TEACHING DOES NOT EQUAL LEARNING

When does a student learn how to add? When the teacher explains that 2+2=4 or when she plays with some blocks and sees for herself that when she puts two red blocks and adds two blue blocks, she now has four blocks?

Or, does the learning occur when the student takes home an assignment and works through 50 problems on her own, making mistakes and trying to figure out the right answer?

Teaching does not equal learning.

The explanations and demonstrations are an important part of learning, but the learning occurs when the student makes sense of the explanation and demonstrations and works through the problem/skill through a trial-and-error process until she gets the hang of it. Once she gets the hang of it (learns), then she practices and practices until she masters the skill.

Basketball skills are no different.

Learning does not occur when the coach explains and demonstrates the skill. The learning occurs as the player practices the skill through the trial-and-error process. If I explain a skill – proper shooting technique – and give an explanation and demonstration, I cannot expect that players will have mastered the skill simply through my teaching. The players need time to practice the technique. They need to make mistakes and fix their errors.

There is a problem with this logic though, players often are afraid to change techniques during a season because during that process of change, there will be a period of difficulty where they are basically letting go of the old and embracing the new... in essence, they are starting over. And since they are competing for playing time, players are reluctant to even consider trying to get better through the process of change.

If I introduce the proper way to shoot the ball with consistency, as a coach, I cannot devote 30 minutes of practice to learning the proper footwork for a shot or the proper follow-through. So, I introduce the proper technique and quickly move to more pressing things. For the player to learn the proper technique, she must take the explanation and demonstration and practice on her own. But, with 2 hours of practice per day, plus homework, how many players have time to spend additional hours practicing on their own? If I do not give the players considerable time to practice their individual skills, when do they develop?

There's an old saying that comes from coaches pushing their players to spend time during the Summer working on their game so they'll be ready once the season starts:. “Players are made during the summer and teams are made in the winter.”

4:13

(thanks Brian McCormick)