Training my son

Hello,
I have an 11 year old son who lives for basketball but recently he started to feel bad about himself due to bad coaching. I read such good things about you and I love your approach towards young players. I am a single mum and I live in Turkey. We dont have good training programmes or skilled coaches where we live. . I watch you tube videos about how to train a basketball player. I follow Alan Stein advice. But most of the time I am lost, I am not a basketball player. I am learning basketball with my son.Can you give me advise on how to train him. What could I teach him in an hour long training session ? Whether you can help me or not I thank you. Your students should know how lucky they are.
My son " Kaya" only dreams about the kind of coaches that you are. Thank you again.

I recommend you teach him the fundamentals...

- Shooting off the catch (use good technique)
- Shooting off the dribble (use good technique)
- Ballhandling (retreat dribble, cross over, through legs, behind back, keep eyes up)
- Lay ups (various angles, left hand, right hand)
- Footwork - front pivot, reverse pivot, drop step, step through, sweep (direct step)

You should research each area and have him practice those things.

Good luck.

Kaya is lucky to have a mum like you. It is difficult to teach basketball when you've never played yourself. Jeff has some good suggestions. Start simple, find a few basic drills on YouTube and build your own program. Practice for your son and support from you will be the key.

You say, "We don't have good training programmes or skilled coaches where we live", which I believe, however, I'm betting there is a coach out there somewhere that would be willing to help your son. You might have to dig a bit to find them.

Is basketball offered in the schools?

Hello Jeff and coach Rob,
Thank you ever so much for your advice. Kaya also read your messages and couldnt belive that you replied to us. You made us really happy. Basketball is offered at schools and very popular especially in big cities like Istanbul but we live in a smaller town by the Egean coast. There are 100s of kids who love basketball here and play at school . But the schools dont have trained basketball coaches instead the P.E. teacher tries to teach a few tricks. All kids need is a good coach who is willing and happy to teach basketball. I hope we will find him soon enough.

Thank you again so much for taking the time to reply to us. Your advice is very precious.

All the best
Seda and Kaya

You bet! Always interested in helping someone if we can. It sounds like there's a need for a good coach where you live. While Kaya is busy watching basketball videos to improve his skills, you could be watching coaching videos. Just a thought. ; )

Tell Kaya to keep working hard and keep us updated.

It's not always that easy here in the states either. :-) I think that as non basketball playing parents we have to commit to the journey of exploration with and for our kids. I think that because there aren't a lot of options you have actually been given a gift and by that I mean that the competition to get better will be less because many will not work hard to find an option for their kid like you are doing. Here is what I found in your country.

These organizations might be a good first contact for you and your young athlete. They are pro but can probably point you in the right direction.

http://www.tbf.org.tr/
http://www.fiba.basketball/