For our 6th grade (to be) girls basketball team, we had a lot of players wanting to join so we decided to create two teams. Both teams will run the same offense, defense, etc… but we’ll practice separate. Since I don’t have enough time to coach both teams I have recruited a couple coaches […]
What We Did With Our 5th Grade Girls Team – Offense, Defense, Drills and Plays
Here’s what we did with our 5th grade girls’ team this year. It’s surprisingly similar to how we coached our 10th grade boys team and our 3rd grade boys team this year. Basketball is basketball. No matter the gender or age level… you shoot, dribble, pass and pivot. I keep things pretty simple and focus on player development. So I […]
5th Grade Girls Practice Plan #2
This was a really good practice for our 5th grade team. Worked hard and played really good during the scrimmage… HUGE improvement from our first practice! Emphasis for Players – Communication, Leadership, and Hustle Plays (Effort) Celebrate successes and effort. Chest bumps, high 5s, fist bumps. Communicate in all drills. Block 1 (6:30) – Shooting, Footwork & […]
How To Get ALL Your Players Sprinting Back In Transition Defense
We all know the FIRST THREE STEPS are critical for getting back into good transition defense. Those first three steps must be a sprint! In most cases, if the first three steps are a sprint, the following steps will follow suit and players will be in a good position to stop the ball. But how do […]
High Fives – Improve Team Chemistry, Energy, and Excitement
A very simple way for you to improve your team’s chemistry, team energy, and just have more fun is to encourage more high fives, chest bumps, fist bumps, and so on. I read somewhere that NBA teams whose players had the most physical contact during games early in the season were the most successful down the […]
Practice Plan and Drills – Summer Team Camp Day 4
Here’s the plan for day 4 of the youth summer skills camp for our 5th grade team. Practice Plan – Team Camp Day 4 Pre-practice routine – Acknowledge & talk with each player Defense Star close outs 5on5 shell – no movement. dribble every time. Dribbling and Defense Dribble tag – everyone is it. 1 pt […]
Practice Plan and Drills – Summer Team Camp Day 2 and 3
The format for day 2 and 3 were very similar to day 1. So I’ll just post a few adjustments that we made. Here’s what we changed on day 2 and 3… We ran shell drill from a 4 out 1 in formation instead of 5 out. This allows us to teach “post positioning” and […]
Practice Plan and Drills – Summer Team Camp Day 1
A few weeks ago, a number of coaches replied and wanted more details about our youth summer camp that was extremely productive for us. Here’s the practice plan and drills that I used for the first day of the team camp. I deviated and improvised at times — but for the most part we stuck […]
Summer Basketball Camp Drills – Part 1 (Pre-Practice Routine)
Since several coaches contacted me wanting more info about our summer team camp, I’m writing a few blog posts explaining the drills and details about the camp… The first thing we did at the camp was teach our players a new “pre-practice routine”. We implemented a pre-practice routine last year and I loved it! I […]
Run a Summer Skills Camp for Your Team – It’s Incredibly Productive
Last year I tried something new. We ran a 4-day summer skills camp for my daughter’s 4th grade basketball team. It was VERY productive! So I tried it again this summer as 5th graders… We just finished the camp and it was incredibly productive again. It’s one of the best things I have done and […]