I am coaching a 3rd grade girls basketball team, and I am struggling on weather or not we should have a few set offensive plays. The team has varying skill levels from first time playing to been playing for years. This is a 5 on 5 league so what I find is that when they do move around many times two people move to the same spot and they don't create space.

I know we should focus on fundamentals which we do in practices and even games, but the other teams are running plays and get good spacing.

Any recommendations? In lieu of plays are there any good drills that will teach spacing and moving without the ball?

This is not about winning but trying to get good effort and make the kids feel success. When they do score they are excited and I want them to have that feeling much more than they are now as that will lead to them continuing to play.

Coach -

IF you teach them plays, that's what they will learn. I always suggest a 5 out Open Post offense, pass and cut at this age. I ran this with my boys varsity team ( we did more than just pass and cut ) but there were times that they ended up with more than one player in a certain place. I just reminded them to balance the floor. There were times when 3 guys were in the same area... they just looked and found the open spot.

You can put spots on the floor and have the kids pass and cut to an open spot... have the other ones rotate to balance the floor. Spend the time on fundamentals and by the end of the year your kids will be ahead of other teams. Maybe not in Ws but fundamentally and hopefully they will be better players next year.

Just make sure that they are having fun while they play and that they understand why you are doing what you are doing. That goes for the parents too.

Good luck

Tough when you come up against other teams at that age that appear to have it together. Be careful getting caught up in the comparison game, it's a slippery slope. I'm betting those teams have been together a few seasons.

At the 3rd grade level, you can use those spots on the floor like Sar mentioned. I found some thin rubber mats (non slip) that were different colors. I put them in 5 spots around the court so the kids would know the general area they could be in at a given point. The challenge comes when they pass or move. Most 3rd graders aren't going to understand where to go after a pass. Pass, cut, fill would be a bit much for them, imo. The reality is, most of them (if not all), just don't have the fundamental skills to run a basic offense yet.

If I had a team like this, I'd probably focus on one or two things. Passing would probably be my number one skill on offense. I'd want to teach them how to pass correctly and teach the person receiving the pass how to meet the ball. It accomplishes a few things, more kids get ball touches and passing is a key fundamental for any offense. Maybe give them goals of how many passes you want to see in a game. Giving them too many things to focus on during a game (e.g. passing, cutting, filling, rebounding, blocking out, setting screens, etc..) at that age can overwhelm them.

If you're still bent on trying an offense, you could try putting 3 on the outside, and put two on the low blocks. Maybe you tell them they have to pass it three times before passing to the person on the low block. Low block person gets to take a shot. You could rotate the positions so different girls are up top passing and at the low blocks.

Thanks for the advice, I am not set on having plays. I guess it's more of getting them to move to open spots. What I see is a lot of movement but not really moving, they tend to move a few feet one way and then back the other way. Any good practice drills that you can recommend that incorporate passing and moving without the ball?

The biggest challenge is in the passing is that they don't understand to pass to a spot the player is moving too, they like to wait until the player stops and by that time it's too late and they are covered. I do realize they are only in 3rd grade and they just don't have the skills right now to even understand some of this so I want to make sure I am teaching the RIGHT things and not focusing on things they won't get.

We tend to play teams in other organizations that you can tell they have a larger selection of players and they have been playing for awhile.

My number one goal in coaching this age to make sure they learn and have fun so they come back in fourth grade to play.

I have the exact same problems with 3rd graders. I don't run plays and would not recommend anyone else run set plays at this age. The biggest problem is you spend countless hours trying to get them to memorize the play(s). Then they still mess it up when the game starts. With all the time required to get them to memorize the play, there is no time left over to practice skills like footwork, dribbling, passing, etc. That's not good for long term development.

I use the 5 out offense too. Actually we usually play 3on3 or 4on4 (so kids get more touches on the ball). But we still use the same offense and the concepts are the same.

Here are a few things that have worked for us when teaching the offense to 3rd graders...

- Like the others mentioned, use cones, tape, or anything to mark spots on the floor. That helps a lot. Once kids learn where the spots are on the floor, you can can just tell them to find an open spot when they get lost or confused.

- We used a simple numbered transition break. I have found this helps with spacing. If it's a 5 out, you could have 1 bring it to top of key, 2 go to right wing, 3 to right corner, 4 throw it in and trail to left wing, and 5 run to left corner. To teach this you just have kids run to the spots on the floor and have the point guard dirbble up and pass to player 2. Then get rebound bring it back and pass to 3. Continue up and down the court 4 times until everyone gets a spot. Our kids learned the spots in about 10 minutes of practice. Then you just remind them in games after that.

- We do a lot of 4on0 or 5on0 pass and cut. Require 15 perimeter passes and then they can pass to the cutter for the shot. We use this as a passing drill and/or warm up that also teaches them the offense. You can also teach players to face in triple threat when they catch the ball. So they're learning skill and their offense at the same time.

- Half court controlled offense scrimmage. Then you just have to run it in half court and teach, teach, teach, teach. It takes a little time, but they figure it out. A keu is getting them to learn to cut when they are covered. And stay find an open spot. The biggest thing is they constantly move away from their spots. So it just takes repetition to get that fixed.

- Require them to cut all the way to the basket. Another issue is kids will only cut to about the free throw line and stop. When practicing 4on0, breakdown drills, or scrimmaging, you need to remind them to cut all the way to the basket.

Those are just a few ideas that might help. We don't spend a lot of time on this offense, but with some persistence they are getting it. And their skills are improving too.

I have similar issues with 2nd grade boys. I think we will start with a 5 out and focus on basic passing and cutting.

Jeff - what's the "5on0 pass and cut" you refer to? Is it anything like this drill? http://www.breakthroughbasketball.com/drills/basicspacingdrill.html

Thanks.

It's similar to that drill however we are not dribbling or diriving.

You are basically running this offense without the defense. Perimeter passes only and no shots. (pass and cut)
http://www.breakthroughbasketball.com/offense/cutters.html

Thanks, Jeff. I also found this article: http://www.breakthroughbasketball.com/offense/motion-offense-youth-basketball.html

Looks like a great start. I don't think I will introduce screens yet. Just start with working on spacing with passing and cuts.