Players have more individual skill than they ever have.

Kids are starting to play the game earlier, have access to more plentiful (and better resources) than previous generations, coaching has improved etc.

Naturally you would think this would translate to better overall basketball players...but that's not the case, at least from where I'm standing.

I often get asked, "what do you notice about players these days compared to when you were playing?". 

My quick response is, "the average player is definitely more talented than when I played. But percentage wise, there are less players that understand how to play - particularly in dynamic/unscripted environments."

Essentially we have more "ferraris" but they're lacking a gps. 
Individually talented but have limited understanding of when, how and why to utilize their talents. Players have more individual ability (than ever before) - manipulating the ball in all sorts of impressive ways (ball handling, finishing at the basket etc) but lack a deeper understanding how to play.

There is no simple answer to why this has happened but here are some possible explanations:

- Increase in individual skills training (players spending a disproportionate amount of time in a gym by themselves with a trainer).

- Less "free play" and random pick-up basketball where players are forced to find creative solutions in live environments. Players are over-coached these days (related to the point above).

- Highlight culture (on social media) giving a distorted picture of what impacts winning.

- Exposure-obsessed parents and players that shortcut the developmental process (jumping from one situation to another in attempt to have their individual talents best showcased without proper consideration for team fit and healthy team culture).

- Misunderstanding of what "skill" actually is (technique focus without the decision-making training).

- Majoring in the minor. Placing too much emphasis on things that don't really matter as it relates to improvement and impacting the game. (i.e. knowing the intricate technical details of a cross-step attack to  euro-step finish but not understanding basic spacing concepts).

- Lack of quality parent education - With more opportunities (teams, clinics, exposure events, prep schools etc) than ever before it has made it very challenging for parents to navigate these different situations. These opportunities are not all created equal and when things grow quickly it can take a while for the quality to catch up.  

So what does this mean?

There is a huge opportunity for players that do understand how to play. Learning to be a "Honda Civic" with a gps is more useful in team contexts than a ferrari without one. 

Parents should be asking the hard questions, pursuing resources to help them better understand the development process and the difference between skill (which includes decision-making) and technique, seeking out ways for their child to learn through play and finding (and sticking with) coaches that develop the whole athlete.

Please reach out for more guidance or specific resources to help in your developmental journey.

This post was written by Right Way Basketball founder, Mike Kenny, a former USPORTS National Champion, current coach educator, clinician and teacher of the game. ​

“I’m good in practice but I can’t seem to get the results in games.”

“Our team seems to be improving but it’s not really showing in games.”

These are common statements made by players, coaches and parents alike. 

So what’s going on here? Why does this seem to be a growing problem? 

The issue stems from these reasons:

1. Growing popularity of “trainer culture”; more players now work with a private (1on1) skills trainer who helps them develop skills in a controlled and predictable environment (generally no defense).
 2. Coaches who want things to look neat and tidy at practice. This usually results in lots of unrelated drills where players are performing predetermined skills (often in ways that don’t resemble the game at all). The problem is games are messy. 
 3. We focus on the wrong things. The goal of any player should be to get better at things that happen the most in the game. I think we (adults in the basketball community) have steered players astray on this one. Extensive dribble combo moves, high degree of difficulty shots etc. are generally a waste of time for 95% of players. 

This does not even account for the time that gets wasted at practice when coaches spend too much time working on set “plays” rather than developing skills (which includes decision-making). Having a playbook of “plays” that players cannot execute because of a skill (decision-making) deficit will not help you improve individually (or as a team).

So it’s easy to state what’s not working - let's look at an alternative approach that actually does transfer to the game. 

First, let’s distinguish between kind and wicked learning environments. 

Kind environments, as defined by psychologist Robin Hogarth, are “where patterns recur, ideally a situation is constrained – so a chessboard with very rigid rules and a literal board is very constrained – and importantly, every time you do something you get feedback that is totally obvious, all the information is available, the feedback is quick, and it is 100% accurate….And in these kinds of “kind” learning environments, if you’re cognitively engaged you get better just by doing the activity.” Golf or chess would be kind environments. 

However, wicked environments, which is where basketball would fall, often have information that is hidden. Even when it isn’t, feedback may be delayed, it may be infrequent, it may be nonexistent, or it maybe partly accurate or inaccurate in many of the cases. There are no built-in rules and recurring patterns - it cannot be automated like chess (if A, then B). Basketball is a series of unique and random scenarios that unfold throughout a game. 

Again, the problem is we are training basketball players as if it’s a “kind environment” when in reality it’s very much a “wicked” one.

The antidote to kind learning environments that don't transfer to the game:
Constraints-based training.

This method of practice uses constraints (individual, environmental and/or task) to maximize learning a given area of the game. An example could be constraining the physical size of the court, limiting the number of dribbles or modifying the rules slightly. 

Players would still be playing the game amidst these constraints but their focus would be drawn to certain elements of the game in a constrained environment. Contrast this approach with traditional drills that essentially pluck random skills OUT of their game context with the hopes that once you go to apply them in a game context they will show up - unfortunately, the transfer is minimal. They are different tasks. And the biggest reason for the lack of transfer with standard “drills” is the absence of decision-making. You cannot separate the decision from the skill - someone is only a good shooter if they generally know when (and when not) to shoot (and obviously are able to make a respectable % of the shots they do decide to take). Simply having good shooting technique or making shots in a kind environment does not make someone a good shooter. 

So there it is, play more games to learn how to play the game. Sounds simple doesn’t it?! The art of coaching comes in with what constraints to use and when. 

All of our group based programming is designed with a constraints-based approach and we’ve seen fantastic results adopting this way of teaching.

We would be happy to discuss how you too can begin to adopt this approach to training with your team or club.