1. Have Fun
This is the most important of all the keys. The game of basketball is meant to be played and coached so that everybody is having fun. If you as a coach, or your players are not having fun then something needs to change. As a coach you want the players to be enjoying themselves every time they are at a practice or game.
In practice, have little games or competitions so the players can have fun playing during practice. Make sure everybody is getting to play in games. Make sure everybody is participating in practice. At the youth level, having fun playing basketball should be the main priority and at times the only priority.
2. Be Positive
At the youth level, players are still learning how to play the game of basketball. Positive reinforcement goes a lot further in helping the players. Basketball should be fun and it is not fun to have somebody yell at you or say you are no good at something. Nobody likes that. So remain positive.
That does not mean to not correct mistakes. It means to correct mistakes in a positive way rather than a negative way. For instance, if a player is having trouble dribbling with their weak hand, see some instance of progress and point that out to the kid. Say, “Good job. You were able to dribble 8 times in a row. Last time it was only 5. You are getting better. Keep trying. You will get it.” This is staying positive. This is encouraging the kid. And it is identifying the improvement already taking place.
A negative tone would be, “Come on, you can’t even dribble the ball 15 times. You are not doing any good.” This negative tone is going to discourage the kid and possibly make the kid not want to play basketball any more. One bad experience or coach can completely change a young kids mind about something. Do not be that one bad influence. Encourage, do not discourage.
3. Be Energetic-Let players feed off your own excitement and energy
If you as a coach are energetic and excited then the kids will see that and it will help to build their own energy and excitement. I know it can be very difficult to be energized and excited some times. You may have had little to no sleep. You may have just work a couple hours of overtime. You may be having a bad day.
Realize the players on the team did none of that to you. It is not their fault you are not feeling well or not having a good day. So do not take out your own frustrations on the kids. You as the adult and coach need to be happy and excited during that practice or game.
Good energy will help to also fulfill goal #1. If the kids are excited about playing then they will have more fun playing as well. Being energetic will also help to get more accomplished out of practice. A positive, fun, and energetic practice will be a much better practice then a negative, boring, and lazy practice. If you are not feeling the best than fake it. Good, high energy will be a lot better for your team even if you are faking it.
4. Be Organized-Keep players engaged by not having down time
We are living in a world of instantaneous feedback. Kids do not have any downtime now a days. If they are bored then they are getting there laptop or cell phone and playing a game or watching a show. This constant barrage of stimulation needs to take place in basketball practice as well. So how do we as coaches bombard them with stimulation? By constantly changing what is going on during practice.
5 minute or 10 minutes periods. Anything more than 10 minutes, the kids can lose focus. We need to be aware of this and be changing practice to keep the players engaged. We never want the kids to get bored. So as a drill is starting to become boring to them, change what they are doing. Force them to engage in a different activity.
How can we as coaches accomplish this? By being organized. I break any practice I am running into 5 minute periods. If the kids start to get bored then I change the drill. Depending on what the drill is, I may do it again later in practice. But I have each practice segmented into 5 minute periods. This practice plan takes some effort before practice but it also lets me run a practice ensuring the least amount of down time. The organization up front means the practice runs smoothly.
Also with the practice plan, I am constantly adjusting during the practice. If something is not working then I stop it. If a drill keeps the players really engage then I let run longer. This means I have to cut things out of the plan during the practice. This takes a little bit of learning but once you figure out how to continually modify the schedule of practice then it becomes very quick and easy to do. And sometimes practice stays on the schedule. You never know. But be organized so the players never have a chance to become bored.
If you are needing help designing the practice plan then follow the practice plan link under the coaches tab on the menu bar at the top. This will direct you to practice plans all the way from 1st grade to high school.
5. Work on Fundamentals- Dribbling, Passing, Shooting and Defense
At the youth level, the emphasis needs to be on having fun and learning how to play. The fundamentals of basketball have not changed in a very long time. Every player should be able to dribble, pass, shoot and play man defense. I have outlined a grade by grade development for every grade in dribbling, shooting and playing man defense. Follow those individual links to those separate articles.
But these are the fundamentals because they are needed for each and every player to reach their full potential. Every practice at any grade level from 1st grade all the way up to high school should have some time dedicated to improving these four fundamentals. At the lower levels the time needed is going to be higher and as the kids grow up in age the time needed is going to get shorter. But the fundamentals of the game of basketball should be the first things that are worked on in practice. The better the fundamentals each player has, the better the player they are going to be.
6. Do not focus on winning- Focus on Skill Development
I have watched and listened to a lot of people with young kids and the amount of focus put on winning is unreal. Take a look back at point #1. Youth basketball should be about having fun. The focus by some people gets adjusted to winning.
Now I am a competitive person and I like to win as well. However, I see too many people looking at short-term rewards over long-term goals. I have talked to coaches at the youth level who work on play after play after play in practice. Their teams get really good at running those plays and they win a lot of their games. But each player then gets put into their role for that team. I have seen the tallest 3rd and 4th graders dominate youth basketball because they are the tallest player only to see them not play in junior high because they do not have good basketball skills. They got put under the basket and told not to move. Now they are average height without the ability to dribble or pass.
The focus should be on developing every player’s skill level to the highest possible level. This makes each player better suited for the changes that are going to occur when the kids go through puberty. I have seen it too many times the shortest player in 4th grade is the tallest player in 8th grade and vice versa. Focus on developing each player’s skill level so they are better prepared to be successful in junior high and high school.
7. Gets kids to be Successful- Challenge them, Let them Improve, The challenge becomes ability, Challenge them Again
In anything that we do as people, there is almost always a failure before the success. As a coach there is a tightrope that we have to walk to pushing the players to continue getting better without making them completely frustrated in the process. There has to be a process to the learning they are doing. Finding the right timing takes some patience and skill to learn how to do it properly.
We have to challenge the players with a new skill or basketball ability. At first the players are not going to be good at it. We have to let them fail. It is part of the learning process. We have to be positive with them for the players to push past the failures. This is helped by pointing out the little improvements that are taking place. Finally the new skill starts to become an ability. Once it is an ability then the player is able to use it when and how they want. This is the improvement taking place.
Once that happens, then a new challenge needs to be introduced. Multiple challenges can be given to players at the same time. But this is where you need to be aware that you do not give them too much and build too much failure and frustration in the players. The job as the coach is finding the right balance in giving the players’ time to succeed while also constantly challenging them to keep improving. The great coaches understand this and are able to find that balance point. Bad coaches’ leaves players frustrated with too much challenge or they do not push the players hard enough in improving.
8. Teach Concepts of Playing Basketball, Not Plays
I am not a big believer in running a bunch of plays. I believe the coach should teach the players how to play the game and give the players just enough freedom to become better basketball players. The game of basketball has become much more wide open than at any point in time in the past. Players need to know and feel when to cut, when to hold their spot, and when and how to move in unison with their teammates.
The best teams are able to improvise when things go wrong. I have seen a lot of teams struggle and lose games because their opponent is able to stop their plays. Once the defense stops the plays, what happens? A team that understands concepts of basketball simply adjust to the defense and continue playing. A team that is rooted in their plays are unsure what to do and this usually leads to bad shots or turnovers.
I am not against all plays. I think there needs to be structure in the offense. But if the players are unable to deviate from that structure of offense then they are easily beat. The best teams take advantage of what the defense gives them. The defense may take away something from the offense but by taking that away it should free something else up. The offense then needs to attack what the defense has just freed up. This is understanding the concept of basketball rather than running a play. I will guarantee you that your team will improve offensively when they understand how to play the game even without the use of plays. Knowing where to attack and how to attack a defense with minimal structure makes a team very hard to guard defensively.
9. Teach skills to Every Player; Be Positionless Players and Teams
This is my number one piece of advice when asked what a youth coach should do. I tell them to take the tallest player and make them the point guard and take the shortest player and make them the center. Of course I am not saying that in all honesty. But the principal of the statement is true.
Kids develop and grow at various times in their life and they are not all the same. It makes me angry when the tallest kids at the youth level get stuck underneath the basket working on layups all practice. They never learn how to dribble. Then the rest of the kids grow and catch that kid in height and now they have to be a guard. They are so far behind because of the youth coach that they either quit basketball all together because they are “no good” or they struggle early in high school switching positions.
We do not know how each kid is going to grow at the youth level. Please do not keep the players in the same position all year at the youth level. Every kid should be improving on their fundamentals. Every player should learn how to dribble. Every kid should learn all 5 positions. This kind of coaching sets them up to be successful later in junior high and high school. Youth point guards become high school centers. Youth centers become high school point guards. Teach every player every position because nobody can predict what is going to happen in 2 years, 4 years or 6 years later. Set the players up for success by giving them the ability to play all positions and not just one.
10. Parents
Parents can be the best thing about coaching youth basketball or the worst. Some parents think there kid is the next LeBron James and therefore they should take all the shots or never have to come out of the game. Some parents are about winning at all costs. And some people are complainers and are going to complain no matter what.
Communication is the biggest weapon you have in dealing with parents. Set clear expectations and goals from day 1 and never waiver from those. Let it be known that everybody is going to play. It may be not the exact equal time but everybody will play. Everybody will learn and play different positions. Every player needs to be at all practices and games so they can continue to get better. And winning games is not going to be a focus. Having fun and learning the game of basketball is the focus.
By having a simple list that is communicated early with the parents can help to keep the season running smoothly. Your ability to communicate with parents and keep them knowing everything that is going on helps to reduce the things they could begin to complain about. My advice would be to over-communicate rather than under-communicate with parents. And sometimes the best answer is to change leagues or teams the following year to remove yourself from a bad set of parents.