Breakthrough Basketball eBook: Fun with Youth Basketball
Breakthrough Basketball has produced a fantastic new eBook about how to have fun youth basketball practices. Any high school coach that has a successful program will tell you how important the feeder program(s) are to the success of their varsity team. The thing most coaches forget is how to make practices fun while still improving their players. I think it takes a special person to coach at the middle school/elementary/AAU/USSSA level and do it RIGHT. If you have a coach that is willing to sacrifice a loss in order to teach kids how to play basketball the right way (ie. man to man defense, a few plays on offense, motion, transition to half court) then you are blessed. Most are devoted to proving how smart they are or how much knowledge they have and get caught up in trying to be a Bobby Knight clone on the sidelines instead of keeping basketball fun for these kids.
How many of us have seen a kid that wasn't skilled or developed at the middle school age turn into a beast by the time they are in high school? If it hasn't happened yet, it will. My point is that the more we can get a basketball in these kids hands AND have them enjoy it, the better off basketball will be in our program. Breakthrough Basketball has put together a ton of great drills that will keep our kids interested when so many of them simply want to go home and play XBox.
I reviewed their eBook 60 Fun Drills to Make Youth Basketball Fun this week and was impressed. We all want effective skill development as early as possible and this book provides numerous drills/games that can be used at any level.
What separates this eBook from just another book of drills are the 7 Critical Elements to Making Practice Fun section that precedes the drills. Many of these drills are used by coaches already, but the 7 Critical Elements contain coaching wisdom useful for any coach designing an effective practice. The 7 Critical Elements are:
#1 - Make Practice Fast Paced
#2 - Set Your Players Up for Success
#3 - Establish Discipline
#4 - Get Your Players' Attention
#5 - Structure Your Practice Properly
#6 - Stay Positive and Upbeat
#7 - Make Your Drills Fun
They go into great detail into how to accomplish these seven goals and I have picked out some of the key coaching points that I thought were insightful and included them below.
Transition to New Drills Quickly - In the pursuit of the newest play or drill we often forget the importance of getting those kids moving to the next thing IMMEDIATELY. Just so you know, our players never move fast enough the first week of school...Thanks Dad.
Use Stations - Just like basketball camps, any coach that hasn't included stations in their practice at least once a week is missing out on something that will teach kids many skills in a short amount of time. Also, they suggest great drills to use as stations and this is important to a youth coach that is solo.
Keep Everyone Busy - They also suggest 10 different drills designed to keep your players busy and active - THE ENTIRE PRACTICE! What good is standing around in a lay-up line? They have many drills that can be done to develop skills instead of waiting around...this is critical because many youth coaches only have one gym or even worse, one end of a half court. Do as much as you can with what you have...isn't that the heart of coaching?
This is just a review of the first section and this eBook has many more nuggets to offer any coach, not only a youth coach. To order this eBook, go to http://www.breakthroughbasketball.com/pr/fun-youth-drills.html for more information or to order this eBook.
Breakthrough Basketball has produced a fantastic new eBook about how to have fun youth basketball practices. Any high school coach that has a successful program will tell you how important the feeder program(s) are to the success of their varsity team. The thing most coaches forget is how to make practices fun while still improving their players. I think it takes a special person to coach at the middle school/elementary/AAU/USSSA level and do it RIGHT. If you have a coach that is willing to sacrifice a loss in order to teach kids how to play basketball the right way (ie. man to man defense, a few plays on offense, motion, transition to half court) then you are blessed. Most are devoted to proving how smart they are or how much knowledge they have and get caught up in trying to be a Bobby Knight clone on the sidelines instead of keeping basketball fun for these kids.
How many of us have seen a kid that wasn't skilled or developed at the middle school age turn into a beast by the time they are in high school? If it hasn't happened yet, it will. My point is that the more we can get a basketball in these kids hands AND have them enjoy it, the better off basketball will be in our program. Breakthrough Basketball has put together a ton of great drills that will keep our kids interested when so many of them simply want to go home and play XBox.
I reviewed their eBook 60 Fun Drills to Make Youth Basketball Fun this week and was impressed. We all want effective skill development as early as possible and this book provides numerous drills/games that can be used at any level.
What separates this eBook from just another book of drills are the 7 Critical Elements to Making Practice Fun section that precedes the drills. Many of these drills are used by coaches already, but the 7 Critical Elements contain coaching wisdom useful for any coach designing an effective practice. The 7 Critical Elements are:
#1 - Make Practice Fast Paced
#2 - Set Your Players Up for Success
#3 - Establish Discipline
#4 - Get Your Players' Attention
#5 - Structure Your Practice Properly
#6 - Stay Positive and Upbeat
#7 - Make Your Drills Fun
They go into great detail into how to accomplish these seven goals and I have picked out some of the key coaching points that I thought were insightful and included them below.
Transition to New Drills Quickly - In the pursuit of the newest play or drill we often forget the importance of getting those kids moving to the next thing IMMEDIATELY. Just so you know, our players never move fast enough the first week of school...Thanks Dad.
Use Stations - Just like basketball camps, any coach that hasn't included stations in their practice at least once a week is missing out on something that will teach kids many skills in a short amount of time. Also, they suggest great drills to use as stations and this is important to a youth coach that is solo.
Keep Everyone Busy - They also suggest 10 different drills designed to keep your players busy and active - THE ENTIRE PRACTICE! What good is standing around in a lay-up line? They have many drills that can be done to develop skills instead of waiting around...this is critical because many youth coaches only have one gym or even worse, one end of a half court. Do as much as you can with what you have...isn't that the heart of coaching?
This is just a review of the first section and this eBook has many more nuggets to offer any coach, not only a youth coach. To order this eBook, go to http://www.breakthroughbasketball.com/pr/fun-youth-drills.html for more information or to order this eBook.
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