What to Teach Youth Basketball Players

Every experienced small town high school basketball coach will tell you that the number one most important key to continued success in a small town basketball program is their feeder program. From the school program, park and recreation teams or boys and girls club teams, the proper development of the young players who participate is a very vital part of the overall high school program.

Men and women who take on the responsibility of coaching one or more of these youth programs often do not take the time to learn the system and philosophies set forth by their high school head coach. With some exceptions, small town programs often face a revolving door of coaches at all levels including the high school. This problem makes it very difficult when trying to establish consistency throughout the communities' teams.

Those communities who are lucky enough to have an experienced high school coach who sticks around have an obvious advantage and normally enjoy much more success. Student athletes who enter their high school programs with the knowledge and experience of the current program will always have an advantage over their opponents who have to start from scratch every year. As a youth coach working in a revolving door program you may not have the guidance from the high school staff, but you can still produce high school ready athletes for what ever system that is in place at the time.

No matter what the philosophy or system a head coaches uses the offensive and defensive fundamentals are always the same. Dribbling, passing, shooting, balance, footwork, rebounding and man to man defensive fundamentals are what the game of basketball is made up of. This will never change. One of the greatest quotes simply says, "Great plays will not make great players. Great players make great plays." Youth coaches who can develop the fundamentally sound basketball player are crucial to the success of the sport. It is very easy for a youth coach to get wrapped up in the idea of winning. Yes, winning is a great thing that everybody wants. Winning consistently is the better goal to have.

As a youth coach an individual needs to put a lot of thought into their practice plan. The age, skill level and experience of the athletes a coach is working with needs to be taken into consideration. If your players do not have the basic fundamentals of the game mastered it is useless to move on to the next step. Teaching players to run through any offense is not that complicated. Teaching them what to do within that offense, is the toughest and most important part.

I am a firm believer that basketball starts with footwork. Players need to have the ability and skill to get their bodies in position to be productive on the court. Footwork is a skill that should be part of every practice plan from day one at all levels. The proper execution of jump stops, forward and reverse pivots, defensive slides and the simple lay-in is crucial in early player development. Several high school players come through basketball programs never learning the proper footwork. Youth coaches need to spend all the time necessary teaching this basic and important skill.

After footwork, ball handling should be the next skill taught to youth players. Everybody can dribble a basketball. The ability to dribble a basketball with both hands under control in every situation is a skill that many players never truly master. Every player has a strong hand and a weak hand. Players who develop their week hand early often rise above those who don't. The development of a player's ball handling skills can only be done with daily practice. Coaches need to increase the difficulty of the ball handling drills as the practices roll on. Increase the speed, direction and even the number of basketballs as the player develops. Do not move on until the player is ready and be sure to have them practice every day. Also, do not label a young player as a guard or a post. Every player needs to learn how to handle the basketball.

Passing is the next step. Too many players slip by never mastering the art of passing. The ability to make a chest pass, bounce pass and a baseball pass under pressure from any position on the court is a must. Coaches need to instruct players how to make the correct pass to their teammates no matter what the situation. Players often have difficulty passing to a teammate on the move, passing to a shooters correct hand and recognizing when a player is open or not open. Like ball handling, passing is a skill that needs to be touched on every day, and the difficulty of the drill needs to be increased as the player improves. Larry Bird once said, "It dose not matter who scores the points, it's who can get the ball to the scorer."

After footwork, ball handling and passing has been taught; the coach will then be ready to teach shooting. Proper shooting is a very difficult thing to teach and when a player has developed poor shooting habits over many years, it is almost impossible to fix. Youth coaches need to take the time to teach young players the correct shooting mechanics early on. Many coaches themselves may find it helpful to study the art of shooting first, and or have an experienced coach assist them in the teaching of their young players. It is never ok to teach a young player bad shooting techniques.

DEFENSE! No matter how many points a team scores, if they can not stop their opponent from scoring, the will lose more than they will win. No matter what the defensive philosophy of the high school coach, the proper teaching of basic man to man principals to young players can easily be adjusted into their program. All defensive schemes are based on man to man principals. Footwork, balance, positioning, communication and attitude are important defensive fundamentals that caches need to teach their players.

Rebounding and screening will be the next skills to work on. Controlling the basketball and getting players open to score are and should be important parts of all offensive schemes. Rebounding is all about attitude and positioning. It is not a glamorous activity but it is necessary. Setting and using screens normally is the key to the success of most offenses. Many teams have been very successful with simple offenses that use the basic pick and roll as their main weapon. If a screen is set properly and a player uses the screen properly it is extremely difficulty to defend, no matter who is playing defense.

The game of basketball is made up of many small skills that all need to be taught and practiced regularly. Those who coach youth programs need to focus on building their players from the ground up. Those coaches who develop their players the right way and pay attention to the fundamentals will be successful. Obviously not every youth coach will know how to teach every skill. Fortunately, with a little time and research those coaches will find that the information is available. I strongly recommend that all coaches become students of the game. In my experience I have found that most coaches like to talk about the game and share their thoughts on how to teach it. The information and help is out there, it is up to all of us to find it. It is our responsibility to teach our young players the correct way to play the game.