Help! Questions about coaching 7 year old girls basketball

[ScoJo15]

Well, I've just taken the coaching responsibilities for our school's 7 year old Girl's basketball team!

I played and understand the game but was hoping that someone out there could provide me some insight on what it is like to coach one of these teams, what the practices should be like, what are the games like or maybe point me to a great online resource??

Thanks for any help!

 

[diskids2]

Ok well first - GOOD LUCK!

At our school, we have two practices assigned each week. The biggest challenge for the younger kids age 7-9 is keeping them focused during practice. Our practices are 1 1/2 hours long. I would most definitely get an assistant coach and if you have more than 12 girls, I would get two assistant coaches.

Based on the age, I'm assuming none of the girls have played organized basketball (other than possibly gym class). I would divide the initial practices into three parts: ball handling - dribbling (do as many fun drills as you can think of) incorporate this with running and walking. The next part would be where to stand on defense/offense. You probably will run a zone defense/offense with two on top one in the middle and two in the back. And the last part - shooting.

After the first few practices, I would start working on defense and POSSIBLY a few SIMPLE plays.

Some of the girls will be naturally aggressive/assertive - go after the ball all the time and others will not. It will be important to maximize on everyone's strengths. Those that are not assertive may be great shooters and vice versa.

And last but not least - a word about parents, of which I am one and a coach - involve the parents in an organized way. I would not have open practices in fact our league doesnot even allow it.

 

[Big Dude]

I've been coaching for many years now. T-Ball, Flag Football, Baseball and Girls Basketball. diskids2 is right on the money. These are developing players just learning the game. Make it fun so the kids keep interest.

For me, number 1 is to have a parents meeting before practices start. Make it a mandatory meeting so the parents know you mean business. At this meeting, let the parents know what your coaching philosophy is. Let them know that, although your child may grow up to play like Sheryl Swoops, all children will receive equal treatment. Look for assistants. Look for someone to help you with the dreaded "fund raiser". Let the parents know that you are not a babysitting service and they can be contacted at any given time during practices. Once that is out of the way, you will be able to concentrate on the kids.

Good luck and most of all, have fun! There's nothing like walking in a supermarket and a kid you coached years ago comes up to you and says "Hi Coach!"

Adam aka Big Dude

 

[ScoJo15]

Thanks so much for a great response!

I just picked up a book at Barnes & Noble that details a lot of what you've mentioned. I'll get the info on how long the practices will be next week. 1 1/2 hours is a long time, but I bet it accomplishes a lot.

We have two teams of 8 girls each and there are two coaches per team so that should really help things along.

Good suggestion about closed practices...I hadn't thought about that yet but I can see how that is a great idea.

Finally, what are the games like?? Is it kind of a chase the ball around kind of thing with lots of steals and breakaways?

thanks again for your quick and informative response.

 

[kasar]

I'm not a coach but I've been helping DH for years. It's great that you're coaching those kids, lots of parents aren't willing to do it, so kudos to you.

Even though they're little, they can learn the basics and a few "plays". They might not use them in a game situation because they're all excited to take the shots, but you're laying the groundwork for the concept of teamwork. I would also start teaching them the terminology a little bit - in our experience, a lot of girls don't know the "lingo" of basketball and sports in general. Sometimes they don't even know what you're talking about when you say offense and defense. If you just go over the basics you'll be able to teach them a lot more.

If you can get the gym time, I'd try for an hour practice twice a week. An hour and a half is a long time to keep their focus. But if that's all you can get, it will be fine. I would find the "loud" mom or dad (teachers are great at this) to do crowd control - making sure they're paying attention so you can work on their skills.

Finally, have fun! You may be these girls' first coach and your attitude will teach them a lot about how fun sports can be. Sounds like you're off to a great start. Good luck.

 

[geetey]

Yep Yep yep! All of the above advice is good.

Have you had a coaches meeting yet? Your school should go over the rules in place for your league, expectations from parents and coaches, maybe even some drill guidance. Our school had a meeting for selecting gym times, as well as drafting players (so the teams change each year with a balance of players on each team - not all of the 'good' athletes on one team) and we had a meeting with the local high school coach to help show us some drills, etc. Especially helpful for the new coaches.

Practices - make it fun! We always practice 1.5 hr twice a week and I had no problem filling the time or keeping the girls busy. It will take longer to teach them basic skills (dribbling with their left hand) than you think.

I always start with conditioning - couple of laps around the gym. Some silly running drills (they think it is a game). No ladders for me.

Basic drills - passing, chest passing, BOUCE passing, side passing, lots of passing drills. Dribbling - dribbling around chairs (weave), dribbling with one hand down the gym and back, switch hands, do again, dribble while running but switch when I yell SWITCH, dribble races (create two teams)
shooting drills - Don't be surprised if they can't shoot up to the net! shoot around the net, free throw, etc....

Defense - pair them up and dribble up and down the court, teach them about keeping their body between the ball and the net, boxing out

Offense - BASIC plays. We rock because my girls have basic plays in place for the first game. Nothing fancy, but then they know what to do on the court. Simple screen, pass pass pass shot...

Okay - you can tell I have been doing this too long.

I love the little kids. Remember this is INSTRUCTIONAL. Teach them the right form, correct way to play (we play basketball on our feet, not diving for the floor) and they will all grow up to be good players. It isn't about the wins, but learning to play the CORRECT way. Make it fun! Break for water every 20-30 minutes! Have a blast!

I have a book filled with plays, drills, etc, but I will see if I can find any links.
Good luck!

 

[geetey]

Games! Sorry - forgot about games!

Since this age should be instructional league, the referees are typically extremely helpful. If they blow the whistle, they walk over to the child and tell them WHY they had to and what they shouldn't do. The clock doesn't stop until the last 2 minutes (well - here anyway) so the games don't drag.

Make sure the girls don't have ANY jewelry on. No barrettes or hard clippies allowed either. No gum either.
Set your uniform now (if they have a tank - what color shirt to wear under), what color shorts. Look like a team - feel like a team.
Set how early you want them at the game (we do 30 minutes).
How to start warmups (we enter from the doorway - do a lap to our court and then another lap around our half court and immediately start warm up drills). Just looking organized can be a tad intimidating.

Each girl must be played EQUAL amount of time. I typically carry 10 on a team - makes that rule very easy to follow. We have a blue squad and gold squad (also allows for scrimmaging during practice time).

Be polite to the refs. Don't yell at the girls. Instruction time is during practice, not the game. (The refs appreciate that approach and will 'give' you a little more.)

Okay - I think I am done! Good luck, ScoJo15!

 

[puffkin]

I coached in a youth camp for a few years in high school. The most important thing is Dribbling/ball handling. Work on this on the time, with every girl! That is the most important skill they can learn! I would also work a lot on passing (chest, bounce) and basic defense. These are the skills that will get overlooked as they get older, so it is important to work on these now.

I would only teach a few, extremely simple plays for offense. Maybe if you scrimmage at practice institute a "must pass the ball 3 times before shooting" rule. I wouldn't spend too much time on plays because either they won't remember it or in a game situation they will just do what they want anyway at that age.

I wouldn't concentrate much (if at all) on shooting. Most of the girls at this age will be too weak/small to use proper shooting technique to reach the net anyway. Plus, that is what they will practice the most on their own and with their parents. I would show them proper shooting techniques, encourage it, but not spend a whole lot of time on it. That will come as they get a little older.

I didn't play organized basketball until 7th grade (my school didn't offer it younger at that time). I picked up good techniques in everything except ball handling. I was a post player and didn't have to dribble a lot, and I was extremely uncomfortable doing so. If I would have learned ball handling at 7 years old, my game would have been so much better!

 

[geetey]

Finally, what are the games like?? Is it kind of a chase the ball around kind of thing with lots of steals and breakaways?

That depends on the kids on each team. Some kids are naturally more aggressive than others (you can tell who has older brothes and sisters). If you teach your kids to keep their arms up and protect the ball, typically there won't be a lot of stealing because the other team will get lots of calls for reaching in.

If you have a team that passes the half court line and THEN stops to look for a pass, then yep - someone is going to grab that ball and run. Teach your girls to stop on the other side of the line, KEEP dribbling and look for the pass. Teach all of the girls to Move Move Move. Got to move to the ball, get open so a pass can be made. Teach your girls if someone on the other team stops dribbling and holds the ball - grab and run (while dribbling of course ).

 

[ScoJo15]

Geetey, thanks for all of the info!! I won't go into detail, but you have provided a lot of info that I hadn't previously thought about. It's nice to be able to print these threads, as you've almost provided a how-to guide for me!

May I PM you from time to time for some advice?

thanks again to everyone for their help!! Who knew the DIS could be such a valuable resource!!

 

[missypie]

My kids all played in the Upward league, sponsored by the southern Baptists. What I loved is that with the little ones, each week they'd call one new penalty. For example, week one they'd explain what traveling was and call that, but nothing else. Later they'd add double dribble, etc. There is a LOT to remember in basketball and if the refs call everything right away, the kids will be frustrated.

Next, please ask the refs to call jump balls quickly. For some reason, they'll just let girls pull the ball back and forth forever before they blow the whistle.

Discourage-even penalize- ball hogging. Every season or so, there would be one girl on the team who would never pass...she'd always hog the ball all the time. Don't allow that, even if she's good.

One daughter was on the best rec soccer team ever. At first we thought the head coach was gruff but we came to love him. He treated all the girls as if they were his own...that meant: No nonsense! At that time, lots of the girls would run around when they weren't on the field, would go sit on their parents' laps, etc....the kind of things that cute little girls get by with. He made them all sit in a certain spot and pay attention to the game. Don't put up with a bunch of behavior that you wouldn't let your own daughter get away with.

You don't have to be the nicest, sweetest person in the world. If you actually teach them something about basketball and team work, that will go along way.

 

[geetey]

Geetey, thanks for all of the info!! I won't go into detail, but you have provided a lot of info that I hadn't previously thought about. It's nice to be able to print these threads, as you've almost provided a how-to guide for me!

May I PM you from time to time for some advice?

thanks again to everyone for their help!! Who knew the DIS could be such a valuable resource!!

Scott, you can pm me ANY time! This particular age is my favorite to coach. YOU can make basketball a sport they love to play! It doesn't matter how good you are - just how hard you hustle.

I was thinking about this thread all the way to school and back this afternoon - remembering those little things the kids don't know! (Double dribbling, don't stand up if you are down with the ball, 3 seconds in the lane, what is the lane). I hope you have a blast!

Missypie is right. Ballhogging stinks. It is always my goal to have every girl score at least once in the season. One year I didn't get everyone in the season, but that last girl got her basket (2 actually!) during our basketball blowout (school tournament against the other class teams).

That's what plays help. If they HAVE to execute the play, then the ball MUST be passed. Their willingness to be a team player helps determine their position on the floor. Every girl wants to be the one to bring the ball down the court, but you can't bring it down, if you won't give it up.

Another tip, Scott. It really helps the player if they can be come comfortable with all of the aspects of a certain position before you move them to a different one. Switching sides of the lane is one thing. Going from post to point guard is another!

Not to pat myself on the back (well, too hard ) but I take GREAT pride in the fact that most people do not know which child on the team is mine. I treat them ALL the same. In fact, I have even had people assume (because of hair color) that one child is mine, when in fact my dd looks more like her daddy. Unless you go to our school and know us both, you wouldn't guess. And I think that is a good thing.

 

[MScott1851]

There is some GREAT advice on this thread! I coached Y-ball after I graduated high school (I played from 8th grade until I graduated) and it was one of the most fun (and frustrating at the same time) things I've ever done.

I started off with younger girls and only did that for one season before I moved to 11-12 year old boys, I enjoyed working with the boys MUCH more. These guys were getting ready to go out for the Jr. High team the next year or so, and it was a whole different world.

There are definitely challenges ahead of you, at the younger age you are laying the fundamentals down for them. They aren't born knowing what a double dribble or walking is, and many have never even touched a basketball. Getting them into the "team" mentality is important, i.e. organized stretching and warming up, encouraging each other. Basic rules and ball handling are the most important, offense is a little tricky with young ones. Many a 7-8 year old game has been won by a score of 4-2!

But you've gotten a great headstart, keep us posted as the season progresses.

 

[ScoJo15]

Thanks a million again for all of the help on this thread!! Here is an update:

Had our first game last Saturday. We could only practice four times before the game and were only able to scrimmage for 10 minutes!! I feared the worst but the girls did awesome! We led 6-4 halfway through the third quarter but ended up losing 20-13. I was so proud of them....we got the ball down the court every time, only had two travelling violations (they were pretty lax on calling it) and committed no fouls!

Gotta work on rebounding and being aggressive. The good thing was that the girls stayed in their "zones" on defense and tried hard to move the ball to the inside on offense.

We are gonna work on two plays this Thursday at practice and hopefully implement them for Game #2 this Saturday.

 

[asta]

This isn't really any advice but I had to share this story from when one of my daughters played at that age. It was the first game for most of the girls and things weren't going smoothly. The young referee stopped the game for the upteenth time for more "instructions" but first he turned to us parents in the stands and whispered "this is like herding chickens".

 

[WIcruizer]

All great advice, I have coached youth sports for years and these people here are pointing you in the right direction. I'm a bit surprised there is organized basketball with games for 7 year old girls, I can picture nothing but pure chaos. Do they lower the baskets?

The whole key is fun and skill development. Dribbling, dribbling, dribbling, passing, rebounding, shooting and more dribbling. As someone mentioned, don't worry about perfect shooting form, isn't going to happen. At that age "functional shooting" should be taught. That is, work with each girl to help them use "their way" more effectively. Really using their legs, get rotation on the ball...arch, etc.

Good luck, and have fun!

 

[mickeymo]

Hi - I'm coaching my 3rd grade daughter's team for the 3rd year for Upward Basketball. Even if you are coaching through a different league - check out their website...

http://www.upward.org/

clicking on the coaches & Referees link - they have wonderful resources for organizing practices, drills, and even an outline to help organize your practice... I call it the "dummies guide to coaching" - because I can even run a practice semi-intelligently.

I do have to pass on the two pieces of advice I received from a h.s. coach...

1. stress fundamentals
2. Don't play shirts vs skins with a girls' team...

 

[ScoJo15]

I pictured chaos as well, but it actually wasn't! The goals are lowered to 8' and there is a special defensive rule. You cannot guard the offensive team until they've crossed the three point line. This allows the girls to get the ball down the court and get set up.

 

[mickeymo]

And also, make it fun and wacky...

We do goofy things like nominate a "Queen Thief" who was our biggest stealer...complete with a tiara (the 1st year it was a team of 1st graders in a league of 1st thru 3rd...Yao Ming vs Spud Webb...we had to get crazy and wacky to focus on everything but the score...

One of my favorite books is Salt in his Shoes a children's book by one of Michael Jordan's family members - we gave the girls' the books as their "end of season" present - it was a story of how Michael was frustrated because he was trying to play against his older and taller brothers and their friends... a story of positive attitudes, determination and practice...It's a beautiful book and it really applied that first year...

My assistant coach and I consider ourselves successful, if the girls are having fun, learning and continue to play and encourage friends to play - we don't focus on scores or records- from the original core group of 4 girls - there is now 15 girls who are playing together spread out over 4 teams...

 

[mickeymo]

One of the best routines my daughter's preschool soccer coach implemented was to hand out lollypops to the parents - if a parent felt the urge to yell negatively at the ref or kids...they were to shove the lollypop in their mouths...

it was a fun reminder to keep our words "sweet"

I really enjoy coaching and I'm thrilled my daughter wants me to continue coaching - in fact, I strongly urge any parent whose children play sports - to volunteer to coach or ref at least one season - it gives you another perspective and respect for those who step forward to pick up the whistle or clip board! It's a tough job but, very rewarding...