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Originally Posted by Noop
Barkeep I haven't read your entire post (Kinda of long sorry  ) However I do have experience coaching kids that age. (Won a few championships with the most recent being this pass summer) |
That's pretty cool. What level was it at? Congrats on your successes. And yes I do go long sometimes, but am trying to be more brief this season.
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Are you sure giving kids that age an offense is best? I normally give them plays but inform them that I want them to know where to stand. And use the plays to teach spacing.
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My number 1 goal is not to win, but to have them develop as players. I think the time spent practicing plays, which work maybe 20% of the time, could be better spent working on other areas of their game. The thing I like about the Read and React is that it is a structured offense, but one which teaches them skills, such as the floor spacing you talk about, which they can then take with them to whatever teams they're on in the future.
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As for the defense depending on the rules I would have them play 1-1-2-1 or a 2-3 about after a score and man2man when they have to get back on defense.
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Frankly at this age I think a 1-3-1 is by far the most effective defense a team can run. But I also think teaching zone at this age doesn't advance my #1 goal of teaching them fundamental skills. I do think you hit the nail on the head though with the value of changing defensive looks. I had run 100% man in the past, but am going to be teaching a trapping zone to show as an alternate look in the 4th quarter. It's a compromise for the sake of winning, but one which I don't think compromises too much.
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For an hour practice it would breakdown like this...
5 - Talk
10 - Warm Up (Running, running, running)
20 - Defensive drills
5 - Water Break
15 - Lay Up Drills
10 - Some kind of game like lighting or full court man to man
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That seems real solid. I go a little heavier on the warm up, what I call continuous motion, but otherwise my practices are planned out very similarly.
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- If there is time I would go over some more defensive stuff.
- I keep practice at a high tempo, I don't accept walking at all.
- I encourage what I call character plays where they will dive for the ball, fight for rebounds, etc. building toughness (however this varies from child to child because some kids aren't there physically.
- Also in order to build a team nature if someone messes up constantly everyone will run.
I will stop here since I am not sure if this advice is welcomed.
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I really appreciate your advice and comments. I always am trying to learn and improve.