave8n on Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/11555063@N03/