Coaching notes
Practical writing for youth basketball coaches. Free, no sign-in.
Man to man defense in youth basketball: three rules, in this order
Not another argument for man to man. Three rules an under-12 team can actually hold, one per practice, with the drills, the timings and the way each one goes wrong.
22 Oct 20267 minBasketball inbound plays for youth: two plays, not twelve
Every list gives you five plays or ten. At U12 the play is almost never what broke. Here is the inbounder fix, two sets worth running, the three things that break each one, and the twelve-minute block that installs them.
19 Oct 20267 minHow to teach a jump stop: ten minutes on the landing, three weeks on the trigger
Every guide teaches the landing. Your players will have it in one practice and still not use it in a game. Here is the ten-minute block, the five failure modes, and the three named triggers that make it stick.
15 Oct 20267 minYouth basketball shooting drills: find each kid's line first
Most shooting drill lists assume form is the problem. Under 12 it is usually strength. Here is the eight-minute test that tells you where each kid can actually shoot from, and the drills to run once you know.
12 Oct 20267 minBasketball dribbling drills for kids: three rungs, and the one you skip
Dribbling has three rungs: control, eyes up, and defended. A ninety-second test that tells you which one your group is on, nine drills sorted onto them, and how each one stops working.
8 Oct 20266 minYouth basketball positions explained, and what to use instead under 12
The five positions in one line each, then the honest part: why the labels stop helping under about twelve, and what to coach instead. Five spots, three jobs, what to say to the kid and the parent, and the drills that teach it.
5 Oct 20266 minBasketball warm up games: pick the one that teaches tonight's lesson
Most warm-up lists are a menu with no timings and no link to the rest of practice. Pair the warm-up to what you are teaching that night, with the failure modes.
1 Oct 20266 minHow to run a basketball practice with one coach: two groups, not four
Every practice-planning guide quietly assumes a second adult exists. Alone, supervision is the binding constraint, not time. Sort drills by how much of you they need, cap yourself at two groups, and give the group you cannot see a number.
28 Sept 20266 minBasketball practice drills for beginners: six drills, in the order that works
Beginner drill lists are sorted by skill, which is useless at 6:02pm with twelve kids on the court. Six drills sorted by what each one assumes they can already do, with the failure mode and the move-on test for each.
24 Sept 20266 minU12 basketball practice plan: your team has split in two
At U12 some of your kids have grown and some have not, and no template accounts for it. A 75-minute session built to run at two speeds, with the way each block goes wrong.
21 Sept 20266 minBasketball drills for 10 year olds: the session that teaches spacing
At ten, kids can finally hold a rule for a whole possession. A 60-minute session built on that, with the way each block goes wrong and what to do about it.
17 Sept 20266 minBasketball rules for kids, explained for the coach who has to teach them
Eight rules a nine-year-old actually needs, the drill that teaches each one and how it goes wrong, four rules to let go this season, and how to teach rules with a whistle instead of a whiteboard.
14 Sept 20267 minHow to coach 8 year olds at basketball: the six-minute block
Of 171 drills in our library, 57 are tagged U8 and the median runs six minutes. Here is what that number does to your session, what an eight-year-old can actually learn, and what to stop trying.
10 Sept 20267 minFree basketball practice plan generator: five checks before you run it
Any generator will hand you a plan. None of them tells you how to read it. Five ninety-second checks that turn a generated practice plan into one that survives twelve nine-year-olds.
8 Sept 20267 minBasketball tryout drills: what you can actually see in 90 minutes
Thirty kids, ninety minutes, one pair of eyes. The arithmetic of a youth basketball tryout, a minute-by-minute session, and the drills that tell you nothing.
4 Sept 20268 minHow to teach layups to kids: it's the footwork, not the shot
Kids miss layups because of the take-off foot, not the shot. A four-week plan for one coach and twelve kids, with the rep maths and how each week goes wrong.
1 Sept 20267 minA 60-minute basketball practice plan, and the 15 minutes you're losing
A minute-by-minute 60-minute basketball practice plan for twelve kids and one coach, the fifteen minutes most sessions waste, and how each block goes wrong.
27 Aug 20267 minCoaching youth basketball: the season, week by week
A twelve-week calendar for a first-time youth basketball coach. What to teach in weeks 1, 4, 8 and 12, what to stop doing at each stage, and how every phase goes wrong.
24 Aug 20266 minEqual playing time in youth basketball: a rotation that works
How to build a fair basketball substitution rotation for 8, 10 or 12 kids, with maths that actually adds up, plus when equal minutes stops working.
21 Aug 20267 minThe first 10 minutes of your first basketball practice
A minute-by-minute script for the opening of your first practice, for volunteer coaches who have never done this. Exact words, three rules, what goes wrong.
21 Aug 20265 minFun basketball games for kids: which one, and when
Fun basketball games for kids, sorted by the problem you've got: practice falling apart, six kids, sixteen kids, teaching defence, one kid winning it all.
21 Aug 20267 min
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