Coaching help please?

[kw10]

I need some help people. I assist coaching an Under 12s Boys team, they are talented. But one thing, they lack focus, intensity, hustle play, vocal play and knowledge/intelligence on the game. And this is a major problem for us, because we are smaller than most other teams, these already needed-intangibles are even more crucial to us. The game we just played today, we were just not playing basketball- not moving around and playing good D (due to lack of will and passion of the players as my other coach agrees), they are quiet on the court, and just not doing all the little things. So I'm just asking anyone out there....can anyone suggest what me and the other coach can do to instill the intensity, focus and passion into the games? (apart from rewarding them with lollies/complements-which is the obvious option). Help would greatly be appreciated!

[ma11l]

I would say the biggest problem is the lack of communication on the court.  Talking out there, especially on D is the most important thing that young kids can learn.  That being said, teaching kids is so hard, it is difficult to say what will get their attention and what won't.  I can't help on the philosophical end, but however if you can instill in them that they NEED to talk on the court then I personally believe you will see big improvements. 

Also if I was keying in on the intelligence part I would try to focus on the point guards on the team.  They always say on air that Doc is a great teacher for Rondo because being a PG himself he knows how to coach the position.  Point Guard is the lifeline on the court, it is the easiest way to get one person to get to the whole team.  If you can tutor your PGs out there and make them the leaders on the floor then I believe the whole team will improve as a result.


Good luck!....Coaching kids is such a great thing.  I'm still only 21 so I remember my youth playing days well, and my coach left a great impression on me. I talked to him often as I played in high school and still try to keep in touch with him to this day.  Making an impact on young players lives is really cool.

[kw10]

Thanks for the tips, I totally agree that talking is crucial, although I have a hard time getting the point across, I guess I just have to repeat myself like a broken record haha. As for intelligence, I meant more like just the basics of playing smart, like have your arms up on defence and simple stuff like that.

But I would be interested if anyone got any drills/things I can do to help the kids focus and be ferocious (fact is, they are smaller, and play softer), and have a passion and be KG-like.

[blueygreen]

Stuff like team-work is unfortunately only going to come with time in a lot of these cases. Especially at an age like U/12's. I'm playing in an U/18's team and we've been on the same team for a number of years and roles like dominant scorer and whatnot are still being established. I always find it useful to work on situational stuff. Like foul shooting (and rebounding from foul shots). If you know the cincinatti drill that one's always useful, as are three and five man weaves. Just as it ingrains some sort of knowledge to look ahead on the pass etc. If they're soft, have them running running running. The best way to get buckets at that age are layups. I see so many team jack up shot after random shot because they can't get past the 'defense', when in reality any time they drive it's going to turn into an open lane, or they're going to get a blocking foul. I'm not sure how many players you have, but there's a fun little play where you get 4 offensive players around the 3-pt line, and 4 defensive players. You move the ball around and you get the defensive players working on guarding the ball, denying the ball and working the splitline when two or more passes away. They have to constantly call out what they're doing on defence to stay in the game. As they get more comfortable with this have the offense actually try to score (instead of passing around the 3pt line) and then swap them around. Also encourage the offense in this drill to try and score using cuts.

If your playing a zone defense try to get a reasonably big passer there in the middle to get the ball, who can either pass, drive or bring it back out. Or shoot it if they're co-ordinated.

That turned out to be longer than I expected, but I hope this helps in some way. I can go more in-depth or detailed or something else if necessary.

This also obviously depends on what level we're playing at.

[cdif911]

it can be tough to instill a will to go all out, especially when you're losing.  It sounds like you have a quick athletic team, if that's true I'd throw a full court press in 90% of the game, where the first pass gets doubled and a help guy comes to the middle to get the second pass - if you have a 10 second violation, you'll draw that, you'll draw long passes, you'll generally get steals.  Now of course to put the press in you need to score.  At the U12 level, its good to have a motion play or two and you definitely need some sort of zone offense, but keep it simple.  Encourage kids to go to the hoop, as they'll get to the FT line, run simple screen and rolls, that type of thing.  With my freshmen, unless I have a physically developed kid, I don't let them shoot 3's (a 3 shot is a line drill in the next practice) - everyone wants to shoot 3's, but until your body is mature, you're just creating bad habits for later.... instill the teamwork/intensity in practice and it'll translate to games - do loose ball drills (be careful though!) - do rebounding drills, make the kids have team spirit or make them run (I know in the 2000s running kids isn't as popular, but its still effective) - one of my favorite team building drills is water for FT's - where you give a kid the ball and say if you hit 2 in a row (or 1 in a row if they're particularly weak) the team gets their water break - if/when he misses they do a down and back and you throw the ball somewhere and have them fight for it - this creates hussle - same drill until someone reaches the goal... practice is the #1 key to an effective season - if you can practice/scrimmage another team even better b/c I find practicing against yourself can create problems with overconfidence especially if the second unit is weak - but correct all mistakes as quickly as possible - practice doesn't make perfect - it makes permanent - good luck!

[nickagneta]

What I did to get my former teams to have a better bond and communicate more is at the end of each practice have a 5 on 3 game, players vs coaches. 10 minutes for each group of 5 and have the other kids cheer on their teammates and have the kids on the sidelines telling the kids on the floor what to watch for.

It's fun. It gets them to bond consistently versus a common foe, namely the guys that make them run suicides. And it encourages communication. Teaching kids the game is hard work but I have always found that the knowledge sinks in a heck of a lot more when the kids are having fun.

[Roy Hobbs]

Rent Hoosiers, and make each of the kids watch it until they have committed it to memory.

For instance, "four passes before every shot".  Just mimic your coaching style after Norman Dale's, and you'll be winning championships before you know it.

[Redz]

What I did to get my former teams to have a better bond and communicate more is at the end of each practice have a 5 on 3 game, players vs coaches. 10 minutes for each group of 5 and have the other kids cheer on their teammates and have the kids on the sidelines telling the kids on the floor what to watch for.

It's fun. It gets them to bond consistently versus a common foe, namely the guys that make them run suicides. And it encourages communication. Teaching kids the game is hard work but I have always found that the knowledge sinks in a heck of a lot more when the kids are having fun.

Bingo!  At that level, unless they're exceptionally mature, they're going to lose interest in a hurry unless they're having fun.  You probably have a few kids who are really into it, and a few who are there only because their parents signed them up.  Being a drill sargeant isn't going to get you too far.  Find ways to encourage teamwork, stick to fundamentals, and stay positive.

[Bankshot]

Can someone please give Doc some coaching help?

I thought this thread was going to be about Doc.

[Edgar]

Can someone please give Doc some coaching help?

I thought this thread was going to be about Doc.

[kw10]

I think I can give Doc a point or 2 haha....I believe coaching the Celtics would be much easier than my kids, at least they can follow and do what you are saying.

But thank you for all the tips, it's really frustrating at times what you do in training doesn't have any effect on the game. But one thing I can say about the kids are that they don't take shots outside of the key, which is great. And they can be a running team, but they have trouble stopping people from blowing past them.

[jr_3421]

When I was playing AAU, we had the same problem (height disadvantage). But our coach stressed disipline and we we able to beat most teams (even went to nationals in Flordia). When we would learn an offensive play, we would scrimmage 5 on 5 using only that play. The losers had to run. Trust me, if you can score when the other team knows the exact play, its makes it a lot easier in an actual game. We did the same thing for defenses. When we learned a new defense (press, zone...) we would practice only that and the first team to get 5 stops won. Even though we were small, we able to switch up our defense without confusion, often making up for our lack of size. Hope this helps and good luck!