Coaching Youth Basketball - Chapter 29

Chapter 29 - Mirror, Mirror on the Wall - Who's the Most Confused of Them All?

I know some of you have been scratching your head because I left out a word here. I misspelled a word there. Diagrams are wrong, and lots of other mistakes. Here's the deal. Whether I originally typed out or hand wrote every chapter, the chapters of this Book of Babble are typed out to Alaska's, Jackson's, or Powerbasketball's e-mail address by me. (I'm a 2 finger typist and prone to hitting the wrong key, A LOT!) This would be ok, but I usually type these e-mails when I am at work. So I don't normally have a lot of time to review or correct the typing errors. It couldn't be that I can't spell well, because I just won the spelling bee at my local pub, (hiccup.)

Enough excuses, here's another neat thing about this being a work in process, I get about 50 e-mails a day asking questions. This let's me see what I missed teaching you. So, this is a question - answer chapter for some of the more commonly asked questions. Let's see how many misspelled words, wrong punctuation errors, and the like you can find. The person with the most wins a tootsie roll pop.

QUESTION: "I like your philosophy of not teaching them too many offensive plays, but after seeing our opponent last night with 3 or 4 good plays, (working to perfection,) I'm wondering if we shouldn't be injecting a set offense or at least 1 or 2 plays?" This was asked by James who coaches 4th'5th grade boys.

ANSWER: I have been asked this question a hundred times in various shapes, forms, and sizes. In my iddy biddy bwain, (misspelled on purpose,) it depends on your priorities and what stage your team is at.

Priorities - if they are to win at all costs, go to Jackson's site and he's got a bajillion plays you can download. If you are there to teach, then make sure YOUR WHOLE TEAM is past the beginners stage and ready for plays. If they aren't, then stay with the basics.

I used my own team as an example. My 8th grade girls team still doesn't have a set offensive play. We pick and roll, pass and cut, and get a lot of points off of our aggressive m-2-m defense. AND - we definitely win more than we lose. Should we have some set plays, probably, but my team still learns, wins, and has a lot of fun. It's still a game to them.

QUESTION: "I am a female asst. coach for my son's 4th grade basketball team. The head coach is an ex-high school player who thinks he knows it all. He talks for 20 minutes and then expects the boys to know how to do everything he has told them, and they don't. Then he starts yelling at them. I have read all of your book and I agree that we need to learn the fundamentals before we starting piling a lot of plays on them. When I mention something to the coach, he just ignores me. I need some help." This was sent to me by Laura.

ANSWER: I've gotten over 20 of these types of e-mails. This is a major problem with no easy solution. First let me explain a fact of kid's land, if I talk to my girls for more than 5 minutes, I lose their attention, and they are in 8th grade. 4th graders probably have a 2 minute attention span. Riley's Rule # 28 = When you see your player's eyeballs rolling in their heads, quit talking!

1. I would 1st try the honey vs. vinegar approach. I.E. "You know, you have some wonderful plays that the boys need to learn. Why don't we split up the practices, he won't know what a LS is, and I'll work with them on some basic skills like ball handling, lay-ups, and stuff like that. You take the 2nd half of practice and teach them the more exciting and advanced things, like plays."

Make teaching the basics out to be dull, dreary, and something he would probably hate doing. Make his stage of the teaching seem more exciting. Maybe he'll go for it.

2. If #1 doesn't work, get gym time for a second practice and you teach them the basics. Print my book off of the net, hand it to him, and tell him the kids need to learn the basics.

3. If #'s 1 & 2 don't work, remember the invisible sign over every gym door, NO WEAK SISTERS ALLOWED. Sooooooo -take control and FIRE HIM!

Two summers ago I started an AAU club. I had 238 girls play ball for me. My wife coached a team of girls that no one wanted. They were cut by all the other teams. Another parent agreed to co-coach with her. After the second LS, she called him up and fired him. He had just as much authority as she did, but she took control and fired his screaming butt. It wasn't easy and it took a lot of guts, but 3 of her players now play for my advanced team and are great players. The end result was worth it.

Get together with enough parents, on the side, and explain to them that you believe that the kids need to be taught the fundamentals and you plan on firing the head coach. Get some people behind you, then just do it. One of three things will happen. He will quit and take his kid with him. Or, he will quit but leave his kid on the team. Or, he won't quit and the parents don't back you publicly, so you may have to quit and find another team for your son to play on. There are too many teams out there to put up with a bunch of nonsense.

Ok, this seems a little drastic, right? Wrong!!!! Coaches can make or break a child. I would rather my daughter not play for a season than hook up with the wrong coach. I know, I had one in jr. high that affected me for years. Remember, you have just entered the wonderful world of macholand. NO WEAK SISTERS ALLOWED.

QUESTION: I can't get the drill Ring Of Fire to work. What am I missing?

ANSWER: Draw a pie on a piece of paper. Now draw lines and divide the pie into 6 pieces, and number the pieces 1-6. In the center of the pie draw a small circle. The small circle is the player in the middle who catches and passes. Let's call this player M, for middle. Start with M holding a ball and #1 holding a ball. Here's the sequence.

M passes to #2. #1 passes to M. M catches and passes to #3, as #2 passes to M. M catches #2's pass and passes to #4, as #3 passes to M. etc. etc. etc.

QUESTION: One thing I want to improve on is making quicker passes. How can I improve their reaction time?

ANSWER: Two drills. One is Ring Of Fire. The other is 4 Passes and Score Drill. For this drill get 2 kids standing on the baseline about 12' apart. They must go the length of the court by passing it to each other without dribbling. They must go the entire length of the court and are only allowed to pass the ball to each other 4 times. Then they are allowed one dribble for a lay-up and must SCORE. Also, they are not allowed to travel, or walk with the ball.

Now let me take a moment to explain the difference between shooting and SCORING. Shooting is where you take a shot. Scoring is where the involved players keep on rebounding and shooting till they score. No one on my team is allowed to move on to the next drill until they score. If they take a shot, they must follow it up and keep on rebounding and shooting until they do score. This improves their rebounding, following up their own shot, and shooting skills. It's a drill, without being a drill.

QUESTION: I have 2 players that if I turn them loose could win every game for me. Should I let them play their game?

ANSWER: If you do, then take a seat in the stands because you have just given up your coach's scepter. Ok, so you have 2 wonderfully gifted natural athletes, big deal. I've seen 100's of Jimmy and Johnny shows. They pass to each other, are extremely gifted and win games for you. So what?? If they were of varsity age I'd say, "That's cool." These are younger kids. Do they personally learn anything that will make them even better? No!

Here's an even bigger point, what about the other 6-8 kids on your team. They will never get to touch the ball. What are you teaching them? Are they learning the game? And as a role model what are you teaching them? Are you teaching them teamwork and good sportsmanship? And what happens when you come up against a team that plays as a team? I'll tell you what happens, you're screwed. You lose by 40 points.

COACH = TEACHER Take these naturally gifted kids and turn them into real players along with the rest of your team. They will thank you in the long run.

QUESTION: I have a parent who is constantly telling me his kid needs more PT, playing time. His child is a good player and I am tempted to give in. What should I do??

ANSWER: It depends upon your priorities. If winning is your #1 goal, play the kid more. If your goal is to be a teacher of the game, remind the parent of your equal playing time policy and thank them for their concern. THEN WALK AWAY. Don't have a long drawn out conversation. Let them talk to the back of your head as you walk away. Do not get into a debate with the parent, you'll lose every time.