Canadian Coach Mike MacKay’s article on the Long term athlete development model
It’s All Relative
There are many situations in coaching where we need to consider the long term rather than the short term. When we focus solely on a short term outcome of trying to win the game we often short change the development of the players and can hinder winning in the long term. This also can seriously hurt players chances to fully participate in other areas of the LTAD model at a later date. This short term approach is detrimental as we move up the LTAD model vertically, but also when you move horizontally across the model. As a coach it is easy to rationalize why I should try to win games now. Our logical side speaks to us and it often seems to make sense:
- Why should I not play zone at younger ages if it helps my team win?
- Why pick that tall gangly awkward youngster when I can have a whole team of quick coordinated players who can run and press? They are the better players- isn’t that what I am supposed to do?
- Why should I not set a ball screen so my best player can continually drive right to score a right hand layup?
- Why should I play more aggressive defence when my players just get beat on penetration? The other team can’t shoot, so let’s just sag.
- Why should I not let my biggest player just guard the front of the rim? If he/she guards someone away from the basket he/she always gets beat.
- Why do we need to practice fundamental movement and basketball skills when my players just like to scrimmage? It takes up too much of my already limited time.
- Why should I change my players shot form when it is working now?
The great coach at all levels understands that the answer to these questions is all relative to the current context at which you are playing. The way in which you win games early in the season may not be enough to win games later in the season. The skills and concepts that a player uses early in his/her career/season may not work later on in their career/season. Being a great player or coach at one stage or place on the LTAD model does not guarantee success at another spot.
Vertically (The Players’ Career)
At the L2T stage, the game is often won by the team that can score the most layups and put backs. If the players are using lower baskets this is often magnified. Interesting as you move up the LTAD model the team that scores the most closest to the basket still wins a lot of the time, but it cannot be the only way you score. This means that players, as they move up the LTAD model, must develop other ways to score the ball. I vividly remember seeing a player in Junior high who was a scoring phenom. Everyone was predicting this player to be the greatest player in high school. The player’s teams sat in a 2 -3 zone. The scoring phenom played in the top of the zone. This meant the player could shoot the gap on a pass or leak out early on shots. The player was very fast and no one could ever catch the player before scoring the uncontested layup. When the player moved on to the high school level this method of scoring did not present itself very often. It was not that scoring right hand break away layups was no longer a scoring option, it is just that the sophistication of the defence, the lack of turning the ball over and the players inability to use the left hand prevented it from happening at the next level. Having never experienced failure before, the player had not developed the coping skills to work through frustration. Tragically the player did not even finish playing high school basketball.
At each stage of the model, as a player moves up the ladder, refinement to existing skills or the addition of new skills must occur.
Horizontally (The Players’ Season(s))
It is all relative as you move horizontally across the model in the course of a season. When playing in the backyard by yourself, it can be very easy to score the ball. As you move on to play a game of pick up with a bunch of friends it becomes more difficult because there is now a defender, but since there are no referees you might be able to get away with a few things to help you to score. In your own local league you may be able to get away with making soft passes with the ball over your head since you are the tallest player and the other teams play very passive defence. As you move on to a provincial competition this might still work. It might even happen at the National level, but most likely you will eventually run into a situation where this no longer works. The players will be taller and the defence becomes more assertive. At less competitive levels when you beat your check, you often face little or poor help defence. The more organized and competitive the play, the bigger and quicker the help becomes. The speed and intensity of the play is accelerated. (Note this is also as you move vertically up the LTAD model). It may also be in certain concepts of play. At a local level players may not shoot the ball from the three point line, but when you progress through your season you may find this not to be the case. Teams at lower levels often do not use their bodies. The physicality of the game becomes enhanced. Higher level teams often are initiating the contact. This is done on both offence and defence. I once took a team to an AAU tournament in Nebraska. Although our team was small in size, we more than made up for it in our physical play. The AAU teams were not used to someone fronting a cut, making contact on a box out, setting solid screens, taking charges or initiating the contact on drives and layups. They constantly complained to the officials that we were playing hockey and not basketball. Although this worked to our advantage we were not used to playing against tall, athletic players. We had not seen this in the Maritimes provinces. When we got to the semi-finals of the tournament we struggled to score as our shots and passes continued to be blocked. Instead of learning to play low and using fakes and pivots, we got tall and extended, playing right into the other team’s strengths. I did not properly prepare my players for this style of play. I learned my lesson for the future. A great coach must know what the game will look like at the highest level that his/her players will see that season. It is our job to ensure they are prepared.
It is difficult as a coach or player to prepare for something if you have never seen what it is going to be like. Very often players trying out for provincial teams or national teams are overwhelmed the first time they try out. They are unprepared for the differences in the game. As a coach, if you plan to have a player or team play at the highest level of your stage, you need to simulate the skills, concepts, speed and intensity that will be played when you get there. You have to go and see. This is why I am currently attending the World Championships for the Cadet players (boys in Germany, girls in France). I need to see it firsthand. Watching on a DVD is good, but it does not completely capture the entire picture. After seeing it one has to be willing to change. This often means practicing differently than you are used to.
Often the whole issue of facts and true facts rears its ugly head when rumors get to fill in the spaces for people who have not actually seen what the next level is really like. A player goes to a try out or off to a competition away from the one he/she is comfortable with. Since no one else has really seen the competition it is easy for a “fact” to materialize as to why this player did not get to play or played so poorly. The “true fact” is that the player was not prepared for the level of competition. Who starts the rumor:
- It can be the player in a need to protect his/her ego
- A parent in their blind devotion
- A coach who may not have actually seen the competition, but out of loyalty to his/her player
For players to grow they need to be able to deal with the true facts of the situation. This is not always easy.
What about the player who is playing on multiple teams, or a player who plays on a club and/or a high school team and then tries out for a provincial/national or select team, who will now compete against better competition? Who is responsible for preparing the player for the increased intensity and speed of play? Most would say it is the provincial /national coach who is coaching that team. The problem is that too often these teams do not have enough training time to have an impact. Too often the player is trying to work on these concepts through a skill development program, like Centre for Performance or Regional Training Centre, but they never get to apply these skills in a competitive situation. Just as important is the amount of time the player puts into individualized training. This cannot be at the same pace. The player needs to work at the new speed and intensity. Parents also have to accept some responsibility. If they continually put their son/daughters in programs that just play games they must accept the fact that the lack of training will catch up.
Let’s relook at the previous questions as they reflect some of the most common situations with a short, rather than a long term, view:
- Why should I not play zone at younger ages if it helps my team win?
Players do not develop the deep understanding and mastery of the skills required to play the game at higher levels when all they do is play zone at younger ages. The zone works with young players because of a lack of strength and skill rather than the effectiveness of the defence. - Why pick that tall gangly awkward youngster when I can have a whole team of quick coordinated players who can run and press?
This is still one of the hardest notions for coaches of elite teams at the developmental ages to accept and apply. Shouldn’t the “best “players make the team? The argument I often hear is that this is the only time for the small player to shine; later on the tall players will dominate. I would agree with this statement if the tall players were staying in the game. Since they often do not get a chance to play when they are young, the vast majority lose confidence and move on to another sport that is more accepting of their future potential. Basketball is a game for tall people at the elite stage. This does not mean that small players cannot play, but we need to make sure future tall players have a chance to play young so they can be around when they are old. When they do not make the elite level team they often do not get the perks that go with this level of team; more coaching, compete against better players every day in practice, and a level of competition that challenges them to improve. - Why should I not set a ball screen so my best player can continually drive right to score a right hand layup?
Similar to zones, ball screens work at younger ages because the defence is not ready to defend them. Once the defence learns to switch, trap or properly defend the offensive players usually do not have the skills to make the adjustments. They only have a surface understanding. Also, usually only two players are involved in the offence. The rest of the players become spectators, hindering their development. - Why should I play more aggressive defence when my players just get beat on penetration? The other player can’t shoot so let’s just sag.
This is another one that is often hard to grasp. Shouldn’t I play a defence that gives my team the greatest chance to win? Win when? By not applying ball pressure the offensive players never have to learn valuable skills that they will eventually need. This usually comes in the “big” game sometime in the future. If you learn to stand straight with the ball over your head and make simple passes, sometime, somewhere there will be someone in your face. Sometime, somewhere there will be a team that can shoot the ball from the outside as your team is sagging to protect against penetration. - Why should I not let my biggest player just guard the front of the rim? If he/she guards someone away from the basket he/she always gets beat. The term big is relative. As you move vertically and horizontally through the LTAD model, size becomes relative to where you are. The so called big player on your high school team now becomes tiny when trying out at a higher level. More often than not it is the inability to guard their new position that will do them in.
- Why do we need to practice fundamental movement and basketball skills when my players just like to scrimmage? It takes up too much of my already limited time.
Eventually the lack of skill work will catch up with your team. There is always slippage in skills when you just play. You constantly must be refining the skills and loading your skills repertoire. You don’t all of a sudden start dribbling with your left hand in a game. You needed to have tried this out in practice first. Lack of fundamental movement skills can also lead to injuries over time. Agility, balance, coordination and speed are the foundation of your basketball skills. - Why should I change my players shot form when it is working now?
Players who look under the ball or have a two piece shot (more than one motion in their shot) will eventually be limited in their shooting as the defence becomes better. They will no longer have the one second advantage needed to get their shot off.