Passing in Basketball Makes Great Teams

Consider the impact of the passing game in team sports.  The teams that pass the best score the most points, and that usually means that they win the most games.  Passing effectively and unselfishly can be the decisive factor in many games across many sports.

Take pro football.  For some time, the passing game has reigned supreme.  In days gone by, the run set up the pass.  Now, the pass sets up the run.  The most successful teams possess a quarterback who can complete passes with regularity.  The Packers’ Aaron Rodgers showcases what a strong passer can do for a team:  win lots of games including the Super Bowl.

At the 2010 World Cup, Spain dominated play with their short passing game to claim the men’s title.  Other teams had no answer for their quick passing, possession style of play.  In hockey, passing is so important that the sport’s scorekeepers can recognize more than one player for an assist.  The assist that leads to the assist — the “Gretzky Pass” in some quarters — counts as an assist in a player’s stats.  Don’t think passing isn’t important in other sports.  If you ask volleyball coaches what player makes their team go, more likely than not, the coach will be pointing to a setter — the position that makes the key passes to set up kills.

Like these other team sports, passing is basketball is critical.  One extra pass can mean the difference between a wide open 2-foot shot vs. a 12-foot pressured shot.  I loved the response the Ricky Rubio gave when asked what was his favorite play in basketball.  Rubio’s response was the assist because it made 2 people happy:  the passer and the shooter.

Michael Jordan was a phenomenal player for some time, but he didn’t win an NBA championship until he realized that he’d have to pass more and depend on his teammates to win games.  Some of the best teams in the NBA history possessed players who were phenomenal passers.  The Celtics’ Bob Cousy and the Lakers’ Magic Johnson immediately come to mind.  You don’t even have to look very far back to last season’s Dallas Mavericks who won the NBA championship with an unselfish team style of play.

At any level in basketball, if you want your team to play at its best, work on your players’ passing.  It starts with an attitude, but also incorporates court vision and tactical know-how.  At younger ages, court vision can be a challenge especially as players are just beginning to learn how to dribble.  For a coach, it takes patience and lots of repetition.  But, when one of your players finds an open player under the basket for an easy lay-up, you’ll know the work was worth it.

Soccer: Spain’s Clinical Passing

Best NBA Assists

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Be ready for your basketball practices with a complete plan that will help you get the most from your team while making your job a whole lot easier. These are complete plans that cover the 10 minute pre-court time meeting and 90 minute practices on the court.

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PRE-SEASON SPECIAL:

4 E-Books for just $39.99

1.) 30 Youth Basketball Practice Plans — A complete season’s worth of plans. These basketball practice plan templates and tips will have you ready for practice in 2 minutes!

2.) Never Forget They’re Kids — A youth basketball coaching book to share techniques on teaching, keeping things fun and creating memorable experiences for players.

3.) The Well-Prepared Coach Basketball Coaching forms — Shot tracker, players expectations, treat sheet, and more.

4.) Basketball Award Certificate maker — From basketball certificate templates, customize awards for your players, coaches and team parents and print as many as you like for your team. From “She (or He) Got Game” to “All-Universe.”

Read more about The Well-Prepared Coach Basketball Special for Youth Basketball Coaches.

Basketball practice plans to teach keeping your head up with the ball

As a youth basketball coach, it’s frustrating to see players catch the ball on offense and immediately start dribbling with their head down.  In younger grades, it usually means the ball ends up in the “coffin corner,” the right-hand side of the basket — because most players are right-handed — and down at the baseline — because dribblers run out of room.  Not a lot of good things typically happen for an offense when the dribblers picks up the ball in that position.

Wouldn’t it be great for your team’s players to catch the ball, and instead of dribbling right away, move into a triple threat position by squaring up to the basket?  From that position, a player can pass, shoot or dribble.  By catching the ball and not immediately pounding the ball on the floor, the player is able to look forward and see if there’s a teammate open in a better shooting position.  The player that takes the time to survey the court will also be able to look for cutters to the basket.  Looking up while securing the ball makes for a more effective offensive team and just a better overall level of play.

How then do you teach players to keep their heads up when they catch the basketball?

It starts with teaching the right attitude.  Here a few exercises I like to implement at the very start of the season to help shape players’ attitudes about the importance of passing and to provide them skills to make it easier to execute.

1.) The Race:  Passers vs. Dribblers. To start, I ask all of the players to volunteer if they think they’re the fastest dribbler on the team.  After a few players step forward, balls are given to each of them and I ask them to line up on the baseline for a race.  In addition to competing against the other dribblers, they’re going to be competing against a line of passers.  Choosing from the remaining players and assistant coaches, I choose 5 people to make up the passing line.  In a straight line from baseline to baseline, I place a person at each baseline and at each free throw line and one person at half-court. 

Here’s the challenge:  dribblers have to start at one baseline and dribble as fast as they can to the other baseline and back.  Passers have to move the ball from one baseline to the other and back during the same time.  As long as you’ve selected passers who can pass and catch, the passing line beats the dribblers by a big margin.  After the race is completed is the time for the teachable moment.  Ask your players what they’ve learned from this race.  The big takeaway for players should be that passing can move the ball in a quicker fashion than dribbling on their own.  Then describe a game situation where one player is dribbling the ball and there’s an open player ahead.  What’s the quickest way to move the ball up court?  The pass!  (By the way, the race is a one-time exercise.)

2.)  The History Lesson and an 1891 game. Early in the season, at a pre-practice meeting — before you’ve taken the court — educate your players a little on the history of basketball.  Describe how James Naismith invented the game in 1891 while working at a YMCA and used peach baskets for the original hoops.  Now, here’s the thing to call out to players.  The original rules of the game didn’t even allow for dribbling.  Basketball was designed to be a passing game.  It took 10 years before dribbling was added to the official rules. Dribbling evolved from players passing to themselves.

When you take the court, and after warming up, have the players play a scrimmage where the rules were like they were in 1891 — no dribbling.  Players with the ball work on ball security and looking to find open players; while their teammates work on cutting to get open and being a good receiver.

Hopefully, this exercise not only teaches the right attitude about passing but also provides some tactical practice to make the passing game work more effectively.

3.) Teach the triple threat position and reinforce the importance of it. Teaching the triple threat might start off with an explanation, then a demonstration and then have each player with a ball show you how they do it.  During drills and scrimmages, make a point to emphasize the triple threat position and its importance.  What you emphasize is what your players will think is important to you.  If you’re running a drill on getting open with v-cuts and passes to the wing; make sure every receiver catches the ball, squares up to the basket and gets into the triple threat position.  In scrimmages, call out someone who is doing the triple threat position well and give them an attaboy.

4.) Incorporate the triple threat into the start of dribbling drills. When one of my teams was struggling to remember to get to the triple threat position in games, and instead was just catching and dribbling right away, I started incorporating the triple threat into dribbling drills.  One of my favorite dribbling drills features players starting in a corner of the court and moving in a zig-zag fashion to free throw line middle, back to half-court sideline, and so-on; all the time working on dribbling low and their dribble transitions — cross-overs, between the legs, reverse dribble, etc.  To emphasize triple threat, I now have a coach pass a ball to the player who must get in the triple threat position before starting their dribble routine.  The same thing could be done in other dribbling drills.  The triple threat position needs to become a habit for players.  Constant reinforcement and practice is needed.

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Hopefully these exercises will help establish a good attitude about the importance of passing for your team and they’ll understand why it pays to look before you start dribbling.  We’ll save ideas on how to teach your players to keep their heads up while dribbling for another time.

For more ideas on how to manage your practices with fun drills that teach, check out 30 Youth Basketball Practice Plans.

10 Things Youth Basketball Coaches Should Plan Before the First Practice

Most youth basketball teams begin practicing in October so it seems like a good time to identify some of the things that youth basketball coaches should be preparing to get ready for the season.

Here’s our list:  10 Things Youth Basketball Coaches Should Plan Before the First Practice

1.) Be ready for your first meeting with players’ parents. It’s a great idea to get all of the team parents together so that you can walk through your coaching philosophy, your plans for the year, administrative issues and opportunities, and other plans.  Prepare a one-pager that you can hand out that lists your parent expectations.  These expectations might include:  Demonstrate good sportsmanship at games by applauding good play from both teams, being respectful of the referees, not shouting out directions to your child.  By getting everyone on the same page at the start of the season, you’re on a good path to having everyone understand your intentions and in a position to enjoy the season.  The players’ parents meeting is also a time to talk about car pooling to practices, how many tournaments everyone is interested in and plans for making the season a memorable one for players.  Prepare an agenda and require that at least one parent of each player attend.  At the meeting, try to get everyone to participate by having everyone introduce themselves and say something about some topic of interest.  Maybe, it’s their first experience with basketball or the favorite thing about their child.

2.) Prepare for your first meeting with players. In the same way that you’ve developed a list of parent expectations, also prepare a list of player expectations.  For example, you might include things like be on time for practice, try your best, and respect your teammates, coaches and referees.

3.) Recruit assistant coaches. It’s a much more rewarding experience for both players and you if you have some assistant coaches to help you.  It reduces the student/teacher ratio and you can get so much more done with the help of some assistants.  Assistants can fill in if you’re going to be late or miss a practice, and more sets of eyes can help in practices and games.  Meet with your assistant coaches before your first meeting with parents or players and outline your philosophy, approach and the type of help you’re looking for.

4.) Identify your team manager. In addition to your assistant coaches, it helps to have a team parent to handle some of the administrative tasks associated with managing a team.  Your team manager might help you with tasks like collecting money from each family, team communications, party planning, tournament entries and other tasks.  You’ll want to find someone who is organized and who can communicate effectively.

5.) Create your practice and tournament schedule. With some youth basketball organizations, your practice and tournament schedule might be completed for you by board volunteers.  If not, you’ll have some work in identifying the tournaments you want to play and the times and places for your weekly practices.  When the players on your team are identified, I’ve found it helpful to develop a wallet-sized card that on one side, lists all of the players names, their uniform number, parents names, and phone numbers.  The flip side lists all of the planned tournaments and dates.  If your team is formed with players and parents that don’t know each other well, it really helps to have the uniform number of each players so that parents will be able to quickly identify who’s who.

6.) Prepare your practice plans. Setting some time aside before the season starts to think what you want to teach your players this season makes a lot of sense.  In broad strokes, think of timing — what needs to be taught right away and what can wait till later in the season.  I’m a big believer in teaching team defense and individual defense first with the thinking that if we can slow down opposing teams from scoring; we can compete in most games.  Thus, for my first practices with a new team; I focus on teaching defense.  As kids can get bored quickly, I like to change directions in practice by having a series of exercises and moving aggressively from one exercise to the next.  By doing that, kids get some aerobic work in without coaches having to devote separate time for them to just run laps or sprints. 

Our 30 Youth Basketball Practice Plans is a great tool for planning the season and planning each individual practice.  With this PDF that comes to via a download on your PC or Mac, you can just print out the 2 page practice plan and bring it along with you to practice.  I usually just fold it and put it in my pocket, but some coaches prefer clipboards.  It will give you an agenda for thirty 90 minute practices that you can walk thru on a minute-by minute basis.

7.) Plan events to make it fun. Year in and year out, players have enjoyed some of the events we’ve done as a team even more so than tournaments we’ve won.  Most players are in it for the “experience.”  Kick around some events with your coaches and parents like a “Parent vs. Player” game, attending a Halloween haunted house, going to a college or pro game with players and parents, or something else.  When the newness wears off of basketball practice, try to instill some fun by having some themed practices like “Crazy Socks Night” where players wear their wildest socks, a “Contest Night,” or a “Motown Monday” practice where a boom box plays the Temptations and The Jackson Five during parts of the evening.  Make it different, keep it fun, and players will respond.

8.)  Reach out to neighboring teams’ coaches to plan scrimmages. By contacting other teams’ coaches in neighboring towns, you can agree on one or two scrimmage dates.  Before our first tournament or game, I always try to have one dry run in the form of a scrimmage with a neighboring team.  Sure, we do lots of intra-squad scrimmaging, but players get pumped up to play someone else and it’s good preparation for your team.  You get a chance to practice your pre-game comments and see players competing against folks they’re likely not very familiar with.  As a coach, you can walk your players thru how it’s going to work before a game, on the bench and after the game.  At first scrimmages, I’ve had players who didn’t know that I expected them to come to each team huddle and listen.  A scrimmage is a great way for players and coaches to get a feel for how a real game will go.

9.) Sharpen the saw. There are lots of resources available for youth basketball coaches.  Take advantage of them.  Check out websites devoted to youth basketball, go to YouTube and watch a video to see how others coach by searching on youth basketball keywords, or read a good book on basketball coaching.  You can’t go wrong reading a John Wooden book.  I really like Wooden:  A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court.

10.) Determine your communications channel for your players and your parents. Emailing parents seems to work well when you have to get some team communication out to everyone.  Make sure to collect email addresses at your first parents meeting.  When you send your first email, ask everyone to reply back to confirm correct email addresses and give them an opportunity to add other email addresses, e.g. a spouse’s email or work email.  You’ll also have the opportunity to talk to players at practices, and with enough notice, you can try and meet with parents either before or after a practice.

If you have a little more ambition, you might try and develop a team website.  I’ve used Shutterfly to create a team website and I’ve been very pleased with the results.  I came across Shutterfly because I was looking for a site that would enable parents to share photographs of players.  I was pleased to discover that in addition to being able to share photos, you could do so much more.  It was easy to use and FREE!  If you create a Shutterfly site, you can add a blog, use their calendar feature for practices and games, includes videos from YouTube — e.g. how to shoot a basketball — or videos of your team in action, a message boards, maps to game locations, and more.  The site can be password protected so only friends of your team can have access (as compared to an Internet site where anyone could stumble upon it).

Shutterfly's Calendar Function works well for youth basketball teams

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Before you know it, your first practice will be upon you.  Get your basketball lesson plan ready with a schedule so you know what you’re doing and when you’re doing it.  Start your basketball practice planning now for a great season!

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PRE-SEASON SPECIAL:

4 E-Books for  just $39.99

1.) 30 Youth Basketball Practice Plans — A complete season’s worth of plans.  These basketball practice plan templates  and tips will have you ready for practice in 2 minutes!

2.) Never Forget They’re Kids — A youth basketball coaching book to share techniques on teaching, keeping things fun and creating memorable experiences for players.

3.) The Well-Prepared Coach Basketball Coaching forms — Shot tracker, players expectations, treat sheet, and more.

4.) Basketball Award Certificate maker — From basketball certificate templates, customize awards for your players, coaches and team parents and print as many as you like for your team.  From “She (or He) Got Game” to “All-Universe.”

Read more about The Well-Prepared Coach Basketball Special for Youth Basketball Coaches.

Take the Basketball Coach Trivia Quiz

When taking a break from writing about youth basketball practice plans, we like to test our basketball knowledge.  Here are 5 simple questions about some famous basketball coaches.  You’re on the clock.  You have one minute to answer the questions.  See the Answers and Grades below.  Good luck!

Basketball Coach Trivia Quiz

1. What alphabetical nickname is given to Duke’s current men’s basketball coach?

2. What nickname was bestowed on this former Notre Dame men’s basketball coach as a result of his father running a funeral parlor?

3. Having to share a wash tub with his siblings, what Big Ten coach was given this nickname by his family for his penchant for staying in the bath a long time?

4. Born Arnold Jacob, what former NBA coach received this nickname for the color of his hair (before he went bald)? Note: it wasn’t “Green.”

5. What Kansas basketball coach earned his nickname for his loud, “Foghorn-like” voice?

Answers

1. Coach “K” – Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski

2. Richard “Digger” Phelps.

3. Orlando “Tubby” Smith

4. “Red” Auerbach

5. Dr. Forrest “Phog” Allen

Grades

5 right: One shining moment!

4 right: Great presence of mind!

3 right: More ESPN, less cartoons.

2 right: A college basketball TV analyst role is in your future.

1 right: It’s back to fundamental basketball for you.

Youth Basketball: 10 Life Lessons to Teach Your Team

EDITOR’S NOTE:  The following article first appeared on www.sportsfeelgoodstories.com.  Republished with permission. ****

“None of this is really about football….What I hope we’re doing is sending kids into life who know that every day means something,” noted High School Football Coach of the Year Roger Barta in Joe Drape’s book Our Boys – A Perfect Season On The Plains With The Smith Center Redmen.

Barta’s coaching philosophy has not only passed on a lot of wisdom to his players and helped build community spirit, but has also produced results on the field.  His teams have won 8 Kansas State Championships.  Barta understands that youth sports provide a valuable vehicle to teach life lessons.

If you’re coaching a youth basketball team, you have a wonderful opportunity to pass on some of your own wisdom to players.  Look for opportunities throughout the season, during practices and games, to communicate important messages.  Here’s a sampling for your consideration:

1. Hard work and purpose lead to success. When a player individually or the team as whole puts in extra work, and the results pay off on the court, what better time is there to communicate this message?

2. It’s important to take chances because that’s how we grow and get better. Players at all levels can quickly fall into a pattern of only using skills that they’re most comfortable with.  Younger players might only dribble with their strong hand.  Encourage your players to take chances and reward the effort even if the result is less than optimal.

3. “Inch-by-inch, life is a cinch; yard-by-yard, life is hard.” Challenges are easier when taken in bite-size chunks.  By getting a little better every day, the process is more comfortable than if you try to make a drastic improvement in one practice.  It’s a good message for players to understand to try their best at every practice.

4. Winning and losing with grace. In basketball as in life, players will not always come out on the winning side.  Learning how to deal with one’s emotions immediately after losing a close game is an important experience for players, even if it doesn’t feel too good at the time.  Players can also learn how adjustments made in practice after losses can have a positive impact on future games.

5. Don’t quit. Whenever your team comes from behind and secures a victory provides a great opportunity to reinforce an important message:  never quit.

6. The power and magic of teamwork – everyone makes a difference! The best teams work together as a unit on offense and defense.  It’s not all about scoring and rebounding — every player finds a way to contribute.

7. Getting along within a group.  When working with a group, there’s usually going to be some people you get along with better than others.  Maybe because of similar backgrounds or interests, some players will make immediate connections with some and not so much with others.  Basketball teams provide players opportunities to work together, even with others they may not necessarily like (at least at first).

8. Making good decisions.  I recently listened to a basketball expert who said that when a player has the basketball, they’re frequently making about 10 – 15 decisions in in their head every 20 seconds, e.g. Should I pass, dribble or shoot?  If I pass, who to?  What kind of pass?  How hard?  Should I fake first?  What should I do if I pass? Etc., etc.  The game of basketball forces players to make decisions.  Some players learn from what the coaches say, and for other players, it takes the actual experience.

9. Preparing and meeting challenges.  How do you get ready for a big opponents?  Do you prepare a written plan, put in extra effort and make the most of your practice time?  If a coach makes the connections, it’s easy for players to see that preparation for a tough, cross-town rival in basketball is not dissimilar to preparing for a tough math test.  Both take a plan, extra effort and commitment.

10. Working within a system requires adjustments.  Most coaches will have at least a general set of rules for how the team should conduct their play on the court.  These general set of rules, along with the game of basketball’s rules, constitute a system for the players.  Through the course of the season, players learn how to adjust their style of play to the system.

Lessons learned well at young ages stay with kids for life.  Take advantage of your opportunity to have a positive influence on your players’ lives.  Because, it’s not really about basketball.

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If you’re interested in finding out more about incorporating life lessons into your basketball season check out 30 Youth Basketball Practice Plans.

10 Lessons Mayberry’s Andy Taylor Could Teach Youth Basketball Coaches

Sheriff Andy Taylor enforced the laws in Mayberry in the popular TV series “The Andy Griffith Show” for many years.  While I never saw him pick up a basketball, I think youth basketball coaches could learn a thing or two about managing a team by watching him in action.

Some of the lessons they might learn include:

1.) Place a higher value on earning respect from others than in having them fear you.

Andy Taylor was known as the “Sheriff without a Gun.”  Andy’s logic, “When a man carries a gun all the time, the respect he thinks he’s getting might really be fear. So I don’t carry a gun because I don’t want the people of Mayberry to fear a gun. I’d rather they respect me.”

As a youth coach, it’s easy to generate players’ fear.  To maintain order at practice or as a means to encourage best performances at games, we’ve all seen coaches who threaten running drills, e.g. killers, or some type of punishment.  Many coaches make this apart of their approach because that’s how their high school coaches did it.  Because it was done before doesn’t make it the best approach.  It’s better to earn respect than to instill fear.

How much does a coach really need to use a whistle?  The “Coach without a Whistle” approach is practiced by the all-time, winningest coach in college football, St. John’s John Gagliardi.  I find myself using a whistle less and less at basketball practices, usually, just when I’m refereeing 5-on-5 scrimmages.  Also, as many coaches have learned, it’s sometimes more effective to get your message across by talking softly.  Players have to quiet down to hear you.

2.) Have a finger on the pulse of your community.

Andy Taylor was an effective Sheriff because he had his finger on the pulse of the Mayberry Community.  When Barney was too aggressive in his ticket writing, Andy knew that it would upset citizens.  Andy counseled Barney on an approach that would work more effectively for the community.  Recognizing potential trouble spots early helps you, as Barney would say, “nip it in the bud.”

Likewise, a good coach, must have a sense as to his team’s mindset.  If a coach knows that players are worn out from school, basketball and other activities; it’s time to ease off the accelerator at practice.  Get to know your players and your team will be better for it.

3.) The importance of having a deputy

Just as Andy Taylor had Barney Fife for back-up and assistance; a good coach can always use a good assistant.  In fact, just as additional deputies were brought on in Mayberry when needed; a coach might find it better to have a couple of assistants.  Additional coaches reduce the teacher/student ratio, provide a different perspective and it just helps to have someone to review team progress with on a regular basis.

4.) Teach life lessons when opportunities present themselves

From the importance of honesty to standing up to bullies; Andy taught Opie (and viewers) a few life lessons along the way.  Don’t pass up the chance to teach your players some important lessons that they can carry with them beyond basketball.  Basketball, and sports in general, can teach lessons like:  the importance of hard work, the magic of teamwork, and the value of good sportsmanship.  There will be situations throughout the season when a coach can really make these types of lessons come alive.

5.) Reverse psychology can work

When Andy caught wind of Opie’s plan to run away from home in one episode, he used a little reverse psychology.  Instead of meeting with Opie and forbidding it, Andy talked about the logistics of running away, e.g. how much food Opie would need, the lost relationships, and the missed activities at home.  After hearing his dad, Opie thought better of his plan.

Reverse psychology isn’t always the best strategy with a basketball team but it can work on occasion.  When one of my 11-year-old teams fell in love with the 3-pointer, I talked about switching to a 3-pointer focused offense.  As part of that, I had each player shoot three 3-pointers in a little shooting exercise at practice.  With 10 players and a total of 30 shots, the number of 3-pointers made with no defense was 0.  No one made one shot!  After that exercise, discussions about launching 3 pointers in games were no longer heard.

6.) Country smarts and preparation can win games

Many a Andy Griffith episode seemed to feature an escaped convict who was on the loose in Mayberry.  Sophisticated detectives were brought in from big cities and put in charge of the manhunts.  While usually assigned a non-important role; Andy, through his knowledge of the local area and country smarts would end up apprehending the criminal, thus outwitting the city slicker detectives.

For a coach, the best time to put your country smarts to work is at practice time.  Some coaches hold the incorrect believe that most of coaching happens during game time.  Not true.  Get your team ready to play.  Understand your teams strengths and weaknesses at practice.  Just as Andy’s inside knowledge of the area was learned prior to the escape; coaches’ key learnings about their teams happen at practice.

7.) Show pride in your team

It’s clear that Andy Taylor has a good share of pride in his home town and their way of life.  Likewise, great coaches show pride in their teams.  The first step in earning a player’s respect is showing that you care.  After good games, tell your players that you’re proud of them.

8.) Be level-headed in your dealings with others

Andy demonstrated frequently in the show that his level-headed approach to solving problems worked.  When towns people quarreled, Andy was the calming influence.  Bringing a lot of emotion into a disagreement doesn’t help your cause too often.  So, as a youth sports coach, take a level-headed approach to dealing with referees, opposing coaches and parents.  It works.

9.) Recognize when others need a boost

When Barney’s overzealous ways of enforcing the law made him an object of ridicule with some towns people, Andy positioned Barney as a hero when a criminal was captured (even though Andy had done the work).  It was just what Barney needed.

Sometimes, your team as a whole or individual players, need a boost.  Maybe, it’s just a boost of confidence.  Don’t be shy with your compliments.  Catch players doing the right thing and recognize it verbally.  As Don Meyer said, “Shout praise and whisper criticism.”

10.) Leave some time for fishin’

Encouraging players to work on their game is a good thing, but remember, there are other sports and activities to fill up a child’s life beyond basketball.  Be careful about overscheduling and keep things in perspective. Basketball is a great game, but it’s not the only game.

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Coach guns in a 3-pointer in his last game

In his last game of a 13 year high school basketball coaching career at Augusta High School in Kentucky, Coach Robin Kelsch took a pass from one of his players and drained a 3-pointer from the bench area.  Augusta’s opponent, Scott High School, was leading the game by 30 points in the final seconds.  The basket didn’t help the final score for Augusta, but created a great viral video on YouTube, and a fun way to go out for the coach.

According to Wendy Mitchell’s article in the Ledger Independent,

“It didn’t matter if it went in or not, I just wanted to take one last shot,” Augusta Boys’ Basketball Coach Robin Kelsch said on Thursday. “I would never disrespect the game, teams or our community, but if it was going to be a blowout at the end, I had mentioned a week or so before I would like to take the last shot. I had never seen a coach do that and it would be my memory to keep.”…

“Life’s a matter of inches; if it had hit the rim, this story would be completely different,” Kelsch said. “I never expected any of this. I was known as a shooter and when coaches retire, sometimes you see them kiss the court. This was my way of saying goodbye to the game.”

Kelsch will be taking his soft touch coaching basketball to a principal role with the school district.

Give your basketball team a video clinic

Here’s an idea if you’re coaching a youth basketball team:  assign them a video clinic to take from the comfort of their home.

I was looking for an instructional video on shooting form and came across one prepared by Kansas City Basketball Training.  The 10 minute video below was just what I was looking for.  Using the acronym:  “BEEF,” the instructor discusses fundamentals like Balance, Eye on target, Elbow in, and Follow-through.  Presented in an understandable fashion, the points made by the instructor should give my players a good foundation before the next practice on basketball shooting form.

Across YouTube and other sites, there are many great instructional videos to choose from to help your team.  Follow up on the key points communicated in the videos at practices to make sure your players have watched the video(s) and to reinforce concepts.  It’s a great way to take advantage of all of the excellent videos available.  You don’t need to reinvent the wheel — take advantage of what is already available.

Kansas City Basketball Training

Dwyane Wade’s Euro Step Move

A NY Times article titled “An N.B.A. Move That Crossed an Ocean,” writer Jonathan Abrams describes an offensive basketball move that is finding its way on to basketball courts across America: the Euro step.

Abrams wrote,  “Players in the N.B.A. now often showcase the Euro step, a move in which a player drives past a defender by stepping one way and then quickly taking a big lateral step in the other direction. The move is a crafty way to distribute the two steps allocated to a player after he stops dribbling, and it goes right to the edge of being a traveling violation.”

Dwyane Wade, Miami Heat guard, is one of the top practitioners of the move.  In addition to using it to get past the defender guarding him, he’s found it valuable to avoid charges against help defenders.

Check out the video below of Wade demonstrating the move in game action and his interview on the topic.  Basketball players will want to add this move to their repertoire.

Dwyane Wade’s Euro-Step Move

10 life lessons to teach your youth basketball team

“None of this is really about football….What I hope we’re doing is sending kids into life who know that every day means something,” noted High School Football Coach of the Year Roger Barta.

Quoted in Joe Drape’s book Our Boys – A Perfect Season On The Plains With The Smith Center Redmen, Barta’s coaching philosophy has not only passed on a lot of wisdom to his players and helped build community spirit, but has also produced results on the field.  His teams have won 8 Kansas State Championships.  Barta understands that youth sports provide a valuable vehicle to teach life lessons.

If you’re coaching a youth basketball team, you have a wonderful opportunity to pass on some of your own wisdom to players.  Look for opportunities throughout the season, during practices and games, to communicate important messages.  Here’s a sampling for your consideration:

1. Hard work and purpose lead to success. When a player individually or the team as whole puts in extra work, and the results pay off on the court, what better time is there to communicate this message?

    

2. It’s important to take chances because that’s how we grow and get better. Players at all levels can quickly fall into a pattern of only using skills that they’re most comfortable with.  Younger players might only dribble with their strong hand.  Encourage your players to take chances and reward the effort even if the result is less than optimal.

   

3. “Inch-by-inch, life is a cinch; yard-by-yard, life is hard.” Challenges are easier when taken in bite-size chunks.  By getting a little better every day, the process is more comfortable than if you try to make a drastic improvement in one practice.  It’s a good message for players to understand to try their best at every practice.
   
   

4. Winning and losing with grace. In basketball as in life, players will not always come out on the winning side.  Learning how to deal with one’s emotions immediately after losing a close game is an important experience for players, even if it doesn’t feel too good at the time.  Players can also learn how adjustments made in practice after losses can have a positive impact on future games.
   
   

5. Don’t quit. Whenever your team comes from behind and secures a victory provides a great opportunity to reinforce an important message:  never quit.
   
   

6. The power and magic of teamwork – everyone makes a difference! The best teams work together as a unit on offense and defense.  It’s not all about scoring and rebounding — every player finds a way to contribute.
   
   

7. Getting along within a group.  When working with a group, there’s usually going to be some people you get along with better than others.  Maybe because of similar backgrounds or interests, some players will make immediate connections with some and not so much with others.  Basketball teams provide players opportunities to work together, even with others they may not necessarily like (at least at first).
   
   

8. Making good decisions.  I recently listened to a basketball expert who said that when a player has the basketball, they’re frequently making about 10 – 15 decisions in in their head every 20 seconds, e.g. Should I pass, dribble or shoot?  If I pass, who to?  What kind of pass?  How hard?  Should I fake first?  What should I do if I pass? Etc., etc.  The game of basketball forces players to make decisions.  Some players learn from what the coaches say, and for other players, it takes the actual experience.
   
   

9. Preparing and meeting challenges.  How do you get ready for a big opponents?  Do you prepare a written plan, put in extra effort and make the most of your practice time?  If a coach makes the connections, it’s easy for players to see that preparation for a tough, cross-town rival in basketball is not dissimilar to preparing for a tough math test.  Both take a plan, extra effort and commitment.
   
   

10. Working within a system requires adjustments.  Most coaches will have at least a general set of rules for how the team should conduct their play on the court.  These general set of rules, along with the game of basketball’s rules, constitute a system for the players.  Through the course of the season, players learn how to adjust their style of play to the system.
    
    

Lessons learned well at young ages stay with kids for life.  Take advantage of your opportunity to have a positive influence on your players’ lives.  Because, it’s not really about basketball.

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If you’re interested in finding out more about incorporating life lessons into your basketball season check out 30 Youth Basketball Practice Plans and Never Forget Their Kids books available via The Well-Prepared Coach Special.

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