Hello, new to the forum and coaching 2nd graders.

The biggest problem I have so far is that my players love to dribble away from the basket wildly in an effort to get away from the defense.

Any advice would be welcome.

Thanks,
Thomas

Thomas -

2nd graders huh? First suggestion is get the book "Herding cats 101". ;)

Pretty young age to be confident dribbling into their defender during a game situation. I'm guessing all of the kids probably dribble with their head down and only dribble with their strong hand.

I'd emphasize putting that hand out as a guard and do some dribbling games where they have to dribble forward to reach the goal. Coaches could apply mild pressure while making sure the player keeps moving forward to the goal.

Try doing games where the kids have to look up when dribbling to see how many fingers the coach is holding up. Relays or just dribbling around the court.

Honestly though? I'd put more emphasis on passing than dribbling. That's about the age I started counting passes in games and rewarding them for it. You'll get more ball touches per kid and get them on the path of seeing ball movement.

Nothing wrong with dribbling, however, I found at that age usually a few kids tend to hog the ball.

CRob

Thanks,

I was also thinking of teaching jab steps, pivoting, and/or ball fakes.