Lately, there has been a lot of discussion within the training space surrounding the topic of “basketball experience”. Many have asked whether such experience is a requirement in order to be a basketball trainer?
As a “player” for approximately 40 years with almost 15 years of experience as a “trainer” coupled with over 30 years as “coach” (JV, V, College, Pro Men / Women) - I have a unique perceptive on the topic and the current state of basketball. Again, speaking strictly from the training vantage point it is my belief that one MUST have played basketball in order to teach it especially for those seeking to advance beyond "CYO" level. For those that question this fundamental fact - ask your self would you allow a “doctor” to operate on you or a family member without going to medical school where they practice such procedures? Pretty sure, you would seek a 2nd opinion - so why is it now “okay” to allow such behavior? But to be fair, we opened up our platforms for people to submit their take on the topic.
We posed this topic to a few personal friends and via our instagram account. In this blog we will highlight the feedback we received from a division 1 assistant coach (RI), a division 2 assistant coach (NY), a parent of a top 50 player (WI), a parent of a youth player (VT), “trainers” from NJ, NY (2) and NC and the results from our inform survey via instagram.
Allen Watson of A GAME TRAINING
(North NJ),
“Initially- when i heard the question i said ‘hell yea’ you need experience to teach then I thought about the “mothers and fathers” that casually take their child(ren) to the park to work on weak hand dribbling and layups provide a level of training and that requires very little if any experience. With that, as a player moves higher and higher the more you go the more is required so the trainer must have played..this is why some of this buffoonery is going on because cats not having any type understanding of the game or what it takes”.
Tamar Adams of PYS TRAINING
(NY/NC)
“How can I say i am a basketball trainer and i never played basketball. I am not gonna be a soccer trainer - I never played soccer nor a football coach, a tennis coach …No, No, No- I don’t know that stuff and I think that’s where the game has gone so wrong”
Antione Johnson of Team Overtime
(Westchester, NY),
“Sports - basketball specifically - is the only trade where people that never been in played competitively think they can give advice to other people on how to be successful. It does not happen in football, boxing, tennis, golf just basketball”
Eric Devendorf of ED23Hoops
(Syracuse, NY)
“I think it (playing experience) is necessary just because the person who is teaching it has been through the fire and experienced the situation so they are speaking from experience not saying that somebody who didn’t can’t be a good teacher or coach, but I think majority of the time me personally I would feel comfortable with somebody who has been in the fire and experienced the situation that they are teaching you”
Parent of a P5 Student-Athlete
(Milwaukee, WI)
“As a parent of a youth, high school and now college basketball player - I have no idea how someone could be a successful basketball trainer, if they've never played at some appropriate level of basketball themselves. How do you teach or instruct someone to DO something if you've never done it? I wouldn't send my kid to a school with instructors who didn't have commensurate training in that field. It feels like the same thing to me.”
Parent / Division 1 Assistant Coach
(Somewhere in Rhode Island)
“It seems hard for me to understand how someone can train someone else in something they never did. Unless they themselves were taught how to train in that specific field i. e. Basketball and learned some parts of the details of the fundamentals of the game, well enough to then teach someone else. However, they won’t be able to teach them the feel of the game and what to expect or what to do if they never played”
Parent / Division 2 Assistant Coach
(Somewhere in New York)
“I feel an effective trainer or coach should have played the game they are training at some level. Without having played the game, you don’t have the mindset or feel of the game. And, also who did you learn from to train? Is that person valid? You can’t be a self help book. As a trainer or a coach u have to be able to evaluate what the strengths and weaknesses of ur client or player, how to build up weaknesses , while being realistic in expectations “
Parent of Youth Player
(Somewhere in Vermont)
“Quite frankly, I do not know why this is a debate. If you apply for a job each job comes with a description that must be met in order to even apply for the position. From my vantage point, my child will be thrilled to play in college so I am not delusional but people that believe you don’t need experience seem to be. I am sure they had to meet some criteria for their job. To be honest, those that discount the experience part are basically trying to justify their existence in the space.”
Parent of a TOP 65 Player
(Somewhere in NY)
“When you are not intimately attached to something through experience, there are nuances that cannot be taught or explained. IYKYK🤷🏻♀️”
I would also caution anyone that believes “just because you played basketball means they can teach and develop” .. NEVER mentioned that- but that statement or similar statements make zero sense. Basically, that statement is equalivant to saying “every job applicant who meets our initial qualifications is good for the job” or every professor can teach a 5th grade class. THAT IS IMPOSSIBLE and NOT practical.
At any rate, after reading various quotes and twitter comments surrounding the topic I now begin to see on a larger scale ponder why basketball looks the way that it does today.
How do you feel on this topic?
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