ac·tion
/ˈakSH(ə)n/
Noun

1. A repeatable sequence or combination of screens, cuts, drives, hand-offs etc. on the court to achieve a specific goal.

If you maintain spacing and structure you’re prepared to play the game in it’s purest form. An organized chaos of “Actions”.

Let’s look into one of the most common examples of what a well-spaced 5-out structure allows — the “Pin-down” action.

Here’s a DOSA drill fueled by Famer that will prepare you for this “action”.

7 Essential Tips for Parents Raising Student-Athletes

1. How well-equipped is your student-athlete to emotionally navigate the “successes” and “failures” of student-athletics? Their experience should prepare them for the scope of the journey. The trajectory and joy of their path depends on it.
2. Beware of external validation! If your child becomes confident only when told they’re “great players”, they’re vulnerable to someone or something (bad game/substitution) suggesting that they aren’t.
3. Encourage diversity! Expose your child to different personalities, roles and qualities of a successful student-athlete. When you do that you grant them permission to explore who they are and who they’d like to become. Kobe Bryant, Serena Williams and Leo Messi aren’t the only successful personality types.
4. Process over Product or Product over Process? Like academics, there’s a sense of urgency to be GREAT by 17 or 18 years old in student-athletics. Early “success” often demands a polished and less dimensional performance. “Failure” is just an exploration of your child’s strengths and weaknesses. Product over process is short-term. Process over product is long-term. That said, be weary of placing someone’s “process” (including yours) on a pedestal. Their authority compromises a student-athlete’s self-awareness in a very binary sport world: Did you win or did you lose? Did you score or did you miss? Let the product be their North Star.
5. Don’t let them wait to be chosen! To be a good student, someone has to grade them and deem them a good student. As a student-athlete, that relationship leads to insecurity. You won’t be on the field with them every second. Encourage them to deem themselves before anyone else does.
6. Ask them what they want. Parents tend to make assumptions about a student-athlete’s goals, ambitions and intentions when they explore a sport. At best, you are a resource in their journey towards athletic-intellectual-balance. In order to help them achieve that do not guess. Ask them what they’d like to accomplish. Don’t be audacious in your vision or goal for them.
7. Support student-athletes with Collegiate-Athletes. Without access to the process, it’s impossible to transparently and authentically prepare your student-athlete for the evolving sport-academic environment. Only those who are meeting the demands of their sport can contextualize the generic “do’s” and “don’ts” of sport education. Athletes have become educators. Parents raising student-athletes who can seamlessly lead and follow are the future. DOSAsports.com can help with that.