Coaching Offense (cont)

The briefest of updates: My U9 girls are getting the basic concepts of the offense we're putting together (give, go, rotate), but I'm seeing indications of a lack of true understanding. They're following a recipe rather than understanding the situation and the needs created by it. There is knowledge and there is understanding. Knowledge can be delivered quite easily. Understanding is quite another story. I have to help them to build upon what they already understand, but I they have to be willing to attempt to extrapolate on what they already understand and try new ideas. They have to be willing to fail. They have to be able to recognize that the extrapolation didn't work and they have to be willing to try yet again. They have to be willing to think. I'm not sure they're really giving it that much thought. I think they tend to do the easy thing and just stick with the recipe which is really only the "answer" under certain specific conditions. Rather than seeing that recipe as a starting point to build upon, they see it as the end, the final answer.

I have to keep in mind that I must encourage them think and extrapolate. Telling them the "answer" for every situation doesn't work. They'll never show the creativity that makes watching them play so much fun. Helping them learn how to discover the answers for themselves is my job. There just doesn't seem to be enough time...

-Bill