youth players shooting at a 10ft rim

Younger kids are really tough. They take special patience.

And even more so they need different evaluation. That is one of the reasons why these conversations are moot. Youth coaches (many, but not all) make the mistake of using the game at higher levels as a measuring stick and an example. In reality, it is a completely different game. Same sport, but different game. The NBA and WNBA are the same sport but are different games. They are played and coached differently because the players are not capable of doing the same things.

When coaching younger kids, coaches need to do a better job of determining physical potential at their particular age and what they are able to do or not do. I could care less what an 11- year old's shooting form is. He is going to change so much in the next 2 years that fine motor skills and psycho-motor pathways that are developed now will get in the way when he is 13 and actually allow him to develop the skill. There are things that they can learn at that age that are not strength dependent and will carry over as they grow. That is where their development should be concentrated.

That brings us to the 3 on 3 thing. In theory, that might seem beneficial. However, unless you adjust the size of the court, removing 2 players from the floor might make the floor too big, I think. I would be concerned that the things that are physically oriented will become to large, passes or longer, more dribbles are needed, etc.

I would not be opposed to shrinking the court by playing only half court at that age, though.

As for the 3 on 3 thing, Coach Sars. We try to direct all of the youth coaches that sign up for our newsletter to this article that we wrote about the benfits of playing 3 on 3: http://www.breakthroughbasketball.com/blog/index.php/could-3-on-3-basketball-be-the-best-for-youth-players/

Don, I completely agree about shrinking down the court. I don't even mention playing half-court in our 3on3 article. For some reason, when I mention 3 on 3, I instantly think "half-court 3 on 3" because that's what I played in 3rd, 4th, & 5th grade. Thanks for that thought, so I can edit the other article.

I just wanted to say thanks for the information! I have been arguing back and forth with our community center director about lowering the rims. I coach 3rd grade boys and we always practice at 9ft. however he recently tried to force us to have them play at 10ft. I am going to use these points to try to get through to him.

I hope you are successful at getting them to "see the light!"

I started to read all these posts again and it raised my blood pressure a lot.... what are all these people thinking of... I was thinking - why don't all these hall of famer's go out and shoot a 15' basket and see how good they are.. then I got to this post which is GREAT!!

bob-bigelow
PostPosted: Sat Jan 30, 2010 9:54 am
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As I’ve told thousands of these (for the most part) well-meaning adults....

Just find a 22 ft high basket somewhere in your neighborhood and start shooting. This is what it's like for a youngster to shoot at a 10ft basket. By shooting at a 22ft basket you'll find that your shooting “mechanics” will be compromised in a nanosecond.

The #1 rule in youth sports is you "adapt the game to the kids, not the kids to the game".

What the heck is wrong with people?

I have coached in leagues where they have lowered the rims and leagues where they haven't. It is definetly better for the kids when the basket is lowered. Its better for the overall game too. As you know it opens the potential for some outside shots. The kids skills develop better and they have more fun. When the outside shot is opened up it also opens the chance for an inside shot. Well, im speaking to the choir here.

One other thing I have found to be extremely beneficial and nobody seems to address is Double Teaming. Just as with developing poor shooting skills, a beginner players can't develop good dribbling skills or dribble at all in most cases when double or triple teamed. The leagues can implement rules for younger divisions to require man-to-man defense outside the key. This not only allows a player to develop dribbling skills, confidence, etc... , it also teaches the defense to play proper man-to-man defense. And if you are teaching your youth kids anything else but M-T-M defense at age levels 1-4th grade I would suggest you reconsider your coaching strategies.

I would increase that age all the way to 6th graders, maybe all the way to 8th grade.... I know as a Varsity high school coach I loved it when the kids came in with a good sound basis for playing m2m D!

AND NO trapping until the 7th grade. Forget about the Ws so much and teach them how to play, get them ready to play at the next level. That's what your goal should be....

My first post. The views here are largely in accordance with my own. All other youth sports are scaled to the size of particpants -- basketball being (at least in the U.S.) the last of the dinosaurs. I coach a newish 9 year AAU boys team (we started last fall). If I had my druthers we would play 3 v 3 maybe 4 v 4 on 8 to 8 and half foot rims.

But I don't get to make those calls as I don't run any area league. So we play the hand dealt with us. There have been plus and minuses. I've got a few kids that can manage this big court, constant presses, crowd noise and the like and do just fine. With others it is more of a struggle. But all seem to be getting better. I can't get them out of the gym after a game or a practice! So I think some things are going right.

In practice we do a lot of skills work, especially dribbling as I am big on that, I mix it up with dribble tag, Isaiah 7s, races, and so on. We also do a lot of 3 v 2 (with a neutral player playing offense) and 3 v 3 pass only. I love that game as it gets the kids naturally moving without the ball and has them playing with their heads up (which is a big issue for kids this age). We also do a lot 1 v 1. We will do 5 v 0, 5 V 1 and 5 v 2 half court to get the kids executing a primitive motion offense under light defensive pressure. I use small half cup plastic cones set up at strategic points and tell the kids to move to them to get open. I bought Don Kelbrick's motion offense ebook (I also have one of Brian McCormick's books which has been very helpful) and it has some neat stuff in there that I think we will be using for the next few years and beyond. The 3 second rule to staying one spot, hlding or dribbling the ball is a great idea.

Anyway, I've rambled on quite a bit. Look forward to learning more from this site.

Administrators: where do we find these people. Many of them are autocrats and are most unwilling to listen or change. Most of the time, its a hassle for them to make adjustments, even though its good for the game and the kids. However, its way too much of a problem to change. I was watching my pro women s team warming up the other evening prior to the championship game, and as they were lowering the baskets down following the weekly badminton matches, they were shooting on the baskets as they were coming down, and as stated by the Bigelow post, to reach that height, they went through all sorts of contortions with their bodies. Coach Mac

"Autocrat" "these people" -- are these terms being thrown at my way? If so, not sure why.

Coach O, I highly doubt that was directed at you.

I think it was more of a vent on some administrators and coaches at the youth level.

Looks like I may have misread it. I thought Administrators was being referred to as Administrators of the web site as opposed to youth b-ball leagues.

I think a lot of the folks who run these leagues are just volunteers doing their best and don't really put a lot of thought into all the dynamics that go with young kids and how they fit developmentally with the size, rules and structure of basketball and don't think to make the adjustments that would make it a better a fit for the youngest kids (and wouldn't necessarily know what those adjustments would be). Then you have others in the more competitive leagues with the mindset of this how we did it when I was a kid, the kids will adapt, the more competitive kids will emerge, this is how we separate ourselves from the rec league, etc.

To get a lot fo the changes that folks on this site advocate for, what is really needed is for some of the leading lights in the game with stature and a public forum to go out on a limb and say this how it should be done for the youngest kids.

Knowing Coach Mac, I doubt that he was directing that at you... he doesn't mince words but I know we have gone round and round on different subjects that revolve around youth sports.....

They DON'T think about the kids, thats the problem. Your last paragraph says it all..... and I think Jeff and Joe are leaning towards doing something like this. I hope they can get something done... we need some young guys like this that are willing to push for adapting the game to the younger kids.

Coach O: Joe and Coach Sars are correct, the comment was not directed at you in the least. this topic has been bounced back and forth since I have been contributing to this site and frankly, it seems as if most of our suggestions, in this particular topic, fall on deaf ears. This game is not about the adults or administrators, its about the kids and their proper development. These suggestions and comments come from highly respected and experienced coaches and i simply want leaders of leagues to listen to their rationale. If I offended anyone, accept my apology. Coach Mac

Its too bad that ALL the administrators of youth sports cant read some of our suggestions... (not the ranting lol) Sometimes I wonder what they are thinking about..... sure isn't about kids.

Understood, Coach Mac. I misread your email.

I originally came from coaching soccer where there seems to be a much better understanding of how to develop youth players and scaling the game according to their age and athletic development. So a lot of the suggestions on this site just make good sense.