We work with a lot of young coaches and we also work with a lot of experienced coaches in our business and it is great to interact with them. We get to see so many different types of styles and personalities that we started to chart what abilities work and don’t work.

We’ve come up with 3 abilities that every successful coach should have when working with their teams.

1. Get players to buy into specific roles to help the team: The best coaches are able to get players to do what is asked of them for the sake of the team. When Michael Jordan was at UNC he played a role when he could’ve scored 30 points a game and his team won with it. Coach K wins every year with McDonald’s all americans but he gets kids who scored 30-40 a game in high school and turns them into role players in college. The best coaches get kids to see the big picture.

2. Communicate with the players: Coaches that make a difference all communicate with their players whether it be good or bad. The key is honesty and understanding. Coaches should initiate meetings with each player and listen to what is said and respond with honesty. If a player isn’t cutting it then the coach needs to be direct and tell them what they are doing wrong and not expect the player to guess.

3. Find what motivates each player: As part of the communication each coach needs to find out what motivates each player. Some kids love positive and others don’t respond to it. A school teacher told my daughter yesterday that she was disappointed in her for her lack of effort and expressed how it bothered the teacher in a personal way. Last night my daughter spent 5 hours doing homework for that class. Clearly the teacher knew what would motivate my daughter and it wasn’t telling her how great she was doing in the class. Some you pull aside and tell them what they need to work on while other kids need public praise. The only way to find out is talk with each player and find out what works and what doesn’t.

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Another drill in our series of ballhandling drills for young coaches. This one is very simple to do and can be made more difficult if you’d like.

Players line up with a partner and get about 15 feet apart. For younger players start closer, but the skill level really determines this. Play catch back and forth with the ball with each pass alternating between a chest pass and a bounce pass. You should make sure you are focusing on catching the pass as much as throwing it. Catch the pass by going to meet the ball and stepping toward the person throwing the pass.

If you want to make the drill more difficult you can add types of passes like overhead passes, one hand passes(either right or left, not football style). Have the players move if you want to and also increase the distance between the two.

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The 3 man weave is a drill that is timeless. It has been around for a long time with teams performing this drill during practices and pregames all over the world. Let’s explain how this drill works for the beginning coach and/or player.

Start at half court with 3 evenly spaced lines. For the sake of the blog we’ll call the players a, b and c. Player A is on the left, B in the middle and C on the right. Player B starts with the ball and passes to A. When the pass is made he runs behind him. The most simple part to the drill is understanding that when you pass you go behind the person you passed the ball to. Player A passes to player C and player A goes behind C while the players move closer to the basket. In a half court drill there should only be a couple passes made before the layup is attempted. ON the last pass, the player closest to the basket shoots and makes a layup.

The drill should be done without miscue and turnover. The ball should never touch the ground and is a great example of teamwork and fluidity. At first the players will struggle knowing where to go so constantly remind them to pass and go behind the person they passed to.

When they have made the transition to half court then have them do the drill full court without mistakes.

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This is another in our series of simple passing drills for beginning coaches and players. This drill is done by 3 players forming a triangle 10-15 feet apart. I prefer starting the triangle smaller and then making it bigger. 1 Defender then stands in the middle of the triangle and tries to cause a turnover. If the defender steals the ball or knocks it away then the person who passed the ball goes to the defensive position.

The defender should be very aggressive and focus on mirroring the ball. This drill shouldn’t be about taking a lot of chances on defense but being solid and strong and trying to knock the ball away. On offense the players should remember to pivot and use ball fakes. Coaches will find very quickly which players aren’t strong with the ball and who needs help working with pressure. Make sure each offensive player is using correct fundamentals and isn’t traveling either.

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One of the simplest yet most effective passing drill is the stationary passing drill. This is easy to use for beginning coaches and players or for any players who have problems with basic passing skills.

Players line up straight across from a partner 10-15 feet away from each other. Players pass the ball back and forth focusing on a couple items:

1. Chest Pass- Just as important to teach the player how to catch the pass as it is to throw the pass. To throw the pass make sure the player is stepping towards his target and throwing the ball hard. Do not allow players to throw soft passes. When receiving the pass make sure they meet the ball and have their feet in position. That means that the player receiving the pass should be able to catch the ball and be ready to either pass, dribble or shoot.

2. Bounce Pass- My least favorite pass unless the situation calls for it. Teach players the same fundamentals as the chest pass. Make sure that each pass has something on it.

3. Overhead Pass

To make the drill more interesting throw a defender in the middle and don’t allow a pass to be thrown over the defenders head too high. Players should always have their knees bent and their hands up.

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I’ve discussed it before but it drives me crazy that kids today have lost the ability to pivot correctly. I’ve watched game after game where a kid gets pressured and just leans back until he falls over. You have pivot feet for a reason and every kid should be taught how to use when playing ball.

Here’s a simple drill you can use to help young players learn the basics of pivoting:

Start at the baseline with 2 lines of players. The players at the front of each line should have a ball. The players dribble toware the foul line where they come to a jump stop. Both feet must land at the same time when doing the jump stop. It is one of the most common plays called traveling in youth basketball when players land without doing a jump stop.

Anyway, once the jump stop is completed the player should spin away from the ball to protect it and be facing the next person in line. A firm 2 hand chest pass is made and the player runs to the back of the line.

Coaches need to make sure they kids learn how to pivot away from the ball or keeping the ball from the defense. If you have to, stand next to them once they have jump stopped so they learn the true way to pivot. Make sure when they pivot the ball doesn’t cross the defense. Once they have jump stopped and pivoted then pressure them a little and see what happens. Have them practice pivoting and being strong with the ball.

This is a basic fundamental that isn’t taught much anymore and kids are expected to just know it but they don’t.

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A great drill done by the maker of ‘Coachdeck‘.

Three Lines of Players start at the baseline spread evenly apart. Player 1 has a ball and so does the person in the middle. We’ll call that guy the middleman.

Players run down the court in a controlled manner as the middleman passes to player 2 and then receives a pass from player 1. The middleman passes right back to player 1 and then receives a pass from player 2. This should all be done without dropping the ball or traveling.

Key Point: Younger players can use the ball with Middleman simply alternating passes between players 1 and 2.

You can make it a game by making them throw different types of passes back and forth to each other.

CoachDeck is a great new product that we offer on our site that can really help young coaches be organized and give them plenty of ideas for practices and drills.

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When I was a little kid we played a game called monkey in the middle where two people tried to keep something away from someone in between them. My kids even play it today all the time and think it is a great game. Well it is also a great basketball drill that beginning coaches can use to teach kids.

I went to a basketball game this past weekend to watch some 13-14 year old kids and I was astonished at how poorly they protected the basketball. Once they felt pressure none of them knew how to pivot to protect the ball or even ball fake. I watched as the ball was turned over about 40 times combined.

When doing the Man in the Middle ballhandling drill take two lines of players and place them 10-15 feet apart from each other. Have a defender be in between them to try to create a turnover. When i say create a turnover I mean a travel, a steal or a knock away. The defender should be aggressive to the point of near fouling because it is a ballhandling drill as much for the defense as it is for the offense.

The offensive players should be ball faking and pivoting to make a clear pass. Make sure they are strong with the ball and protect it. Whoever makes a turnover becomes the defense and doesn’t get out until the cause a turnover. It’s sad to say, but the players who take care of the ball shouldn’t have to play defense in this drill because they wont’ turn it over. You’ll quickly identify who needs the most help on your team.

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The next drill in our series is what is called the full court layup drill. This drill is again for coaches of younger teams who really want to work on teamwork, passing, ballhandling and finishing at the basket.

Line up players in a zig zag fashion using one half of the entire court. Drill can be done using 7-8 players. Player 1 starts with the ball on the baseline and makes a pass to the first player who immediately passes it back. Player 1 continues this up and down the court by passing and receiving passes from his teammates. The last player on the other end throws player 1 the ball who makes a layup. For rotating, each player should go back 1 spot so the person who makes the layup becomes the person who throws the last pass and the person who received the 1st pass now becomes the shooter.

To make the drill more difficult you can change the type of pass that is made by the players from a chest to a bounce pass. Players should also be made to jump stop for the layup as well as that is a great move to teach young players. The drill should be done with no or limited turnovers and no missed layups.

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We are starting on a sequence of team drills that can be used by coaches as they prepare for AAU season and the summer months.

The first dril is called the 4 pass layup drill and works like this….

3 lines are formed at the mid court line the same distance apart from each other. The ball starts on the far left side of the court where a pass is made to the player in the middle. The two players exchange passes while the player on the far right side waits for the 3rd pass to be made before sprinting the floor. The player in the middle makes a simple pass to the player cutting to the basket for layup. Players need to rotate through all sides and every layup should be made. If anyone misses a layup or makes a turnover then the team must do some sort of punishment.

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