coachmccormick
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Re:Rod Thorn on the USA's problems - 2006/07/28 18:21
I once loved coaching camps and that's probably the problem; I rarely ever met another coach who did. I worked a couple camps with a UC Davis women's assistant and when she wasn't flirting with the players, she was complaining about having to coach. When I finally screamed at her to do her job, the Stanford staff got mad at me. I told them I could name every kid in the entire division and if they could find another coach in my division who could name all the players on his/her team, I'd leave without pay.
I don't do things for a resume or to make contacts. I just coach. And, I hate working with college players who think coaching is an easy summer job and who think they are too big time to talk to the players; my favorite was a Superstar Camp where DII players were too big time to talk to the campers. A couple players told me I was the only one who talked to them off the court. Or, at Arizona's girls' camp where the coaches and counselors are too lazy to walk with the campers from he gym to the dining hall.
I stopped sitting with coaches at meals because all they did was complain about having to coach or about their players and why their teams sucked. Their teams sucked because they were crappy coaches who looked for excuses, not ways to make their team better. But, to them, the players always had some deficiency which was too much to overcome.
One of the last camps I worked I was asked to leave because I asked what the point of the camp was, since they failed to get NCAA certified so college coaches could not scout, yet they complained when I coached and stayed in the gym after camp to teach a kid to shoot.
I worked Snow Valley. It's okay. It was better before they sold out to Nike Sports Camps and Herb Livsey left.
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Coach
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Re:Rod Thorn on the USA's problems - 2006/07/29 15:06
Herb Livsey is one of the best! I had a chance to work Snow Valley one year, didn't go out.
At a camp I was working one summer, we got through the first day. At the league meeting at night, the director asked us if each team was doing ok; did they need a player, did they need to get rid of someone, should we move someone up, etc.
Well this one coach, spoke up and said, "I need a 3-man that could take it off the dribble!"
I looked at him to see if he was serious. I looked at a few of my boys who were coaching too. I realized this guy was serious.
Guess what?
The kids were 11 years-old!
A 3-MAN WHO CAN TAKE IT OFF THE DRIBBLE?
Give me a break...
My solution on camp would be to only have a half day. 9AM-12noon for young kids
1-4 for older kids.
This way you can get much more work in.
I'm not big on games either. I rather spend all the time on Skill Development.
Post edited by: Coach, at: 2006/07/29 19:16
Post edited by: Coach, at: 2006/07/29 19:17
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GAtwood
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Re:Rod Thorn on the USA's problems - 2006/07/30 23:04
I thought I'd chime in about the value of camp to young players. I think it's a little too dismissive and simplistic to contend that camp has no value. I'm in a rural area, and most kids here don't start playing until 6th grade. Boys start earlier on the playground, but years go by without seeing a girl 5th or below playing hoops at recess. For these late starters, the fundamentals covered at camp is huge.
I've worked Hoop Jones, and NBC Camps. There can be inherent flaws in the Camp system. If your kid ends up with a young college player who is a poor teacher, or maybe doesn't really care, or has low leadership skills, or just sucks at being a coach- well that's too bad for your kid. At a camp my daughter attended, her coach allowed 1 player to dominate the ball when they played games in the afternoon. This is of course a worse situation if the camp doesn't divide boys and girls. I'd send my own youngster to NBC. It's a great program.
I recently have begun doing private training sessions for free; free becasue I have no reputation established. I've targeted a hanful of local kids I coached when they were younger and mailed a letter to them and their parents. Here is what I say about camps.
"Basketball camp is a great experience for youngsters, but having worked several camp sessions, I question the value of the generic, one-size-fits-all, all around skill type of camp for a skilled athlete beyond about 14 years old. These camps place all the emphasis on basic skills like pivoting, passing, and dribbling, and then they divide up and play each afternoon. There is no time for individual attention and work with a camp coach. The typical camp coach is a college player earning a check. Even though the camp coach may be a very skilled player, he or she has probably not become a true student and teacher of the game. Basketball camp is a “blanket” approach- everyone’s needs get covered the same way."
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coachmccormick
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Re:Rod Thorn on the USA's problems - 2006/07/30 23:29
The most popular camps in my area are either your NBA day care camps where kids go to meet Bobby Jackson or Mike Bibby. Now, as long as parents know there is very little value in terms of improving basketball skills, it's cool. However, sometimes these camps market in a way that one expects "professional" coaching, and it simply does not happen in an environment with a 12:1 player:coach ratio. It's glorified open gym.
There is also a good youth camp that is very popular. However, teams have 10 or more players on each team and some of the coaches are still in high school.
Add to this that most camps advertise the quantity of time on the court as a major selling point, and I don't see the effectiveness in terms of acquiring basketball skills.
The camp might be fun; it might be competitive; kids might learn something. And, those are all great reasons to attend camp. However, when camps are billed as places for kids to go to improve greatly, I don't buy it.
I hate camps from a developmental aspect because quality is more important than quantity and kids cannot give a quality effort for 10 straight hours. When I ran camps in Macedonia, we did a 2-3 hour session in the morning and another 2-3 hour session in the late afternoon. We avoided the hottest part of the day, allowed the players to swim in the lake and took advantage of teaching when players were fresh, i.e. when they first took the floor. This format worked pretty well. But, it probably isn't realistic in most situations.
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