Coaching Basketball For Dummies

Greg Bach

• Publisher: For Dummies
• Year: 2011
• Print ISBN: 9780470149768
• eBook ISBN: 9781118051719
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Biological Sciences
• Subtopic: Sport & Exercise Science
• Index: Biological Sciences

So you're thinking about volunteering to coach youth basketball? Great! You're in for a fun, rewarding experience. Whether you're new to the sport and looking for some guidance or you're a seasoned coach hunting for some fresh tips, Coaching Basketball For Dummies will help you command the court with confidence.

Each friendly chapter is packed with expert advice on teaching the basics of basketball—from dribbling and shooting to rebounding and defending—and guiding your kids to a fun-filled, stress-free season. You get a crash course in the rules and regulations of the game, as well as clear explanations of what all those lines, circles, and half-circle markings mean on the court. You'll assign team positions, run great practices, and work with both beginning and intermediate players of different age groups. You'll also see how to ramp up your players' skills and lead your team effectively during a game. This book will also help you discover how to:

• Develop your coaching philosophy
• Understand your league's rules
• Conduct a preseason parents' meeting—crucial for opening the lines of communication
• Teach offensive and defensive strategies
• Keep your kids healthy and injury-free
• Encourage good sportsmanship
• Make critical half-time adjustments during a game
• Help struggling players
• Address discipline problems and handle difficult parents
• Coach an All-Star or Travel team

Complete with numerous offensive and defensive drills and tips for helping your kids relax before a game, Coaching Basketball For Dummies is the fun and easy way to get the score on this worthwhile endeavor!

Part I

Getting Started Coaching Youth Basketball

In this part . . .

Before stepping on the court with your players, you need to take care of some behind-the-scenes tasks to ensure that your season starts on a positive note. Specifically, you need to define your coaching philosophy, get a handle on how your league runs, familiarize yourself with the terms and rules of the game, and prepare to meet with your players’ parents. We cover all this — and more — in this first part.

Chapter 1

Teaching Basketball to Children

In This Chapter

Preparing before you take the coaching reins

Performing your duties on the floor

Handling the dual role of coach and parent

Congratulations on your decision to volunteer to coach a youth basketball team. Your season-long journey — beginning when you meet the kids and parents, continuing at the first practice, and ending with the final game and awards ceremony — will be packed with special moments. The job you do will bring a smile to your face, and you and your players — regardless of their age, skill levels, or experience — will remember this season for the rest of your lives.

And if you’re picking up this book because you haven’t decided if you want the job yet, we hope the information can convince you that your job as a coach will be one of the most rewarding experiences of your life — as long as you do it for the right reasons. Heading into the season, your goals should be zeroed in on fun, skill development, and safety, as well as making it all happen in a stress-free environment.

Please be aware that if you volunteer to coach youth basketball, you’re taking on a very important role. How you approach the season and how you interact with the kids will affect how they feel about themselves, the sport of basketball, and you. Your coaching style can either help them develop an unquenchable passion for the game or sweep away all their interest in playing organized sports.

To start and finish your job, you need some quality information on all the different aspects of the game. Consider this chapter your jumping-off point to this book and to the world of coaching youth basketball. Using this chapter and the rest of this book as a guide, you can find everything you need to navigate your players to a safe, fun-filled, rewarding, and memorable season.

Before You Grab the Clipboard: Preparing for Your Season

People get involved with coaching youth basketball for all sorts of reasons. Perhaps you volunteered this season because spending extra time with your child while introducing him to the game sounded like a fun experience. Maybe the league has a shortage of coaches, and you chose to step forward and help out the kids. Or perhaps you simply love working with kids, and the thought of coaching a youth basketball team sounded pretty appealing.

Whatever your reason, you must recognize that you’re accepting an enormous responsibility that you can’t take lightly. Hopefully, you’ve stepped forward for all the right reasons, rather than for many of the wrong reasons some get involved in the game, such as hoping to win a shiny first-place trophy to show off to friends and neighbors, or to guide their children to future athletic scholarships. Before any youngster begins dribbling or shooting a ball, you have plenty of behind-the-scenes work to do to ensure that the season gets off to a smooth start and stays smooth throughout. This section gives you a preview. Check out Chapter 2 for the complete lowdown.

Gaining mom and dad’s support

The vast majority of the moms and dads you’ll meet while coaching youth basketball will be wonderful, supportive, and caring people — as long as you do your part to make and keep them this way. When working with your players, you’ll stress the importance of teamwork. When it comes to working with parents, it’s really no different. When coaches and parents commit to working together — the adult form of teamwork — they create a special formula that produces tremendous benefits for the youngsters. When coaches and parents clash over everything from playing time to strategy, it can spoil the experience for everyone involved.

You can make an immediate connection with the parents and sidestep many potential problems by gathering them for a special meeting before you begin the season. You can lay the ground rules on what you expect in terms of behavior during games, and you can outline their roles and responsibilities. (Check out Chapter 4 for tips on how to run this preseason meeting.)

No matter what, never forget that parents play important roles in youth basketball programs. Keep the following points in mind to help make your dealings with the parents go smoothly:

Explain your expectations. Many parents have never had a child involved in organized basketball before, so they’ll appreciate a little guidance. Before the season starts, outline your expectations for them and their kids so you leave no question about what kind of conduct and attitude you expect. Go over your planned coaching methods and detail what you want everyone to take away from this experience.

Telling parents firsthand that you’re committed to skill development and fun over winning, and that you’ll distribute playing time equally — regardless of skill level — squashes any chance of petty squabbles surfacing. Chapter 2 helps you develop your all-important coaching philosophy and become knowledgeable with all your league’s policies and rules regarding playing time and other considerations.

Include parents whenever possible. Parents invest a lot of time and money into their child’s basketball experience. The season will be much more enjoyable for them and their youngster if you can find ways to include them on your season-long journey. Parents can do so much more than bring snacks and drinks to games. You can involve them in your practices and recruit the right ones to assist on game day (see Chap...

Table of contents

• Title
• Contents
• Introduction
• Part I : Getting Started Coaching Youth Basketball
• Part II : Building Your Basketball Coaching Skills
• Part III : Working with Beginning and Intermediate Players
• Part IV : Moving On to Advanced Basketball Strategies
• Part V : Shooting for the Extra Points
• Part VI : The Part of Tens
• : Further Reading