SURVIVAL GUIDE TO COACHING YOUTH BASKETBALL

Coaching youth basketball can be one of the most rewarding positions anyone can ever have.

Teaching the next generation of young adults through youth athletics is an opportunity to instill life lessons and skills-both of which can be used throughout life in many situations.

Making young athletes successful not just in the present, but to help build a strong foundation for the future, coaching youth basketball begins with teaching fundamentals.

Being able to have your players learn the fundamentals of passing, ball handling, shooting, and other vital basketball techniques, not only will make them better players overall throughout the season, but will help each player reach their full potential when the competition level increase over time.

Check out the Youth Basketball Survival Guide to Coaching, if you are new to coaching this is a great self-help guide to get you on the right track with learning how to coaching youth basketball.

In youth basketball settings, working on fundamentals should come above all else.

In my opinion, three-quarters of a youth basketball practice should be spent working on fundamental drills.

Defense builds teamwork, and one of the first things any youth basketball coach should work on with his or her players should be half-court defense.

Learning assignments, who is responsible for what, knowing what a teammate is supposed to do, builds skills that can be carried over to other facets of the game, such as learning the half-court offensive sets.

When the team is on defense, knowing assignments and what each player is supposed to be doing on certain calls, builds fundamental skills, and once mastered, the team will see tremendous improvement in themselves both in practices and when executing in games.

When coaching youth basketball, create the building blocks of good fundamentals that will allow the team to play against opponents of all offensive and defensive styles.

There are only so many things that can be executed on a basketball court within the rules, and when players can sub-consciously play fundamental basketball, it won’t matter what “fad” offense or defense they go up against.

When running a youth basketball practice, the fundamental skills that should be focused upon each time the team takes the court are:

These skills are IMPERATIVE to building a good, fundamental basketball skill set.

Youth basketball coaches should strictly focus on working through these different fundamental skills, perhaps not all of them each practice, but a few at a time, rotating drills to keep the players excited and interested in improving their skills.

In a session of shooting practice, working on proper footing, spreading of the hands, getting good rotation on the basketball, arm and elbow positioning, and follow through are skills that can easily be taught, and all players can work on consistently, even if it isn’t the focus during practice.

The goal is to provide young basketball players with things they can constantly be working on, whether on the practice court, on the blacktop, or in game situations.

Youth Basketball Coaches,

If you decide to coach your child in basketball or become their number one supporter,make sure your child is a part of a great coaching system, where they can truly learn how to play the game of basketball the right way.

10 Attributes of a Great Youth Basketball Coach:

• The coach has a positive attitude on and off the court
• The coach is a good role model to your child
• The parent coach should not show favoritism to their child
• The parent coach should not be tougher on their child
• The coach preaches teamwork
• The coach can teach and educate kids on their performance
• The coach emphasizes effort and hard-work
• The coach always talks about the importance of school work
• The coach has a keep it simple game strategy
• The coach utilizes fun drills and team practices to engage the children