Hello Cfans. Today I'm starting my first day of basketball coaching in Dtown LA. I've played my whole life and know the game well, but have never coached in a structured setting. I'm a bit nervous because I really want to do well. Today I coach 4 and 5-year old kids and other days 7-8 year old, and finally 9-10 year old kids. It will be more of an after school skills camp instead of a team that I coach. It will last one hour. I was just hoping for some advice on drills to do with 4-year old kids. One friend told me about a game called Poison which I'm looking up today? Any other games or drills you guys can think of would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
For the 4 and 5 year olds start with passing and caching drills, bounce, chest you know the basics. Two rows about 10 feet apart see how many in a row they can catch. Lot's of ball handling(Especially left hand and keep head up), keep it basic they are 4/5 year olds. Also side shuffles and foot work drills, again nothing too complicated just to get them comfortable. For the bigger kids depending on their level you can run more advance stuff like you may do with a middle school team.
No, but I work with kids as a K-12 Tutor. I know I can be good with kids, I just sometimes lack organization and that will be crucial in keeping such young kids interested in this sport. That's why I'm putting together a list of drills and looking for tips on this forum.
Yeah I figured the weave might be a bit too much for the younger ones. I wondering if knockout is in the cards. Also, should I correct them when they double dribble or travel. Do 4 year-olds play with a smaller ball? I know I have to set up like 6-foot hoops. Thanks for help Blurr
for that age, just learning to control themselves and the ball is a task. The simple drill of dribbling and then jump stopping needs to be practiced.
I helped with the Upward program for a while here in Houston. Their practices where before our league games so I would show up early to help out. Balls are the same size. On the ball handling yes I did correct them just so they would understand it was a violation. Keep them stationary for now and have them dribble one hand then switch. after some stationary dribbling If you the goals set pair them up and have one kid walk while dribbling then shoot up close while the other attempts to rebound then switch the roles. If a kid makes a basket be very exited for them, believe me it makes them try harder, if a kid actually catches a rebound high fives must be given. Just have fun out there and try to engage the kids to get them to pay attention. You'll have fun, I did. I ran into a 16 year old about two years ago at a gym who I coached when he was 5 he said he always remembered me from back then, it made my week.
Please teach the kids not to CARRY the ball at an early age. Tell them you can't bring your palm under the ball like many NBA superstars do now. Also, teach them to keep their head high while dribbling so as to not lose sight of their teammates, and that PASSING is fun. Basics and fundamentals will get you DUNCANs, CLYDEs, and OLAJUWONs, while razzle dazzle will get you Harold Miners, Skip To My Lou Rafers, and Stevie Francis's. DEFENSE and HUSTLE is key. Tell them never to get lazy a'la Robert Horry. Do well, man!
Thanks again guys...my game plan looks like this. Do introductions. Then we work on dribbling with right hand, then left hand. Followed by dribbling to a cone and back. Then I will pair them up and work on chest passes and bounce passes. Then I will form 2 lines, one for layups and one for rebounding. Then defensive sliding. Then man in the middle, where there is a circle around one player and they take turns passing and throwing while turning clockwise. After that I'm a bit blank on how to fill the rest of the time. Eventually I'll have another coach to work with but today I'm all alone and really want to do great so I can turn this into a full time gig(team coaching, score keeping, reffing, etc)
The better basketball series of videos are really good instructional tools. You can watch them free on the chinese version of youtube, youku.com, though they are directed at a higher age level than you will be coaching, there is still some good stuff there.
Up the reps per kid and concentrate on proper form (Well as best as a 4/5 year old can) for the drills. That will fill the time. Right now it's all about reps and taking your time. You'll see, you think you'll have time left but you may not get it all in.
If you want to do introductions and help them know each other, pair them with another player they don't know, and have them talk to each other for five minutes to ask each other their names, ages, who is their favorite basketball player, and what they want to be when older. After the time expires, have the other player introduce them as "This is my friend [name of the one who described themselves], he is [something about themselves] and [name] is his favorite NBA player, etc." Builds teamwork and enables them to be friendly to each other. Add a twist: have the entire team say their new friend's name out loud as he is introduced. Teammate: "This is my friend WithMustard" Team: "Hello, WithMustard!" (then teammate continues introducing them, or have the team repeat the name at the end)
Very encouraging Blurr. Thanks again for the support. LA has been brutal financially and this is a great opportunity to do something I love and get a paid a decent amount. I remember scrimmage was always my favorite part of practice but these kids might be too young. I was always pretty bored doing just drills so I don't want the kids to get bored with me. Thanks again, I leave for practice in about an hour and a half, then I'll come back to this thread in the evening in case anybody is interested in an update.
Love it...this is exactly the sort of suggestion I was looking for. maybe let each kid pick their own "nickname". Then I started thinking there might be drama because everybody wants to be Ironman. LOL. THanks again, great time filler and social-skills builder.
5 year olds just work on dribbling and shhoting off the backboard. When you teach them passing get them in a circle and calling out teamate to whom they are passing it to, you call out pass, chest or bounce. Then on d teach them how to stay between their guy and the basket dont complicate it at young ages. DD
PRAISE the ones who are doing a good job following technique as you have taught it, and CORRECT the ones who are doing it differently and incorrectly. With a clear voice, look them in the eye if you need to correct them again. Don't scream at them. If you need to speak to someone individually, ask them questions and let them voice their opinions. Never argue. Make the game FUN. Let them know it will be easier to play if they learn it right. I don't know if this is a good thing to do... I mean, they will learn to call their teammates' names while in a game and that won't be good for the offense... the defense will know who is getting the ball and react to it, but not basketball. What do you think? That might work in soccer, where there's a lot more space, but in the later years when they're older and mature enough to know about spacing.
Dribbling with your head up is huge at the early ages. On offense, I would teach almost exclusively the pick-n-roll. On defense, I would teach moving the feet to get the rebound. There is a three person game that helps (don't know the name). One kid shoots free throws until he misses. The other two rebound the misses. The rebounder becomes the shooter. Another good drill is no-dribble basketball. Teaches passing and catching. Also can teach screening to get players open for the pass.
