Thank you so much for the EBooks. I cant wait until the morning so I can go over it all the way. I've been on your website the past couple days and man you have giving me so many ideas I cant wait until next practice (Monday). I just signed up for your news letter and just want to thank you for everything. I'm coaching my son's team and its A league, 7,8, and a few 9 year olds. Hey I was wondering if you think I should have my kids doing man to man on defense or should I start teaching them a type of zone defense? And any ideas on offense i would appreciate any input. Monday is going on our 7th practice and all we've been doing is the main fundamentals. Or first game is this first week of Dec. and thanks again for all you do.

Teach them how to play the game.. m2m defense is the best way to go, NOT the easiest certainly but it will help to teach them the game. As for an offense... Keep it Simple.... pass and cut, fill the spots. Hopefully the other teams wont play a zone, that does nothing for the kids fundamentally. It might get you a W but at this age, its all about teaching them the fundamentals.
Good luck - thats a tough age group.
Ken

Man are you lucky. 7th practice, with another week plus to go. We get 5 before games start. I would go with man 2 man defense. Many leagues require it at this age. Set up a few basic rules that they can understand and work with it all year. You're biggest problem on defense will be with the kids who "fall asleep." They'll forget who they are guarding or be looking for mom and dad in the stands while the other team drives right by them. Good luck.

I am also working with 7 and 8 year old boys and am working on man 2 man defense and a real basic pass and screen away motion offense. We also have a team FOCUS this year which is G.B.E.D. which stands for Get Better Every Day. I try to use this focus to tell my boys to concentrate on getting better at all that they are doing whether on or off of the court ( dribbling, passing, being a better son or brother or student...) I bought some cheap rubber bracelets with that focus on it and gave them out at the first practice. Hope it works... Good luck with you 7 and 8 year olds

I love the G.B.E.D idea. That is awesome. Great motto for the kids and the coach!

I'm convinced M2M is the way to go for my kids this season and we're 9,10 and 11's. All the other teams play zone in my league. It's been tempting to switch, but I know we're doing our kids a huge service by making them play M2M. We emphasize the most important part of defense is their feet. This drill works great for that concept:

http://www.breakthroughbasketball.com/p ... type=drill

CRob

A Little something to help with your HELP defense... we talked about using their "Pistols" -- point their fingers at their man and the ball ... that way they are in good position to see both and react if their man flashes / cuts to the ball or if the on the ball defender gets beat so you can help and stop the ball.

Ken