Need advice please

[catoosanumber22]

Have been asked to coach a 5th grade girls team recently and I am struggling with deciding on what defensive philosophy to use. I feel that a 2-3 zone gives us the best chance to win ( most 10-11 year old girls can't step out and hit threes with much frequency ) but I want to help each kid develop and prepare them for later on down the road ( high school ball, hopefully college for some ) and I know they need to learn man to man. Should I do a nice balance of both ? I guess my dilemma is I am competitive and want to win but I know at this level my main job is to teach fundamentals of the game, prepare them for the future, and just having fun while being around the game I ( and the kids ) love so much. Thanks to all in advance

 

[jaymOU]

I coached youth basketball for about 5 years. Couple of things to think about.

*if this is a competitive league, then man-to-man would be great - if you have some athletes you can put a lot of ball pressure on teams and really make it hard for them to score. Most teams practice against a zone, so good man-to-man pressure can be hard for them to deal with

*If you are not as athletic, then I played a lot of 2-1-2 and trapped the point guard. Force them to dribble one direction and trail with the other point of the 2-1-2. When the guard turns back to the middle of the court, you have an excellent trap and a good chance for a TO.

*We also used to press full court, if allowed - 1-2-1-1 trap. Allow the inbound to the corner-only and trap there with the inbounds defender and a wing defender. Effective, again, if you have athletes.

Remember your number one goal is to have each kid want to play again, so often I found simple is best.

 

[catoosanumber22]

I coached youth basketball for about 5 years. Couple of things to think about.

*if this is a competitive league, then man-to-man would be great - if you have some athletes you can put a lot of ball pressure on teams and really make it hard for them to score. Most teams practice against a zone, so good man-to-man pressure can be hard for them to deal with

*If you are not as athletic, then I played a lot of 2-1-2 and trapped the point guard. Force them to dribble one direction and trail with the other point of the 2-1-2. When the guard turns back to the middle of the court, you have an excellent trap and a good chance for a TO.

*We also used to press full court, if allowed - 1-2-1-1 trap. Allow the inbound to the corner-only and trap there with the inbounds defender and a wing defender. Effective, again, if you have athletes.

Remember your number one goal is to have each kid want to play again, so often I found simple is best.[/QUO


Haven't met the team yet, I am hoping there are some nice athletes to work with. I am planning on running a motion offense that's focused on movement, screening, and crisp passing. Will be a lot of screening in the post in hopes of getting easy layups or shots within 8-10 feet. Thanks so much for the tips, I have no previous coaching experience even as assistant and am very young ; just always had a passion for the game for as long as I can remember

 

[CoachTalk]

Teach the man principles. They apply to zone for the most part. closeouts, forcing, screening, on ball def, help etc...

You're right, fundamentals are the most important. Ball handling, passing, screening, Basketball IQ.

 

[AdaSooner]

I agree with what jaymOU said at the end of his post: "Simple is best." That's especially true for fifth graders, unless they are exceptional athletes for their age group.

While a fifth grade girls team is capable of learning to play a man to man defense, I found in many years of working with kids at nearly every age group you can name, it's best (and much easier) to teach the younger kids how to play a position zone defense. A man to man defense is only as good as your weakest link. Thus, kids who get beat too much will get discouraged fast when they realize they're the reason the team's defense continues to break down.

I would teach them how to play a 2-1-2 or a 3-2 zone, depending on the offense you're facing, and where the opponent's strength lies. If the kids you're coaching learn to play a solid zone, work on a man to man in practice that will give them something to peak their interest.

I should add that all of that changes when the players are older and better equipped physically to play a man to man defense.

 

[jaymOU]

For a new coach - this is what I did.

Defense -

Teach one zone defense and one press defense - either half-court, or full court - depending on rules and athletes.

Work on rebound a lot, then work on it some more.

Offense

One zone offense - we generally used a triangle on one side of the floor and not a lot of screening, because screening a zone - which most teams will play - only helps you get perimeter shots really. Just too congested for any meaningful post screens, in my experience.

One baseline inbounds play - we ran line. Get all four kids to line up facing inbound passer - generally point guard. On break first guy goes to opposite block second guy to same side wing, third guy ball-side block and last guy to ball. Passer has options, but teach them patience as last guy is always open for short jump shot.

I had a lot of good drills - really worked on pivot foot, reverse pivot, etc... Have three people in the drill, as many trios as possible depending on numbers on team.

Line up across the lane facing each other - one step wider than the lane. Have two passers, one defender and it is basically keep away - except they can't dribble or throw over the player. All passes must be shoulder level and below. If the defender deflects the pass, they swap positions with the passer. Great for teaching many aspects, but I used it for pivot foot, reverse pivots - rip throughs on offense, starting low and bringing the ball high - sort like Kevin Durant.

Also did a lot of shell working, showing defenders where to be when the ball is moved around the perimeter - teaching jumping to the ball and moving while the ball is in flight. If you are on two passes away both feet are in the lane, if you are three passes away, body is under the basket. Really focusing on defensive movement and feet positioning - open toward the ball, not away from the ball.

1 v 1 and 2 v 2 drill

Everyone stands on baseline. I select two players to go against each other - start underneath the corners of the backboard. I roll the ball to the center of the court and they chase it. First one to arrive is on offense, second on defense. If you score you get two points, if you stop them you get one. I team them up to 2 v 2 and even 3 v 3. Great for competiveness.

Also did a lot of shooting games - one shooter one rebounder, different spots on the floor - first team to 10 from any given location - switch after five shots.

Full speed layups - every practice!

Anything to make it competitive.

I never ran sprints in practice, I just made them run in almost every drill, so conditioning occurred with practice.

 

[usedtobe1]

I coached my 2 sons for years, and we played mostly a match-up zone, and trapped on every pass. I liked the 1-3-1 because kids that young can't consistently pass in to the baseline anyway and it put a lot of pressure on the perimeter. We spent a lot of time on how/where to rotate when players set the trap.

I tried to teach them to not reach in on traps, but instead get their hands in the face of the offensive player and force a bad, hurried pass. I hated reach-in fouls!

We also ran an 11 man drill to teach the outlet pass and run the break with proper spacing. A good defense with a few easy baskets will win 95% of elementary school games.

 

[MsProudSooner]

Teach the man principles. They apply to zone for the most part. closeouts, forcing, screening, on ball def, help etc...

You're right, fundamentals are the most important. Ball handling, passing, screening, Basketball IQ.

I agree with this.

On offense, teach then to shoot layups correctly - to shoot a right hand lay-up with their right hand and a left-hand lay-up with their left hand - and correct passing skills and the jump stop and you will have done a good job, no matter how many games you win.

 

[Laxtothemax12]

I coached my brother in 6th grade. Just picked the kids we knew could run and play defense. Never ran an offensive play unless coming off timeout with a few seconds left in quarter, just played defense, got steals, and layups. Won every game by 10+, championship by 25. That's all ya need to win games in youth basketball.

 

[chuckb]

Teach the man principles. They apply to zone for the most part. closeouts, forcing, screening, on ball def, help etc...

You're right, fundamentals are the most important. Ball handling, passing, screening, Basketball IQ.

Absolutely. Win games with defense & ball movement. For 5th graders, the most important thing is fundamentals. Teach and play man.

 

[BCSooners]

I coached my brother in 6th grade. Just picked the kids we knew could run and play defense. Never ran an offensive play unless coming off timeout with a few seconds left in quarter, just played defense, got steals, and layups. Won every game by 10+, championship by 25. That's all ya need to win games in youth basketball.

and talent

 

[pnkranger]

Simplify. Pick one defense. Pick one offensive set. Pick one out of bounds play.

Teach them to dribble with their head up and good form on their passes.

 

[usedtobe1]

The advice depends on how competitive your league and players are. If they just play in a rec league like the YMCA, then the "keep it simple" approach is a good plan. Just don't keep it so simple that you don't challenge the better players. They will get bored. If your league is competitive like AAU ball, then you better step it up. They need work on fundamentals, but they need a lot more. Multiple offenses and defenses. Both zone and man sets. Half court offenses. Spacing. It's easier to coach all kids who really want to get better. It's more fun, too, but it's a challenge to coach a team with player skill levels miles apart.

To give you a sense of high level ball, I know a 4th grade kid (now 5th grade) who was on the GCBC team in Houston last year. Gulf Coast Blue Chips. His team was good but not great..... but they would overwhelm a rec league team. They traveled to tournaments. Won some tournaments and lost some. Went 2-2 at Nationals. Some of the other GCBC teams are phenomenal. Both boys and girls. They had two 4th grade boys teams and the other team was better. The GCBC 3rd and 5th grade (2024 and 2022) team won AAU nationals, the 4th grade team (2023) was ranked #2 nationally and lost in the nationals because they wouldn't let their 2nd best player (Lebron James Jr) play because he didn't live in Texas or an adjoining state. The girls 5th grade team was 3rd in the nation. You can see the accolades on their web page http://gcbcbasketball.com/

The point of all this is to have a plan that allows you to compete in the league level you're playing in. Don't have kids standing around. Have multiple drills going on at all times (e.g. have players not involved in a primary drill playing knockout.... don't let them "travel"). Challenge them whether it's rec league or AAU to work a little harder.

 

[Max Power]

Along with the ball handling and keeping it simple on o and D, teach them how to set proper screens and how to take charges properly.