By: Kevin
Gallagher
Head Basketball
Coach
La Salle University, Retired
Coaching Points:
Assume nothing
When teaching beginning players, we have to remember that they probably know next to nothing. (As silly as it sounds, I begin each practice with drills where we hold the ball properly, i.e. elbows out, holding the ball tightly.) Assume that they players have not been shown how to dribble, pass and shoot (because most of them have not). Not only do they have no ideas about the rules of the game, but they may be hard pressed to tell you the object of the game of basketball. Incidentally, I find that most people cannot tell me the object of the game of basketball. Hint, putting the ball in the other team's basket is only half of the object of the game.
Players learn by doing (especially if it is fun)
It is my philosophy that especially for beginning players, that every child should have a ball in his/her hands as much as possible during practice. Now I know that they like to scrimmage, but think of the benefits: During a 1/2 hour scrimmage where the children are playing 4 on 4, each child will have the ball approximately 3 minutes and 45 seconds. Of course, we all know that the strongest players will control the ball. Therefore, the weakest players, (those needing practice the most) will hold the ball little or not at all. How much can a boy or girl benefit from having the ball for 3 minutes? Left to their own devices, players will do the things that they like to do, things with which they are comfortable. Having said that, when will they learn to dribble with their weak hand?
I am a firm believer in the concept that children need to feel comfortable to succeed. The more they have the ball in their hands, the more comfortable they will be. The more comfortable they are, the more they will try. The more that they try, the more successful they will become. With success will come confidence and the cycle wil continue.
Just because you will not scrimmage as much as the players would like does not mean that the kids will not have fun. You definitely want to make it fun. As long as each child has a ball, that is a good start. First teach a concept, for example, show them how to dribble properly (e.g. dribble with your fingertips and keep your head high). Now when they do this, keep them interested and keep teaching. First, with stationary dribbling, hold up fingers and ask the players to tell you how many fingers you are holding up. Have them switch hands. Now put the players in a confined space (e.g. half court or within the foul lane). Now ask them to dribble around without losing the ball. Notice how they not only have to control their ball but also avoid contact with the other players. There are a few other steps in between, but you can work toward a fun game: dribble tag. One player is it and must tag another player. The catch is that everybody must continue dribbling. (And keep them confined to a small area.)
Practice does NOT make perfect and Do it right, then do it fast
Next point - it is a common
misconception that practice makes perfect. Practice does not make perfect, practice
makes permanent. Perfect practice makes perfect.
Keeping that in mind, when you introduce a skill, have them do it slowly and
do it correctly. Only encourage them to do it quickly once they do it right.
Remember to have them build up in speed. (e.g. Go half speed at first. Once
they do O.K., go three-quarters speed, etc.)
Mistakes are nothing more than a chance to try harder
No one likes to fail. The young player is no different. In order to avoid what is perceived as failure (a mistake), players sometimes do not go all out and/or do not try to master new and unfamiliar techniques. On my teams there is no failure, only temporary setbacks. Everyone must try their best. It does not mean that we will not make mistakes. Mistakes are O.K. If we can all accept our humanity, we will realize that this is a normal part of any endeavor. Mistakes are nothing more than a chance to try harder. Indeed, it is through mistakes that we learn and improve (and we all want to learn and improve). My players hear me say over and over that if you are not making mistakes then you are not really trying.
It is all in how you sell your ideas. Coaches are salesmen/saleswomen. For example, I can look anyone in the eye and tell you that my teams have never lost a game. Many times we have won games, and in the rest of the games, .......well, we just ran out of time.
Explain, Explain, Explain and then explain some more
Once you show the players how you want a specific skill performed, you will have them perform that skill. As they execute, keep verbalizing the salient points of that skill (e.g. as they dribble, keep repeating the mantra "dribble with your fingertips, keep your head high"). Keep repeating the teaching points that you want them to remember.
Find the right words
Also keep in mind that kids
are always eager to please and do not want to 'let us down'. Consequently, they
may say that they understand but in reality do not.
Remember to periodically ask them to repeat your teaching points in their own
words. You may be surprised to see that the players sometimes do not fully understand.
It is not their fault, it is not your fault. (Never dwell on the concept of
fault. Blame is for God and small children.) You will just have to be resourceful
and try to explain the concepts but with different words.
Teach them how to think W.I.N.
Another concept that I constantly teach is the concept I call W.I.N. It has nothing to do with scores and game results. The acronym stands for What's Important Now. In school, the children learn that drugs and alcohol can be bad. I teach them that emotion in sports is not for the players, only for the fans. We never want to get too happy or too upset. We must always focus on what is next. If the ref says that we committed a violation, we do not argue with the ref, we do not discourage the player who made the mistake and we do not feel badly for ourselves. What's Important Now is that we get back quickly on defense and find the player that we are assigned to guard. If the other team loses the ball, we do not have time to jump up and down and give ourselves high-five's, What's Important Now is that we inbound the ball and try to score.
Teach them all
One thing that I feel strongly about in youth basketball is that all players should be well-rounded. Making your tallest player your center and keeping him close to the basket is a mistake, in my opinion. A) If this player does not grow much and is of average height, he will be at a disadvantage later in his career. B) If the player does wind up being an inside player later in his career, it will be beneficial for him to understand what the ball handler is trying to accomplish. (i.e. to understand how he relates to other positions). C) It is fun to handle the ball. Can't all the kids have fun?
Also, the topic of Teach
them all relates to every player on the team. It is easy to work with your most
talented player. What about your weakest player? Doesn't he
deserve attention also? If a chain is only as strong as it's weakest link, doesn't
it make sense to strengthen the game of this player? From a selfish perspective,
it can help your team's overall effectiveness. From an altruistic point of view,
every child deserves attention. A gifted coach sees the tomorrow in each and
every child. (Keep in mind that Michael Jordan was once cut from his high school
team.)
There are no absolutes, results count
One mistake I made a great deal early in my career was to try to regiment things too much. Remember that results count and that there are no absolutes. If a player is able to accomplish a specific skill but is not doing it exactly as the textbook calls for, let it go. (keyword here is that the player is accomplishing the skill).
Whatever you emphasize, your team will be good at
Did you ever notice that
some teams consistently do well defensively or rebound exceptionally well? Don't
all coaches teach defense and rebounding? What is the
difference? I have found that a coach's emphasis on a particular facet of the
game will insure that the players perform that just a little bit better. For
our level, I stress passing. I constantly praise even an attempt at passing,
even if the result is not the best.
Do not give up and do not give in
It is a fact that coaching at any level requires a great deal of patience. It is no different at the youth level. We coaches will demonstrate a specific skill and ask the players to perform it. At times, I have wondered what language I must be speaking, based upon the results that I have seen. The players clearly had no idea what I was talking about. Then I would go back and explain again. Usually, the players would be closer to the mark on the second try. As they continue, I would repeat my teaching points and, if necessary stop practice, show the technique again. Also, I would stop practice to praise a player who executes the skill properly. The point is, if you are willing to accept low standards, the players will also. Don't give up and don't give in. As they are learning, praise their effort continuously and keep refining their performance.
Know your players' limitations
Conversely, we always want to know our players limitations. Some players will progress rapidly. Others will not. That is the way of the world. It is almost a Darwinian concept. Do not compare players, accept them. Some are slow, some are fast. Some are aggressive, some are passive. It is OK.
Have specific goals
Here is where you must ask yourselves some questions regarding your goals. At a very high level: What is your goal for your team and/or players? I cannot assume to know what is best for everyone. But I do know what I believe. My goal (at a high level) is always to make each player the ultimate competitor. I do not expect to make each player the best player in the league. I do not expect each player to become the best on the team. My goal is to instill in each player the life skill of encouraging him/her to try to be a little bit better today than they were yesterday. The improvement in a player day to day under these circumstances is barely perceptible. However, if you string a couple of days together and there is noticeable progress. And, if you look at the strides made from the beginning of the season to the end, the results are fantastic! It's the little things that make perfection and perfection is no little thing. The great thing is that this life skill can be applied in any sport, any endeavor. It is healthy for a child to want to compete. However, we have to make sure that they do not try to compare themselves to someone much 1) better - they could be totally discouraged or 2) worse - they will have a false sense of their ability.
Organize
In my opinion, we must always have goals when trying to accomplish something. We may not reach the goals, but we will get as much as possible out of an effort if we have a plan. I try to have a season long plan. (very easy for this age level). I then break the season down to 2 sections, pre-season and the actual season. I then break down each section (e.g. pre-season, we have 8 practices to be ready for the first game). Lastly, I break down each practice into time slots allotted for each skill we want to work on.
Think of the specific skills that you want to introduce or build upon. If you are introducing a skill, explain it briefly, demonstrate it and have the players perform a basic drill. Keep your drills short in duration and move on to another drill (it can stress the same skill). By having short drills, it will keep the players interested and they will not get bored.
Once you know what skills/drills that you want to incorporate in your practice, plan your practice. (See example at the end.) In this way you can do your best to stay on track. Remember that you only have a short period of time in which to teach. (Of course, so do all the other coaches.) Just do your best to teach as much of the basics as you can.
Once practice is over, sit the players down and review what you have done/learned. Ask them to repeat key ideas to see if they are listening and understanding. Based upon the feedback, you may gain some insights on how to gear your next practice.
Make it fun
One thing that I have learned is that practice must have some element of fun. Let's not forget that we are teaching the fundamentals of a game. The more fun that the players have (within the limits that you create), the more they will get out of practice. As was mentioned before, once example of this concept would be dribble tag. The players are playing a game that they normally play (without a ball) and enjoy running around. They do not realize that they are learning to control the ball while moving fast, they are being forced to look away from the ball and they are being forced to change directions quickly.
All players like to scrimmage.
One drill that I enjoy (and the players seem to like it) is to let the players
scrimmage. The only difference is that I make dribbling a
violation. (i.e. dribble and your team loses the ball). What is the point of
this? It stresses the most important phase of basketball: passing. Once the
players begin to understand how to perform the drill, they make the first step,
they must move without the ball if they hope to receive a pass. The player with
the ball is being forced to develop the most important facet of passing: knowing
where his/her teammates are before they get the ball so that they can pass quickly.
Keep in mind that this is a slow process. It will be difficult for the players
at first. However, since they are playing a game while developing, they really
don't mind.
Use your time wisely
Given that our time in practice is limited, I have 4 suggestions:
Be positive (confidence & success stem from enthusiasm)
Last Note: Finish on a good note. At the end of practice, call the team together. After making any organizational announcements (e.g. next game is on Saturday at 10:00 am, or picture day is Sunday at 1:00, etc.), review what you have learned and done. Have the players participate. Ask them to tell you what they have learned. See if they can repeat the key ideas of what you are trying to teach. Praise their effort. Make them feel as though they have accomplished something.
Tie it all up and finish happy
To emphasize finishing on a positive note, I always try to have a small treat for each player (e.g. candy). Let's keep in mind that we are working with children and we are teaching a game. All too often in the younger leagues, we adults let our agenda creep in. They are not as focused on winning as we are. They do not perceive their actions on the court as life and death. Remember that the players want to have fun, period.
Some practice drill suggestions:
Dribbling
Passing
Shooting
Building to the game
Sample
Practice Schedule
Youth Basketball
Practice Schedule
Date:___________________________
Notes: ______________________________
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