Youth Basketball Confidence Builders

A critical error that I see happening, and I have to give credit to a fantastic AAU coach I know because he put it so well, is that too often we mistake building our player's confidence with giving them a false sense of security. I agree, and I've put it differently in my day, but his statement is more to the point.

See, you have to put your players in situations that require their maximum effort. And you have to continually be their cheerleader, because you want them to fail. Not fail spectacularly, but have them right on the edge where their maximum effort gets them ever so close to succeeding but not quite. Then, over time, as they grow and you work on their individual skills, one day they will be playing against a team that is one or two grades older then them and it will work. Your kids will blow by their defense and score. They will make a post move and score. And they will go back on defense thinking, "Hey, this is fun. That older guy can't handle me now, wait until I play a kid my own age. I'll OWN him."

That's confidence. Real confidence. That's what you're coaching for.