6th grade girls

My daughter has only played two years of basketball (4-5th). Last year the coach did not really work on fundamentals which my daughter still needs. They just practice running plays that rarely got used during a game. My daughter loves basketball, but how do I get her up to speed? She is athletic and smart, but I need someone who can help her with some of the basic stuff. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I highly recommend getting a few one on one lessons with a reputable coach. We have a central place that most of the tourneys and games are played for club ball, the folks who run that know good coaches. My son took lessons beginning in 6th grade and it revolutionized his game.

You can also sprinkle in a few skill camps. I'd stay away from the ones where they only play. Find camps that teach skills. With that said a good personal trainer is going to be more effective because it's individual instruction instead of a group setting. But good camps certainly help. I send both my son and daughter to our camps. They have a lot of fun and improve.

If you want to try some camps, all of our camps focus on skill only and are run by very good coaches.
http://www.breakthroughbasketball.com/camps/

If you want more specific help regarding working with her at home, let us know. There are a few DVDs that might help. But you would have to watch and study them. It would be tough for a 6th grader to do that.

Both Jeff and Rob have given you some good advice.

IF you are going to send your daughter to a camp.... make sure that it is a TEACHING CAMP where she will learn some skills.

If you are going to use a personal trainor, do some homework and make sure that he is a good teacher of the game / same with the camps.

Breakthrough Basketball has some good camps and teachers... Don Kelbick does a great job.

This is going to be slightly askew of several of the very good suggestions that have been made so far, but I think that in addition to learning skills and executing them in skill camps and developmental camps, she just needs to PLAY.

I have seen very skilled players that spent a lot of time developing their individual skills and strengths, but then when they get into games, they lack instincts. I think getting involved in simple pick-up games would have a very good impact on the development of the instincts. Playing against and learning how to play with older, more skilled players are excellent ways to self-teach what you can do and can't do on a basketball court.

Just my two cents.

Brian Sass

Brian...

Its the old saying, " what comes first, the chicken or the egg? " You make some great points here.

Thanks Ken,

The reality is you need both. Skills are the theoretical, and the games are applied physics. :P