CYA Basketball - any additional resources in Chantilly Fairfax to supplement learning

[Anonymous]

My son is 10 years old and has been playing recreational basketball for 5 seasons with CYA. I have noticed that the coaches/assistant coaches kids barely pass the ball to my son during games and all he is doing is just running around. I think it is perhaps time to provide him additional practice so that he can gain confidence. Has anyone been in the same boat and can recommend a good basketball coach in the Chantilly/Fairfax area or any other resources?

[Anonymous]

OP, it can be frustrating sometimes, but hang in there and just have fun. I will ask around and see if I have a recommendation for you.

[Anonymous]

Next time encourage a few of his friends to register. That way, you could carpool and have 1-2 known faces in the mix.

[Anonymous]

I don't know about your area, but in DC I'd contact Hoop Ed and ask them to recommend a trainer. You can google "AAU Basketball Fairfax" and then call the organizations that come up and see of they can recommend a trainer -- many people who coach AAU also do training.

Basketball is a weird sport in its social aspects. If a player is clearly dominant and super confident, kids will pass to him, but it's possible for non-assertive players who are just OK to really be overlooked.

I'll share with you the advice my kid's trainer gave him when DS was experiencing this at a college prospect camp. DS played his first of two games of the first day of camp with a group of kids who all thought they were great. He didn't play assertively and barely touched the ball all game because he was getting open to shoot threes and waiting for a pass that never came. The kids were playing "me first" ball and driving into traffic or heaving up contested threes and missing. He called his trainer between games and the trainer advised him to hunt the ball rather than waiting for passes --- get rebounds, get steals and never count on the logical pass. DS did this in his second game and was the game leader in scoring. He had several putbacks, but more importantly he got a bunch of steals and blocked shots on the defensive end, and when kids saw that they started passing to him more. There were several plays where he got a block or steal, made an outlet pass to another kid then beat that kid down the floor and got the pass back for a layup or open midrange shot. On one play he got a steal, passed to a kid for a fast break, the kid missed a dunk and DS got a putback tip in. That play made the camp highlight reel, and it was all 100% hustle and hardly any skill.

[Anonymous]

This place provided a basketball skills class for SYC boys. Don’t know anything else about them except the 2 hour session was good.

http://www.sp8balltraining.com/

We found a private coach on Craigslist who has helped DS with his skills. He’s no superstar but he’s improved to the point where he gets passed the ball and normally scores at least once a game which is a MAJOR improvement for him. His was given the most improved player award for his team.

[Anonymous]

That sounds like a coaching problem but five bad coaches in a row is really, really bad luck. My son plays on a team with SYA and his coach has the boys take turns being the point guard. We have played teams where there are other kids who seem to never even get to touch the ball and I think that is really sad for a rec sport.

The N zone in chantilly has a basketball program but I haven't heard reviews on it one way or the other.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son is 10 years old and has been playing recreational basketball for 5 seasons with CYA. I have noticed that the coaches/assistant coaches kids barely pass the ball to my son during games and all he is doing is just running around. I think it is perhaps time to provide him additional practice so that he can gain confidence. Has anyone been in the same boat and can recommend a good basketball coach in the Chantilly/Fairfax area or any other resources?

Do a lot of camps during summer, winter, spring break. And you can do individual training with local guys like Teddy Greene, Curtis Symonds, Willie Diggs, or even Walt Webb(I don’t like Webb).
Let him improve his game.
My son can play and I coach. I make sure he passes the ball to who ever is open or he comes out of the game and I try to make sure every kid improves during their time with me. But when it comes to youth sports a lot of these parent coaches main priority is to help their own kid. And the other kids have to already have a set of skills to be involved.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That sounds like a coaching problem but five bad coaches in a row is really, really bad luck. My son plays on a team with SYA and his coach has the boys take turns being the point guard. We have played teams where there are other kids who seem to never even get to touch the ball and I think that is really sad for a rec sport.

The N zone in chantilly has a basketball program but I haven't heard reviews on it one way or the other.

Walt Webb runs the program at the N zone. He knows the game and it’s convenient for some people. His summer camps are reasonable if you sign up early. Your kid can get some experience there. I just don’t like the way he runs things.

[Anonymous]

My friend's kid did a week of that n-zone basketball camp and they watched an entire movie every day after lunch! So an hour of lunch + a full length movie! She was pissed. Its cheap-o for a reason.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That sounds like a coaching problem but five bad coaches in a row is really, really bad luck. My son plays on a team with SYA and his coach has the boys take turns being the point guard. We have played teams where there are other kids who seem to never even get to touch the ball and I think that is really sad for a rec sport.

The N zone in chantilly has a basketball program but I haven't heard reviews on it one way or the other.

Walt Webb runs the program at the N zone. He knows the game and it’s convenient for some people. His summer camps are reasonable if you sign up early. Your kid can get some experience there. I just don’t like the way he runs things.

Same here. There are a few really good kids who get most of the attention and the rest (80%) are just paying the fees.

[Anonymous]

I coach Chantilly/Fairfax boys and I rotate the guards no matter how good they are. That way everyone gets to at least bring the ball up the court. At this age (9), it's too early to give permanent positions because the guards have all the power on whether to pass or shoot. I've seen teams where there are only 2 good players and they have the ball the whole game. They improve and the others don't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son is 10 years old and has been playing recreational basketball for 5 seasons with CYA. I have noticed that the coaches/assistant coaches kids barely pass the ball to my son during games and all he is doing is just running around. I think it is perhaps time to provide him additional practice so that he can gain confidence. Has anyone been in the same boat and can recommend a good basketball coach in the Chantilly/Fairfax area or any other resources?

OP, that's the coaches fault. He/she should be running plays or sets at this age to get everyone the ball. I coach CYA and make sure everyone gets involved...even if it means we lose. The good kids (usually the guards and coach's sons) can't be trusted to make a decision between shooting the ball, passing it to a good player/friend, and passing it to your son. The coach needs to enforce it at this age.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son is 10 years old and has been playing recreational basketball for 5 seasons with CYA. I have noticed that the coaches/assistant coaches kids barely pass the ball to my son during games and all he is doing is just running around. I think it is perhaps time to provide him additional practice so that he can gain confidence. Has anyone been in the same boat and can recommend a good basketball coach in the Chantilly/Fairfax area or any other resources?

OP, that's the coaches fault. He/she should be running plays or sets at this age to get everyone the ball. I coach CYA and make sure everyone gets involved...even if it means we lose. The good kids (usually the guards and coach's sons) can't be trusted to make a decision between shooting the ball, passing it to a good player/friend, and passing it to your son. The coach needs to enforce it at this age.

I agree with this poster, and I'm delighted to hear that PP coaches this way. But as a 10 year rec, travel and high school basketball parent I'll tell you that it's super common for kids who aren't as assertive not to get the ball, and this is something that a player needs to learn to deal with because every player will be in a situation where they are not getting the ball as much as they would like.

Working with a trainer can make a big difference pretty quickly (like within a couple of weeks). So can learning to dribble (practicing 15 min. every day for two weeks can make a huge difference for a new player, and it gets easier more fun the more they do it).

But the most effective advice my kid ever got was to go get the ball without waiting for a pass -- rebound, steal and force turnovers. Those are things that kids can learn quickly and that no kids ever practice on their own. Also, parents who aren't basketball gurus can watch youtube videos or see online resources to help kids learn those skills. Kids who aren't tall can get rebounds by learning to box out, learning which way a miss is likely to come off the rim, and learning timing. Google (age appropriate) rebounding drills and take your kid to a court and practice missing shots for them to rebound. Also, if you can get someone to practice passing with you (mom and dad can do this), get your kid to work on stealing passes between perimeter players. It took my kid one session of working on this to get the timing. Also, teach your kid to pay attention to when a kid picks up his dribble without someone to pass to (probably still common for 10 year olds). If your kid understands when a kid has picked up his dribble and how to play aggressive defense at that point, he can force turnovers, especially if that kid is close to half court or the sideline.

Also, if your kid is shy of contact, invest in a karate kicking pad (big rectangular pad with handles) and practice pressuring him and bumping him a bit as he dribbles down court. Getting your kid used to contact in a way that doesn't hurt them can dramatically reduce their nervousness during games and improve their enjoyment a ton. Working with a pad when my kid was a freshman transformed his game, and if I had started a couple of years earlier he would have had a lot more fun in games and been a much better player.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son is 10 years old and has been playing recreational basketball for 5 seasons with CYA. I have noticed that the coaches/assistant coaches kids barely pass the ball to my son during games and all he is doing is just running around. I think it is perhaps time to provide him additional practice so that he can gain confidence. Has anyone been in the same boat and can recommend a good basketball coach in the Chantilly/Fairfax area or any other resources?

OP, that's the coaches fault. He/she should be running plays or sets at this age to get everyone the ball. I coach CYA and make sure everyone gets involved...even if it means we lose. The good kids (usually the guards and coach's sons) can't be trusted to make a decision between shooting the ball, passing it to a good player/friend, and passing it to your son. The coach needs to enforce it at this age.

I agree with this poster, and I'm delighted to hear that PP coaches this way. But as a 10 year rec, travel and high school basketball parent I'll tell you that it's super common for kids who aren't as assertive not to get the ball, and this is something that a player needs to learn to deal with because every player will be in a situation where they are not getting the ball as much as they would like.

Working with a trainer can make a big difference pretty quickly (like within a couple of weeks). So can learning to dribble (practicing 15 min. every day for two weeks can make a huge difference for a new player, and it gets easier more fun the more they do it).

But the most effective advice my kid ever got was to go get the ball without waiting for a pass -- rebound, steal and force turnovers. Those are things that kids can learn quickly and that no kids ever practice on their own. Also, parents who aren't basketball gurus can watch youtube videos or see online resources to help kids learn those skills. Kids who aren't tall can get rebounds by learning to box out, learning which way a miss is likely to come off the rim, and learning timing. Google (age appropriate) rebounding drills and take your kid to a court and practice missing shots for them to rebound. Also, if you can get someone to practice passing with you (mom and dad can do this), get your kid to work on stealing passes between perimeter players. It took my kid one session of working on this to get the timing. Also, teach your kid to pay attention to when a kid picks up his dribble without someone to pass to (probably still common for 10 year olds). If your kid understands when a kid has picked up his dribble and how to play aggressive defense at that point, he can force turnovers, especially if that kid is close to half court or the sideline.

Also, if your kid is shy of contact, invest in a karate kicking pad (big rectangular pad with handles) and practice pressuring him and bumping him a bit as he dribbles down court. Getting your kid used to contact in a way that doesn't hurt them can dramatically reduce their nervousness during games and improve their enjoyment a ton. Working with a pad when my kid was a freshman transformed his game, and if I had started a couple of years earlier he would have had a lot more fun in games and been a much better player.

PP Coach here. I totally agree! Besides running plays, I also teach them that if they want the ball, go get it. Steals and rebounds are the easiest way to get the ball at this age because most kids can't pass and at least 70% of the shots are misses so there are plenty of opportunities for rebounds. I also tell them to go to the ball when their teammate picks up their dribble. If a kid can do all of this (it's not too hard to teach), then they will get a lot of touches during the game. They just need to be assertive and somewhat aggressive.

[Anonymous]

Glad to hear that CYA still sucks.