One goal for all coaches is to have their players return to the sport for the next season.  This is goal is especially applicable to youth coaches.  It is very disturbing that 70% of kids drop of sports by the age of 13 and never return.  One of the ways to ensure the retention of kids is to provide them a positive environment.  The coach’s attitude is one of the most important keys to provide an enjoyable and worthwhile experience for athletes.  Coaches who are positive will create an environment kids want to be a part of.

Here is a list of characteristics of positive coaches from a document titled “Coaches Making Youth Sports a Positive Experience” from Pennsylvania State University.

1. Players come first – Positive coaches are first and foremost educators.  They love teaching and understand the growth stages of kids and use age appropriate coaching strategies.
2. Positive coaches develop character as well as skill.
3. Positive coaches foster mastery.
4. Positive coaches foster internal motivation.
5. Positive coaches foster critical self-observation skills.
6. Positive coaches focus on the learning process.
7. Positive coaches treat their players with respect.
8. Positive coaches honour the game.

Chase the Rabbit:

Youth coaches must devote some time every practice to building the athletic ability of their players.  “Chase the Rabbit” helps develop player’s speed and agility in an enjoyable way.

Players are lying in pairs on the floor; building a circle. Two players are standing outside the circle. One of the players is the ‘tagger’ and the other is the ‘rabbit’. When the coach says go the ‘tagger’ chases the ‘rabbit’ around the circle trying to tag them.  

If the ‘rabbit’ feels the ‘tagger’ will tag him/her, the ‘rabbit’ can dive next to a pair of players. The player on the outside of the pair becomes the new ‘tagger’ and the previous ‘tagger’ is now the ‘rabbit’.

If the ‘tagger’ tags the ‘rabbit’ before he/she dives next to a pair of players, then the ‘rabbit’ becomes the ‘runner’.

Ball Toss-Toughness Drill:
Physical contact is a part of basketball and youth coaches should help players become used to not only receiving contact but also initiating it.   This is a basic drill that Basketball BC Provincial U16 Girls’ and Heritage Park Coach Frank Chan uses to help teach players to be aggressive and get used to physical contact.

Divide team members into groups of three with one ball.  Two players will get low and attempt to gain position using their lower body by pushing against each other.  This helps teach a very important concept in basketball – “get low when being pushed”.  After 2-4 seconds of the players working to gain position, the third player will toss a ball high in the air for the two players to rebound.

After rebounding the ball the rebounder must pass the ball back to the player that tossed the ball.  The other player should try to prevent the pass.  There will be some degree of fouling that will occur because the players are working for position.  Coaches should allow a degree of lower body pushing and going over the back to grab a rebound.  Obviously if the fouling gets excessive it must be stopped.

The ‘tosser’ should throw three times and then the three players switch roles. 

Circle Lay-ups:
‘Circle lay-ups’ is a simple drill to get a high volume of lay-ups in a short amount of time.  It would serve as a great warm-up drill in practice. 

The drill works best with 5-6 players at a basket.  Two players start one behind the other in front of basket with a ball each.  The remaining players begin will begin outside the 3 pt. line without basketballs.

O1 will sprint to the basket and receive a short pass from O4; O1 shoots a lay-up, recovers the ball, and then becomes a passer.  After passing the ball, O4 will go the end of the cutting line.  The player will continue the circular pattern.

In the video clip the players begin at a 45 degree angle to the basket.  But coaches should regularly change the angle the players cut from and require different types of lay-ups.

Coaches can also use this drill for competition.  Have two groups compete against each other; it could be the first group to reach a specified number of baskets (done correctly) or how many lay-ups can a team make in a minute.  In a very short period of time players will get a lot of practice shooting lay-ups at full speed. 

The coach can also call two numbers – in the diagram the coach calls out “4 and 2!”.  In this case two players from each team come out.  One player will pick up the ball and pass ahead to his/her teammate for a lay-up.  The player who recovers the ball may dribble the ball but must pass to their teammate for the lay-up. 

The first player or team to score a basket scores a point for their team.  Set a time limit or a target score.  The team with the most points wins.

Full-court Crossfire:
In the January 2009 issue of The Coaches Clipboard the “Steve Nash Coaches-Just for You” section included half-court drills titled “Crossfire One” and “Crossfire Two”.  “Full-court Crossfire” is a full-court extension of these drills.  It is a great warm-up drill that incorporates running, dribbling, passing, and lay-ups with some traffic so the players must keep their eyes up.

The players begin in one of the four corners of the court and each player has a ball.  The first players in each corner dribble along sideline towards the other end of the court.  As the players dribble down the floor they should be practicing a variety of dribble moves: inside-out, crossover, hesitation, behind the back, etc.

As the dribblers’ near the mid-court line they should begin towards the basket. Then, as they near the other end of the floor, they will pass their ball to the player in the corner.  The player in the corner will then pass his/her ball back to this player.  The dribbler goes in for a lay-up and the passer begins dribbling the other end of the floor.  After shooting the lay-up the player goes to the line he passed to; so players will stay on the same side of the floor.

Players in the corner must pass the ball to the dribblers so they do not have to slow down to make the lay-up.  Therefore they must be attentive and recognize when to make the pass – this will help the players to understand timing.