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Slam Dunk: An alternative philosophy to basketball talent development
In the last column, we observed the development of youth basketball players through what is currently a popular model of talent development in the USA
In the last column, we observed the development of youth basketball players through what is currently a popular model of talent development in the USA.
This philosophy involves putting youth basketball players in high-pressure situations from an early age, as young as seven, all the way through their teenage years. The athletes that can survive the rigors of the “pressure cooker” competitive environments over approximately a decade-and-a-half eventually make it into professional competitive basketball leagues.
While this approach has certainly led to all-time great talent being produced (one could point to several NBA All-Stars that developed this way), there can also be an alternative approach to talent development in youth basketball.
In this development model, youth athletes are consistently focused on the big picture goals of maximising their talent and learning a wide variety of basketball skills. Through hours of gameplay and creative constraints-based “instruction”, youth athletes develop a range of technical basketball skills needed to succeed in game environments which are complex and present rapidly changing scenarios to players. With the focus of this model being development of all basketball skills, athlete’s creativity and competitiveness is challenged through their problem-solving ability and how they respond to scenarios in which they “fail”.
This model may create more creative players who might make a few more “mistakes”, however, the combination of technical skill and decision-making ability of players who develop in this way sees them often utilise their creativity in ways beneficial to their team’s success.
This talent-development model certainly requires an increased focus on longer-term goals, which may lead to a lack of positive outcomes in the short-term.
There are numerous present-day examples of NBA All-Stars who developed in this way, such as the Denver Nuggets Nikola Jokic, Dallas Mavericks Luka Doncic, and the future NBA Hall-Of-Fame player Manu Ginobili from the San Antonio Spurs.
In the world of competitive sports, wins are prioritised at the highest level because of the direct financial benefit it brings to big sports clubs. At younger levels, if the focus is to truly develop athletes, then the argument could be made that the primary priority should be the development of all technical abilities of an athlete for their sport.
There is an interesting parallel to draw between European powerhouse Barcelona FC and their football stars from the La Masia Academy, or the renowned Dutch football club Ajax FC in the Netherlands.
In both these environments, at a younger age there is a focus on players skills and decision-making abilities and less focus on the outcome of matches.
Considering the psychological benefits of such an approach is also an integral part of youth basketball improvement. As a younger athlete, the mental capacity and ability to handle praise, criticism and a spotlight are not fully developed. Therefore, focusing on positive outcomes in skill development at younger ages could have an increased benefit psychologically for an athlete when considering long-term improvement. The improvement in skill may lead to a greater desire to practice the sport in order to be competitive at it, which is a key ingredient in playing at the highest level in the most competitive basketball leagues, such as the NBA.
As is often the case, melding the two approaches is likely to enable youth basketball talent to get the best of both worlds – developing decision-making and creative technical skill followed by consistently seeking out the best competitive environments will lead to maximum improvement.
