Tanking is bad. Winning is good. Winning Culture is best.

Losing games at the professional level is bad. You’d think we’d all know that given the severity with which we treat the outcome of every youth game we watch. But, as sports fans, we’ve got this all upside-down.

I was at the Giants-Bears game this past weekend. It was probably the most exciting, albeit bizarre, Giants games I’ve ever attended. The G-Men pulled out an overtime win over a near-definite playoff team after blowing a 10-point 4^th quarter lead. Each team had a passing touchdown from a non-quarterback, Chicago had a defensive lineman rush for a touchdown a la The Fridge. The Giants had a defensive touchdown. The Giants kicker set a franchise record for longest field goal. Saquan Barkley hurdled a guy. It was big play after big play all day long.

During the 4^th quarter of the game, I heard the fans in front of me talking about how much better it would have been if the Giants lost. The same two fans had a conversation earlier in the game about their kid’s youth football team being terrible because of a 3-6 record. So, to make sure we have this straight, they paid to attend a professional game that they wanted their favorite team to lose so they could potentially get a better draft pick who could potentially help their team in the future, yet they’re fed up with the local Pop Warner coach because his team was 3-6.

At the professional level, sports fans crave the opportunity to develop. At the youth level, we want results. I know this might sound crazy to some of you who want to trust the process, but I think it you had some patience to allow the youth coach to develop skills in younger players, you’d be less likely to have professional players who still need to “develop.”

Tanking is wrong. It’s against everything we should be teaching kids. Losing does not lead to winning. Learning winning habit and reinforcing winning behaviors leads to winning. Sure, some of the best players of all time were first overall picks like LeBron James, Peyton Manning and Alex Rodriguez, but how about guys like Eric Fisher, Anthony Bennett and Mark Appel? Those three were first overall picks in the past decade, and I bet most sports fans don’t even recognize their names.

The 76ers told us tanking and unloading talent to be a champion some day in the future is the “process.” Let’s take a quick look at what the process has accomplished now that Philly says the process is complete.  The 76ers currently sit in 3^rd place in the Eastern Conference, which is the NBA’s version of junior varsity. They finished 3^rd in the east last year after four seasons of being one of the worst teams in basketball including a 2015-16 season that was one of the worst seasons in the history of the game. Upper deck seats were selling for $0.11 on the secondary market that year. Eleven Cents!

So that’s the current result of tanking: third place in a sub-par conference. Is that really the goal? Let’s go through 4-5 abysmal seasons so you can be better-than-average for a few years?

Maybe I’m the idiot here, but I want my pro teams to try to win every damn game and I want to get rid of every player who’s not on board with winning culture.  If that guy was coached well as a kid and his development was nurtured back when improvement meant everything and final scores meant nothing, He’d know exactly how to play like a winner. Unfortunately, some guys grow up in a backwards sports culture.

What is winning culture? Simply defined, it's doing your job well. It's doing exactly what's asked of you to the best of your ability, then finding out how you can do it even better next time. That's how teams like the Patriots contend for a title every year. The players are not required to be All-World talent. They're required to do exactly what's asked of them to the best of their ability, and continue to improve on that. That will never go out of favor with coaches, and that will never not be the best path to athletic success.

Winning is contagious. So is losing. Lose on purpose and you are a loser. Attempt to win by instilling winning habits and committing to winning efforts and you’re a winner. Simple as that.

What's the Biggest Factor in the Recruiting Timeline? The Calendar

Your kid is a high school student-athlete. It’s their senior year and, despite a strong season, you still haven’t heard from very many college coaches. You’ve heard other kids from other sports around school talk about the coaches with whom they are talking, and some have already made their collegiate decision.

So why have coaches not been active in recruiting your kid? There could be a million different reasons why, but you might be overlooking the most obvious and overlooked reason. Maybe it’s the calendar.

                College coaches are creatures of habit. Those who have been at it for years like to stick to a calendar. If they’ve been successful, they’ve probably found a recruiting timetable that works for their sport at their school and they generally stick to it.

                I spoke last week to a parent of a potential division 3 football player who had this exact concern. His son is a solid player and an above-average student, and the family was frustrated than they’d only heard from one or two coaches. I told him to be patient.

                Although the process is becoming somewhat expedited at a lot of colleges looking for early decision candidates, the calendar for small college football has always been that coaches do the bulk of their recruiting visits to high schools after their season ends. There are exceptions to this rule, but talk to any small college football coach and he will tell you that mid-November through mid-January are reserved for two things; Recruiting visits and the annual football coaches’ convention.

                Spring sports like lacrosse, baseball and softball generally take the opposite seasonal approach. They want all of their recruiting done before their spring season starts. They’re more accustomed to watching summer showcases and tournaments so they can get their on-campus visits wrapped up during the fall semester. Most of them would love to have a verbal commitment from their recruits before their teams start practices in January.

                The other major factor in the calendar is the quality or prestige of institution. If the college at which your kid is looking to play is routinely ranked highly nationally, those seats tend to fill up earlier in the process, especially for great schools with a small student body. However, if your child’s top choices are large state schools with high acceptance rates and plenty of beds on campus, you can usually make that decision after graduating high school and still be relatively confident that you won’t be excluded from that school’s fall semester.

                Thirdly, the quality of program often factors in to the recruiting calendar. Nationally-ranked teams often want to know early and can help you expedite the admissions and financial aid process so they can wrap up their recruiting class early and get a jump on recruiting juniors while lower-level competitors are only left with the kids that the big dogs didn’t want.

                So, if your kid plays a spring sport, wants to attend an elite institution and has not heard from that school’s coach by the fall of their senior year, they either need to initiate the contact with the coach, re-evaluate what they want to do for college, or both. But, if your kid is a fall athlete, believes they would fit in best athletically on a mid-level division 3 team, and has decent enough grades to get into and receive some academic scholarship money at those schools, they don’t need to worry about hearing from coaches until December of their senior year or so.

                Most colleges don’t treat student-athletes like general population students. They know that those student-athletes graduate at a greater rate, give back at a greater rate, and do more to promote the school off campus than those who are not as heavily involved on campus. As a parent of a prospective collegiate student-athlete, you should not be trying to equal the timeline of a non-athlete-family who has already made their college decision.

Your timeline is different. Knowing that timeline can help you make a decision at the right time and for the right reasons. If you’re not sure about your sport’s recruiting timeline, check with your high school coach and the parents of older children in the same sport.

What really matters when determining HS football playoff teams

 The New Jersey High School Football playoff system is a mess. We’ve got teams playing in the playoffs with one or two wins and teams sitting home with 6 wins. We’ve got teams with one loss traveling to teams with 3 losses. And we’ve got teams that have beaten top seeds in higher divisions that don’t get a home game in the playoffs.

The system doesn’t need to be fixed. It needs to be rewinded. What was happening in the mid 2000’s was about as perfect at a playoff system can be without head-to-head results to determine who's in and who's out.

In all of the talk that’s happening about playoff seeding, I’ve heard a few things to don’t matter at all when it comes to playoffs. Plus, I’ve got a few things that definitely matter when judging a team’s potential to win a championship.

These four focal points are good indicators of a team’s quality.

1.       Record for the last 4 games: It can take a while for a good team to come together. Not every team hits the ground running in August. In some communities, that’s easier than it is in others. Financial issues, transportation issues and distance from home to school are all factors in whether a team gets good attendance at summer workouts. Don’t punish the kids for where they live. Give them time to gel as a team during the fall. That’s why I believe the games leading up to the playoffs should carry more weight than the first month of the season.

2.       Dominant victories. Any team that wins a game by 24 points, or the equivelant of the most points a team can score in three possessions, has earned a dominant victory. Winning 28-3 and 77-7 is the same in my book. If you’ve beaten a game by 24 or more, you’ve shown dominance. And if you’ve done that to a winning team, now you’ve really accomplished something.  

3.       Prime time wins. This one might be tough to define, but rivalry wins, beating an undefeated team, and beating defending state or conference champs are statements of proof for high school teams. I’m sure this one would be easy for decision-makers to screw up, but if you’re a team that’s done all of these things, you’re definitely a playoff team in my book.

4. Defending your home turf. If a team goes undefeated at home, they're a playoff team. Period. Nobody walked into their house and stole a game. If your home fans never saw you lose, they should get another chance to see you play, even if that means going on the road. 

These three popular talking points are of no consequence and should never play a factor

1.       History. The only thing that matters is this season. Kids get, at most, a 4-year window to play high school sports. In many districts and larger schools, that window is cut down to two years because of the talent that's already there when kids are freshman and sophomores. What happened over the years is a non-factor. Unless most of those successful players are still on the team and the coaching staff remains the same, this year is this year and the past is over.

2.       Star recruits. There’s no doubt that New Jersey has cranked out some outstanding college and professional football talent over the years. Some programs seem to have a Division I recruit every year. But for every big time recruit, there are a dozen kids who have no plans to play college football that can flat-out win at the high school level. This is a team game.

3.       Total point differential: The great teams are the ones that can win blowouts, close games, defensive battles and shootouts. Winning a game against a quality opponent 7-3 has a greater value than just +4 in this silly stat line. And, in congruence with the "quality win" idea  77-7 is no better than 28-3. Total point differential screams for a high-powered offensive team to schedule a few small schools and run up the score.

               

A Walk's as Good as a Hit? I Don't Think So

Whoever came up with the baseball saying “a walk is as good as a hit” should be banned from the ballpark for life.

                I was umpiring a 10u baseball game last week when I saw that mentality cost a team the chance to win a game, cost a kid a chance to do something special, and cost an entire field-full of kids and parents the chance to do baseball the right way.

                After trading leads throughout the game, mostly by trading no-swing walks or no-swing strikeouts, the score was 11-10 in the last inning. The bases were loaded (three walks) and there were two outs. The kid at bat had a chance to be a genuine little league hero for a day. Just about any ball smacked into play would have won the game for his team. Each of the 7 balls put in play throughout the game resulted in at least a single for the hitter, and most were extra bases. Remember, we’re not dealing with a group of future hall-of-famers. We’re talking about little boys having fun eating grass in the outfield and dancing in the infield.

                I was excited for this boy when he came up to bat with the sack’s packed. I know the umpire isn’t supposed to be partial, but I was. I wanted to see a hard-hit ball and I wanted to either see a kid in the field make a play to seal the win, or a kid from second base round third with a gleam in his eye and a smile on his face on his way to score the winning run.

                What I saw instead was the unbearable product of that awful saying: “A walk is as good as a hit.” I saw a little boy hoping I didn’t call three strikes before I called four balls. I saw a societally groomed non-participant in full uniform at home plate. I saw a 9-year-old boy playing the percentages instead of playing the game. I watched the boy take six pitches. Three balls and three strikes.

But what I heard after that was the disappointing byproduct of the “Walk is as good as a hit” mentality.

                I heard 8 and 9-year-old boys saying that the game was unfair because the opponent brought in their hardest thrower to close out the game. I heard a mother say “there should be a weight limit in this league” so her little boy didn’t have to play baseball against another 9-year-old boy who happened to throw a baseball harder than her kid. And I heard the kids saying they would have “won the game if the umpire wasn’t so stupid.”

                The last one carries some validity. I’ve been watching that ump do stupid things my whole life. But the mentality is what’s wrong with baseball.

                A walk is not as good as a hit. Hits are better. No doubt about it. And at 8 and 9 years old, just about anything is better than a walk. Well, except maybe a strikeout looking without a single swing during the at bat.

                Ground-outs are better. That’s contact by the hitter, a fielded ball by the infielder and a caught ball by the first baseman.

                Fly-outs are better. That’s contact by the hitter with a launch angle that sabermetricians would encourage, and a caught ball by a young fielder.

                Strikeouts while swinging are better. That’s a well-thrown ball by the pitcher with pitch recognition and an attempt to succeed by a young hitter.  

                Even a hit-by-pitch is better than a walk, presuming that the hitter doesn’t get hurt badly enough to leave the game. In some ways, you can view a hit-by-pitch as an expeditious walk. And the “make a man out of ‘em” dad’s out there will be happy that their boy took a lickin’ and kept on tickin’.

                So, for the sake of baseball, let’s get a few things straight.

1.       Nobody cares about the score of your youth rec baseball game. Those games are about fun, learning, trying your butt off, and getting some exercise (running, not walking). 

2.       Striking out swinging isn’t so bad. Every ballplayer has done it. Safe to say that the potential reward outweighs the risk.

3.       A walk is most certainly not as good as a hit. But if the pitcher is afraid to throw you a strike after you’ve clobbered the ball all game, take your free trip to first base as badge of honor…and get ready to steal second.

The Doctor Isn't Always Right

     Doctors are experts. The level, field, and breath of expertise varies from doctor to doctor. Out of respect for their level of education, their practice and their experience in the field, the healthiest stance is to say that every doctor is a medical authority on something.

     

     This week, I met with an optometrist who was furious that sports organizations are allowing kids to participate in sports wearing eye wear that is not explicitly recommended by her professional organization. I understand her point. She and her colleagues are eye care experts.  Chances are, the local high school field hockey coach isn’t a medical expert of any kind. But, as a coach and league administrator, I don’t care what her group recommends and there’s little to no chance that I’d support a blanket rule requiring a specific type of eye wear.

     

     Sports organizations don’t jump to make changes with every medical recommendation they here. But why? These people are medical experts.

     

     One factor is money. Most medical visits and recommended equipment cost money. Some expenses are cost-prohibitive for many families. Athletics rule-makers tend to shy away from rules that add an expense to the cost of participation. It’s not that the recommendation isn’t good. It’s that the cost of the recommendation often eliminates participants.

     

     But more simply than the money answer is that fact that if organization’s followed every recommendation made by every doctor, nobody would ever play sports again.

     Think about how many fields of medicine are out there. In addition to the optometrist’s recommendations, I’ve heard all of the following recommendations from medical experts in the past year.

-               - Nobody who has ever suffered a concussion should ever play contact sports again.

-               - Those who are suffering from depression should not participate in sports.

-               - If you’ve had an ear, nose and/or throat infection in the past month, you should not play sports.

-               - Athletes who have not been tested for sickle cell trait should not participate in athletics.

-               - Kids with orthodontic braces and/or appliances should limit physical contact.

     These are just a few of them. I’m sure athletic trainers and team physicians hear way more than the coach ever hears.

     I’ve made no effort to learn whether these recommendations are congruent with the professional organization of each medical field’s official stance. But it coaches followed just these recommendations across the board, without checking in with any other medical expert, who’s left to participate?

     I can imagine the flier in the hallway of the local middle school. “Basketball tryouts this Friday. Everyone welcome…Unless you wear glasses, go to the orthodontist, have a runny nose, have ever been hit in the head, have any form of anxiety, and/or are unaware of your sickle cell trait.”

I know this. I coach a collegiate team of 28 student-athletes. If I had a match today and used only the players who pass through all of these criterion, I’d have 2 players…I think. I’m sure if I checked in with a chiropractor, an OB/GYN, a podiatrist and an orthopedic expert, they could find a way to rule our everyone on my team.

     As a rules committee member, I’ve learned that valuing the opinion of one set of doctors over another can be a slippery slope. Unless a committee believes there’s an inherent an avoidable risk for the sport’s participants that can be easily avoided or corrected with a rule change that will be easily implemented, it’s unlikely that a rule with change based on a medical expert’s recommendation. And, while it’s not true of all medical recommendations, expert’s opinion’s change with more time and more research. 

     Remember, it wasn’t more than a century ago that doctors were treating drowsiness and body aches with cocaine. It wasn’t a half-century ago that we were rubbing whisky on the gums of teething babies. It was just a few years ago that equipment manufacturers were producing helmets based on recommendations to avoid skull fractures with no regard for concussions.

     So, what should we do as parents of athletes? Find a physician that you trust that was active as a kid. Even better if they're still active and add a double bonus if the children in their family are active. Take their recommendations into consideration, and do what you believe is best for your child. Rules or no rules, that’s a parent’s job. It’s no different for sports parents.

     You won't always be right. But if we follow the recommendations and warnings of every doctor we meet, our kids might never play sports again.

There can be only one National Champ, Right?

Winning a national championship means that you’re part of the best team in the country, right? It’s a once-a-year thing with an entire season of recruiting, and try-outs, and cuts, and eliminations, and earning your way by winning tournament after tournament as assigned by a national governing body. That’s how you win a national championship, right?

                Well, according to dozens upon dozens of organizations that host national championships in every sport imaginable, that’s not how it works anymore. I mean, in some cases, that’s still how it works. But that’s hard.

It’s easier just to sign up for nationals. No invitation necessary. Just pay the fee and you’re competing for a national championship. Sounds a little fishy, doesn’t it? Tell that to the thousands of teams across the sporting landscape that are participating in this garbage.

I saw one baseball organization offering national championships 6 different times this summer in 8 different age groups at 6 different locations. And for each event, they’re crowning a different “national champion” in each age group.

And it gets worse. Now in many sports including baseball, soccer, lacrosse, basketball and cheerleading, you can win a national championship among teams that chose not to compete against the best teams. Some sports break it down into gold, silver and bronze divisions. Some use the letter system. Others have a maximum level of experience per participant in each division.

So, to clarify, you can be a brand new team full of brand new players and chose to play against only other teams made of brand new players, and you can be crowned national champions.

I don’t blame the tournament organizers. This is capitalism at its finest. They’ve found enough youth organizations that want that type of tournament and are willing to pay for it. These tournaments are fantastic money-making opportunities for the organizers, and all they have to do is lie to organizations and call their tournament or event “The National Championship” to get their business.

It’s not to say that these tournaments are not quality or that they’re not fun. In many cases, these tournaments are very well run and have a great environment. These host organizations often pair with apparel companies, restaurants and amusement parks to provide the best experience for each team. Sounds like most of these kids are having the time of their lives. The "experience" part of all of this is awesome.

But isn’t that the point of a vacation?

What’s next? Applying to be your school’s valedictorian? Signing up to be your company’s CEO? Registering to be your state’s next Governor? Volunteering to win an Oscar?

These things are major accomplishments. They take a tremendous amount of work, time, sacrifice and commitment. Most people who set out to achieve these things fail. They end up succeeding on a lower level, but they don’t win the top prize.

Why? They’re not good enough. They tried really had and failed to be the best. But, for their efforts, they’re still pretty good. And, more importantly, their effort and commitment is valued.

A national championship in any sport is no different. If you didn’t have to work tremendously hard to get there, sacrifice a ton of time doing what doesn’t come natural to you, you’re not a national champ. If you didn’t beat the 2^nd-best team in the country, you’re not a national champ. If multiple “national championships” in your age group are held by the same organization each year and you don’t get to play the other winners, you’re not a national champ.

I hope you had fun at your pay-to-play tournament at a really pretty facility far away. Enjoy your huge plastic trophy. But please don’t call it a national championship. The real national champ may take offense to that.

New to tennis? Start at the net!

Show up for your tennis lesson on your first day or your first day of high school tennis practice or your first private lesson and most often, you’ll start at the baseline. It’s where points start. It’s where most strokes at the professional and competitive level happen. But it’s not the place to start.

     In one aspect, tennis is about as simple as it gets. Fuzzy ball, white lines, ball’s gotta bounce on the other side twice. Any player with the ability to whack a ball can play. That’s the beauty of tennis. It’s why hundreds of people play their whole life. But if you’re looking to develop long term skills that will translate for a player’s tennis life, start at the net. Here’s why.

     Net play, or more commonly known as “volleys” within the tennis community, happen with a continental grip. Sometimes called the handshake grip or the hammer grip, the continental grip is the most versatile grip in tennis. Unfortunately, may private instructors and coaches don’t bother teaching grip at all. After all, it can be a daunting task. There are at least 5 different forehand grips, and I’ve seen a zillion different ways to hit a backhand. But I’ve never heard a coach encourage anything other than a continental grip to hit a volley.

    Starting at the net can result in early success for every player. A good coach can basically hit a player’s racquet with the ball and get it to go where they want it to go. That’s tougher to do at the baseline and leads to plenty of players giving up before they’ve even done one thing right.

     While the volley stroke is simple (some would argue that the “stroke” is almost non-existent), the footwork can be a little tougher. Good volleys require a player to be in a solid ready position, and two steps in the right pattern. This helps reinforce the importance of footwork in tennis. Those who learn to hit groundstrokes first often feel confident in their playing ability without even knowing that the game requires solid footwork to be an all-court player.

     But what about the serve? Isn’t that where points really start?

     Of course. And if you’re using proper service technique, you’re using a continental grip. I’ve been coaching college tennis for over 20 seasons (men and women combined) and I get at least one freshman every year who can’t serve or volley with a continental grip. Almost all of them have a terrible second serve and a backhand volley that’s even worse. That’s because while you can hit from the baseline with just about any grip, the only grip that every player absolutely must have to be an all-court player is the continental grip.

     So, essentially, these players have been lied to. A coach told them they were ready for match play without ever teaching the most essential part of the game. That’s like a baseball player not being told about having to catch a batted ball or soccer player who can only kick with one foot.

     Bottom line is this. Tennis begins and ends with the continental grip. Learning to get your opponent out of position and taking advantage of their position is more important than cracking forehands. If you can move your feet well, you can win with JUST a continental grip. When you get on the courts, make sure continental grip is your first focus. Once you master that, all the other strokes will come easy.

This Is Unfair...Said No True Athlete Ever

   It's rough. It's competitive. It's cut-throat. But it's fair. The idea that sports are unfair is about as wrong as it gets. Sports are inherently fair. In fact, sports may be the most fair thing in all of our lives.
    Each sport has a governing body at every level. From the pros to little league, there's a structure. Much of it is bureaucratic, especially at the youth level, but there's a structure. And generally, the more you put into the organization, the more you get out of it. That's fair.
   Almost every sporting event is officiated. True, some refs are bad. But the event is officiated. And the officials are responsible for overseeing all parties involved. They're actively looking for cheaters and punishing those who cheat. They don't catch everything, but they're looking. That's fair.
   Many teams have tryouts and cuts. The players who are more prepared than others and have greater potential stick around. Those who are less prepared and are less likely to help the team go bye-bye. That might not sound fair to the little kid with the big heart, but I bet your boss wishes she had that structure. And, in many cases, coaches keep less talented players because they add the right attitude to the mix. Sounds fair to me.
   Teams are not selected by seniority, or social status, or level of education. They're selected, in most cases, by productivity and potential. New talent comes along constantly, and roster decisions are made accordingly. It might not benefit all of you, but it's fair.
   Sports have a finite scoring system. Save for a few events that fall into the tend to fall in the "sports" category that have an objective scoring system like gymnastics or synchronized swimming, sports have a very specific and defined way of scoring points and preventing others from scoring points. Those rules are clearly defined and drilled into the heads of all the competitors. That sound to me to be the definition of fair. No points for size, or style. There's no convincing somebody that what happened has a greater value. A 15-foot jumper is worth 2 points if it goes in and zero points if it does not. Fair.
    Sports are meritocracies. Success and potential are rewarded with points, pay and opportunities. Failure and lack of potential usually finds a player on the bench or off the roster. Stinks for the bad players, but it's fair.
    Now, I know what some of you are thinking. "What about the people who are born with natural talent, or size, or quickness. That's not fair." I couldn't disagree more. Here's why.
    We are all born into environments and communities and bodies that are more geared for success in different areas. The son of the accountant who has outstanding match educators at the elementary level and a mathematical brain is probably more likely to end up with a solid start in the financial field than the kid who's parents who were employed in the sanitation field and spent his formative years as the class clown. That's fair.You might now want to believe that, but environment, preparation and the body you were born into help shape your life and your career choices. That's fair.
   But I hear it recently from a young tennis player and her parents. Separate conversations, but the same message came from kid and adult alike. "It's not fair. I/my daughter, had to play against a girl who was way better than me. I/my daughter had no chance.
   Don't be that parent. That girl had every chance in the world to win that tennis match. I watched a match in which nearly 100 points were played. Each one could have been won by either player. They were the same age, in the same grade, at the same event. The better player who was more prepared and more focused won about two-thirds of the points, and ultimately won the match 6-1, 6-1. I didn't see a bad line call. I didn't see any cheating. I saw a fair match. The better player won. 
   Parents fall into the belief that sports are not fair because a given sport will not be the life's work of their child, regardless of how much money they spend of private lessons and travel teams. That line of thinking sounds absurd to me. Every profession requires a skill-set, a mindset, a work ethic, and some luck. They're all different. Some are easier in which to be successful for the skills an individual possesses. Some are more difficult. Some are more desirable. Some are less desirable. But in every field, it takes what it takes to be successful.
    And let's not be mistaken about the fairness of sports. We always hear coaches saying that hard work and dedication to a sport leads to success. It can. It can also lead to disappointment.
   Not every guitar player will lead an exciting life of touring and end up in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Some will be music teachers. Some will give lessons on the side and work a day job. Some will give up the guitar all together. But I've never heard a parent tell me that the guitar is unfair.
    Sports are about fun, growth any healthy competition. Every kid had the chance to compete at some level, and many kids get the chance to compete in and grow through multiple sports at multiple levels. The kids who play on high-dollar travel teams and the kids who play on blacktops all get to have fun, learn and grow. They also have the option to not keep score and just play for fun.
      If you know of anything else more fair than that, hit me up. But there's a good chance that I'm not going to buy what you're selling.

6'10" on 8-foot rims? It's not crazy. He's 12.

The video has gone viral. A 6’10” Canadian boy is playing hoops on 8-foot rims. I saw at least 3-different sports blog sites saying that this is crazy. I mean, he’s 6’10”. He doesn’t even have to jump to dunk. Here's the link.

https://twitter.com/BleacherReport/status/1007252609625939968

                Here’s why it’s not crazy.

                He’s 12 years old. So are the other boys on the court. Some are 11. And if I know anything about how some organizations put teams together, I’d bet a few of the kids in the league are 10-year-olds.

                Athletic fundamentals rarely change. A good batting stance has been the same for a hundred years. A solid wrist shot in hockey has looked the same since I saw Ron Dugay and Don Maloney playing for the New York Rangers in the early 80’s. The same is true with a jump shot. But as parents and coaches, we often accept poor fundamentals in an effort to rush kids into playing against better competitors who happen to be older.

                Here’s the cautionary tale of a young athlete I had the chance to work with a few moons ago. For the sake of story, we will call him “Mike.”

                At 10 years old, Mike loved basketball. He was a better dribbler than almost everyone in his small town, and he was as fast as most of the boys 2 and 3 years his senior. Mike and his family decided to have Mike try out of for a team made up of primarily 13 and 14 year olds. Mike made the team!

                One small problem though. Mike couldn’t reach the rim. After all, he was small for a 10-year-old. These kids played on the same sized court at the local HS kids… with 10-foot rims. So, to be productive, Mike adjusted his jump shot. Instead of shooting from his shoulder, Mike dropped the ball down to his hip when he shot so he could reach the rim. And it worked.

                In fact, Mike got pretty god at shooting from his hip. He became one of the better scorers on that team of much older boys. The coach loved it. Mike loved it. Everyone was happy. Everyone but the local high school coaches who cringed when they saw Mike’s release point. They knew just how easy that would be to defend at the high school level. Just stick your hand out and you’ll block that shot.

                Mike stuck with that release because it was working for him. He was able to get open enough that other kids that didn’t have the skillset of a high school player couldn’t block his shot. He put up huge number as a middle schooler, thanks in part to his unique jump shot.

He lived in a densely-populated area with multiple options for high school. He chose to attend the high school where he could start at point guard as a freshman. He made a major impact at his high school basketball team right away. Another coach in another program might was helped Mike fix his jump shot for long-term success, but this coach was elated to have success he had not seen at that school.

                Fast forward four years, and Mike is the all-time leading scorer in school history. He’s also the school’s all-time leader in steals. Mike’s family was thinking scholarship, but college coaches saw Kryptonite. That release was enough to turn off the recruiting video and move on to the next kid.

                Mike eventually ended up of a division III roster. He never made it into a game. After one season, he was cut from the team.

                A few years later, I had the chance to work with the college coach who cut Mike. He told me that if Mike worked to fix that release, or never fell into that bad habit in the first place, he could have been a good college player, possibly even a scholarship player at a higher level.

                For Mike, short-term gain was a major long-term loss.

                So, for the 6’10” kid playing on 8-foot rims, it’s not as crazy as it looks. He’s probably the only kid in the league taller than 5’7” or so. He’s the exception, not the rule. He’s 12. And, when shooting jump shots, his right hand starts above his shoulder.

Now, let’s think of  the 9 other kids on the court. They get to learn two tremendous lessons.

1.       They won’t have a release like Mike.

2.       Sometimes, somebody else is bigger, faster, stronger or just plain better. They’re learning to come to terms with that and find a way to be successful with the skills they have.

Their jump shot may never matter in life. But that second lesson will likely stick with them for the rest of their lives.

What's an athlete's best ability? Dependability

                When a young athlete makes a mistake, the parents of the kid who was not playing that position often chip in with their two cents. “My kid could have made that play.” And in many cases, they’re right. A different player attempting to make the same play in the same situation could have yielded a different result on that particular play. But it’s the parents of the other kid who have made a much bigger error.

                Every athlete makes mistakes. Most make too many to count. Some even make mistakes that neither they nor their coach is aware of because they haven’t gotten to that point in their understanding of the game yet. But it’s not avoiding an occasional mistake that good coaches are looking for when assigning roles to athletes. What they’re looking for is who they can count on most frequently to fulfill the most important roles. They want dependable players.

                Some kids are capable of making unbelievable plays, but the routine play is not-so-routine for them.  From a coaches’ perspective, this kid is terrifying. With this athlete, the coach sees three possibilities. First, they see exactly what the player was asked to do. They’re hopeful to see that phenomenal play they’ve seen that player make once or twice. But in the back of their mind, they see the third possibility: Disaster.

                The possibility of disaster is why undisciplined players often lose their job at the professional level to more polished role players who fit a system and do what they’re asked.  Recently, we saw it with the Redskins settling on Kirk Cousins after giving up on Robert Griffin III, who was a world class athlete.

                Disasters are coaches’ worst nightmares. It makes them look bad. It costs them games. In some cases, it costs them their jobs. “Everything was going according to plan, then we make one huge mistake and the game is over. We can’t afford to lose games that way.” I’ve heard coaches say that a million times. They want the most dependable players in control of the ball most often and they want the unpredictable playmakers to get chances to make wonderful plays once in a while, preferably when it would hurt the team the least if they fail.

                As athletes get older, every player is capable of making plays. On a good high school basketball team, every player can catch a pass and put the ball in the basket.  That coach still has to choose a starting point guard. Chances are the player who turns the ball over the least and facilitates the offense the best will get the nod at point.

                So, what makes a player “Dependable” in the eyes of a coach? Here are a few big factors

1.       Know the Role. A good coach has laid out clear expectations for each position. Know those expectations and be able to teach the teammates who can’t remember.

2.       Make Routine Plays Routinely. Every sport has fundamentals. Dependable players don’t need to be reminded of what they are and how they’re done. Coaches don’t wonder whether dependable players will do the little things. They already know.

3.       Take ownership of your mistakes and work diligently to fix them. One of the best college tennis players I ever coached double-faulted on match point once as a freshman. For the next three-and-a-half years, his practice routine ended with 100 2^nd serves. I considered that problem fixed, and I consider that athlete among the most dependable I’ve ever worked with.

4.        Take Practice Seriously. If your team’s most dependable player is regularly late to practice or doesn’t practice hard, your team has serious issues. There may not be a scoreboard at practice, but coach is keeping score in his head. I promise.

5.       Get it done. Even at the youth level, results speak for themselves. Trying doesn’t make you a good player. Trying makes you a good person. Results make you a good player. Coaches depend on players who get the job done.

                 

Train Athletic to be Athletic

       Walk into any commercial gym and you'll see it. There's no shortage of huge, musclebound men that are not the least bit athletic. But when we hear youth and high school coaches talking about kids getting started with strength and conditioning, the first two points of emphasis are "getting stronger" and "bulking up." It's not that strength and size are inherently bad for athletes, but they're not nearly as big of factors as balance, power, quickness, endurance and healthy movement patterns.
       Strength is just not all that important. Strength is the ability to move mass. Speed and efficiency don't factor in to strength. It's just moving mass.
     Now, let's consider how infrequently an athlete, especially at the youth level, has to move another object with significant mass without any regard to how quickly that event needs to happen. I think most coaches would rather have the athlete in position quickly with the ability to maintain balance and leverage so that an opponent doesn't gain an advantage.
       One of the most common examples of athletes needing to moving mass is what we used to see more frequently in popular gap-scheme football offensive line blocking assignments. But, gap-scheme-based offenses are less popular these days, having given way to zone schemes, run-pass-options and three-step or even one-step passing offenses. The translation to all that jargon is that, even in football, it's less important to be able to move large objects and more important to be able to move yourself.
      In many other sports, athletes never make contact with an opponent. so, they don't ever need to move another significant mass. The only mass they need to move is their own body. And still in other sports, like gymnastics, swimming, and running, your ability to move yourself efficiently and effectively is the foremost athletic emphasis.
    This is not to say that weight training is not important. It is one factor in the grand scope of strength and conditioning for athletes. When a young athlete starts on a strength and conditioning program, here are a three other aspects of training that need to be included for the program to help the athlete accomplish their goals.

1. Movement pattern correction/reinforcement - Proper functional movement patterns help ensure that athletes are using the energy and skills they possess efficiently, and also helps reduce the risk of injury. There are many functional movement screenings available out there. Find one. Make sure your athlete is improving his/her movement patterns.
2. Explosive movements - Exercises like power jumps, Olympic lifts and ground-based plyometrics are generally viewed as more effective for athletes than standard strength training movements.
3. Balance-related exercises Athletes are training to be effective on their feet. Laying on a bench doesn't do much to help that. One-legged exercises and exercises incorporating Swiss balls and BoSU balls help athletes maintain their balance while also moving weight. These are not the only balance aids, but they're pretty easy to find and most trainers/strength coaches know how to use them.

     Strength training is good. For some people, it's great. But for a young athlete, "strength" is rarely the aspect of strength and conditioning that they need most.

     As for that muscle-bound guy at the gym: There's a very good chance that either he is no longer a competitive athlete, or never was an athlete to begin with. He may look impressive, but lets not confuse looks with athleticism. Moving efficiently, having great balance, changing direction without hesitation, and having healthy movement pattern; now that's athletic!


 

Size Doesn't Matter

                Size doesn’t matter; at least not in amateur sports. Yet, on almost a daily basis, I hear parents and coaches telling kids that they’re not the right size to play a certain position or a certain sport.

                From parents, it unnecessary discouragement, and from coaches, it’s a copout. Parents at their best when they’re encouraging kids to compete for what they want, and coaches are at their best when they’re explaining to kids what’s expected and helping them cultivate the necessary tools to get where they want to go.

                The truth is there are no specific size requirements for any position or role in sports; certainly not at the youth level. A touchdown is worth 6 points. Not 4 for short kids and 8 for tall kids. A goal in field hockey is worth 1 point. No asterisk for a girl who scores that happens to be five inches taller than the rest of the girls.

                But to fully embrace this concept that there are no specific sizes to play specific positions or sports, we have to embrace two facts.

1.       Sports at the amateur level and sports at the professional level are, at best, somewhat similar.

2.       Your kid is not preparing for the game you see on television when he’s 13 years old.

What is more accurate and more applicable to amateur sports is that positions or roles on a team require the display of a skillset that gives a coach confidence in the kid to perform during the game and a result during the game that backs up the coaches opinion of the kid’s skillset.

                Imagine a group of adults looking at another adult and saying, “She should be a school superintendent. She owns a great pair of reading glasses, and I know a superintendent who has that same blouse.” Ridiculous, right? But those same adults would likely not hesitate to look at a tall kid and say, “Wow, I bet she’d make a good basketball player.”

                So, as a parent, how do you chose what sport is right for your kid. It’s simple. You don’t.

                Instead, take a look at what’s offered where you are. Of those organizations, which ones have your kid showed an interest in? Next, look into the organizations. What do those organizations offer that will benefit your kid’s recreationally and developmentally?

Of course, if your child doesn’t show an interest in any sport and it’s important to you for your kid to exercise and compete regularly, you can help steer the decision a little. But forcing a kid to play a sport they don’t like is a quick way to give a kid a lasting negative memory about you. Don’t believe me? Ask any kid who was forced to play a sport because their dad loved it. I don’t care if that person is 100 years old. Somewhere in their mind, there’s still a little resentment toward their dad about it.

I’ve even heard coaches telling kids that they’re “wasting their size” by playing or not playing certain sports. What’s wrong with being a 6’3” violin player who collects comic books? Nothing, if the kid likes the violin and comics. But I guarantee there’s a coach at that kid’s high school that has considered that kid a “waste.” And, if that kid is devoted to his music and not particularly interested in sports, why did that coach think he would help his team?

When a kid loves participating in an activity, encourage it. Activity is good. When you notice a kid possesses a skill that helps with that activity, recognize it. Praise is good. If you see that the kid has a deficiency that can be improved upon in that activity, challenge them and give them the skills to improve. Personal growth is also good.

Size does not factor in to any of this.

Arguing Gets You Nowhere

          I can’t grasp the concept of arguing with officials in youth sports. Unless you’re talking about a rule that’s not being properly observed, coaches who argue with officials at the youth level are wasting their time, and wasting coachable moments.

         Let’s establish one thing. Most youth sports officials, regardless of sport, are not very good. They usually fall into one (or more than one) of four categories.

1.       1. They’re now to officiating that sport and have to pay their dues reffing little kids before they can move up.

2.      2.  They’re making a few extra buck on the side because while the day job may pay most of the bills, they could use a little spending money.

3.       3. They’re at the tail end of their officiating career and have come back down to youth games after officiating high school or college.

4.       4. They’ve be officiating forever, they’ve never been good at it, and they’re stuck with kids.

It doesn’t really matter which of these four categories they fit in. Suffice to say it’s not their full time gig.

        Every once in a while, you see a great official at the youth level. They’re consistent, they’re fair, they’re just the right amount of serious, they're helping the kids without interfering with the coaches, and they get all the calls right. When you get that ump or referee, every parent and coach says the same thing. “Why can’t we have this guy every game?”

The reason you can’t get that ref consistently is simple. Everyone wants them and they can pick and choose their assignments. And if you’re a thorn in their side, they’re picking a different assignment.

So, what good does arguing do? Most officials have a quick trigger with coaches who consistently argue every call. I’ve umped enough games and been around enough officials to know that pain-in-the-butt coaches don’t get the calls that the sensible coach gets. It doesn’t matter if it’s fair. It’s true.

Moreover, spending your energy arguing a call sends the wrong message. Usually, if a play was close, the kid you’re coaching could have done something better to make it not-so-close. Hustling out of the batter’s box could have made the bang-bang play at first an easy infield single. The holding call by your right tackle on the outside run might not have been called if the kid took a better first step and established leverage.

Remember, as youth coaches, we are coaching all the time. The coach who shows up to practice and wastes the first 15 minutes of practice is teaching his players that it’s OK to be unprepared. The coach who leaves the field and immediately grabs a cigarette is teaching his players that it’s OK to smoke. And the coach that argues every call is telling the kids on the team that it’s OK to blame somebody else for their own failure.

How about the basketball official who calls a blocking foul every time down the court whenever a girl drives the lane? The perpetual arguing coach gets on the ref. Maybe the coach should be emphasizing denying the pass to the wing or defending more closely on the perimeter so her girls don’t get in the situation to get called for a block.

I’ve heard coach after coach say, “Ref, you’ve made that same call four times.” Insanity is doing the same thing the same way and expecting a different result, right? Expect the same result. Change the message to your team. That’s coaching.

Of course, this is not to say that it's not right to speak to an official about their calls. Those friendly conversations can go a long way with that official. Ans sometimes, the call is so bad that it's almost impossible to keep your mouth shut. Trust me. The official knows that they missed that call.  

                When I recruit high school athletes, I try to stay away from the kids who blame officials for losses. For many athletes, the officials are a non-factor. They’re the athletes I want to coach. Judge early in the game how the game is being officiated and adjust. The team that does that more effectively will likely have an easier time with the officials late in the game. And the team that blames the officials for a loss are the ones that are missing out on opportunities to improve.

Three Goals of Every Coach

 Championships. Scholarships. Records.

 Those are the three things I hear every season from youth coaches. Unfortunately, they're the three things that matter the least. And, if you coach without the real "Big Three" goals in mind, they're unlikely to happen.

Here are the "Big Three" that every coach should concern themselves with:

1. A smile - If your athletes are smiling, you're providing the right environment. Not all the time, of course. If they're never challenged, they're not improving. But when the thought of your team enters their minds, they should smile. There are a million ways to get to that smile, one of which is on-field success. But, if you're cultivating an environment that evokes smiles, you're accomplishing Job 1.

2. A registration - Kids have a million options for their free time. It's my firm belief that every kid should sweat and compete, but not every parent agrees. Kids are also at their best when they're well rounded, So, the piano, the paint brush and the library card can also play a huge role in their development. And let's not ignore the power of the remote control and the video game controller.
      If your coaching style, practice structure, and general team environment brought the kid back for another season of that sport, you've accomplished Job 2.

3. A referral - There's no better compliment as a college coach than when another respected coach or a former player tells a prospective student-athlete that their best option would be to play on your team. It's not much different with kids. The kid who didn't play for your team last year and does this year is likely not by mistake. Somebody probably told that kid about their experience and convinced them to play. If your smiling little-leaguer tells you about a friend who is going to play next season, you've accomplished Job 3.

   If you talk to a youth sports coach about their season and the first thing they mention is their team's record, they're going about this all wrong. It often makes me wonder what's missing in that coaches life that a championship for a team of small children is so important to them.

  But don't mistake the message. Competition is good. It's healthy. It's right. Participating is a hotly-contested game or match is good for everyone involved. The goal is balance. Compete as much as you smile.

   Success in coaching is not measured in final scores. It's measured in smiles, registrations and referrals. Most likely not coincidentally, I'm finding more and more that the coaches who's players smile, sign up again next year, and bring a friend with them are also the ones who win consistently.

Reward "Off-The-Ball" First

It doesn’t show up on the scoreboard. Kids don’t call grandpa and grandma and tell them about it. The newspapers won’t write about it. And that’s why as parents and coaches, it’s our job to reward it.

                The “it” is what young athletes do when they are not in control of the ball.

                In team sports, there’s only one object that matter in the final score. It’s the ball (or puck). Where it goes and how it gets there determines the score. Because of that, so many kids grow up believing that if the ball is not involved, it’s not important. And those kids could not be more wrong.

                Kids with exceptional natural ball skills and developed hand-eye or foot-eye coordination will appear to be better players, or better athletes, at a younger age. They tend to score more goals, get more base hits, catch more passes and make more baskets. It’s easy for Suzy to call grandpa and say “I scored 3 goals in my soccer game today.” Good for Suzy. I hope she feels great about herself. That’s a big day for a little girl.

                What about Rebecca? She didn’t score any goals. What’s she going to tell grandpa? Hopefully, Rebecca can tell grandpa that she had a great time and she ran around like crazy.

                If Rebecca’s coach emphasizes the right things, she’ll notice that Rebecca was always in the right place on the defensive end of the field. Rebecca also took away a passing lane that could have resulted in a scoring opportunity for the other team. Rebecca also chased down an opponent from behind and forced her to change her direction and move away from the goal.

                My team only needs 1 Suzy. But we need a dozen Rebecca’s. Suzy is luck. She has an advanced skillset for her age and she’s got a knack for butting the ball in the back of the goal. You can’t win unless you score more goals than the other team. Simple facts. But only rewarding Suzy for her goals is a problem that I see in youth sports all the time.

                Winning requires scoring and stopping other teams from scoring. But winning habits are more than that. Hustle is a winning habit. Effort is a winning habit. Attention to detail is a winning habit. Doing what’s asked of you is a winning habit. Being a responsible teammate is a winning habit. None of that stuff requires the ball in your possession.

                Our youth baseball league has implemented a rewards system for our young players. We package up some old baseball cards donated by our coaches in envelopes; ten to a pack. When the kids do something of note, we give them an envelope of cards. It’s a simple, cheap rewards system that reinforces the game of baseball that day and in the future.

                One of our youth coaches has decided to give a pack of cards each game to the player who does the best job backing up throws. Not making throws. Not catching throws. Backing up throws.

                I love that idea. Every player is capable of backing up throws. Very few kids are excited to call grandma and tell her that you backed up third like a champ today. But that coach is well aware and has found a way to reward that winning habit.

                Make no mistake. The ball is the most important thing. If all we cared about was backing up bases, nobody would get anybody out. But backing up bases is ALSO important. It’s a big part of the game, especially at the youth level when fewer players are capable of making accurate throws and catching well-thrown balls.

                I don’t know if that coach’s team is any good. I have no idea what their win-loss record it. Frankly, I don’t care. I know that his team has embraced a winning habit that will help eliminate costly mistakes and will help each player feel as though they’ve contributed regardless of what they did when they were in control of the ball.

                Often, we hear about these winning habit on TV as “the little things.” At the youth level, these are “THE BIG THINGS.”

                What you’ll find if you routinely reward the “off the ball” movement and responsibilities is that your team plays are cleaner, more complete game. You’ll also find that fewer players leave your sport because of boredom or lack of talent. You’ll find high school and college coaches seeking out players who played for you because the “play the game the right way.”

                Most importantly, you’ll find kids who want to play for you and parents who want their children to play for your team. Let the scoreboard, social media and the local newspaper tell everyone who hit the game-winning shot. Reward your team for what happens away from the ball.

Who's the Coach?

                There’s a difference between being a parent and a coach. There’s also a difference between being A coach and being THE coach.

                I recently attended a youth baseball game between 11-13 year-olds at which many coaches were in the stands. Some coaches were private instructors. Some were head coaches of other teams in the same league. One was the local high school coach. It was wonderful to see so many people who love baseball at the game. Here’s what wasn’t wonderful.

                Players from both teams left the dugout on multiple occasions to talk to their mom or dad, their club coach, their private instructor, or somebody else. Plain and simple, this is wrong.

                Players belong in the dugout, on the field, in the locker room, on the sidelines or with the people who have been charged with the task of managing the game. I understand that some fields have a blurred line of what is the participants’ area and what is the spectators’ area, but it’s the job of everyone involved to try to stick to their area. It makes for a healthier, safer environment.

                Significantly more importantly, I need to address the coaching issue. I don’t care if you’ve got a plaque in Cooperstown. If you haven’t been asked by the team’s organizers to help coach that team, it’s wrong for you to coach during that game. It’s disrespectful to the coaches who are coaching the game, it could send mixed messages to the players, and it probably makes you look like a fool.

                As a college head coach, one of the things that bothers me the most is to see one of my players being counselled by somebody outside of our program during a match. I want to say, “We had practice all week. Where were you?” We’ve got nearly three-dozen influences in our program from administrators, to coaches, to trainers, to teammates to trusted alumni. They all play in integral part in developing our team and our players. If you’re not involved in the day-to-day aspect of team development, you’ve only got two possible roles on match day:

1.       A spectator

2.       A distraction

It’s no different in youth sports. While the quality of coaching varies from team to team and organization to organization, the roles must be clear cut and defined. Players play. Coaches coach. Officials officiate. Support staff fills the role assigned to them. Everyone else needs to be a spectator.

I know what some of you are thinking. You’ve got your resume ready to show me your list of accomplishments. Or maybe you’re ready with a list of all the things that your coach does incorrectly.

Here are a few things to remember before you puff up tour chest and tell me how wonderful you are.

1.       There’s more to coaching than game management. Schedule management, uniforms, practice schedules, travel arrangements, paying officials, field preparation, concessions… The list goes on. If you’re not ready for all of that, coaching isn’t for you.

2.       If you’re a coach of another team, would you want another coach influencing your sidelines without your permission?

3.       Every youth organization I’ve ever seen is understaffed and looking for more volunteers. If it’s important to you, volunteer. You’ll be glad you did.

4.       If you notice something that you’d like to help your kid/private client/player with during a game being coached by somebody else, make time for that conversation on your time, not another person’s time.

5.       If you’re the parent that consistently tries to coach from the sidelines, there’s a good chance that not only will you not be asked to coach, but that your kid will be excluded in the future because of your mouth. I know that doesn’t sound fair to the kid, but it happens in every town in America.

6.       In sports as in life, nobody cares how much you know until they know how much you care.