CREATED EQUAL
WHAT ARE WE BUILDING ARTICLE
NOT ALL TRAINERS ARE
BY KEVIN RATZSCH | SEPT 1, 2026 | 5 MINUTE READ
THEY'RE TEACHING MORE THAN BASKETBALL.
Your trainer is teaching more than basketball skills.
We spend a lot of time choosing trainers based on basketball.
Can they teach?
Did they play?
Who have they trained?
Can they make my kid better?
Those are fair questions.
But I think there's a much bigger one parents should be asking:
Who am I giving access to my kid?
Because you're not just hiring somebody to fix a jump shot.
You're putting another adult into your child's life.
And that matters.
IT'S MORE THAN A WORKOUT.
Think about what happens in a workout.
Your kid fails.
A lot.
They miss shots.
They lose competitions.
They can't figure something out.
They get frustrated.
They're tired.
They're embarrassed.
Sometimes they're confident.
Sometimes they're insecure.
Sometimes they walk into the gym after having a terrible day that has absolutely nothing to do with basketball.
And standing right there is their trainer.
How does that adult respond?
Does he embarrass them?
Does he encourage them?
Does he challenge them?
Does he know when they need a push and when they need an arm around them?
Does he make his approval dependent on performance?
Does he help them learn how to fail?
Does he make them feel like their value rises and falls with how well they play?
Those moments are doing something.
Your trainer is shaping more than your kid's game.
He's helping shape how your kid sees himself.
KIDS LISTEN TO THEIR COACHES.
Every parent knows this one.
You can tell your kid something 100 times.
Then a coach says the exact same thing once and your kid comes home like he's discovered something revolutionary.
"Coach told me..."
And you're sitting there thinking:
I've been telling you that for three years.
That's funny.
But it's also worth paying attention to.
Because it means these people have influence.
Sometimes a lot of it.
Your child may spend hundreds of hours over several years listening to coaches and trainers.
Their words carry weight.
Their approval carries weight.
Their criticism carries weight.
So does the way they talk about teammates.
Opponents.
Officials.
Parents.
Faith.
Money.
Success.
Failure.
Kids are always learning more than what we're intentionally teaching them.
A TRAINER CAN BUILD CONFIDENCE. OR DESTROY IT.
I'm not talking about telling kids they're amazing all the time.
That's not confidence.
Kids need truth.
They need correction.
They need someone willing to tell them:
That's not good enough.
Do it again.
You can give more than that.
But there's a massive difference between challenging a kid and making a kid feel small.
Good coaching should gradually make a young athlete less dependent on the coach.
They begin to understand their game.
They learn to solve problems.
They learn how to respond when things go badly.
They develop confidence that isn't destroyed by one missed shot, one bad game, or one person's opinion.
That's development.
And it matters a whole lot longer than their crossover will.
BE CAREFUL WHAT WE MAKE ULTIMATE.
This might be the piece I care about most.
We've all heard it.
Sports build character.
But do they?
I've known athletes who learned discipline, humility, sacrifice, and perseverance through sports.
I've also seen athletes become selfish, entitled, arrogant, and immature.
When I played professionally, I saw guys who were incredibly talented basketball players but had never really learned how to handle life. So much had been taken care of for them along the way that, in some ways, they were still kids living in grown men's bodies.
Great basketball players. But still a lot of growing up to do.
Same sport. Very different outcomes.
Sports give us opportunities to develop character. But they don't guarantee good character.
Who's teaching, what they're celebrating, and what they're allowing matters.
And that includes us as parents.
I might get an hour a week with your kid. You get the other fifty waking hours outside of school and other activities.
I can challenge them, encourage them, hold them accountable, and hopefully have a meaningful influence on their life.
But I can't replace what happens at home.
If I'm teaching accountability in the gym while Dad is blaming the referees on the ride home, we're sending two very different messages.
And guess which voice your kid is hearing more often?
That's why we need to be careful about what we're making ultimate.
Basketball makes a terrible identity.
And achievement makes a terrible god.
If the adults surrounding a young athlete constantly communicate—
More points.
More minutes.
More exposure.
Better team.
Higher level.
Next opportunity.
Next offer.
Next thing.
—we shouldn't be surprised when a kid eventually believes that's where his value comes from.
Even if nobody ever says it out loud.
What we celebrate teaches kids what matters.
That's why I want the kids I train to know that I care deeply about their basketball development.
But I care more about them.
Basketball is something they do.
It's not who they are.
AND YES, THE BASKETBALL STILL MATTERS.
Character isn't an excuse for poor training.
If parents are paying someone to develop their kid, that person should know how to develop players.
And this is where I think parents should pay attention to more than how cool a workout looks on Instagram.
Your trainer gets one player and one basketball.
Your child's coach eventually has to make five players and one basketball work together.
Those aren't the same thing.
A trainer can make a player look incredibly skilled in an empty gym while accidentally developing habits that make him harder to play with.
Twenty moves don't necessarily make a better basketball player.
More dribbles don't necessarily mean more skill.
A difficult shot isn't better because it looks impressive.
We don't train players to look skilled. We train them to be effective.
Can they play with other good players?
Can they make decisions?
Can they play without the ball?
Can they create advantages?
Can they make teammates better?
Does what they're learning actually translate when ten players are on the floor?
Those questions matter too.
SO WHO ARE YOU HIRING?
I'm not suggesting parents need to conduct a background investigation every time their kid gets a basketball workout.
But I do think we should recognize what we're actually choosing.
You're choosing a teacher.
A voice.
An example.
Someone who may eventually become one of the adults your child trusts.
So yes, ask about basketball.
Ask about experience.
Watch the workouts.
See whether your kid is improving.
But pay attention to everything else too.
How does this person treat kids when they struggle?
How does he talk about other coaches?
Does he undermine your child's team coach or help your child learn to play within a team?
How does he handle failure?
How does he define success?
What does he praise?
What does he tolerate?
What kind of person does your kid see when he's watching him?
And maybe the biggest question:
If my kid starts becoming more like this person, am I good with that?
Because eventually your kid is going to stop playing basketball.
Everybody does. Even LeBron.
The jump shot won't matter nearly as much then.
But confidence will.
Character will.
Faith will.
How they handle failure will.
How they treat people will.
Who they're becoming will.
So choose somebody who can help your kid become a better basketball player. Absolutely.
Just remember:
You're giving them the opportunity to become something more than that, too.
Basketball is good. God is greater.