Game last week 2 point guards were not passing to their teammates. Today had a practice game and put the rule that the guards could not shoot.

1 teams guards did very well looking for the open person and scoring. The other team had 2 guards that were upset they could not shoot and did not pass to open person. One girl kept shouting I'm open and she would not pass to her. I talked to both guards and informed them they are on a team and must pass to others. Finally I sat the 1 girl and informed her when she is ready to join the team she needs to inform me. Any advice for me girls 5th and 6th grade.

Mary

Honestly... I have never had this problem with the exception of a few high school players I inherited. But they came around for the most part. I think it's because of what we emphasize from day one at practice. I would suggest....

- use no dribble drills... just implement a rule where no one can dribble. this encourages passing, movement, etc.
http://www.breakthroughbasketball.com/haefner/trying-new-drills-no-dribble-is-still-one-of-the-best/

- emphasize spacing, ball movement, and taking good shots with your offense. those are three key elements to good offense. That is the crux of our offense and we emphasize spacing and ball movement in every single practice and game. It is constant.

- teach.

For the last bullet point (teach) books could be written about the subject. I won't write a book but I'll give you a couple examples of what I mean....

* If your guard catches the ball and takes a bad shot -- off balance, with close guard defender, double teams, etc.... yell "freeze" and teach... was that a good shot? why not? what could you do instead on this situation? (try to get them to realize that passing to the wide open team mate is a better decision)

* If your guard drives into a wall of three players and turns it over... yell "freeze". Ask questions... did you get the outcome you were looking for? Why not? Did you notice three defenders there? In this case, when the defense is in good position, we want to move the ball. After a few ball reversals, we'll have openings for the dribble drive and get better shots. Teach them decision making fundamentals.

A huge part of coaching is what you emphasize. If you emphasize sharing the ball and ball movement in every practice, scrimmage, etc.... they will come around.

If you have more questions let us know.

Hope this helps.

Thanks I will use your suggestions