Let Them Play Through It: Why Pulling Players After Mistakes Hurts Your Team
By Coach Shaun Little Horn

One of the most common coaching habits—and one of the most damaging—is pulling a player right after they make a mistake.

• They miss a defensive rotation? Yanked.
  They throw a bad pass? Yanked.
  They miss a few shots? Yanked.

I get it—mistakes can cost you a game. But constantly pulling players for every misstep will cost you far more in the long run: their confidence, growth, and ultimately, your shot at a championship. It doesn’t teach them to be better—it teaches them to be afraid.

• Afraid of failing.
• Afraid of playing freely.
• Afraid of pushing themselves to greatness.

If you’re always afraid of making a mistake, you’ll never have the confidence to make game-changing, elite-level plays.

Fear Kills Confidence

When a player starts looking over their shoulder every time they make a turnover or miss a shot, their game tightens up. Their creativity vanishes. They stop attacking, stop leading, and start hiding.

You’ll get:

• Overthinking on offense

• Hesitant defense

• A team full of kids afraid to take initiative

The result? Players who do just enough not to get subbed—not players who do whatever it takes to win.

Growth Requires Grace

Players don’t grow by being yanked. They grow by being coached. They learn by making a mistake, getting real-time feedback, and trying again. If you pull them every time something goes wrong, you’re coaching for control—not development.

Mistakes are part of the journey. And if we want players to be fearless in the fourth quarter, we’ve got to let them fail forward in the offseason, preseason, and even during the season.

But Here’s the Line: Character Over Talent

There are moments a coach should absolutely pull a player:

• If they’re arguing with refs

• If they’re not hustling

• If they’re trash-talking or disrespecting opponents

• If they’re belittling a teammate or showing poor body language

That’s not a “mistake”—that’s a choice. And in our program, talent never excuses behavior. We can teach execution, but we can’t tolerate a lack of effort, humility, or respect. Those are non-negotiables.

If you lose your cool, your focus, or your values—you’ll come sit next to me.

Teach. Trust. Repeat.

Coaching isn’t just about calling plays—it’s about shaping people. If you want your players to lead, they need to feel trusted. If you want them to compete fearlessly, they need room to fail. If you want them to win together, you need to let them learn together.

Don’t rob a young athlete of growth just because they turned the ball over. Correct them, teach them, and believe in them enough to send them right back out.

Because the best players aren’t perfect—they’re resilient.