Coaching Youth Basketball - What Should You Teach?
Many youth basketball coaches don't know where to start or what to teach. Well, we hope to help you out in this area. Below, we provide some advice on what to teach youth basketball players. We break it down between 3 levels. As you perfect each level, you can advance to the next level to teach more skills & concepts.
All beginner players should start with Level 1 no matter the age. We put ages next to the level as a general guideline. Depending on the
age and skill level, you'll progress through the levels at different rates. You may notice that you'll spend 4 years working on Level 1 with 7 to 10 year olds.
At the same time, you may be able to progress to Level 2 after two weeks working with a group of 13 year olds who are playing basketball for the first time.
I would advise to go back and start at Level 1 every year. A lot of high school and college coaches start at Level 1 every year. They just progress through the levels more quickly than a youth team. It's a great way to ingrain
the fundamentals into your players year in and year out.
We advise to take a couple of hours and write up a master practice schedule
for the season, so you can progressively teach them the skills mentioned below. It may take a few years to teach all of these skills at one level and THAT'S OKAY! For youth players, we want to focus on the long-term development, not how many games they win when they're 11 years old.
If you try to progress them too quickly, it will hurt them in the long-run. You want to have a solid foundation first. You shouldn't try to teach
them every dribble move in one year or every option in the motion offense. The same way in which you couldn't teach a person calculus if they did not
know how to do simple addition and subtraction.
Important Note: Throughout this article, you'll find many links to other articles on the website to explain concepts that we advise to teach. My
recommendation would be to read the entire article first, then go back and click on the links to read the other articles.
You may also want to add this article to
your "Favorites" or "Bookmark" it, because there may not be enough time to read all of the links in one sitting.
Level 1 (7 to 10 Year Olds)
Here's what to teach, ordered by priority:
Lay ups - You should practice lots of lay ups with both hands. Your goal should be to get all players to make lay ups with their left and right hands equally well!! Teach them to jump off the proper foot. They should jump off the left leg when shooting a right hand lay up. They should shoot off their right leg when shooting a left hand lay up. It will be difficult but work on it. You'll probably need to start really close to the basket, with no dribble, and take just one step to practice the footwork. Once you add the dribble, they should dribble with their left hand when shooting left hand lay ups. And vice versa.
Footwork - Teach them triple threat positioning, pivoting on their left and right foot without traveling, jump stops, and to square to the basket as soon as they catch the ball in a triple threat position. You should spend a lot of time on footwork!
Shooting form - For this age group, we highly recommend using smaller balls and lower baskets. If that is not possible, allow the players to dip their elbows which will give them more strength. To learn more on shooting, we also have the Breakthrough Basketball Shooting Guide.
Ball handling - You should teach your players to dribble with left and right hands equally. Basic dribble moves such as the speed dribble, crossover, protect-the-ball dribble, and back-up dribble.
Athletic & movement skills - Teach them how to run, jump and land, skip, stop, move laterally, squat, lunge and any other basic movements. If you don't know how to teach these movements, ask a professional or PE teacher to show you how. 99% of the time they would be more than willing to help, and they may even come and show the kids themselves.
Basic passes - Teach and practice the basic chest, bounce, and overhead passes.
Play plenty of 2 on 2 and 3 on 3 games to teach concepts (no dribble keep away). It gets the players more experience and allows them enough space to operate and use the new skills they have learned. Make sure to use plenty of fun basketball drills & games.
Offense - Do NOT use any structured or patterned offenses. First, get them comfortable on the court. They will start to figure things out on their own. Your main concern should be to have them move & not stand still.
If you use a few basic cuts and maybe screens in your shooting drills at the beginning of practice, then your players will already know how to move in a motion offense. Then you don't have to waste time teaching offense. Just let them play.
Once players feel comfortable on the court, show them proper spacing.
As they progress, you can start to introduce them to motion offense situations.
Defense - Teach the basic stance, defensive slide, and basic off-ball principles. Don't worry about spending as much time on defense. As they get older, you'll gradually spend more time on defense. Focusing on it 5 to 10 minutes per practice would be more than sufficient.
Basic Off Ball Principles:
- Stay between man and the ball
- Always stop the ball if it is in front of you!
You should expand onto more advanced skills for everything mentioned above. But remember, if your 10 to 12 year olds are inexperienced, you should start in Level 1. And at the beginning of each season, you should start at level 1 until those skills are perfected. Then you can progress into the more advanced stuff below.
Passing under pressure - you can use pair passing with a defensive player in the middle running back and forth to pressure the passer. You can use this drill to practice breaking pressure: full court press breaker drill.
Offense - keep playing 2 on 2 and 3 on 3 to teach concepts. You can also start to introduce more motion offense situations and play some 5 on 5.
Defense - keep emphasizing and spend a little more time on the defensive stance,
defensive slide, and off-ball principles mentioned in Level 1. If you feel that your players are ready, work on more
off-ball defense principles.
You should expand onto more advanced skills for everything mentioned above.
Lay ups - practice contested lay ups. Also, you could start to teach players, same-leg same-shooting hand lay ups. I know that is against conventional wisdom, but think about it for a second….Your player just blew by a defender or is on a fast break. Do you want them stutter-stepping to give the defense time to recover and contest the shot? So if that means jumping on your right-leg and shooting right-handed on the same side, so be it.
Continue to emphasize shooting form (move to big baskets and bigger balls).
Practice shooting on the move off of the pass and the dribble. To learn more on shooting, we also have the Breakthrough Basketball Shooting Guide.
Ball Handling & Dribbling - teach more dribble moves such as the spin move, behind-the-back. Incorporate some double-moves (crossover followed with a behind-the-back).
Passing - introduce some other advanced passes (dribble pass, behind-the-back pass, pick and roll pass).
Passing Under Pressure - You use Pair Passing with a defensive player in the middle running back and forth to pressure the passer. You can use this drill to practice breaking pressure: Full Court Press Breaker Drill.
Footwork - continue to work on jab steps, pivots, and ball fakes (pass fakes and shot fakes).
Rebounding - put more emphasis on rebounding technique and spend more time on rebounding drills.
Post moves - keep practicing post moves mentioned above while introducing a few more when the players are ready drop step
counter and up-and-under move.
This is fantastic. I have downloaded all of your free ebooks and published materials so far. The icing on the cake would be practice plans for youth and adults (I wouldn't have such a headache each week then!)
Alex
Vicki says:
11/19/2008 at 1:20:33 PM
Thank you soooooooo much. I'm going to start coaching a team of 3rd - 5th grade girls. I haven't played myself in awhile, so this is really, really helpful. You have no idea!!!
Thank you to nice people like you who share information.
Phil Mccall says:
11/26/2008 at 1:11:20 PM
I didn't want to disappoint either child so I'm coaching 1st/2nd boys and 3rd/4th girls - these tips and practice plans are a lifesaver!
Darryl Agee says:
11/28/2008 at 9:22:34 AM
I printed out both the Drills and Plays ebooks and read through ALL of them. Great stuff.
Your site and program has excellent content, advice, instructions and suggestions.
Nothing but GREAT things to say about breakthroughbasketball.com. Thanks for what you do!!!
DAgee 11-12 year old girls coach Southwest Virginia
Harry says:
12/2/2008 at 9:32:29 AM
Thanks a lot for all this information. Keep up the good work.
Harry 11-12 year old girls coach Oceanside, New York
Willie Crosland says:
12/5/2008 at 11:47:11 AM
This is excellent information for me. I have been coaching 10 - 12 year olds for the past 5 years and this is the first time I've had a crew that needed to learn the basics basketball skills. These books will help me tremendously.
Anthony. F says:
12/16/2008 at 8:11:15 AM
Thanks for this information. This is my second year coaching. However, my 9 and 10 year old team has a very wide range of skill levels. I need to get everyone involved in the games. These drill will help.
Art H. says:
1/20/2009 at 11:26:42 AM
I have been coaching for 30 yrs. from age 5 to junior college in all sports and I must say that first, I can't believe how much free, useful information you are sharing and secondly, how beneficial it is. When I can afford it I will definitely purchase some of your products.
Kenneth Bevel says:
1/29/2009 at 1:47:20 AM
Great drills, I have been playing basketball for a while. Everytime I check out this website I learn something new. I thought i knew everything it was about basketball. Now that I have read and learned something new about the game I can incorporate it into how I play and what I teach my team. What can i do to better my man to man defense as below height average guard?
Joe Haefner says:
1/29/2009 at 11:52:22 AM
Hi Kenneth,
Be a pest and use active hands. Make things as difficult as possible.
Thank you very much for all of the help and iformation on what to teach youth basetball. I will be teaching the Macth-up zone and 1-4 defence. Keep up the GOOD work. With Gods Favor You are Blessed. Coach Green Sacramento,CA
Steve Choboter ( Regina, Saskatchewan) says:
4/21/2009 at 10:36:04 AM
I am so glad I found your site, you are providing a great service to coaches and players alike. Coach Steve Regina, Saskatchewan Canada
Marty says:
5/6/2009 at 3:58:42 PM
I have found your material informative and helpful. I only want to get my local little dribblers board to see things as you guys do: that fundamentals are key and the all other will come with time. Plays and other more advanced terms and ideas are too much for the first few years of basketball.
mario c, reyes says:
5/26/2009 at 12:34:00 AM
its a great blessing for me the information about basketball keep it up God bless
coach julian says:
5/27/2009 at 1:49:01 AM
thank you the information is going to assist me as a coach and my young boys and girls which are the community and the future of basketball in my country and the world at large . thanks a lot,i will get back to you soonest. coach julian.
Mtu says:
6/23/2009 at 4:06:15 AM
Thank you,
I teach ba sketball in rural areas where there was not ba sketball structures and its hard because this is a new sport in the area!
I will have fun with the kids
Tanya says:
7/28/2009 at 5:10:41 AM
Thank you so much for all the great advice and drills, it makes practice a lot more fun for my boys.
Tanya 12-13 year old boys Leimen, Germany
Tarrina says:
9/30/2009 at 5:24:27 AM
Running a programme with our local b'ball association called "Rising Stars" which aims to teach the basics to children aged 5 to 10 yrs so that when they start in our local comp we hope they will have an understanding of the game and enough basic skills to be confident on the court. Thank you so much for all of this fantastic info and drills, this will make things so much easier to structure and fun at the same time. Well done guys, keep it up!
VINCE says:
12/1/2009 at 4:43:08 PM
Ok , I'm thinking about coaching girls basketball grades 3rd to 4th. Any suggestions on getting started. My son is playing 3rd grade for the first time. The problem i have with the coaching is he is not focusing on the basics. He spends more time running 3 to 4 plays. At this point i feel he is missing out on the basics.
John Doe says:
1/19/2010 at 10:09:33 AM
This guy has a pretty good take on the shoulder joints being just as important as the legs in making layups:
This is a life saver!!!! I have 7 girls ages 9-12 that have alot of heart for the game but need fundamentals! I haven't played the game in a while and wasn't sure where to start but you guys have given me excitement about going to practice and teaching them exactly what they need to progress to great players over the next few years!!!! Excellent!
Scott says:
2/19/2010 at 4:18:10 AM
I'm struggling with volunteer parents who only care about winning at all costs instead of foster a better team and building up weaker players.
Anyone have any suggestions about approaching coaches who are favoring their own kids or their friend's kids for playing time? We are talking about 9 year olds here, not high school or college athletes. OR, should I just let my kid sit on the sidelines and I will stay silent and watch the favored children get more playing time (this is a house league basketball team where it is supposed to be equal playing time for all)
I watched the practice today where two players ball hogged the entire practice and the coaches were encouraging this style of play. The other kids who were playing but not touching the ball were starting to fight with the ball hogs. The ball hogs would constantly yell and whine at the other kids on the team to pass it to them.
I was going to let loose on the coaches but I thought I would hold off and seek advice. Anyone have any good advice on how to deal with this situation?
Jeff Haefner says:
2/24/2010 at 7:19:52 AM
Scott - That's a tough one. It can be tough to tell a coach what to do without upsetting them. You could just ask if you could talk with them for a few minutes. Be very upbeat, positive, and non confrontational. Just say, "Hey coach, I was just wondering what I could do to help get my son and even other players on the team more playing time. You're the coach so I'd like to get your advice and see if you can help me. I just want what is best for my son and want him to be happy, so I just wanted to see what you think I could do to help him?"
I think if you turn things around and make the coach feel good and respected by asking him/her for advice, you'll have better luck.
I once heard someone say "Would you rather be right? Or would you rather be effective?" Sometimes you have to swallow pride and forget about who is right or wrong to be effective.
Beyond that, if you can get a good positive conversation going, you can discuss other things. If you can develop a positive repoir and relationship with the coach, you'll have good luck. Many times life is all about building relationships. Take some time to build a real relationship with the coach and I think you'll have good luck. And if you get to that point, you can offer some of the resources on our website that talk about "coaching the right way", "equal playing time", "winning is not important at this level", etc. Tell the coach about the studies of 3on3, touching the ball more often, etc. We have tons of stuff on our website about that.
Also, the Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA) has excellent advice for coaches in this regard. They talk about Double Goal Coaching and really help coaches and parents see what is important. http://www.positivecoach.org
Hope this helps.
Steve W says:
3/9/2010 at 8:02:59 AM
I have parents who decided it was time to tell me that they are frustrated that we are not teaching our 3rd and 4th graders plays. About as close as we have come is working on spacing and picks. I told them that the best advice that I had gotten (that's you) is to keep working on athleticism and fundamentals. I can go on and on about how they still cannot dribble well, their shooting form needs work and their footwork is awkward. So I know they need those basics. I doubt I can be so blunt to a parent! Can you provide more information? They think their kids are gong to "fall behind."
