Youth Basketball Coaches: What You Should Teach Your Players

Over the past couple of days, I have received a few questions regarding various aspects of youth basketball.

Some of the same questions have been asked multiple times by numerous coaches, usually by those who are just beginning or by others who want to brush up on their knowledge base.

By far the most popular question is:

* What should I teach the players?

Answer: I’d like to answer this in 2 steps and break the question into 2 parts.

First, the question can be rephrased to: How should I teach my players?

The best way to get your point across is to keep it simple and do it with enthusiasm!! Not necessarily jumping up and down and putting on a circus act, but generally showing the kids this fun for you and you will make it fun for them.

You have to capture their attention. These kids are like sponges and if you make it simple and fun, their learning will be tremendous as well as yours.

The key is to demonstrate, not just tell.

Second: What should you teach your players?

You must teach them the fundamentals such as:

* dribbling
* passing
* defense (no zone.. yeah, yeah, I know some of you think it’s crazy, but man-to-man is the way to go)

Once they have success at this, they will see themselves improving and will be more willing to take on additional challenges.

Each day I will delve into the fundamentals above and provide you with my favorite drills to enhance your player’s development.

Of course, you must make sure they know the rules of the game and what is allowed your league.

For instance, some leagues for U-9 allow 6 seconds in the lane, and once you reach the U-10 and above level, it goes back to 3 seconds.

I even heard of one club only permitting man-to-man defense.

Hope this provides you with some insight into the groundwork you need to implement.

Have a great season.

Feel free to leave comments for discussion and share with a fellow coach, player and parent.