picks/screens for 1st and 2nd graders

I play against some 1st and 2nd grade teams that set ball screens and other picks. I have not taught my team these techniques and don't really plan too.

First, I fear collisions for this age group and ,secondly, don't know that they could grasp the skill anyway.

Opinions please.

Coach,

Someone must have a lot of practice time on his hands... especially for that age group. Now, this is just my opinion but your goal should be to teach them the fundamentals of the game...

Passing & catching the ball -- while moving too
Ball handling skills - dribbling
Shooting - FORM first and then some short range shooting
Defense - m2m

Give them some simple offense to run, pass and cut and a couple of inbounds plays... and then... LET THEM HAVE FUN.

This is their first experience playing the game and they should come away having a LOVE to play it. I wouldn't worry to much about winning right now. IF they come away from practice and games with a smile on their face, while you have taught them those fundamentals... you will have done a great job.

By the way, don't expect perfection, after all, they are 1st & 2nd graders.... and I hope you are using smaller basketballs and a lower basket.

Wow! Can't imagine kids at 1st and 2nd grade being able to set good screens/picks. I'm betting there's a lot of moving screens going on. I would definitely cover how to look for those screens/picks and what to do against them. Wouldn't worry about teaching them to do it in games at this point.

I'm a big ball movement guy, even at 1st/2nd grade. We play teams at the 5th/6th grade level that I'm betting half the kids rarely touch the ball on offense (no real passing going on). I'd highly recommend counting total team passes in games. Reward the kids for hitting X number of passes after a few games, then build on that. It will pay off big time down the road.

Thanks for the responses. You two have reinforced my opinion.

We always talk about the KISS method.. even at our levels.. high school varsity... At this age I cant imagine them doing this, I could be wrong.. but it seems to me that he is worried more about winning than teaching the game. JMO

I'll add my two cents. I think screening is a fundamental of the game. Thus, I think is should be taught. Certainly at 1st and 2nd grade I may wait until 1/2 thru the season. However, kids at this age don't really have the skills and coordination for basket ball. They can't catch. Can put any velocity on a pass. Can't shoot. Etc. Setting a screen is realatively easy for the unskilled palyer to learn. Good luck.

There is so much to be taught .... so where do you start with this age group?
Dribbling - passing - catching - shooting

Can any of these kids do the above... they are 6-7 year olds? I think the goal here should be having fun... while teaching them a little something about the game. What did Coach Mac say... you cant play if you cant pass or catch the ball.

There should be a group organized to set up the skills that are taught to each age level, the coaches should be on board with this and they might have to be taught some of these also...

They should use the smaller balls with the lower baskets.. give the kids a chance.

As a parent-coach of 1st-2nd grade boys I think that picks/screens should NOT be taught at this age group. You have very different degrees of skills at this age. I have boys that can hardly catch the ball and dribble to other ones that can handle a break away lay-up. This age group also tends to travel and double dribble a lot. If we as the coach/referree called this infraction the game would not flow( we just gently remind them while they are playing that they have to pass or shoot once they pick up their dribble). I don't think you can have a team do screens when we as the coach are happy when our team remembers which player they are guarding and stay with that player. It is unfair if the offense is setting screens and the offense player dribbles after they have picked up their dribble or travels. Once they have mastered the skills of passing, dribbling, shooting, and playing defense then you can start to add the additional dimension of screens/picks, help defense, switches etc. In my opinion these skills really won't be at a high enough level until 5-6th graders(if you're lucky) to allow for screens to be part of the game.

Laura,

You wont get an argument from me... teach the basic skills.... and then if you can teach them to pass and cut to the basket - fill spots - you might have something for this age group.

I wish that more parent/coaches felt the way you do. Teach them the fundamentals and let them have some fun. SELL them on the sport... its NOT about winning at this age.

Keep up the good work.

golfman25 wrote:I'll add my two cents. I think screening is a fundamental of the game. Thus, I think is should be taught. Certainly at 1st and 2nd grade I may wait until 1/2 thru the season. However, kids at this age don't really have the skills and coordination for basket ball. They can't catch. Can put any velocity on a pass. Can't shoot. Etc. Setting a screen is realatively easy for the unskilled palyer to learn. Good luck.

I agree with this up to a point. You can teach them the basic fundamentals of dribbling and passing and include teaching picks and screens. The problem with 1st and 2nd graders is they are usually waiting for a player to get WIDE open. There is very little making good passes to players in the split second they are open on a cut. This tends to bring about a lot of jump balls when the player picks up his dribble and gets swarmed by his defender.

To open up the offense, picks on the ball tend to open up dribbling lanes and, more importantly, picks off the ball tend to open up passing lanes.

Seems like a fundamental skill to me.

I do see the previous poster's point. In my experience, many players just stand around when they have teammate who handles the ball the majority of the time.

I teach the pass and move method where you cut to the basket after you make a pass and keep moving through the lane.

I have also taught screening to kids older then 1st and 2nd grade.

The main focus for this young of an age group is to keep it fun.

Last year I coached my son's 1st and 2nd grade team. That season and in the previous season when he was in first grade, many teams in his league employed a ballscreen to allow the dribbler to get a free path to the hoop. At this level we play 4 on 4, so the teams would go to a 4 corner look with the ball in a top corner and the screen coming from the opposite bottom corner. Open paint area and easy look at a layup.

Personally I dislike this philosophy at this age level. My approach is to teach fundamentals of dribbling, passing, triple threat, etc. These prove to be a big enough task in most cases. It seemed that the coaches that taught this ballscreen play were more concerned with getting baskets to outscore the other team, even though we never kept score.

In our first couple games we were beaten routinely by this play, but over the course of the season, as the kids got a better grasp of "pointing their pistols" on defense and seeing the ball and their man we were able to shut the play down easily with some basic help defense.

My "play" for our team? Pass the ball and cut to the basket. If you want the ball, you better become good at cutting and getting open. We worked all season on give and go (pass and cut), v-cuts, and triple threat, individual offense stuff.

Coach,

Glad to see you stress fundamentals, and give the kids lots of reps to achieve success.

However, I do believe "on the ball" screens are part of fundamentals, but 1st or 2nd grade appears to be to early to teach.
It takes quite a bit of time and repetition to get it performed correctly.

I bet your players are better defensively after having seen it run a few times.

Have a great season!

Thank you. Good luck to you as well. I'll be moving up to the 3rd/4th grade level this season where they actually keep score, so I am really looking forward to the fun involved with that.

I agree with you that on the ball screens are a needed fundamental, but also that 1st and 2nd grade is a bit too young for that. This year I plan to work a little bit more on offense than I did last season, but only with a basic pass and cut offense. I may start with a 5 out motion, just to introduce the concept of spacing and cutting. We'll see how well they grasp it.

I agree with them being too young because it will take a while to grasp the nuances. I typically work on them to pass and cut.