Reply to individual sports practice at home (long, sorry)

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[quote=Anonymous]Long, but I'm venting my feelings.

Context: We’re not chasing hoop dreams or World Cup ambitions here. I just know how much I personally benefited from playing high school-level sports. They taught me fitness, social skills, time management, effort. It wasn’t about scholarships but about growth and having opportunities, probably benefiting my college admission. A life skill. At my age, I can jump into any fitness routine or program. I love the feeling of running and playing soccer or working on my own basketball skills with my ES kids (I'm not a natural). And this is all due to my experiences. Alternatively, I have friends or family that didn't have fitness as far as rec or high school, and it's a burden for them to move, try new classes, they don't have the patience to see themselves get better at anything.

We have two elementary-aged boys—one plays soccer, the other basketball. Both are adamant that they love their sports. Here’s the challenge: they don’t believe me when I occasionally talk about the value of practicing individual skills outside of team practice. From my experience, team practice alone isn’t where you sharpen your personal skills. That happens on your own time. (We also have an older girl, it's the same with her, but as she's heading toward high school, she's expanding her interests, independent fitness, takes dance classes, and I'm not worried.)

I’m not asking them to be the best players. I just want them to enjoy the game more by improving—keeping up with the team or just seeing personal progress from one season to the next. It’s more FUN when you feel yourself getting better, getting mildly appreciated on the team, having a little more ball time. To me, practicing and improving is the best part.

I’m trying to encourage 5-10 minutes of skill-building a day: shooting hoops in our warm garage where we have a hoop, dribbling around in the yard, or kicking the soccer ball around with me (when it’s not freezing). I'm met with: "tomorrow, mom." I don't think they see how every day is "tomorrow," all season.

My soccer player is off-season and plays on a team that loses a lot, though they're only a degree short of some of the other teams. Spring is coming, and he could use this time to work on his skills and come back stronger. When it's cold, we do have a basement that's good to practice in.
My basketball player is mid-season, on a team that’s absolutely dominating. He’s the youngest on the team, and no one expects him to be an all-star. But his teammates are trying to pass him the ball in easy moments when they're ahead. Every game he has had some cool moments of a good steal, or a good moment at practice. But, he doesn’t always put his head up to catch the ball during those chances. At home, he’s actually really good—but that confidence isn’t transferring to the court. And maybe focus/ADHD/a lot going on at game time.

It’s frustrating because they say they love these sports, but I can’t seem to convince them that a little individual practice could make a---fun---difference. I’m not looking for perfection, just small steps toward improvement.

What are your thoughts? And, I'd say the advice isn't "relax" because I keep this in. This pretty much in my inner thoughts. The most my boys know this is a mild suggestion, "you wanna play out in the garage with me? No? Ok." And maybe, monthly "hey, coach doesn't have time to work on your dribbling, he's focused on teamwork, maybe it's good to practice out in the yard" on a beautiful day. I know they'll be fine. I'm not worried, but I'd love to get through these individual practice barriers.....[/quote]

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