Younger Teenager - All ability - Mixed - Loreto (23)

It is always been about players finding their perfect combination of  technical skills, speed, strength, and in-game decision-making. They  can't be separated.

When it comes to scouting players it is easier to assess their  technical, speed, and strength. Much harder to assess their in-game  decision-making. This is especially the case when a player has superior  technical, speed, and strength to the players around them. This can lead  to players being selected for teams where they have less dominance in  terms of technical, speed, and strength - or an injury lowers their  dominance - and then their poor in-game decision-making comes to light.

As coaches of in-game decision-making - this is how we assess players...

When a player with good in-game decision-making skills has the ball - they will look at the space behind the player marking them. They will  look at what their teammates are doing - and move to change the shape  of the space around them. A player with poor in-game decision-making  skills sees only the player in front of them.

When a player with good decision-making skills does something, and it doesn't work, they  move to options b, c, etc. When a player with poor in-game  decision-making can’t do the one thing they have been asked to do - they  overthink and rush. And do any combination of - get angry, give up,  deflect, blame.

When a player with good in-game decision-making will  move through space to arrive at the right place at the right time - to  use current technical skills and current speed and strength - to do  something for the first time - that is so obvious they wonder why they  didn’t see it before. A Wow moment. A player with poor in-game  decision-making skills does nothing - until someone tells them what to  do.

Click here to learn how to improve in-game decision-making

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5 to 6.30pm.  Loreto College, St Albans, Hatfield Road, St  Albans Hertfordshire AL1 3RQ - The entrance is on Upper Lattimore Road.  The school postcode takes you their main entrance. This is a link on  google maps  https://maps.app.goo.gl/zVgfyxTZY9u5o5Jo7

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No trials, No squads, No Ego's.

Younger teenagers. Mixed. All ability.

6 to 7pm. Loreto College (St Albans), AL1 3RQ

There is a big "ish" with age. 11 is ok, if it works for the player.

The easiest way to pay us using the app which you can get by going to  your phone's app store, search for wix.com app called Spaces. Download.  And then enter this code QTKFDS

Don't  let a lack of money stop you from coming. We have free tickets.   Contact jon.thorne@LifeSkills21.club you don't need to explain - He  will  just give you the code.

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What players and parents think

• We went to the most amazing basketball session in  Hemel at Longdean school. My son is autistic and has ADHD he struggles  to follow instruction and is extremely demand avoidant. This session  took all the barriers away for my son and he had the most amazing time,  his words “I loved it”. Well worth checking out
• A young players - "I like Jon’s sessions because instead of telling us what to do we all just work it out ourselves"
• A parent - "It’s refreshing to see someone run a sports session with a focus on kindness and flexibility instead of adherence to set patterns based on traditional ways of learning. We have always been made to feel welcome and encouraged to participate and my children gain confidence by being part of something that requires teamwork. As an observer, I enjoy seeing the players thinking about not just themselves but the whole team. It’s not about just playing ball, it’s about creative thinking, consideration of others and teamwork"