There are lots of excellent reasons to get your kids involved in any kind of sport, but when it comes to basketball, it's the physical, mental, and social aspects of the game that make it a great choice.
If you're unsure, these reasons should convince you!
Cognitive Skills
We'll talk about the physical benefits of basketball in just a moment, but you'd be surprised at how good basketball is for the brain. You can't become a good basketball player without developing cognitive skills and the very act of playing the sport will help your child develop their brain.
At a young age, playing basketball will help your child develop their hand-eye coordination, motor skills, and spatial awareness. Additionally, basketball is a fast-paced game that constantly requires thinking as the ball goes from one end of the court to the other. Your child will have to quickly process information and make split-second decisions on the court.
These skills and qualities will naturally transfer into other aspects of their life and it's been shown that children who do sports will likely perform better in school. This doesn't mean that basketball can replace their studies, but it will complement them.
Discipline
Sports teach discipline, too. In a team sport such as basketball, your child will need to play as part of the team and they won't be able to slack off while the rest of their team plays around them.
Outside of basketball games, there's also the training they have to do and they'll learn discipline as they regularly have to attend training sessions.
Basketball is a commitment that makes discipline essential. If you want to make any basketball team, you need to stick at it, regularly attend your training sessions, work hard outside of training, and give it your all on the court.
This is true of almost any sport, but the very fact that they've taken up a sport in the first place is a good way to teach them about commitment and discipline.
Fitness
Most sports come with physical benefits and basketball is no exception. Regularly playing basketball is good for your physical health.
As basketball is non-contact, too, it comes with a reduced risk of injury when compared to contact team sports. That said, as with any sport, injury is fairly unavoidable and the combination of running and jumping tends to make injuries to the ankles, knees, and shins quite common in basketball.
Outside of that, though, your child will have regular opportunities to run around and get active, which is one of half of leading a healthy life. The other part of a healthy lifestyle is diet and as long as you feed them right, they'll stay in top shape.
If they start getting really serious about basketball, their diet, and training will also need to reflect this and it'll encourage them to live more healthily.
Fun
There are certainly parents and coaches out there who look like they don't want kids to have fun playing sports, but sports are supposed to be fun. It's a basketball "game" after all and if you prioritize the fun, your child will be much more likely to keep playing basketball if it becomes more serious.
Don't think that fun and competitiveness are mutually exclusive, either. You can still enjoy playing basketball and play competitively and just because your child enjoys playing basketball, it doesn't mean that they don't want to win and give it their all while on the court.
You'll know as a parent that the easiest way to get your child to do anything is by showing them that it's fun and with basketball, it shouldn't be too hard to convince them because it's a really enjoyable game.
Life Lessons
While some may dismiss sports as unimportant or silly, sports can actually teach us a lot about ourselves and about life.
Basketball and many other sports require a lot of dedication and the very best players, even those with incredible innate talent, will have worked incredibly hard to get where they are.
While there may be certain actions off the court that are less admirable, the dedication the top players have to the sport and the training that goes with it is something that young children should seek to imitate.
The hardships that come with sports are also important. While nobody likes losing, any professional athlete will tell you that you learn more from the losses than you do the victories, and being able to lose is something your child will learn from basketball. After a loss, players will know whether they need to practice basketball shots, change their tactics, improve their fitness, etc.
Beyond that, basketball also teaches teamwork, sportsmanship, and the concepts of fair play. The structure of sports makes them an excellent tool for introducing children to the notion of structured play.
Resilience
Sports can help us become more resilient physically and mentally. Through basketball, your child will become physically resilient and improve their endurance.
Mentally, they'll learn how to keep going when they're up against it. Comebacks are pretty much always possible in basketball and you always play to the buzzer. The sport can teach kids not to give up until the very end and this mental fortitude will serve them well both on and off the court.
We've already mentioned the importance of losing, but in addition to being a teaching moment, basketball can also teach kids that they mustn't give up after a loss.
Self-Confidence
Though it's much more difficult for them to start playing basketball, shy kids are the ones who stand to benefit the most from taking up any sport.
As their skills and fitness improve over time, so will their self-confidence, and though they may have been nervous about their abilities when they first started playing, the longer they play, the more confident they'll become.
Winning games won't hurt, either, and while these will give players a much-deserved boost, you can still build self-confidence after losses by taking positives from the game.
Thanks to the mental resilience and fortitude they'll have developed, they'll be able to build their self-confidence without taking too many knocks from defeats.
Set Goals
It's a bit of a cliché and athletes mention it all the time, but taking it one game at a time is actually a good way to work towards achieving your goals. Basketball can teach kids about setting goals while also teaching them great ways to achieve said goals.
While lofty ambitions and goals are good, everything we achieve in life is actually the sum of smaller individual victories, but not setting goals is one of the biggest mistakes young basketball players make.
Kids who play basketball can set themselves goals for their technique, their performance on the court, and bigger goals like making the team, winning competitive games, and maybe even playing basketball at college and in the NBA.
Social Skills
Since basketball is a team sport, kids will develop social skills. They'll have to regularly interact with the other players, the coaches, and even the opposition, which will teach them a lot about how to interact with people.
On the court, their communication needs to be concise and clear to their teammates and while off the court, they need to maintain team chemistry. They'll also learn how to treat their fellow teammates and their coaches with respect and develop social skills that will help them both at school and in their later professional lives.
Teamwork
It's often said that teamwork makes the dream work and in a team sport like basketball, you can't win games without it.
A team of excellent players won't necessarily win if they can't play well together and kids will learn how to work well in a team, take responsibility for their own actions, and play to their strengths.
We often idolize individual players, even in team sports, but it's not a single player that wins championships and you'll see that great players can have bad seasons if they can't play well with the rest of their team.
By playing a team sport like basketball, your child will learn more about teamwork and be able to apply these transferable skills to their schooling, especially in group projects and when they have to work with others.
Take Your Child's Basketball Coaching Further with Private Lessons
Don't forget that a private basketball coach can help kids get better at basketball. Children who might be taking up basketball later can work with a private coach to reach the necessary level to seamlessly join a team.
For kids with big ambitions, choosing the right private basketball coach can take their game further by providing bespoke coaching outside of their regular coaching sessions.
They can spend time with them working on specific techniques, running drills, or even studying how the game is played to make them a much smarter player than their peers.
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“These tips are spot on! My child was hesitant to try new sports, but after we made basketball into a fun family activity, he’s been practicing daily.”