Hi Coaches,

I have tried (and failed) to get my men's rec league basketball team to buy into the 5 out motion offence for last season, where they could maintain the spacing, but would forget the crucial element of movement after the pass.

For reference, the team is made up of guys with varying skills levels, from college down to beginner players. They want to screen the ball, but don't know where to go if the initial screen doesn't work i.e. where they should relocate if the play blows up. Additionally, we have limited practice time and not everyone can make the session each week, so preferably a system that is easy to learn, that could have scope for adding layers to it.

I believe that there could be scope to move to a 4-out 1-in offence, with the 'post' player sitting in the dunker spot, this would allow for the non-technical/big guys to sit there, and react to the dribble penetration, either moving under or over depending on which way the dribbler is driving to the basket, to receive a dump off/shovel pass for a shot attempt. Additionally, with one less player on the perimeter, the perimeter would be more spaced, and the cuts would be less technical, with the corners performing I cuts and self replacing, and the slots would just pass and move in a similar fashion to the 5 out.

The more I look into it, the more I want to run it this season, but I also want to incorporate their desire to screen the ball handler - maybe start the possession with an initial drag screen by the last guy down the court, where if the play blows up, he moves to that dunker spot and the half court offence rolls from there?

Looking for advice/general insight into how you would approach this situation.

Hi all

I'm in need of some help/advice and not sure where to look at. 

I'm taking over a coaching roll (this is Europe fyi) where I'll be coaching 'adult ladies'. Conditioning wise, they're not the best so i want to improve this. It's more for fun than to break records. At the moment most of my practices will be around 4 - 6 players. And i'm struggling to find drills that are either fun and/or build endurance.

If i let them run exercises full court, either there's a lot of waiting involved, not enough room to "breath" and they're worn out halfway through practice and that makes the other half very sloppy. 

I've noticed that a lower amount of players = also harder to keep the enthusiasm/fun up because drills become boring faster. 

• What where you're go to drills for endurance for 4 - 6 players?
• What are your go to drills for fun for 4 - 6 players (eg. shooting?)

Or if you can point me to some good resources (but mostly i find are exercises for larger groups and run them in waves full court). 

Appreciate the help!

I made some plays on this website called The Hoops Geek and thought I should share in here since especially youth league is coming up soon for some first time coaches out there because you will see these defenses often at the youth level.

For the 1-3-1 beater: 1 passes to 2, 2 passes to 3, 4 sets a back screen for 1, 1 curls around the screen and cuts to the basket, 4 stays after the screen, 5 sets corner but if 1 gets the ball off the cut then have 5 dive to the basket.

For the 2-3 beater: 1 passes to 4, 4 passes to 3, right after the pass to 3 5 flashes to the middle, and then 2 comes up to the wing. Lots of open looks will be there once 3 catches it in the corner.

I don't know if anyone else can relate but as I woke up, I've realized kids rarely remember the exact drills from a season. They remember road trips, bus rides, post-game talks, and the coach who believed in them after a bad game. That's a good reminder for me whenever I get caught up chasing the perfect practice plan.

One of my players have been putting in lots of reps and loves basketball. Yet he seems to not be as good in 1 vs 1 or in games he is a decent shooter not very athletic but pound for pound very strong Ia there any specific way to train with him?

Is it worth joining if you are a beginning coach?

My question was going to start as alternates to Phil Handy's 94 feet small ball - I don't want to assume any size 3 ball works the same but do we really need to spend $50 on a small ball?

But I'm curious and want to expand: what training equipment are you using that you find actually useful that you'd recommend a HS program invests in? Whether it's strength and conditioning, skill development, technology. Curious what I should be looking at and what's just a bad instagram ad

Los pongo un poco en contexto. Últimamente me ha interesado el baloncesto, solo que mi mamá me ha dicho que ya es muy tarde por la edad que tengo. Desde que era pequeño nunca me interesó ningún deporte.

Desde que tenía 10 años, mi mamá me decía que entrenara fútbol, pero yo no quise porque estaba muy obsesionado con el celular. Entre los 12 y los 14 años, mi mamá volvió a insistirme en que entrenara algún deporte, excepto el voleibol. El problema era que ese era el deporte que a mí me gustaba y, al final, nunca entrené.

Ahora, a mis 16 años, me interesó el baloncesto y, como voy a cumplir 17 en un mes y medio, quisiera empezar a entrenar. El problema es que mi madre me dice que ya es muy tarde para entrenar, porque eso lo debí haber hecho cuando era más pequeño.

For the record this girl is not a behavior issue and she doesn't have an ego and gets along with everyone. She's a good player (good shot, good rebounder) but has the potential to do a lot more. I see flashes of it in games when she attacks the basket strong, makes a high IQ play, etc. but she's not "in love" with basketball. We've talked. She likes it as a hobby but it's more something for her to do to pass the time and she doesn't really go to anything optional. She's very academically focused and involved in a lot of extra-curriculars which take up a lot of time which I totally respect and know will be best for her future.

I obviously can't want her success more than her and I don't want to put too much on her to where she's no longer interested in playing but have any of you had these types of players? In terms of her raw talent she's probably the 2nd best player on the team already with the definite ability to be the best. Any conversations or things seem to work or should I just meet her where she's at and accept that she's happy with where she is ?

My state has made an increasingly bigger deal about HS players scoring 1,000 career points. I think it’s a great accomplishment in the sense that it shows you had a really good career. (My state doesn’t allow students lower than 9th grade to play varsity, so you basically have to Avg 10ppg for four years OR have three really good seasons if you didn’t get much as a freshman.)

I’m generally in favor of it! I’ve had four girls get to 1,000 in my career. I usually present them with a signed game ball during the next home halftime opportunity (usually during the boys’ halftime) A historian in our state actually sends each kid a sticker to commemorate it and adds them to the list in his website as well.

I’ve definitely seen people take it too far. Parents wanting the literal ball, parents wanting the game stopped for acknowledgement when it happens, parents wanting an All-State style picture for the trophy case. But I generally am in favor of recognizing it.

Does your state/country celebrate this?

A recent conversation with an assistant coach of my daughter’s rec league softball team got me thinking about this. Shouldn’t rec leagues be enough to prepare kids to play sports in high school? I coached basketball for 10 years when my kids were in the youth program. They are now both in middle school and high school. While my daughter was very well prepared for basketball at the middle school level, she’s heading into 8th grade and only a year away from playing high school softball and I don’t feel she’s anywhere near prepared in that sport. There are vast differences in our rec softball league and rec basketball leagues. The softball program has been very poorly run for the past 5+ years. My daughter has had the same coach who also runs the program and is spread too thin. Practices get canceled a lot, they don’t do any real hitting practice, and the kids are playing all the positions and not really learning the nitty-gritty about any one position. I felt like the assistant coach got a little offended when I expressed some of my concerns and that she’s losing interest and is only one year away from playing high school ball and I don’t feel she’s prepared enough. Yes, kids need to also do some work on their own and that does also fall on the parents (which was his comeback). But she’s also a three sport athlete and plays basketball and volleyball. She has played AAU basketball for the past three seasons, so I’m not opposed to or have anything against travel sports programs, however, it’s tough financially and nearly impossible to find the time to participate on travel teams in more than one sport. And basketball is her clear favorite and the one she excels at most. Three sport athletes are a dying breed and I’d much rather encourage her to continue with all three. I felt like the softball coach was putting all the responsibility on her as a player and me as a parent to develop her more in that sport. But where is the value on three sport athletes and creating a great feeder program for kids and families that don’t have the time, money, equipment or desire to play travel sports or spend tons of time outside of the regular weekly practices and games. I grew up a three sport athlete, travel teams weren’t popular back then, and I still ended up a starting freshman on the softball team and earned the leagues first team honors that year. My senior year in high school I also led the league in scoring in basketball averaging 18 points a game. All with only rec league experience. Sure I did work on my own and with my dad and like I said I coached basketball for 10 years so I’m no stranger to helping my kids develop in their sports outside of regular practice time. But shouldn’t we expect enough of our rec leagues to prepare our kids from 1-8th grade to be able to compete at the high school level without all this expected extra commitments? It’s sad that kids can’t just play sports for fun, exercise, and to learn the game and make friends, and that be enough to prepare them for high school play.

For those of you who have, who do you reach out to, what do you say, do you try to attend at any certain times or days? What is the process of attending actually like?

I’ll say first and foremost, that we all want to coach kids that love basketball. We all want to watch people play basketball that love basketball.

With that being said, if I meet a female over 6’1” or a male over 6’8” and they tell me they don’t play basketball it makes me irrationally feel a type of way. I was an undersized post player so I’d imagine it’s mostly jealousy.

I heard once that 1% of all people in America over 7’1” make the NBA. A 1/100 chance of something like that is crazy! Now do most of those people probably love basketball? I’m sure most of them do, I’m sure they also had a lot of resources put into making sure they were successful once adults realized they were going to be 7 feet tall.

I’m sure a lot of them have to deal with “you are only good because you are tall,” and comments like that. I taught at a school with a 6’2” cheerleader that didn’t play for my basketball team and while I was always nice to her, I can’t help but think it sure would have been nice if she decided to like basketball when she was 9 years old.

Have you ever found yourself at a school where a very tall person just had no interest?

Organizing a summer camp that will include a skills session (shooting, passing, finishing, ball handling, etc) and SSGs session with 3 stations each. I need some new ideas that are appropriate for a beginner AND a borderline varsity player. Planning time is limited so ideally they can be easily explained to a high schooler running the station (average BBall knowledge/experience). Each station is at a half court.

An example that has worked is 4 v 3 Continuous half court. Kids like it, easy to run and every kid gets something out of it. It helps that it's fairly competitive, fast paced and you can engage 8 kids at a time.

i am a 12 year old i have been playing for 6 months playing with my friends but i just skiped the fundamentals and learn all this advanced thing like between the legs crossover but now i see some cracks i want to fix that this summer for my my school team (first time playing for a team)

My son is 11, going into the 5th grade. He has been playing since 2nd grade. He played on rec for his school. Then starting with 3rd grade he played travel for his school. This spring he played AAU. He is now playing two outdoor summer leagues, one is with all random kids and the other is his travel team for school. Neither have practices, just one game per week.

In AAU, he was doing very well. Aggressive, rebounding, shooting, moving to get open...only thing he was having trouble with was dribbling and being contested (which he knows and works on). Since these two summer leagues have started, he has lost his aggressiveness. He doesn't try to get open as much. He won't go in for a rebound unless he is right under the basket. Best way to describe the way he is playing now is performative. He holds his hand up to call for the ball but he isn't moving. He jumps up for a rebound but puts his hands up halfway and is also jumping backwards a little.

My wife and I talk to him about playing basketball. He says he loves it and wants to continue as much as possible. We asked him why he thinks he isn't as aggressive and he doesn't know but he knows he isn't playing like he did in AAU.

Has anyone had experience with this before? My initial thoughts are, he either 1) doesn't want to be aggressive because he may fall down on a much harder surface playing outside or 2) he is worried about making a mistake (he didn't seem to worry about this in spring travel though). I want to help him but I don't know where to start besides helping him with his confidence.

I’m planning ahead for next season and I want implement Paul Westheads system or something similar to what Dan Davis run. I want to emphasize ball handling, quick decisions, pushing it off makes and misses, and defensive pressure. I’ll be coaching 2 teams one will be 2nd/3rd grade boys and 5th/6th grade girls. Any advice would be great

i am 12 trying to fix my shooting

Hi everyone,

I’m currently working on improving my practice planning and building a more structured development system for my U18 team.

I’m interested in how other coaches organize their practices throughout the season:

• How do you structure a 60 minute practice?
• Do you plan sessions individually, weekly, monthly, or by season phases?
• How do you balance individual skill development, small-sided games, team concepts, and competition?
• Do you have a specific framework or methodology you follow when designing practices?

I would really appreciate it if anyone is willing to share resources that helped them improve — practice plans, coaching manuals, PDFs, books, presentations, or useful links.

I’m especially interested in materials related to:

• U15/U19 player development
• practice planning systems
• teaching progressions (from individual skills to team concepts)

Thanks in advance to anyone willing to share knowledge. Always looking to learn and improve as a coach.

Hey Coaches, there’s a lot of videos out there now that says to teach concepts instead of set plays. How do you guys organize teaching concepts instead of set plays? Do you still have a couple sets (excluding late game) or is it fully teaching concepts and if so how is it organized so your players know when and what to use? I’d like to incorporate concepts more but would like to see if anyone has an example of how it’s organized so the players know what is going on. Thanks!

SORRY FOR LENGTH: About two years ago, I made a couple of posts on here asking for advice during my first season coaching private school middle school boys' basketball. For anyone who didn't see those, here's the quick version. I inherited a team with only nine players, and the talent level was pretty limited. I reached out to the high school coaches to ask what they wanted me to emphasize so the kids would be better prepared for the next level. The high school head coach is also the director of a pretty big travel basketball program. He's done a really good job recruiting some of his AAU players into the school, and his high school teams have been successful because of it. But when I brought up my concerns about developing our middle school players, they didn't seem too interested. The impression I got was that they didn't expect many of those kids to play much at the high school level anyway, so it just wasn't a priority. Because of that, I decided to focus on teaching basketball instead of simply trying to win games. We installed the flex offense because I wanted the kids learning how to pass, cut, screen, move without the ball, and read defenses instead of relying on one player to create everything. When I first posted, we were 5-3. We ended up finishing 7-5. It took a while, but eventually the offense clicked, and watching those kids start to really understand how to play together was one of the most rewarding coaching experiences I've had. Last season (my second year), we went 10-2 and finished as conference runners-up. Almost all of those kids have now moved up to the high school. Now I'm heading into my third season, and I'm in a situation I'm struggling with. We have two reclassified players transferring from another school and coming down to play middle school this year, and they're really, really good. The rest of my roster is 5 sixth and 4 seventh graders who are either very inexperienced, never beench coahed by me, or just have a very poor skill set. We hosted a middle school summer tournament with some other nearby middle school teams recently, and since then I've started getting really agressive pressure from both the high school coach and some of the parents to move away from the flex offense and let those two players be "more ball-dominant". I understand their point. If our only goal is to win middle school games, giving those two the ball every possession probably gives us the best chance. But I also have nine other kids who are sixth and seventh graders. They're the future of the program, and I don't want them spending an entire season standing in the corners watching two players play isolation basketball. My philosophy has always been that middle school is where kids should learn how to actually play the game, not just how to get out of the way for the best player. The other thing that's making me question everything is what happened with my first two teams. Most of those kids improved a ton over the last two years, but now that they're in high school, I honestly don't expect many of them to get meaningful varsity minutes once they make it out of JV. Between the reclassified players, transfers, and the talent already coming through the travel program, there's a pretty established pecking order. It makes me wonder if I'm preparing kids for a style of basketball they'll never actually get to play there. So I'm curious what some of you who have coached youth or middle school basketball would do. Would you stick with a development first philosophy and keep running something like the flex? Or would you adapt everything around your two best players because that's what gives you the best chance to win? And how do you handle pressure from parents and the high school staff when your philosophy on player development doesn't completely line up with theirs?

I'm coaching for a few weeks this summer the fundamentals of basketball to 5-6 year olds. I have coached around this age but not this young before. Any advice on games or ways to explain things to kids this age to make it easier and more fun for them? Thanks!