Layups and Life Lessons: 101 Coaching Tips for Youth Basketball

By Michael O'Halloran

How to add fun to your practices, teach fundamentals and life lessons, and motivate your team to play winning basketball. Volunteering to coach a youth basketball team can be a difficult challenge. With the knowledge gained from this book, you'll be confident at practices and games. You'll know what to do. Your players will reap the rewards and play their best basketball.

Here's what you'll learn:

- The “Secret Sauce” to winning at youth sports - 7 things every coach should know.

- What good basketball coaches accomplish before the first practice to get the season started right.

- Ideas and suggestions for how to conduct practices - the most important time for your team.

- How to be a great teacher.

- Some ideas for games at practices to keep it fun.

- Practice theme suggestions to keep players engaged.

- How to coach on game days.

- Life lessons to teach your players.

Author Michael O’Halloran has coached youth basketball for 15 years. While teaching layups and life lessons, he's also compiled an impressive number of wins including a Minnesota State Championship title. He's authored two other basketball books: "Never Forget They're Kids" and "The Well-Prepared Coach - 30 Youth Basketball Practice Plans."

• Language: English
• Publisher: Michael O'Halloran
• Release date: Oct 27, 2013
• ISBN: 9780985318512

Michael O'Halloran

Michael O’Halloran has coached youth basketball for 15 years. While teaching layups and life lessons, he's also compiled an impressive number of wins including a Minnesota State Championship title. He's authored two other basketball books: "Never Forget They're Kids" and "The Well-Prepared Coach - 30 Youth Basketball Practice Plans." He's the founder and editor of the website: SportsFeelGoodStories.com. The site showcases inspirational sports stories that focus on good deeds, overcoming obstacles, achievement and sportsmanship.

Book preview

Introduction

Having fun is important to every youth basketball team. When players are having fun, they’re more engaged, they learn more and the team enjoys more success. It makes for a more memorable experience for all the players involved. Players love to go to practice, enjoy the overall experience, and can’t wait to sign up for basketball the following year.

It would seem that all youth coaches would make incorporating fun into their practices a part of their season’s plan. Unfortunately, that’s not the case.

Some coaches, even with the best intentions, can zap the fun out of the game. Excessive drill and kill activity, being overly focused on wins and putting too much pressure on kids doesn’t work. When players think that going to practice feels too much like work, the coach has failed. Many kids choose to play sports, including basketball, for the purpose of having fun. When it stops being fun, many kids check out.

Young players hunger for fun at every practice and game. If fun isn’t part of the equation, kids might first look to create it through their own devices. The better coaches have learned to make fun an integral part of the season. They know that having fun doesn’t have to come at the expense of being competitive. In fact, if you do it right, it compliments a team’s competitiveness.

This book is for those coaches looking to get the most from their players by creating a memorable season that is more fun for everyone.

GENERAL MANAGEMENT

The man who wants to lead the orchestra must turn his back on the crowd.

- Author Unknown

The Secret Sauce to winning at Youth Sports - 7 things every coach should know

The secret sauce to winning at youth sports is the understanding that it all starts with the right coaching attitude. A team that has a low percentage of wins can still have a winning experience, if a coach has the right attitude. And, a team that has a high winning percentage can have still a poor season if the coach loses sight of the big picture.

What constitutes the right coaching attitude? Here’s a list of 7 things every coach should know:

1. Focus on player development.

A coach’s primary responsibility is player development. It’s not about the won-loss record. Wins will take care of themselves if you take the right approach. During games, it’s not about critiquing refs’ calls or trying to influence calls. If you’re focused on teaching your players, there isn’t time for that. Player development is all about improving individual and team skills. There’s a lot to learn at practices and at games. If you’re too focused on how the refs are calling the game, you can’t be as focused as you need to be on instructing players.

2. Take a lifetime learning approach to coaching.

Trying to coach a basketball team today based on how you remember being coached as a kid is a challenge. Take advantage of all the latest and greatest teaching techniques available. Read a book. Check out some YouTube videos on basketball coaching. Go to a coaching clinic. Talk to other coaches. Invite high school players to practice and have them demonstrate some drills. There’s a lot of knowledge out there. Being a great basketball coach means you’re always learning. Most great basketball coaches I know are thieves in the best possible sense of that word. They take away key learnings and approaches from other coaches and teams. They’re always on the lookout for ways to better their coaching technique and to better their teams. And, for that reason, their teams get better.

3. Prepare for every practice.

Practice courts and practice fields are where teams are made, where players learn and where bonds are formed. As a coach, you should take advantage of the time you have together with your team and be ready with a plan. Having a plan is an indicator that you’ve thought the practice through with goals in mind. One of the best things about bringing a short, written plan to practice is that it enables you coach in the moment. You don’t have to worry about what you’re going to do next, so you can give your complete focus to the activity in front of you. Like good chess players, good coaches don’t just plan out one move or practice, but they think ahead for several. To optimize the finite amount of time you have with your team, come prepared. Plan your practice time. You’ll accomplish so much more.

4. Cultivate an atmosphere where kids can’t wait to come back to the next practice.

A challenge for youth coaches is to keep players engaged throughout the entire season. How do you do that? Keep it interesting. Keep it fun. Know your audience. In your practice plans, include some fun games and activities that you know your players will like. End practices on high notes, so that players leave wanting more. Mix it up. Don’t stay too long with one activity. Don’t lecture too much, especially when you first take the court. Ask your assistant coaches, players’ parents and players for ideas on