Sunday, June 20, 2010
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
How to Deal with Coaches
It is important that, as a parent, you have clean open lines of communication with your player’s coach. All coaches are not created equal, so this can be a challenge at times.
Use these tips to get along with any coach.
1. LOOK IN THE MIRROR.
Volunteer Youth Coaches are just like you.
They have busy professional and personal lives. Just like you.
They are pressed for time. Like you.
They have worries. Like you.
They do not have enough time in the day. Like you.
When you are busy and rushed, how do you want people to approach you with questions?
2. DO NOT COACH.
If you want to volunteer coach do it.
Otherwise, do not coach.
To be effective, every coach needs the “authority” to coach. In volunteer coaching, that “authority” is granted by you, the parent, by not coaching.
Coaches are not high and mighty, but they are the adults in charge. When children hear competing adult voices, they can become confused and will begin to shut out all adult voices.
Imagine, in your house, while you are trying to instruct your child, multiple adults begin talking to your child at once and all saying different things.
Not a pretty image.
Do not coach.
Cheer.
Your player will benefit and the coach will appreciate it.
3. SAY THANK YOU.
No matter what you think about your coach, all coaches do a ton of things that no one realizes.
But the biggest thing coaches do is make the time to coach because they think it is important. Without them, in many cases, your child and other children would not have a chance to play.
Remember to thank them from time to time. It will be appreciated.
____________
This article was written by Barry Thompson, FPYC Football Commissioner and Basketball Coach. For more articles, visit his blog at: http://ffxsportsparents.wordpress.com/about/
Use these tips to get along with any coach.
1. LOOK IN THE MIRROR.
Volunteer Youth Coaches are just like you.
They have busy professional and personal lives. Just like you.
They are pressed for time. Like you.
They have worries. Like you.
They do not have enough time in the day. Like you.
When you are busy and rushed, how do you want people to approach you with questions?
2. DO NOT COACH.
If you want to volunteer coach do it.
Otherwise, do not coach.
To be effective, every coach needs the “authority” to coach. In volunteer coaching, that “authority” is granted by you, the parent, by not coaching.
Coaches are not high and mighty, but they are the adults in charge. When children hear competing adult voices, they can become confused and will begin to shut out all adult voices.
Imagine, in your house, while you are trying to instruct your child, multiple adults begin talking to your child at once and all saying different things.
Not a pretty image.
Do not coach.
Cheer.
Your player will benefit and the coach will appreciate it.
3. SAY THANK YOU.
No matter what you think about your coach, all coaches do a ton of things that no one realizes.
But the biggest thing coaches do is make the time to coach because they think it is important. Without them, in many cases, your child and other children would not have a chance to play.
Remember to thank them from time to time. It will be appreciated.
____________
This article was written by Barry Thompson, FPYC Football Commissioner and Basketball Coach. For more articles, visit his blog at: http://ffxsportsparents.wordpress.com/about/
Monday, June 7, 2010
Pick and Roll: Offense For the Ages
Many coaches love to run various offenses which actually appear to confuse their own players.
In previous email you were provided with 3 simple offenses you can implement right away. As promised, the pick and roll offense will be discussed. The folllowing is a excerpt written by Ed Riley, www.coachingyouthbasketball.net/chatterbox.
A well respected coach, Steve Jordan, has allowed me to provide you with the information which appeared on his site http://www.akcoach.com/index.htm. I highly recommend this site because it has been a valuable resource for me as well as thousands of youth basketball coaches and players.
Pick and Roll - This is a little harder to teach. A pick or a screen is really hard for younger kids, but so is riding a bike and they learn how to do that!
Here's how to teach a screen to younger kids. Tell them that they are a detective who has to sneak up on the bad guy and stand to the right or left of the bad guy. By the way, the bad guy is the opposing player who is guarding their teammate with the ball. Their job is to block the bad guy and stop them from following your teammate. The dribbler's job is to dribble around you and run their defender into you, so the bad guy can't follow the dribbler.
The hard part is the person doing the blocking has to keep their feet planted in one place. If they move their feet, they just fouled the other player. The next hard part is that they can't lean their body into the defender, because that too is a foul. The last part of this is that they can't use their hands or arms to block the defender. The way to avoid hands and arms is to have them cross their arms across their chest. The real secret is to get the defender to run into you. This is a pick or a screen.
So what is a pick and roll? Once you succeed in the pick, then you break to the basket looking for a pass or a rebound. All colleges and pro teams use some form of a pick and roll. This offense never goes stale, you can use it forever.
Remember, simple is good? Guess what, there is no more offense to teach you. If you can teach your team these 3 and 1/2 things in the first year, you will have accomplished what it took me 3 years to accomplish. Don't try to get fancy or complicated. You may be ready to learn new things, but your kids won't be. Remember, this game is not for you, it's for the kids. Except for some inbounds plays and things, I have just given you your whole first season's offense. If you can accomplish what I've taught you, you will be a basketball god in your league.
The following is written by Steve Jordan, aka Alaska Coach. His site and Coach Jackson's website are my basketball Encarta. And heeerrrreeee's Alaska!!
Ed "you mentioned the pick and roll. I think you should add a paragraph about how the screener should "roll." I , too, teach arms over the chest, but then have the kids lean on whichever elbow bears the brunt of the contact. The body weight freezes the defender and allows the screeners something to use as a pivot point. The end result is a perfect seal position, for a moment anyway. Too many kids will run up and bang into the defender, jump around and race to the hoop. This makes for a sloppy pick and a tough passing target. A beautiful pick is deliberate and methodical. The extra time creates extra space and gives the offense more options."
I read this and re-read it, and boy did he hit the nail on the head. For those of you who have never seen screening at the younger ages, it can be extremely ugly. Here is some of what you will see:
1. Your player is about to screen a defender, so they run into the defenders back and almost knock them over. This is a foul on your player.
2. Your player sneaks up on the defender, stands straight up, knees locked and the defender runs into your player. This sounds right, right?? Wrong, with their knees locked, your player will normally fall down or stumble. Now they are out of the mix for several seconds until they regain their feet.
3. Your player will run up to the defender, not wait for their team mate to run the defender into them, and then roll to the basket. The net result is that they never ever set the screen for their team mate.
Without waiting for the body contact and without a slight lean on the elbow and side, it is hard to actually block the defender and stop them from fighting through your pick. By slightly leaning, you will have your knees slightly bent so you don't fall, stumble, or look like an idiot. AND, you maintain your proper stance and footwork. AND YOU STOPPED THE DEFENDER from following your team mate.
Enjoy and share with a fellow coach.
Keith Smith
-------------------------------------
For FREE Special Report, "Youth Basketball Coaching Made Simple: The Easy Steps You Need to Take to Develop Your Players to Their Full Potential" visit us at: http://www.bestyouthhoops.com/sq
Also, you will have access to some off our special events with guest coaches who have coached or are now coaching youth basketball.
We look forward to providing great information to help you with your coaching.
For daily updates, visit us at twitter: http://www.twitter.com/bestyouthhoops
In previous email you were provided with 3 simple offenses you can implement right away. As promised, the pick and roll offense will be discussed. The folllowing is a excerpt written by Ed Riley, www.coachingyouthbasketball.net/chatterbox.
A well respected coach, Steve Jordan, has allowed me to provide you with the information which appeared on his site http://www.akcoach.com/index.htm. I highly recommend this site because it has been a valuable resource for me as well as thousands of youth basketball coaches and players.
Pick and Roll - This is a little harder to teach. A pick or a screen is really hard for younger kids, but so is riding a bike and they learn how to do that!
Here's how to teach a screen to younger kids. Tell them that they are a detective who has to sneak up on the bad guy and stand to the right or left of the bad guy. By the way, the bad guy is the opposing player who is guarding their teammate with the ball. Their job is to block the bad guy and stop them from following your teammate. The dribbler's job is to dribble around you and run their defender into you, so the bad guy can't follow the dribbler.
The hard part is the person doing the blocking has to keep their feet planted in one place. If they move their feet, they just fouled the other player. The next hard part is that they can't lean their body into the defender, because that too is a foul. The last part of this is that they can't use their hands or arms to block the defender. The way to avoid hands and arms is to have them cross their arms across their chest. The real secret is to get the defender to run into you. This is a pick or a screen.
So what is a pick and roll? Once you succeed in the pick, then you break to the basket looking for a pass or a rebound. All colleges and pro teams use some form of a pick and roll. This offense never goes stale, you can use it forever.
Remember, simple is good? Guess what, there is no more offense to teach you. If you can teach your team these 3 and 1/2 things in the first year, you will have accomplished what it took me 3 years to accomplish. Don't try to get fancy or complicated. You may be ready to learn new things, but your kids won't be. Remember, this game is not for you, it's for the kids. Except for some inbounds plays and things, I have just given you your whole first season's offense. If you can accomplish what I've taught you, you will be a basketball god in your league.
The following is written by Steve Jordan, aka Alaska Coach. His site and Coach Jackson's website are my basketball Encarta. And heeerrrreeee's Alaska!!
Ed "you mentioned the pick and roll. I think you should add a paragraph about how the screener should "roll." I , too, teach arms over the chest, but then have the kids lean on whichever elbow bears the brunt of the contact. The body weight freezes the defender and allows the screeners something to use as a pivot point. The end result is a perfect seal position, for a moment anyway. Too many kids will run up and bang into the defender, jump around and race to the hoop. This makes for a sloppy pick and a tough passing target. A beautiful pick is deliberate and methodical. The extra time creates extra space and gives the offense more options."
I read this and re-read it, and boy did he hit the nail on the head. For those of you who have never seen screening at the younger ages, it can be extremely ugly. Here is some of what you will see:
1. Your player is about to screen a defender, so they run into the defenders back and almost knock them over. This is a foul on your player.
2. Your player sneaks up on the defender, stands straight up, knees locked and the defender runs into your player. This sounds right, right?? Wrong, with their knees locked, your player will normally fall down or stumble. Now they are out of the mix for several seconds until they regain their feet.
3. Your player will run up to the defender, not wait for their team mate to run the defender into them, and then roll to the basket. The net result is that they never ever set the screen for their team mate.
Without waiting for the body contact and without a slight lean on the elbow and side, it is hard to actually block the defender and stop them from fighting through your pick. By slightly leaning, you will have your knees slightly bent so you don't fall, stumble, or look like an idiot. AND, you maintain your proper stance and footwork. AND YOU STOPPED THE DEFENDER from following your team mate.
Enjoy and share with a fellow coach.
Keith Smith
-------------------------------------
For FREE Special Report, "Youth Basketball Coaching Made Simple: The Easy Steps You Need to Take to Develop Your Players to Their Full Potential" visit us at: http://www.bestyouthhoops.com/sq
Also, you will have access to some off our special events with guest coaches who have coached or are now coaching youth basketball.
We look forward to providing great information to help you with your coaching.
For daily updates, visit us at twitter: http://www.twitter.com/bestyouthhoops
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