Over the years I've seen many families with kids that love basketball sometimes struggle with the usual questions and anxieties that revolve around the process of acquiring and developing skills. The struggle stems mainly from a desire to help their child learn, grow, and have a good experience.
My high school coach spoke very convincingly about how continuously repeating certain basketball drills on our own would, with time and diligence, develop in us what he called "muscle memory.” But, do our muscles really have the ability to remember things, or do they simply do what our brains command?
Today, it's understood that the brain is blessed with the remarkable ability to reorganize neural pathways, create new/deeper connections, and, in some cases, even create new neurons. The brain actually changes its physical structure as a result of learning! How crazy is that?!
This ability to change and adjust is called Neuroplasticity, and is the reason why I believe basketball skills training should play a significant role in overall player development, as opposed to simply joining a travel team and playing a lot of games.
Why? Because the average (not elite) young player will get many more repetitions, more opportunities, and more focused instruction in a one hour session with a knowledgeable skills trainer than he/she would during the course of a four game weekend, and at much less expense!
This matters because the reps are the thing! To develop talent, we must build a better brain through repetition and intensive practice! With every form shot and ball handling drill, those neural pathways are growing deeper (like walking the same path back and forth in the snow), and new ones are being formed. The brain is changing dynamically as a result of these new experiences.
This is why small actions repeated over time transform us (see my previous post about Atomic Habits)! Each day, each practice session, is a step toward a different future.
Yes!!! Unless you are already an elite athlete right out of bed, you will not be a starter and will not get enough reps on a travel team to get better. MJ is not the greatest because of any travel team (if any). No. It was the 1000's our hours playing in his back yard on a GRASS bball court and pick up games in the park - morning til dark.