I just replaced the coach for the middle school girls team, the previous coach did nothing at all with them , with a couple of exceptions the entire team is green, what's the best practices first? I began slowly instructing them on the positions and the relation with the court! One thing they have collectively have is....HEART!! Any and all help will be greatly appreciated I\'m talking everything you can give me that I can print out and put into motion. Thanking you in advance. I could not stand by and allow these girls get discourage with basketball due to the previous coach, that would make me as guilty, irresponsible and negligent as he was.

A lot of fundamentals are in order here... teach them how to pass and catch the ball, dribbling, ... set and read screens, shooting, a lot of shooting. Defense... teach them how to play m2m defense. Find some very simple offense right now ... are you already in your season?

IF you look on the left of this page there are a lot of things that you can use for your players.

Good luck coach and if you have any specific questions feel free to ask us, there are a lot of good coaches in this group who will be more than happy to help you.

Coach Sar

As a new coach you made the first step by admitting you are new and would like guidance from other coaches.

Many new coaches think that because they have played the game years back as a teen or young adult, continue to play or watch games on TV that they know how to coach. Just because they know basketball does not mean that they can coach basketball.

Coach Sars hits it on the head. Stress fundamentals at every practice. I also coach this age group (8th grade girls travel and U-13 girl's AAU) so I some experience at this level.
Besides knowlwedge of the game of basketball, coaches need communication skills. Getting your point across to these girls, your goals, objectives. As a coach you are also a teacher. Not just teaching basketball but also teaching life lessons.

Surround yourself with good assistant coaches, helper parents. Research on internet (like you are doing now), read articles and books on coaching basketball. Choose drills and plays that suit your type of team and style of basketball. Attend coaching clinics and even call local high school and college coaches to see if you can sit in on one of their practices. I've done this before during my novice days as a coach, most coaches are OK with this.....they have even handed me their practice plan to follow for that day.

You said they have HEART so that is so important. Keep your practices upbeat. Show your enthusiasm and it will be contagious!!!

Every practice use drills that reinforce fundamentals of passing, catching, dribbling, shooting, rebounding, etc.

Choose simple plays at first. At least one play vs zone, one play vs M2M, one out of bounce play, a pressbreaker. Then as the team is comfortable with these plays, add a few more simple plays. I actual make up a binder to hand out to the girls. Inside are all the plays, articles on basketball, basketball cartoons, basketball quotes, puzzles, inspirational stories, etc.

This website has tons of drills and plays for girls in this age group.

Good Luck

Always make basketball FUN!!!!

Coach A

Again Coach A - GREAT ADVICE!

I started out coaching kids this age... and there was (or I didn't know about it) all the sites on the internet that can help young coaches and players.

I learned a lot the hard way, and yes, I talked to high school coaches and picked their brains... go to clinics as much as you can... even IF you come away with one thing from each coach you will walk away a better coach.

The longer I coached the more I realized that regarless of the age group that it was very important to work on fundamentals daily. They don't have to be the same drills or the same fundamental... but they need work.

As you look at your team, write down the areas that need work the most and then implement them in your practice plan. The one year I coached girls I thought I would just outcoach most of these guys... YEA RIGHT! They couldn't pass or catch the ball..... so we worked on passing drills EVERY practice... at first it was like 20-25 minutes and by mid year we had those drills down where we could go through 5 drills in about 8 minutes.

We ran a lot of defensive drills and these girls would really get after you... a good defense will keep you in games when your offense is lacking. M2M by the way, these were Sophomore girls.

Make sure that you end your practices with a fun thing.. short games or something like that.... then they will WANT to come back the next day.

Girls are a lot different than boys... boys need to win to be happy... girls need to be happy to win..... (not sure who I got that from-but the one year I coached the girls this certainly held true)

Good luck.

Coach Syracuse: Hopefully you are not letting your impressions of the previous coach drift down to your players. In your appeal for help, you really let the poor guy have it. My best advice, forget him/her and take the suggestions from the great coaches on here. These coaches not only know the game but they know kids you need to turn your negative spin into a positive one for love of the kids and the good of the game. good luck Coach Mac