Modern coaches strive to be player centered. For me, forcing kids to play mostly 0-4 or 0-8 shots in practice neglects the fundamental difference in the psychology of each student.

Many kids fundamentally need rhythm and they develop confidence from practicing longer sequences. It is a mistake to force these types of personalities into a practice regimen that is artificially short.

I don’t think practice should be one size fits all based on data.

Data shouldn’t be used to force one strict training regimen on a kid.

The coach should gauge the personality and brain type of a kid and structure practice in a player centered way—not only in a data driven way.

With the growth of big data and statistical analysis, coaches need to be careful not to structure practices solely based on data. They should also trust their intuition and psychological analysis.

I fear we are entering an era of the data centered coach, and away from the player centered coach.

Quantitative methods are valuable, but we can’t forget the value in qualitative approaches either.

A blending of the two methods makes the most sense, always remembering to coach the player based on what he or she needs in the moment.

Chris Lewit, Prodigy Maker