confidence/nerves really impacting game

[Anonymous]

DS goes through waves of feeling confident and playing aggressively and scoring well and then for other games, getting nervous and passing the ball as soon as he gets it and playing much less aggressively and barely scoring.
Has anyone else experienced this and what helped?

[Anonymous]

LOL

How old is he?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:LOL

How old is he?

NP

The hell are you LOLing for?

[Anonymous]

He's 15

[Anonymous]

It's normal. Just play more games, earn experience points and level up. Play Spring AAU/summer league/fall bball...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:He's 15

This is extremely common at all levels.

The thing that helped my kid the most was playing small group scrimmages with kids who were better than him. Also, physical maturity. Between 14 and 15, his aggressiveness increased exponentially, and I think it just had to do with hormones - his on court persona changed a lot pretty quickly and he went from avoiding contact to seeking it and sometimes confrontation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He's 15

This is extremely common at all levels.

The thing that helped my kid the most was playing small group scrimmages with kids who were better than him. Also, physical maturity. Between 14 and 15, his aggressiveness increased exponentially, and I think it just had to do with hormones - his on court persona changed a lot pretty quickly and he went from avoiding contact to seeking it and sometimes confrontation.

It's more or less this.

Have you noticed a difference in opponents?

ie against lower level opponents, your child is more confident and aggressive. But against higher level opponents they are not as confident and struggle a bit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He's 15

This is extremely common at all levels.

The thing that helped my kid the most was playing small group scrimmages with kids who were better than him. Also, physical maturity. Between 14 and 15, his aggressiveness increased exponentially, and I think it just had to do with hormones - his on court persona changed a lot pretty quickly and he went from avoiding contact to seeking it and sometimes confrontation.

It's more or less this.

Have you noticed a difference in opponents?

ie against lower level opponents, your child is more confident and aggressive. But against higher level opponents they are not as confident and struggle a bit.

Yes, definitely less aggressive with skilled or bigger opponents

[Anonymous]

I would recommend the opposite-have him play on a team where he can lead. It will build confidence.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would recommend the opposite-have him play on a team where he can lead. It will build confidence.

I think doing both is the best answer. The summer after freshman year, my kid alternated between being a ringer on a bad team his trainer coached in a weak league, to weekly workouts out with three bigger/older kids, to sitting at the end of the varsity summer league bench with a team with many D1 commits. Being both the best and the worst player on the floor during the same summer really changed his perspective and helped him calm down because he realized his success level was all about context - anybody can look great playing against weaker players or look bad against better players.