Basketball is inherently a fun sport, and youth basketball coaches typically find ways to make it fun for players.
When allowed to play hoops, most kids will have a good time. However, some coaches find ways to reduce the fun players have and the effectiveness of their team. Avoid these common mistakes if you’re coaching a kid’s basketball team.
1.) Starting practices with long lectures when court time is available
Kids generally come to practice excited to play. It’s best not to open the practice with a lecture when court time is available. Instead, jump right into a warm-up activity like having all players, with their own basketballs, dribble in a zig-zag fashion down the court.
Coaches that tip things off by trying to communicate important coaching points at the start of practice will usually find an inattentive group, full of pent-up energy and not in a listening mode.
A coach will find players in much more receptive mode by executing one or two activities first. If you need to communicate a lot of information to your team, plan on meeting 10 minutes before court time availability and covering your points at that time. Talking to players when they’re catching their breaths is easier than wishing they were out on the court playing.
2.) Over-using your whistle
The best coaches I’ve seen coaching youth basketball develop rapport with their team. They don’t need a whistle to call everyone together, and coaches don’t need to flaunt their authority by blowing a whistle or always yelling.
Classroom teachers know that sometimes the best way to quiet down a class isn’t to raise their voices; rather, it’s to lower the volume of their voices. It forces a class to be quiet so they can hear. Don’t get me wrong, when scrimmaging, whistles are very effective. But, during the regular practice course, ask yourself how much you need to use a whistle.
3.) Staying too long with the same drill
Teaching kids how to play basketball requires repetition. By doing things the correct way over and over again, the action becomes a habit. But you usually can’t teach a skill completely in one exercise. Don’t try to. To keep practices interesting and fun, think about breaking practices down into 10-minute chunks.
Sometimes, an exercise requires multiple 10-minute periods. But keep things moving. Players’ attention spans are short, and new activities will keep them challenged. Don’t be afraid to revisit similar drills in future practices.
It’s better to practice one fundamental six times for 10 minutes throughout six practices than to practice it twice for 30 minutes at two practices.
4.) Making the team run killers
By moving quickly from one drill to the next and choosing drills that involve a lot of running, players should be getting a lot of conditioning from the practice plans you’ve put together. Running lines or killers (or whatever you want to call it) may be good for aerobic conditioning but doesn’t advance basketball skills.
If you have players run, have them dribble the ball or play defense. Good coaches put together practice plans that develop enough conditioning to remove the need for drills like killers.
5.) Scrimmaging too much
I’m always surprised by the number of coaches who spend virtually all of their practice time having inter-squad scrimmages or the coaches who try to schedule scrimmages for every practice. While there’s a need for scrimmaging, focused drills enable players to grasp concepts more effectively and should make up the lion’s share of most practices – especially at the start of a season.
Scrimmaging is undoubtedly easier for a coach as it doesn’t require much planning. Players will generally like it as well; after all, many have a pure love of the game. But it’s a combination of drills, teaching, and scrimmaging in practice that will develop the best team and get the most out of your players.
6.) Focusing on set offensive plays
Every youth coach should think about how I can prepare my players for their future basketball seasons. Teaching fundamentals like defensive positioning, dribbling with both hands, pick-and-roll, how to cut to the basket, and how to box out for rebounding provides players with building blocks that will help players this year and in subsequent years.
Coaches who focus on set offensive players may enjoy some short-term rewards for their team that season, but it’s unlikely that coaches down the line would use the same plays. Repeatedly practicing the same set of plays provides little future value. Give your players the building blocks that will enable them to succeed in any system.
7.) Having no season plan for practices
New youth basketball coaches often ask, “Where do I begin?” It’s a great question. New and experienced coaches should not only ask, “Where do I begin?” but also, “What should I teach in the middle and at the end of the season?”
By starting the season with an overall practice plan, you can think about the best time to teach certain concepts. I’m a big believer in starting out teaching defense.
I like starting with defense because if we can slow down opponents from scoring, we should be able to compete in most games. I also like incorporating how to deal with ball pressure, full-court presses, and half-court presses into early practices. If teams don’t know how to handle those, you can be on the bad side of big losses.
There’s a lot to teach youth basketball teams, and the order you teach it can make a difference. Think through when the best time is to teach shooting form, inbound plays, your offensive flow, rebounding, passing, etc. Just as a good coach plans each practice, a good coach will have an overall plan for the season.
By Mike O’Halloran
O’Halloran authored 30 Youth Basketball Practice Plans and Never Forget They’re Kids—Ideas for Coaching Your Daughter’s 4th—8th Grade Basketball Team. He has coached basketball for 15 years.