Happy #FIF time Coaches! Our fourth and final week of cross-sport coaching is here and this week we look to basketball. We have spoken to coach Bob Martin, Bob is a former professional player. He has a vast coaching experience; coaching 8 years at Defiance College, Ohio, 2 Years East Durham Academy and 17 years as Head Coach at Doncaster Danum Eagles Basketball Club. Bob coaches across the age and ability groups, from Children to Adult Performance.
When asked to share a game or practice with England Netball Coaching for this post I thought about the kids that I coach and what gets them having fun. From experience this is one that the kids really love and get very excited whilst playing. With children’s coaching sessions we want to see smiles on their faces.
Dribble-tag
- Split your group in half, half have a ball, half do not
- Players are allocated a court space in which they must stay
- They must dribble the ball within this area whilst trying to avoid being tagged by the players without a ball.
- If they are tagged they give the ball to the tagger and switch roles.
Play this with a time limit and those that have the ball at the end of the time limit are the winners.
Progressions
- Restrict space
- Only can dribble with weaker hand
- Taggers must get the ball rather than tag the player (I tend to use this version for the slightly older age group)
This practice is very flexible and can be built on and developed to suit whatever the focus your training session may be. You can also progress it to be more of a game, one we call ‘Battle’…
Battle
AIM – To get the ball across the court and to be the last player ‘dribbling’.
- The group is like above, split in half.
- One group of players has a ball each and start with the ball on the base line.
- They must dribble the ball across the court without being a) tagged or b) the ball taken from them.
- Players dribble the ball from one end to the other until all but one player are out.
- Past the base line is a safe zone
- When a player is tagged they must stand where they were tagged. This creates obstacles to avoid or use as defensive blocks from the taggers.
You can also add in other safe zones around the court.
We hope that you have enjoyed this different approach to training throughout May – pop a game from a different sport (particularly an invasion game) on your pre-season training plans, or as a warm up game at trials. It can be really interesting to get your players out of their comfort zones and to see what unfolds.
This weekend brings us the very last finals of the season with the National Clubs U14s at Redbridge Sports Centre. A big Good Luck to all 18 coaches that have teams competing!
If you are coaching players with learning disabilities the Marion Smith Tournament in Derby has extended their entry deadline until Wednesday June 1st, head to the website for more information.
Team Coaching
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