U11 and u13 Development Philosophy

Climb Basketball Academy’s primary objective is to develop the knowledge, skills, and enjoyment of basketball for boys and girls of all abilities and experience. We aim to create an atmosphere where children feel free to get out of their comfort zone and make mistakes because we believe this type of environment makes sport most enjoyable and optimizes learning. We also prioritize keeping the children active in our sessions. This means we do our best to reduce the time children stand in lines and listen to coaches instruct and demonstrate. 

The primary focus of the U11 and U13 development programs is teaching perimeter offensive skills, decision making and some offensive concepts. We run our sessions differently than the traditional approach to basketball development. We primarily follow the constraints-led approach (CLA) to development. CLA has been proven through research and studies to be the best method to developing athletes in a variety of sports. In simple terms, our way of teaching through the CLA means we incorporate defenders in most of our drills and games. We also incorporate various constraints to the defense and/or offense to allow athletes to develop certain skills, decision making and concepts. This way of teaching allows the athletes to develop as basketball players in the unpredictable nature of a basketball game. 

Our athletes get plenty of reps in our sessions, but they do so without repetition. Basketball players do not reach their potential by learning to run through patterns and performing predetermined moves, which has been the traditional and popular approach to teaching. It’s a sport that requires athletes to make decisions and perform skills instantaneously based on what defenders are doing; the CLA has been proven to best help athletes prepare to do just that.