#86: Derrick Mayes on parenting a talented young athlete: “Hindsight gave me 20-20 vision on how to do things with my son”

Derrick Mayes was a great college and NFL football player. But today, much of his energy is directed toward parenting an elite young basketball athlete. He joined the SGG podcast to discuss:

1.  His sports experiences as a youngster—including playing contact football starting in 2nd grade.

2.  “Hindsight (into his own sports experiences) gave me 20-20 vision on how to do things with my son.”

3.  The difficult decisions he’s facing as a parent of a young athlete: 1) no tackle football until at least high school; 2) load management in basketball (but, “there’s a lot of work you can put in that doesn’t put wear and tear” on the body); 3) deciding on which high school to attend (“It’s important to know who’s going to be developing him.”).

4.  Public vs. Private school decisions for talented young athletes.

5.  Social media: “I am adamant that sports stay merit-based. Your talent will show through.”

6.  Social media: “It gives a false narrative of what’s important.”

7.  A benefit of today’s high-level youth basketball: Access to innovation in training.

8.  Analytics: “I’m thrilled that my son can apply some of the math stuff to something that he cares about.”