My first year with a group of 4th grade boys. They are struggling athletically. They are picking up the concepts of Read & React but struggling with execution because of a sheer lack of (upper body) strength -- they can't space the floor because athletically they aren't able to make crisp passes, be a legit perimeter scoring threat, etc. This leads to a lack of spacing and things start to collapse for them from there.

And so in practice we're spending a good amount of time doing strength training and conditioning.

I'd be interested in how other coaches handle the issue of athleticism and just minimal strength.

Coach - Do you feel your players are less agile and/or slower than the other teams you play? Do you feel other times can make crisper passes and have more strength?

I ask those questions because my the first responses to your questions that came to mind was.... be patient (every has that problem with 4th graders). But maybe you have a unique situation with a group that really is lacking athletically?

- I have never seen a 4th grader that should be shooting past about 15 ft. And generally you have some that shouldn't be shooting past 7 fft from the basket.

- Skip passes are really tough for 4th graders. Are they able to make a decent pass to someone 10-15 feet away? If so, you should be able to make a 5 out offense work. Players just need to cut aggressively. And you need players that can penetrate. If you don't have players with skills (dribbling, driving, passing) the R & R, 5 out, and any offense will struggle.

I have found that the 5 out offense gives you a lot of dribble drive opportunities and a lot of points come from that. Yea you get points from the cuts, but for the most part you are just give players a way to space, move, and pass. As that happens the defense gets disorganized and players "make plays" (ex: drive to basket and dish or score).

Personally I allow players to post up, flash cut, etc. So we can usually balance the floor pretty well and have 3 good passing options for our girls 4th grade team. So they never really have to pass more than 15 ft. And honestly dribble penetration is what works the best because they cause the defense to help and make things happen that way. Drive and kick, etc. They just "play".

Something to try with them is, if you have access to them, use medicine balls. Have the kids throw smaller size medicine balls back and forth Chest pass, over hand flick (No bounce, you probably can't pay to replace the floors :P )

Then give them the basketballs back and watch how the kids snap the ball back and forth to each other. The weight differential makes the basketball feel so much lighter. It's been an effective tactic that I've used when young kids aren't throwing the ball with any zip.

I have not tried this with 4th graders (not sure I'd do this with my 4th grade girls because they are so small and I'm worried they'd get hurt), but what Brian suggests would help. I would use a heavy training ball instead of medicine ball. You can pass and dribble these just like a regular ball. Our high school coach uses them all the time. Here's a link to the heavy training basketball:

http://www.breakthroughbasketball.com/store/shopexd.asp?id=107

Quick disclaimer: Did this with 7th grade boys and girls. Like Jeff says, not sure I'd try medicine balls with 4th grade boys or girls. But those lighter training balls, yes. Thanks Jeff. That was a good, safe point to make.

Jeff and Brian, thanks for the replies.

In our case, I am just looking at passes 1-away in a 5 out. No skip passes. The other teams we've played and seen are stronger, but as you said there isn't a lot of perimeter shooting past 10 feet. In our case, every pass is a risk because it is too slow and without sufficient force.

I guess my question was really "is this expected?" Maybe the teams we've faced are just in the top 10% and what I am seeing is skewed. (And if you compare my boys to the youth R&R practice videos it is night and day)

The net of this is that I am spending 30 out of 90 minutes in practice doing strength conditioning. Push ups, overhead presses, rows, pull-ups, planks, etc. We do power work as well. It is starting to have a positive effect but I am surprised I've needed to do it and haven't seen other coaches talk about this.

The lack of strength in the players has really made me question R&R and any kind of pass/cut or motion type offense at this level. Or put differently, I am seeing a Level 0 -- strength -- that colors the fundsmentals considerably.

Maybe my expectations are a little off. As you said Jeff, most of the scoring opportunities are coming from dribble penetration and dishing and trying to disrupt the defensive spacing. Maybe this is good enough until we really can pass.

Just be true to your principles, what you believe in teaching. At 4th grade level, it will come, but slowly. Don't sacrifice what you believe to be correct for short term success. The one pass away was what I was talking about, and working with heavy training balls will help.

Believe me, I know what it feels like when you are coaching a team that has that night/day comparison with what you are seeing on the court from other teams.

I believe every coach working with a system, when you come across a team that can't do what you are asking them to do, has a crisis of confidence. The urge to switch to something else in that case is very great. I know. I've been exactly in that place before.

The question that then needs to be asked is: When they move on, will they be asked to do the things and be able to do the things, that I am asking them to do now.

If the answer is yes, then stick with it. It's the only way they will get better. The same goes for man to man, and anything else that they have to do on court that takes a while to assimilate.

I agree. The 5 out definitely works. Some teams will take longer than others to get good at it.

As long young players aren't wasting a lot of time "memorizing plays", then it doesn't matter offense you run as long as it has great spacing, player movement, and ball movement. The 5 out gives you all those things.

And helping players develop athletically (coordination, balance, strength, etc) is definitely a good thing. Arguably more important that skills at this age. That's why I recommend kids play multiple sports seasonally so they develop athletically (ex: soccer, baseball, martial arts, swimming, flag football, gymnastics, basketball).

Soccer, gymnastics, swimming, and martial arts are phenomenal for developing good basketball players. All the players on my 4th grade team play soccer fairly competitively and I love it. It has really helped them with agility, spatial awareness, seeing the floor, decision making, defense, etc.

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