18 replies to this topic

[riboflav]

I've agreed to coach a second grade boys team this winter. I have coached youth basketball for several years, but it's always been with 11-13 year olds. I'm new to this area, but as I understand it, we'll be meeting every Saturday for 90 minutes. The first hour will be dedicated solely to practice, like a b-ball clinic. And the last 30 min. will be 3-on-3 half-court scrimmages. I have no kids of my own so I'm very unfamiliar with the skill level of this age. All I know is that it's best to concentrate on really basic stuff and having fun. I'm wondering if anyone knows of a good book or web site that discusses practices, drills, etc. for this age group? Or, if you have any suggestions or tips or firsthand knowledge/experience that you'd like to pass along, I'd greatly appreciate it!

[wutang112878]

I am a ridiculous basketball fan and coached 5th grade girls for 3 weeks for a one day tournament. Obviously the skill level isnt as low as 2nd grade but I think I have some general tips that might help. And as you probably can tell I took this far too seriously:

• Keep your expectations reasonable, seems you get this already. The first day of practice I was completely shocked by the lack of skill and basketball knowledge [which was my fault]. I thought we might be able to do some drills, but all I really accomplished was understanding where they were skill wise. Then after I got over this shock I structured some practices aimed at their skill level and helping them to improve. So if the first day if all you accomplish is understanding where your expectations should be thats a good day.
• Most likely you will have a few outstanding players, whose parents have already helped them develop. Keep them engaged so they dont get bored by modifying drills for them and giving them advanced tips
• Run a 2-3 zone defense. I found it so much easier to get them to understand stay in this area, keep the player with the ball between you and the basket, and give up outside shots because no one can hit them. In the tournament we were the only team that ran a zone which baffled me, and no one could play man defense effectively [so much confusion about who was covering who] and I think this was a huge reason we went undefeated [tap myself on shoulder].
• Find the best ball handlers and make them the PGs regardless of size. If you cant bring the ball up and start moving the ball on offense you will lose your mind. Also figure out how you are going to rotate players and make sure you have one player who can handle the ball on the court at all times.
• Your time is limited so find ways to run drills to keep as many players involved as possible. I ran one drill where one player would dribble the ball to the top of the key, another would be guarding, the ball would then be passed to another who would shoot and another player would somewhat contest the shot. So in about 20 seconds 4 players would be involved and we could work on dribbling, defense, shooting and getting your hands up, and then I would rotate the players through. I would then stop every once and a while to give tips.
• Attitude is important and confidence can be shaken quickly. So when correcting errors I didnt realize how detrimental it was to correct a players specific mistakes, instead its better to give vague 'here is how we shoot better' tips. Positive reinforcement is a very good thing, I tried to do that as much as possible. When players needed serious coaching, like they didnt know how to hold the basketball I would pull them out of drills and give them one on one help.
• On offense I found the one advanced thing I could teach them was how to use a pick, so at all times I had a PG and another player who was responsible for setting the pick. This is how I initiated offense and I instructed the other players to cut to the basket and go to open areas but that was hardly effective.

Beyond that good luck, and try to keep your competitiveness tempered as much as possible that was very hard for me because if another team has 2 great players that are better than all of yours you are in trouble.

[riboflav]

I am a ridiculous basketball fan and coached 5th grade girls for 3 weeks for a one day tournament. Obviously the skill level isnt as low as 2nd grade but I think I have some general tips that might help. And as you probably can tell I took this far too seriously:

• Keep your expectations reasonable, seems you get this already. The first day of practice I was completely shocked by the lack of skill and basketball knowledge [which was my fault]. I thought we might be able to do some drills, but all I really accomplished was understanding where they were skill wise. Then after I got over this shock I structured some practices aimed at their skill level and helping them to improve. So if the first day if all you accomplish is understanding where your expectations should be thats a good day.
• Most likely you will have a few outstanding players, whose parents have already helped them develop. Keep them engaged so they dont get bored by modifying drills for them and giving them advanced tips
• Run a 2-3 zone defense. I found it so much easier to get them to understand stay in this area, keep the player with the ball between you and the basket, and give up outside shots because no one can hit them. In the tournament we were the only team that ran a zone which baffled me, and no one could play man defense effectively [so much confusion about who was covering who] and I think this was a huge reason we went undefeated [tap myself on shoulder].
• Find the best ball handlers and make them the PGs regardless of size. If you cant bring the ball up and start moving the ball on offense you will lose your mind. Also figure out how you are going to rotate players and make sure you have one player who can handle the ball on the court at all times.
• Your time is limited so find ways to run drills to keep as many players involved as possible. I ran one drill where one player would dribble the ball to the top of the key, another would be guarding, the ball would then be passed to another who would shoot and another player would somewhat contest the shot. So in about 20 seconds 4 players would be involved and we could work on dribbling, defense, shooting and getting your hands up, and then I would rotate the players through. I would then stop every once and a while to give tips.
• Attitude is important and confidence can be shaken quickly. So when correcting errors I didnt realize how detrimental it was to correct a players specific mistakes, instead its better to give vague 'here is how we shoot better' tips. Positive reinforcement is a very good thing, I tried to do that as much as possible. When players needed serious coaching, like they didnt know how to hold the basketball I would pull them out of drills and give them one on one help.
• On offense I found the one advanced thing I could teach them was how to use a pick, so at all times I had a PG and another player who was responsible for setting the pick. This is how I initiated offense and I instructed the other players to cut to the basket and go to open areas but that was hardly effective.

Beyond that good luck, and try to keep your competitiveness tempered as much as possible that was very hard for me because if another team has 2 great players that are better than all of yours you are in trouble.

Wow! Thanks for all the advice. I think the part I bolded is the key to success for 2nd graders whose attention spans may wane in 90-minute sessions. I'll spend most of the next two weeks brainstorming ways to keep most/all involved in drills at one time. I think your suggestion is very appropriate, especially introducing the simple concept of dribble the ball up, pass, and shoot! I know it depends a lot on the kind of talent I'm dealt but I wonder if introducing the pick & roll would be too advanced. Maybe, later in the season, I could add a screener to the drill you suggested. Maybe some v-cuts and other ways to get open or move without the ball would be helpful. From the games I remember seeing of little kids, they tend to stand around hold their arms up, and scream for the ball: "Here! Here! I'm open!" Even when they've got like three kids guarding them.

[wutang112878]

Wow! Thanks for all the advice.

Np, as painful as it was I found coaching to be very rewarding and love to pass what I learned on.

I think the part I bolded is the key to success for 2nd graders whose attention spans may wane in 90-minute sessions. I'll spend most of the next two weeks brainstorming ways to keep most/all involved in drills at one time. I think your suggestion is very appropriate, especially introducing the simple concept of dribble the ball up, pass, and shoot! I know it depends a lot on the kind of talent I'm dealt but I wonder if introducing the pick & roll would be too advanced. Maybe, later in the season, I could add a screener to the drill you suggested. Maybe some v-cuts and other ways to get open or move without the ball would be helpful. From the games I remember seeing of little kids, they tend to stand around hold their arms up, and scream for the ball: "Here! Here! I'm open!" Even when they've got like three kids guarding them.

I had an assistant which helped, so we split the kids up into 2 groups and ran the drills at the same time, so at all times 8 kids were active so that helped with the attention span/interest issues. I also would switch to the group to give tips to both.

Let me clarify, I didnt teach them to pick and roll that was a pipedream. I just taught them how to set a pick, and why [to get in the way of a defender] which only a few of them really understood, the PGs I had were in the 'advanced' category so they understood why they needed to go towards the basket and had a decent idea about how to make proper decisions when the defense reacted. The roll part just wasnt happening, but in every lineup that was playing I made sure we knew who was the PG and who was going to be the screener. It even got to the point that the screener was setup before the ball was even up halfcourt but the opposing defense was so bad it was still effective.

What I asked of all the kids without the basketball was just to keep moving. I think V cuts for 2nd graders might be tough, just try to get them to keep moving.

I had to combat the 'Here, here' thing, which was horrible, drove me nuts. So when we would scrimmage and someone would say that and not be open, I would stop the scrimmage and tell everyone to freeze where they were. I would make the point about how bad cross court passes were, and show everyone all the defenders that could interecept the pass if the person with the ball would have passed it to the player asking for the pain. It certainly took some patience but after a while they kind of got it, and during one of our games when our offense was stagnant I had a player scream 'No one is setting picks or moving' the assistant and I both turned around to look at her because we were absolutely shocked, but that made it all worthwhile.

[riboflav]

Np, as painful as it was I found coaching to be very rewarding and love to pass what I learned on.



I had an assistant which helped, so we split the kids up into 2 groups and ran the drills at the same time, so at all times 8 kids were active so that helped with the attention span/interest issues. I also would switch to the group to give tips to both.

Let me clarify, I didnt teach them to pick and roll that was a pipedream. I just taught them how to set a pick, and why [to get in the way of a defender] which only a few of them really understood, the PGs I had were in the 'advanced' category so they understood why they needed to go towards the basket and had a decent idea about how to make proper decisions when the defense reacted. The roll part just wasnt happening, but in every lineup that was playing I made sure we knew who was the PG and who was going to be the screener. It even got to the point that the screener was setup before the ball was even up halfcourt but the opposing defense was so bad it was still effective.

What I asked of all the kids without the basketball was just to keep moving. I think V cuts for 2nd graders might be tough, just try to get them to keep moving.

I had to combat the 'Here, here' thing, which was horrible, drove me nuts. So when we would scrimmage and someone would say that and not be open, I would stop the scrimmage and tell everyone to freeze where they were. I would make the point about how bad cross court passes were, and show everyone all the defenders that could interecept the pass if the person with the ball would have passed it to the player asking for the pain. It certainly took some patience but after a while they kind of got it, and during one of our games when our offense was stagnant I had a player scream 'No one is setting picks or moving' the assistant and I both turned around to look at her because we were absolutely shocked, but that made it all worthwhile.

Assistant coaches scare me. In the past, I've had a friend assist me and that was a bust. I've also had parents of my players assist me and that was a bust.

I couldn't control my friend. He ended up being way too competitive to the point of getting called for Ts in about 1/3 of our games - quite embarrassing. That experience I chalk up to my own poor judgment. One in asking him to help out in the first place and, two, not being able to control him better. Oh well, I was only 23 at the time and still learning.

As for parents as assistants, I've had some bad luck. I had one who really didn't know the game well at all and I spent way too much time coaching him as well. I didn't do enough planning ahead of time of coming up with things for him to do during practices that would both help and keep him busy and out of my hair. I was really busy at work that season and all I did was dread going to practices knowing he'd keep showing up. I had another parent who was simply flakey. He knew the game and I could definitely trust him to take half the kids down to the other end of the court and teach them whatever we working on at the time. But he would only show up sporadically and sometimes he seemed stressed and preoccupied by work. Think Shooter in Hoosiers without the alcoholism.

Did you pick your assistant? Or did one volunteer? I know almost nobody down here (new to the area) so I can't really ask anyone. If someone says, "Hey need an assistant?" I'll cringe but cross my fingers it'll work out. I wouldn't really feel comfortable saying "No thanks, I like to do this all on my own." This area strikes me as one with heavy parental involvement and I imagine judging by the age of the kids that I will get plenty of eager parents wanting to help. I'm hoping this will be a very good thing!

[wutang112878]

Assistant coaches scare me. In the past, I've had a friend assist me and that was a bust. I've also had parents of my players assist me and that was a bust.

I couldn't control my friend. He ended up being way too competitive to the point of getting called for Ts in about 1/3 of our games - quite embarrassing. That experience I chalk up to my own poor judgment. One in asking him to help out in the first place and, two, not being able to control him better. Oh well, I was only 23 at the time and still learning.

As for parents as assistants, I've had some bad luck. I had one who really didn't know the game well at all and I spent way too much time coaching him as well. I didn't do enough planning ahead of time of coming up with things for him to do during practices that would both help and keep him busy and out of my hair. I was really busy at work that season and all I did was dread going to practices knowing he'd keep showing up. I had another parent who was simply flakey. He knew the game and I could definitely trust him to take half the kids down to the other end of the court and teach them whatever we working on at the time. But he would only show up sporadically and sometimes he seemed stressed and preoccupied by work. Think Shooter in Hoosiers without the alcoholism.

Did you pick your assistant? Or did one volunteer? I know almost nobody down here (new to the area) so I can't really ask anyone. If someone says, "Hey need an assistant?" I'll cringe but cross my fingers it'll work out. I wouldn't really feel comfortable saying "No thanks, I like to do this all on my own." This area strikes me as one with heavy parental involvement and I imagine judging by the age of the kids that I will get plenty of eager parents wanting to help. I'm hoping this will be a very good thing!

Well I was lucky in that my assistant was my wife and she is a 3rd grade teacher. She taught me how to manage the kids and avoid chaos, and she is a big sports fan who just didnt know that much about basketball but I could teach her enough so she could run the drills and give general tips to keep them on point. So assistant wise I was very lucky.

Sounds like you have had some doozies, reminds me of all the coaches I encountered in little league, feeling as if they can somehow fill some sports dream goals they never achieved as children through these kids and the intensity is just way too high as a result. I think thats a big part of it, because I have never seen a coach who is more intersted in the kids than winning who had intensity issues.

If someone asks I would just say "I would love to have you but, first and foremost I want this to be fun, want to teach the kids fundamentals and dont want to be too intense and make it a bad experience. Do you think you can agree to that?" Kind of like a watered down version of the speech that Shooter got in Hoosiers before he was hired. Is this a team associated with a school? Maybe you could find a female teacher who would probably have less crazy intensity than a male teacher. Even if they just help you keep the kids organized and provide zero basketball teaching, you could teach them to run the drills and keep twice as many kids engaged.

[twothousandone]

Well I was lucky in that my assistant was my wife and she is a 3rd grade teacher. She taught me how to manage the kids and avoid chaos,

That's a big key for second grade boys (which you seem to be a little unfamilair with, rib). If you have a parent willing to assist, you knows what it's like, take him or her up on it. If they are lunch monitor at school, do cub scouts, soccer, band, clubs, etc. they'll be able to help you out. Basketball knowldge doesn't matter. You'll need someone to break up the wrestling matches (which hopefully aren't real fights, but in that case you'll need asecond adult, as well.) You also may not really want to be alone with a bunch of young boys, if you know what I mean. Depending on where you practice/play -- one adult quickly checks the bathroom/lockerroom, comes back out then the kids go in. You'll also want medical emergency forms in the equipment bag, along with ice packs.

They won't be able to get great form shooting, so don't worry about that for most of them -- dribble and shoot and rebound. Drop back when the other team has the ball. PAY ATTENTION! Two good drills are grab the rebound and dribble up court (teaches them to catch and dribble) and the Lorenzo Charles game -- stand at half court and count down from 10 while your shot turns into a pass for a kid under the basket. Teaches them to catch and shoot.

[Sea Bass Neely]

Run a 2-3 zone defense. I found it so much easier to get them to understand stay in this area, keep the player with the ball between you and the basket, and give up outside shots because no one can hit them.

I don't want to get on my moral high horse here, but having those kids play zone would be a disservice and at that age level I would be surprised if the league even allowed it. The original poster said 2nd graders, so I'm assuming we're talking about anywhere from 6-8 year olds. At that age, they're going to have very little experience/skill development, and depending on the league the focus should be more on skill development rather than winning games (By no means am I saying winning isn't important; competition is good).

Enthusiasm, correct form and positioning, learning the rules and terms is probably where the room for the most growth is at that age and great areas to focus on. Absent of actual basketball, the concept of team building is a great area to work on. I would start with implementing and out of bounds play and maybe, if you're lucky, a couple of basic offensive plays. Probably use a lot of ball-handling stuff, using both hands, and keeping their head up. Boys at that age can be a pain and hard to corral, but it is an excellent teaching opportunity and time to develop the fundamentals that will keep them ahead of their peers. Always keep it fun. Good luck.

[wutang112878]

I don't want to get on my moral high horse here, but having those kids play zone would be a disservice and at that age level I would be surprised if the league even allowed it. The original poster said 2nd graders, so I'm assuming we're talking about anywhere from 6-8 year olds. At that age, they're going to have very little experience/skill development, and depending on the league the focus should be more on skill development rather than winning games (By no means am I saying winning isn't important; competition is good).

I wish I could have taught them to play man, but I had literally 6 hours of practice time with them. Sounds like Ribo wasnt going to have a lot of practice time either. So it depends on the hand you are dealt. For example I had 2 elite players, like Kobe and Shaq when they won 3 in a row elite. The rest of the players barely understood the fundamentals of the game, literally ground zero to the point that I had to completely teach them the defensive position and how important it was to stay between the ball and the basket. The only way my elite players could possibly play along with the bad ones on defense was to play zone because when we tried to play man in a scrimmage I had 2 elite players playing great defense with 3 players watching the ball while the person they were defending roaming around free, I didnt see anyone developing any skill doing that.

[TimNJsoxfan]

I coach my son 5-6th grade. Our league has a rule that you must play man-man defense in the second and third quarters. Optional in the first and fourth. I have had 5 practices already and we have not even gone over zone defense yet.

[JesusShuttlesworth]

3 fun games to play in practice for this age group.

1. Dribble tag. Have two players dribble and try to "tag" the other players on the team. They have to stay within the 3-point-arch. Make sure the ball handlers are keeping their heads up, can't very well tag anyone without looking.

2. Dribble away. Have each kid dribble a ball at center court, you have a nerf ball of some sort, throw it in the air and call out a players name. The player retrieves the nerf while the other players run away while dribbling, once the nerf is recovered yell "stop", the player with the nerf gets to peg the closest player, if he/she hits someone that player is "out". Repeat till you have a winner.

3. Relay-21 works for any age group. (might want to substitue for "5" or a number more appropriate to the age level). Form two lines on the baseline, try to make them equal in ability. The first two kids take off dribbling the ball, right hand down to the half court, left hand back to the basket, then make a layup, once they net the ball they hand off to the next kid in line, first team to score the appointed number of baskets wins.

Edited by JesusShuttlesworth, 26 November 2010 - 12:32 PM.

[riboflav]

Excellent points and advice, guys. I really appreciate it. I especially like ideas for games as a way of keeping it fun, having everyone involved at the same time, and teaching them something too. When my wife, who has taught kids, ages 5 -12, in ballet for years, asked me if I knew of any games I could do, I said, "Ya, horse, pig, knockout, and 3-on-3." Ouch.

We start next week and I just got my roster. Only six kids to start with, which is very good I think. The less the better for control purposes. I am a bit of a fish out of water. The youngest kids I've coached was a 10-year old boys' soccer team, but I'm looking forward to this new challenge. I think it'll be good for me to teach some really basic fundamentals.

As for defense, I imagine that we're only allowed man-2-man. We have a coaches' meeting on Tuesday night where I'll be learning more, hopefully. In the past, I've considered teaching defense my strong suit, but I've usually coached zone. I might try some basic drills that teach proper defensive form and keeping yourself between your man and the basket. But, I might also find that the best thing I can teach them is to simply follow their man everywhere and not to hit him.

[JesusShuttlesworth]

Here's a favorite drill, works with any pass.

Pass and Switch.

Let's say we're working on the bounce pass and you have 8 kids.

They set up in a square facing each other. Each kid is directly accross from another. Two basketballs, start directly accross from one another, opposite sides of the square.

They start by making a pass to their right, then they switch with the player accross from them, so they're running through the middle of the square. The object is to beat the ball to the spot while making good passes.

I like this drill a lot, we do it every practice. What it does is shows how each kid is going to respond to passing the ball in a high pressure situation, the first few times you run this drill kids will be making terrible passes, off target, not even looking where they're passing, running away while passing, man it's bad.

[Rocco Graziosa]

Here is a suggested hour:

0-5 min= Attendance and stretching. Do whatever you usually do. The kids will copy you. Get in a circle.

5-10 min=Shooting. Show the proper technique. Have kids practice in the air or with a ball. I use the "BEEF" method. "Balance"........feet properly apart, knees bent "Eyes" Eyes on the target "Elbow" Elbow bent in the right 45 degree angle and "Followthrough" shoot and follow through at the target

10-25 min= Shooting contest. Divide class evenly at the hoops. Each player takes a "BEEF" shot and rebounds her make or miss. Passes to the next person in line. First team to 10 wins. You must yell out your number of makes. Everyone must cheer on teamattes. Say non BEEF shots don't count but don't enforce it.

25-30 min= Drink Break

30-40 min= Passing and pivot foot: Split into pairs. Teach each kind of pass. Chest pass: step towards target and snap ball to parter. (have them do that for a few mins) Then bounce pass. Then over head pass. Then show what a pivot foot is. One foot must stay on the ground at all times and you can pivot around in a circle. have them do the passes and pivot in a circle and return the pass.

40-55 min= Dribbling. Talk about dribbling. Fingertip control, eyes up, using both hands, knees bent. Split into pairs and have each player do 10 dribbles with their right hand and ten with their left hand. Make a bounce/chest pass to a partner who does the same thing. Then do relay races. Split into teams of 4 or 5. Dribble the length of the court with the right hand and back with the left hand. Must make chest pass to the next person. The first team to be sitting down after they all go wins.

Any time you have left just play knockout. They could do that forever.

[wyatt55]

All good advice here.

Want 3 guaranteed good looks at a basket a game? Have a solid and easy in bounds play from under the offensive basket. I use a line. All four players line up body to body ABOVE the block (or your first guy gets the ball UNDER the hoop) facing the baseline.

First goes towards the basket (almost always open).
Second goes away from the basket
Third comes straight down the line toward the baseline
Fourth goes backwards as the safety

^
^
X
X
v
<----X
X--->


X (yells "break" and slaps the ball)

Not formatting right but you get the idea.

Also, do the Mikan drill as a timed contest

Edited by wyatt55, 06 January 2011 - 01:33 AM.

[TimNJsoxfan]

All good advice here.

Want 3 guaranteed good looks at a basket a game? Have a solid and easy in bounds play from under the offensive basket. I use a line. All four players line up body to body ABOVE the block (or your first guy gets the ball UNDER the hoop) facing the baseline.

First goes towards the basket (almost always open).
Second goes away from the basket
Third comes straight down the line toward the baseline
Fourth goes backwards as the safety

^
^
X
X
v
<----X
X--->


X (yells "break" and slaps the ball)

Not formatting right but you get the idea.

Also, do the Mikan drill as a timed contest

That play is our "Stack Straight" and it is a very good play when the kids run it correctly. We scored 2 baskets with it last night out of 3 tries.

Another we do is "Stack Curl"... when the inbounder yells go the first guy in line turns away from the basket and runs between the 3rd and fourth player back towards the basket and should end up in the middle of the key (hopefully open). When the "curler" clears player 2 in line, he breaks away from the basket down the baseline as a second option. Player 3 stays put and player 4 drops back towards mid-court as a safety valve.

Did a quick MS Paint of the play.

Edited by TimNJsoxfan, 06 January 2011 - 11:20 AM.

[riboflav]

All great advice, guys, and very helpful!

So, we're four weeks into the season and I have pretty good handle on our strengths (not many) and challenges (quite a few). It seems I have a team of misfits. All six players are in their first year and only two actually own a basketball, making homework difficult. I have the shortest kid in the league who is a complete ballhog...in four scrimmages/games he has literally never thrown a pass to anyone. He's also the troublemaker of the group and doesn't like to pay attention and takes drills off. He also will spend a lot of time with a mischievous smirk just doing the opposite of what I teach him. He, of course, has the highest basketball acumen on the team. But, he really doesn't seem to give a damn. Fortunately, the other five kids are great and usually don't pay him any attention when he's acting out. Basically, when he really starts getting wound up, I ask if he wants to participate or sit along the baseline (there's no room in a crowded gym for him to do anything else) and he usually chooses to sit and pout. Oh well, it's not my dime.

So in our four scrimmages against other teams, by my count, we've scored a total of five baskets while our opponents have scored over 30. We are getting pretty good at defense and we seem to be getting less afraid of the ball so our rebounding is starting to improve. In the last scrimmage, we only lost three baskets to one. Other teams are starting to get a little more advanced in the drilling whereas we are still practicing hanging onto the ball, stepping toward the ball to receive a pass (again, they're very nervous about the ball coming at them), and staying in and maintaining defensive stances.

I would like to figure out something to do with the offense beyond basic skills. This is going to be tough though. For example, three of my kids still habitually dribble with two hands and though they're doing it less, they still do it a lot. When we come down on offense, it's fairly typical of what you'd expect. One kid dribbling with his head down closely guarded ever so slowly making his way toward the basket, while his teammates either run far away from him or right at him and end up triple teaming him. We've drilled passing, pivoting and passing, dribbling with heads up by using different colored cards as signals, dribbling to a spot and passing to a teammate for a shot, etc. But nothing has translated to a game so far. I think the only way we can score at this point in the season would be to fast break a lot. When I look around the league, it seems that if you're team is good at defense and stays with their man always, the other side has a VERY hard time scoring. By far, most points come off fast breaks and offensive put backs. This is one reason we've spent a lot time not being afraid of the ball and catching rebounds with hands above heads.

Anyway, I will continue to stress basic skills and spend most of the hour on those but if anyone has any tips or suggestions on teaching 7-year olds to transition defense to offense quickly would be appreciated. We are also limited because we have to share the gym with another team meaning that we only practice in the half court.

[twothousandone]

Anyway, I will continue to stress basic skills and spend most of the hour on those but if anyone has any tips or suggestions on teaching 7-year olds to transition defense to offense quickly would be appreciated.

I have a third grader and a kindergartener now playing basketball. I noticed thi sweekend referring those games is the single most diffiuclt I've seen in youth sports -- it can't be all whistle, all the time, but he has the 1) keep the kids safe, 2) keep the game moving, 3) penalize kids for doing things when they can do better. That last one is a bear -- "the other kids dribble with two hands, why can't I?" "Because you're better than them" isn't something he can really say out loud.

Defense to offense is a bit tougher than the other way -- would this work for offense to defense: Have the five gys take it out from the baseline, maybe convince three to be near half court. When the coach gets the ball (maybe you eed two coaches) every heads back on defense. That's where a "zone" comes in handy -- when the other team gets the ball, you race back on defense and stand HERE. It then creates a bad habit, because they're don't think to jam the fast break, but there's tons of bad habits out there, no?

Defense to offense? I'd guess you have to let the guy who has the ball always be the one to bring it up (without a press it should be do-able and develop a key skill). Do you tell everyone else to head at least to half court once a teammate has the ball? Maybe that would work. Probably not often, though. Funny thing, though -- I'll bet if the other team drops back in a zone, your guys on offense will "cover" them, thus getting the right spacing and letting the guy will the ball dribble it a little.

[JesusShuttlesworth]

Don't get down man, this age group is always filled with "misfits", uncoordinated, never played before, attention span of a chestnut.

I try to focus on basic fundimentals. Unfortunately I have to use a couple practices showing them worthless things like the 2-3 zone of course, but once we get past that we tend to focus on things that will make them better basketball players over the long haul.

Last practice we started with lay-ups so they could see how bad they were at making a lay up. Then I moved the lay up line in to the first bock and had them take two steps starting with the correct foot and going up for the lay up. When they messed this up I lined the team up and had them all take two steps and jump, two steps and jump, over and over until they could pull it off, then back to the short no dribble lay up lines.

Then we played a game where two lines start at either side of the basket on baseline, dribble out around a cone and in for a lay up, then pass it off to the next kid and record points. First team to 21 points wins, points don't count unless they hit backboard.

It was a good, fun practice. Next game comes along and no one does a correct lay up. But the point was to drill into their heads the correct way to practice the lay ups. It's on them to take the knowledge I give them and try to improve on their own, there's only so much that can be accomplished in a 1 hour per week practice, and I can honestly say every kid on the team knows how to go out and practice lay ups if they want to get better.