I really believe in fastbreak as a first organized offense (if we can say that) for young kids. I have a few principles to run the break with my kids but I would like to know your ideas about that.

Coach Godbout

You're not going to like my answer, but I'm not a big fan of allowing the fast break for younger kids (6-10). Guess it depends upon the age group, but I play in a 5th/6th grade league and only two of the eleven teams were successful at making it work (those teams were mainly 6th graders). Don't get me wrong, a lot of teams tried it, and frequently, but it quickly turned into a sloppy mess.

What I mean by "work" is not seeing a chaotic race up and down the court by two teams with maybe 1 out of every 5 actually scoring on an attempted fast break. Usually, one team would take off down the court, throw a long pass only to have the other team steal it and the same scenario would happen going the other way. Eventually the game turned into a sloppy out-of-control dribbing/passing fest with kids hacking and whacking trying to get the ball back.

My concern with allowing this to happen at too young of an age is the kids never really settle down into an offense and learn about ball movement, finding the open man, and being patient taking those high percentage shots. If the kids understand those concepts and the fast break doesn't turn into one or two kids running the show, I'd probably be ok with it. Or? If you have a group of kids playing in a more competitive setting that have the skills to handle fast breaks.

Very interesting point of view. I should have mentioned that my team is made of boys of 12-13 of age so it is easier to implement the fastbreak . I would like to point out that our fastbreak is based mainly on passing the ball rather than on a festival of dribbling. To be more precise, the break is our first option on offense. We don't run and gun all game long. Thanks for your reply. By the way I totally agree with you for younger kids.

Coach Godbout

Good thoughts Rob.... I hesitated to reply because I feel the same way, especially for youth players..... My thoughts are like this..... You better be able to run your half court offense because a well coached team will take you out of your break....... Its nice to be able to get out and get a few easy baskets too... don't get me wrong.

That makes sense, the teams with 6th graders seemed to understand when to fast break and when to chill. Maybe throw the question over in the 13+ forum and see if you get a better response.

Look over on this site at Offense > Transition / Fast Break

I have one of my own but its not on this site. Its a secondary break.

For all the youth coaches... take a look at this short video - I watched this and all I can say is that its 50 years to late for me....... I would have loved to have this as my video mentor.

http://www.breakthroughbasketball.com/pr/bigelow-youth-right-way.html

This should be a must for every youth coach, especially people who volunteer their time... God Bless you all.