A Busy Parent's Guide to Supporting Your Basketball Player

As a parent, you're juggling a million things—work, family, errands, and maybe even a little time for yourself. But, if you’ve got a young basketball player in the house with big dreams, you want to do everything you can to support their goals… without burning yourself out.

The good news? You don’t have to be a basketball expert or full-time trainer to make a meaningful impact.

Here’s your simple, no-stress guide to supporting your athlete—especially during the off-season when habits, confidence, and skills are built.

1. Help Them Set a Summer Routine

Off-season is where the magic happens. And a little structure can go a long way.

Encourage your hooper to carve out just 30 minutes a day for purposeful shooting or ball-handling work to build consistency and discipline. That’s it. We have a great challenge going on right now they can utilize! ⬇️

When your hooper commits and sign-up for the Dr. Dish 30 Day Challenge (it’s free), we’ll send them the following resources to keep them on track:

🔥 30-Day Habit Tracker
🏀 Workout ideas and shooting tips
🎯 Goal-setting tools to stack your progress
💬 Motivational messages and support

Oh—and they'll be eligible to win an exclusive prize package if they complete the challenge and rise to the top.

2. Lean on Tools That Do the Coaching For You

You don’t need to rebound every shot or draw out countless drills in your driveway for your hooper. That’s where smart training tools and tech come in.

Basketball shooting machines, like the Dr. Dish Home, offer hundreds of pre-built workouts, real-time feedback/analytics, and countless reps to keep your athlete engaged and accountable—all without you lifting a finger.

3. Focus on Progress, Not Perfection - Every Session is a Learning Experience

Every athlete faces defeat, failure, or frustration. Self-doubt will emerge. And often, it's not the failure itself but the fear of failure that causes players to quit or become a shadow of what they could be.

As parents, the best thing we can do is keep celebrating the small victories and focus more on the good than the bad.

Aim to keep expectations and drills simple, achievable, and encouraging. That way, your child experiences fulfillment, excitement, and a natural desire to get back on the court.

In the end, it’s the journey—the practices, games, road trips, challenges, and growth—that becomes the most rewarding part of your child’s athletic career.

If the stars align and success comes, that’s great—but progress is the real prize. Celebrate it often. There will be tough practices. There will be rough weekend tournaments.

But yelling and showing disappointment will never help your kid improve.

Instead, teach with patience—and always let them know that you’re proud of them and have their back no matter what. That approach will keep you happy, keep your player happy, and ultimately lead to success—in sports and beyond.

4. Keep It Fun (Dr. Dish Features)

Basketball is a grind but it should also be fun. Mix up the routine with shooting games, friendly challenges, or invite teammates over for workouts.

The Dr. Dish Home and associated Player App is a great way to unlock engaging features that make the training experience fun for your hooper like:

• Knockdown shooting game mode
• Multiplayer workouts
• “Me vs. Me” training battles to beat their own high scores

These game-like features ensure your hooper is working hard to get better, while also enjoying the process!

5. Don’t Do It Alone

You’re not the only parent trying to figure this out. That’s why we created the our Free Off-Season Parent Resource landing page—a one-stop shop filled with expert tips and tricks, guides, and essential information.

Supporting your hooper doesn’t mean you have to do it all, it just means showing up in the right ways, at the right times. With the right tools, a little structure, and a lot of encouragement, you can help your athlete get better and enjoy the process.

Remember: progress starts with consistency. And your support is the biggest assist of all!