Hey coaches,as part of our motion we give our kids an option to go to the free throw line call for the ball,then turn and either shoot,attack the rim or pass to the short corners (3rd &4th graders). My assistant coach wants them to hold the ball over their head when they turn, I am telling them to chin it ellbows out to better protect the ball. Which is the correct way for us to teach this? Also coach sar, the cutting adjustments helped they did a much better job of getting the ball to the cutters in our 5 out.
Thanks

Coach - That is a good idea.

I don't know if there is a "correct way"... it depends on which expert you ask. I believe the best thing to do is look for your shot. That's the first thing you do:
http://www.breakthroughbasketball.com/fundamentals/individual_offense.html

If the ball is held above your head... what can you do? The only thing you can do is throw an overhead pass. You have to bring the ball down to shoot, throw a chest pass, to dribble, and to shoot. If you have a player catch the ball on the elbow that can shoot, dribble, and pass... that is tough to guard!!! Why only give them one option (overhead pass) and make the other options take longer?

I think you first need to look for your shot... if your open then shoot. If the shot is taken away then you can attack the close out off the dribble or pass. Looking for your shot gets your feet square to the basket and gets your eyes on the rim. Now you have lots of options. If you're eyes are on the rim you can also see open shooters under the basket, in the left corner, and in the right corner.

Tj -

Glad that it helped you... as for holding the ball over your head... I agree with Jeff.... get into the triple threat position..... I NEVER wanted my kids to hold the ball over their head .... I called that the IT PASS.... INSTANT TURNOVER.

I had my players do that when I took over the varsity, I had a big team and we ran a lot of FLEX, that worked for us.....but when we ran motion... it was T threat.

While I may not be an expert... but I would tell him that Jeff and I said, NOT a good idea.

Thanks Jeff, I will put in the new triple threat in my off season skills clinics. We play mostly vs zone d and I always thought when they have the ball over their head it is too easy for the defense to get at it. They usually have two or three defenders jump on us anytime we get it close to the basket. I have an ongoing debate with my assistant on several aspects of teaching the game, he has a bit of we need to win in him and I keep telling him don't worry if we do our job right no one will be able to handle us by 8th grade and they will be a good highschool team.He has a kid on the team and I do not. I took this on to prove that we need to do a better job in our town of teaching our kids how to play basketball, and that zone defense is a scurge and it actually hurts them as they get older.Kind of an adult science project you might say. So far I am winning the debate. Thanks for the replys I'll keep you posted on our progress

Tj

God Bless you for taking this team on. I don't know of any high school coach that wouldn't want you teaching youth basketball in his town. Your kids will know how to play the game by the time they get into high school. Ask your asst, this - " would you rather go 30-0 now and not have your son (and all the rest of your team) play high school ball, or learn the game and you be able to go watch them play on the varsity floor? "

Youth basketball needs a lot more coaches like you teaching young kids. If I had a son, I would want him on your team.

Good luck and continue what you are doing.... by the way, tell your assistant to come to this site and ask some questions.... or he can just check this out and make some comments - IF he says zones.... you know he is going to hear from me LOL

http://www.breakthroughbasketball.com/defense/age.html

Agree with triple threat, esp if at the FT line. Tough at the 3rd/4th level as the kids are learning how to be strong with the ball. If I had to do it over again, I'd emphasize squaring up and "eyes to the rim" each time a pass in caught outside the paint area. I think the problem for most younger level coaches is they don't have a reference point (this is more for your assistant than you). In other words, if you can see the future, you'll teach differently in spite of the W's and L's.

Don't know how big your town is, but if you have the ability (as a team) to go watch a good 8th grade team or high school game, it will come into focus for everyone. I think it's a great teaching moment. Another option is having a good coach come in from the higher levels to talk with everyone at a practice sometime. If he/she tells it from the perspective of where the kids are headed in a few years, it might help everyone see the importance of what you're trying to do.

I took my son (8th grade player) to watch his high school play the other night. We had a great conversation as he pointed out several things the guards were doing that he liked and wanted to try next time on the court.

Keep up the work!

I think its a great idea to go watch an 8th grade team or a HS team play. When I coached 6-8th graders I took them to several Loyola U. games. Georger Ireland was a memeber of our parish... the kids loved the games and I think the cheerleaders too. LOL

I took my Varsity team to watch Northwestern practice a few times... Kevin O'Neal's speech was a little racey.... but we all learned a few things. It was nice to know a lot of coaches at various levels. The prks were great. Anytune you can take your kids to see other teams play is a plus.

Thanks for the replies. The use of zone defense more than anything else is the issue I have .Most coaches will try man and want to use it but when the losses start piling up the zones start looking good. I had a couple teams start games against us in man and as soon as the kids made a few mistakes or they gave up a few easy baskets back to zone.The big W has a lot to do with it. Coaches have to be able to take the losses for a couple years and most can't. I'm pretty sure that if I wasn't the head coach of this team they would be playing zone.It's not easy to look up at a scoreboard ,see 25-4 and tell your players they are doing a good job,even when they are.I'm lucky that the parents are great and they can see how far the kids have gotten in just the 1st year. I also was fortunate to have a highschool coach tell one of the parents that keeping them in man is the right thing to do.My biggest hurdle will be my assistant , who is a good friend, is a sports guy and does not like to lose. His son is on the team, is a good player and great kid. So you can see the dymamic there. I am hoping that by staying with man and really solid fundamentals they will see how much better the kids will develop. Lets face it,teams can win alot in youth leagues with zones but they all get exposed when they get to highschool. If it was easy everyone would do it

Keep up the good work and stick to your guns. It would be nice if you could get that high school coach to talk to your kids... I'm sure that they would love to hear him talk, that would be something very special to them.

Agreed. It also provides a reference point as a coach, "Remember what the high school coach said...."

Caught my son turning his head a few times. I'm sure he was thinking, "This is where I'm headed next year? Hallelujah!"