Youth Basketball: My Daughter is a Ball Hog

As my daughter's confidence in basketball increases the amount of passes to her teammates decreases. She is the point guard for her summer league team. I am slightly embarrassed to say that she gets the ball from her teammate and then goes full speed weaving through traffic to the basket for a shot on almost every possession.

In her defense, she plays on a summer league team that only plays games and does not practice. It's more like streetball and the team doesn't have any set plays. Still I know that it must be very frustrating to be the kids who never get the ball or their equally annoyed parents.

Game 97

CC's 4th grade team lost to a much bigger 5th grade team 21-9. CC scored 7 points and took 80% of the team's shots. My wife and I were yelling for her to pass the ball the entire time. I think we did this to relieve our guilt.

Before the next game, I am going to work with my daughter on the art of passing. I'll teach her to use her speed and dribbling ability to penetrate into the lane, but then bounce pass the ball to a teammate when the defense converges on her.

The Main Point

It's fun to watch your kid takeover a game, but it is also a little embarrassing when your kid is a ball hog. I am going to teach my kid to be a great passer like Magic Johnson, John Stockton or Steve Nash.