What's new
Fantasy Football - Footballguys Forums

Welcome to Our Forums. Once you've registered and logged in, you're primed to talk football, among other topics, with the sharpest and most experienced fantasy players on the internet.

Need Some Help: Kid playing basketball and I have no clue (1 Viewer)

glvsav37

glvsav37

Footballguy
Not going to lie, I really don't like basketball. We are a hockey family and I've never even owned a basketball. But, my 11-year-old daughter is 5ft 3 and asked to play. So we went to a free clinic and she loved it. We signed her up for a season and she had her 1st game today. She walked off the court asking when the next game was b/c she had so much fun. 

The team they put her on, well....they are not the most competitive and by what I saw today and the scores from the 2 games before, I'm not expecting much—but again, she had fun and thats whats most important.

That said, IDK how much coaching is going to happen on this team, so I'm wondering what I can do to help her out. I bought her a hoop for the driveway yesterday, so we have that covered.

But I don't even really know the rules other then "ball goes through hoop" so I really don't have any way to give her tips or advice. Anyone here pass along some resources and basics of the game so I can help her out?

Edit: I signed her up for a week long summer camp today too, but that's not until the end of July.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Just be her rebounder out on the driveway. Maybe even play some defense for her so her handle gets better. I wouldn't stress rules stuff. Maybe bring her to a Liberty game at the garden. Just be supportive and she will continue to be happy imo

 
Have someone teach her how to set a pick. Raised no kids of my own, but turned several gf's kids into instant stars by showing them the pick & roll. It is so counter-intuitive (esp for girls) that learning it is equivalent to acquiring a flying cape.

 
In regards to what you can do--like somebody said earlier--you can rebound her shots and then pass them back out to her.  You can also put your hand up towards her face to mimic her shot getting contested.   You guys can also do chest and bounce pass drills--where you literally pass the ball back and forth to one another.  On a more macro level--Basketball is a sport where footwork is one of the foundational pillars to becomming very good at it.   If she happens to also like soccer--don't hesitate to sign her up for that--because the footwork she would gain from soccer would definitely translate to the basketball court.  

 
Last edited by a moderator:
You're lucky in that there really isn't much you need to do. As others pointed out, just rebounding and passing to her and some simulated defense is more than enough. But the way she will get better is just handling a ball over and over and over. The best basketball players live with a ball in their hands. Countless shots and countless time just dribbling a ball around and she'll get good.  The key is learning to do it without looking down.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Also rebound for her, mix it up and have her to pass to you, pass back and shoot. Keep her moving. Get shots up off the backboard. 

Dribbling is important and being strong with the ball and willing to go get the ball/rebound during games. If she's already aggressive on the court going for the ball that's a big plus. 

Have fun, hoops is the only sport i asst coach for my son and I probably have more fun than him. 

 
gianmarco said:
You're lucky in that there really isn't much you need to do. As others pointed out, just rebounding and passing to her and some simulated defense is more than enough. But the way she will get better is just handling a ball over and over and over. The best basketball players live with a ball in their hands. Countless shots and countless time just dribbling a ball around and she'll get good.  The key is learning to do it without looking down.
Click to expand...
Good advice. 

 
Just have her dribble as much as possible. Both hands. It's the most fundamental skill you can have in the game. Not needing to look at the ball to get it places opens her game up to everything else. There are plenty of dribbling drills you can easily find on YouTube. Consistency is key to development.

 
Mikan drill.  

Notice that the shooting hand and jumping foot are opposite.  Jump off the inside foot, shoot with the outside hand.  

After she has some success with this, have her dribble from wing to basket taking layups, like the warmup lines before a game.  

Catch and shoot is good too.  Teach her FEET:

Feet are under you 

Eyes on the front of the rim

Elbow under the ball

follow Through

 
Don't let her become a Duke fan.

Tons of videos online for training. Learn to dribble well with off hand, shoot a lot to warm up and at end of practice. 

Find some friends she can play pickup with.

 
gianmarco said:
But the way she will get better is just handling a ball over and over and over. The best basketball players live with a ball in their hands. Countless shots and countless time just dribbling a ball around and she'll get good.  The key is learning to do it without looking down.
Click to expand...
:goodposting:  

 
For not knowing much- you can easily just take her out to a court and pass her balls and let her shoot over and over and over again. 

If she really wants to work to get better then there are a few easy things you can show her at home to do without a hoop. 

1) Leg strength is huge. Having her develop that by putting her back on a wall and having bend down where her legs are at 90 degree angles and then hold it. This allows for proper technique for defense in getting down and holding it through a game. 

2) Simply laying on her back and taking a ball. Using the shooting motion to flick the wrist and get proper spin on the ball. The idea is to be able to develop control with the ball that she can eventually do it with one hand. To be able to do it self corrects your proper form, wrist action and spin on the ball. 

There are more but those things are stuff you can show her without knowing anything other than what I just explained. 

My kids are young. I am kind of scared that they end up in soccer or hockey etc because then I will be like you. Basketball, baseball, football are things I can at maybe do some assistant coach stuff with or at least help them individually. Many other spots- I may not know much about but I know enough to be engaged. Soccer and hockey? Uh..... I like how you kicked the ball today! 

 
jvdesigns2002 said:
If she happens to also like soccer--don't hesitate to sign her up for that--because the footwork she would gain from soccer would definitely translate to the basketball court.  
Click to expand...
She dances and figure skates. Add in my son playing on 2 hockey teams and a lacrosse team, my wife may revolt and defect to a tropical island if I added one more sport. lol

bushdocda said:
Also rebound for her, mix it up and have her to pass to you, pass back and shoot. Keep her moving. Get shots up off the backboard. 

Dribbling is important and being strong with the ball and willing to go get the ball/rebound during games. If she's already aggressive on the court going for the ball that's a big plus. 

Have fun, hoops is the only sport i asst coach for my son and I probably have more fun than him. 
Click to expand...
Not yet, but thats the type of things I want to teach her....but I know BB has a lot of hand fouls and I dont want to teach her the wrong type of agressive moves. Being a hockey player my whole life, we just run over people when we want the puck, I know BB isnt like that.

Mile High said:
Good advice. 
Click to expand...
Nothing to add other then I love your avatar.

RokNRole said:
How competetive were you expecting a league for 11 year olds to be?
Click to expand...
Not a lot, but at least some....the other kids on her team were standing around picking their wedgies most of the game while the other team was very aggressively blocking passes and scored on a few fast break turnovers. And forget about rebounding....most of them covered their faces not wanting to get hit.

Chadstroma said:
My kids are young. I am kind of scared that they end up in soccer or hockey etc because then I will be like you. Basketball, baseball, football are things I can at maybe do some assistant coach stuff with or at least help them individually. Many other spots- I may not know much about but I know enough to be engaged. Soccer and hockey? Uh..... I like how you kicked the ball today! 
Click to expand...
I'll make a deal with you, I'll teach your kids hockey if you teach mine BB? Honestly football and hockey is all I really know. Baseball, soccer and Basketball  are the furthest thing to this house.

 
My Jr High basketball coach kept telling me to "shoot from the telephone booth" I guess because my shot was flat and I'm supposed to imagine I'm in one and make the trajectory of my shot higher.  So just tell her to shoot from something that she's probably never seen before.

 
glvsav37 said:
Not a lot, but at least some....the other kids on her team were standing around picking their wedgies most of the game while the other team was very aggressively blocking passes and scored on a few fast break turnovers. And forget about rebounding....most of them covered their faces not wanting to get hit.
Click to expand...
Sounds like she's the Lebron of her generation.

 
Dedfin said:
My Jr High basketball coach kept telling me to "shoot from the telephone booth" I guess because my shot was flat and I'm supposed to imagine I'm in one and make the trajectory of my shot higher.  So just tell her to shoot from something that she's probably never seen before.
Click to expand...
Last time I saw a phone booth was in a reprint of a Superman comic from the 40s

 
As others said: dribble with both hands. It just take lots of time and practice. Footwork and conditioning are really important as well. I don't know your fitness level but going for jogs/runs/biking with her will help. Footwork-especially lateral and moving backwards is super important and something many kids aren't used to.

 
Teach her footwork, positioning and a love to rebound and play defense and she will be welcome on any team

 
Do any of her friends play? It's probably tougher as a girl, but I know at that age I was pretty much playing about 40 hours a week during the summer. Friends, kids from the neighborhood, random people at the park and just play all day long.

 
@Ilov80s not really that I know of. Thats why I want to learn as much as I can b/c I'll be helping her for the most part. Maybe next year when she moves to middle school, she may find more kids to play with.

 
glvsav37 said:
Not going to lie, I really don't like basketball. We are a hockey family and I've never even owned a basketball. But, my 11-year-old daughter is 5ft 3 and asked to play. So we went to a free clinic and she loved it.
Click to expand...
I wouldn't tell people your daughter went to the free clinic.

I bet there are YouTube videos to watch.  Also, free throws are keen.  Like Calvin Murphy says, that basket isn't moving.

 
Mrs. Rannous said:
I wouldn't tell people your daughter went to the free clinic.

I bet there are YouTube videos to watch.  Also, free throws are keen.  Like Calvin Murphy says, that basket isn't moving.
Click to expand...
The usual answer to these questions is "watch YouTube videos" but those can be made by any clown. This guy wants his daughter to be the best player she can be so he is consulting with the experts. The FFA is a group of degenerate gamblers who know everything about the game.

Im sure he doesn't want his daughter to just be a great basketball player. He wants her to be a great basketball player that covers the spread. If you can't be helpful then maybe say nothing.

 
glvsav37 said:
@Ilov80s not really that I know of. Thats why I want to learn as much as I can b/c I'll be helping her for the most part. Maybe next year when she moves to middle school, she may find more kids to play with.
Click to expand...
Obviously the best way to meet kids that are playing is by joining teams and meeting the girls on the teams.

 
Actually, when playing for fun in the summer, let her go play with boys. She can get a lot out of that, especially learning to play smart and aggressive.

 
At that age, dribbling with either hand - nothing more frustrating than getting ripped repeatedly.  Strongly suggest dribble goggles.  Like five bucks on Amazon.

Layups with either hand.  Right-left-lift, left-right-lift.  Can progress to one hand finish to build dexterity, then inside hand finish,  right-reverse and left-reverse from both sides.

Shoot with the legs. Start in the pocket, between the ear and shoulder.  Finish high, elbow over eyebrow.

Plyo.  better return on your time than learning to screen or rebound at that age.

 
gianmarco said:
Actually, when playing for fun in the summer, let her go play with boys. She can get a lot out of that, especially learning to play smart and aggressive.
Click to expand...
I agree if she is good enough to be competitive. If she is playing with boys and she is getting destroyed, it might kill her enjoyment of the game. 

 
thanks for the reply....I'm not looking for her to be ultra competitive right now. That will come, or maybe never. My problem is that I don't know the game at all, so just looking for ways I can be a "helpful dad" and not that turd in the stands yelling for their kid to do stuff thats counterproductive (I've seen enough of those at the hockey rink)

Check on the dribbling and shooting/layups

now i need to learn about fouls and positioning—who to cover when, when to be aggressive vs backing off. That type of stuff. I don't expect to teach her full blown plays, just a basic understanding of the positions and responsibilities.  

 
glvsav37 said:
Not going to lie, I really don't like basketball. We are a hockey family and I've never even owned a basketball. But, my 11-year-old daughter is 5ft 3 and asked to play. So we went to a free clinic and she loved it. We signed her up for a season and she had her 1st game today. She walked off the court asking when the next game was b/c she had so much fun. 

The team they put her on, well....they are not the most competitive and by what I saw today and the scores from the 2 games before, I'm not expecting much—but again, she had fun and thats whats most important.

That said, IDK how much coaching is going to happen on this team, so I'm wondering what I can do to help her out. I bought her a hoop for the driveway yesterday, so we have that covered.

But I don't even really know the rules other then "ball goes through hoop" so I really don't have any way to give her tips or advice. Anyone here pass along some resources and basics of the game so I can help her out?

Edit: I signed her up for a week long summer camp today too, but that's not until the end of July.
Click to expand...
She's 11 and just starting. As you said she had fun and that's whats most important.

If it were me, I'd just go out and play in the driveway with her as much as she wants and only do drills if she wants to or the coach wants her to. I'd avoid making it feel like work. Maybe modify some games like 21 or knockout to encourage dribbling with either hand (e.g. for shots off of rebounds, allow n dribbles to get closer to the basket, but you can call which hand or base it on which side of the basket the rebound is on).

My son went to various camps and clinics. Some day-camps, some overnight. You might want to get recommendations from the high school, jr high, AAU coaches in the area. She'll have much more fun if she has friends attending as well. My son also attended a one day shooting clinic by Dave Hopla. I thought it was really solid, especially for kids who don't yet have a lot of strength and might unconsciously fall into bad habits to overcome their lack of strength. His videos might be worth checking out.

She's a girl so no BBB shoes  :thumbup:

 
glvsav37 said:
thanks for the reply....I'm not looking for her to be ultra competitive right now. That will come, or maybe never. My problem is that I don't know the game at all, so just looking for ways I can be a "helpful dad" and not that turd in the stands yelling for their kid to do stuff thats counterproductive (I've seen enough of those at the hockey rink)

Check on the dribbling and shooting/layups

now i need to learn about fouls and positioning—who to cover when, when to be aggressive vs backing off. That type of stuff. I don't expect to teach her full blown plays, just a basic understanding of the positions and responsibilities.  
Click to expand...
When I coached u10 and u12 99% of what I said when the other team had the ball was 'stay left'.  Your left is his right.  Amazing how may players wold rather dribble with their head than with their weak hand.

 
If she can't palm the ball then she'll have to cradle it when she dunks.  Seriously, fundamentals: pass, dribble, shoot.  Keep if simple and work on those skills endlessly. 

 
Too many people forget about defense, especially in the girls game.  I have a buddy that took over a floundering high school girl's program and went from a sub-500 team to a perennial 20-win team just be teaching good defense.

All that said, here are the most basic defensive philosophies, regardless of whether the team plays a man or zone:

  • ALWAYS be in a good stance, whether guarding the ball or away from the ball.  This is where the feet are slightly wider than shoulder width, legs slightly bent at the knees and hips, back straight, arms spread out wide or high and weight slightly forward on the balls of the feet.  Basically you are ready to move quickly in any direction and have your hands ready to get to any ball in your area.  See this photo for what it should look like.
  • ALWAYS know where the ball is.  In any basic defensive scheme, you should have at least one foot open toward the ball and use your peripheral vision to see where the ball is going.  Lots of young kids fail at this basic concept.
  • Guard the basket first, then the ball, then your man/zone.  Starting out, this is a good rule of thumb.  Never leave the basket or the ball unguarded because the goal is to get the ball in the basket.  It's simple but too many coaches let this primary concept get lost in the shuffle of their zone or man to man concepts and kids will leave the goal wide open or run off and leave the ball unguarded.
Start with those three concepts and she'll be miles ahead of most girls her age.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Jayrod said:
  • Guard the basket first, then the ball, then your man/zone.  Starting out, this is a good rule of thumb.  Never leave the basket or the ball unguarded because the goal is to get the ball in the basket.  It's simple but too many coaches let this primary concept get lost in the shuffle of their zone or man to man concepts and kids will leave the goal wide open or run off and leave the ball unguarded.
Start with those three concepts and she'll be miles ahead of most girls her age.
Click to expand...
thanks for the input. But this part confuses me. 

What do you mean by "basket first" When I was watching them, whenever the opponent shot, they all jumped to block the ball, but most of them were just too far away and couldnt jump high enough to do any good. 

Does "Basket fist" mean trying to block the actual shot, or am i misunderstanding it? 

 
glvsav37 said:
Not going to lie, I really don't like basketball. We are a hockey family and I've never even owned a basketball. But, my 11-year-old daughter is 5ft 3 and asked to play. So we went to a free clinic and she loved it. We signed her up for a season and she had her 1st game today. She walked off the court asking when the next game was b/c she had so much fun. 

The team they put her on, well....they are not the most competitive and by what I saw today and the scores from the 2 games before, I'm not expecting much—but again, she had fun and thats whats most important.

That said, IDK how much coaching is going to happen on this team, so I'm wondering what I can do to help her out. I bought her a hoop for the driveway yesterday, so we have that covered.

But I don't even really know the rules other then "ball goes through hoop" so I really don't have any way to give her tips or advice. Anyone here pass along some resources and basics of the game so I can help her out?

Edit: I signed her up for a week long summer camp today too, but that's not until the end of July.
Click to expand...
Well the first thing to do is change this.

Losing should never be fun. You know the every kid gets a trophy thing? Well the only kids who should be having fun are the ones holding the one trophy up at the end of the season!

Everyone else should spend the next school year contemplating their loser status and how to change it.

 
Dr Oadi said:
Well the first thing to do is change this.

Losing should never be fun. You know the every kid gets a trophy thing? Well the only kids who should be having fun are the ones holding the one trophy up at the end of the season!

Everyone else should spend the next school year contemplating their loser status and how to change it.
Click to expand...
trust me.....this is not my norm.

This is her fist time being on a BB court. As it is, the season is already 4 games in and this was the only team that had an opening. So i'm not going to have her sit the whole season out vs being on a team that may not win but she will least learn the game and gauge her overall interest in the sport long term. I've already signed her up for a strong, all day BB camp in the summer, but thats not until the end of July.  

I do want her to have fun 1st....and yes, winning is a very big part of that. But i'm cool with where she is for this very 1st season and introduction to the sport. I stressed to her to watch what the other team is doing just as much as what her team was. And, thats why i'm here looking for help b/c its not a sport I ever had any interest in, but I want to learn it so I can help her be better and more competitive then leaving her in the hands of a coach, who while seems like a nice guy, didn't show me much from an X's and O's standpoint. 

 
glvsav37 said:
thanks for the input. But this part confuses me. 

What do you mean by "basket first" When I was watching them, whenever the opponent shot, they all jumped to block the ball, but most of them were just too far away and couldnt jump high enough to do any good. 

Does "Basket fist" mean trying to block the actual shot, or am i misunderstanding it? 
Click to expand...
Don't leave your feet and you won't get beat.  I think he means closing the driving lane and forcing a pass.  The ball scores.  You have to stop three ball first.

 
glvsav37 said:
thanks for the input. But this part confuses me. 

What do you mean by "basket first" When I was watching them, whenever the opponent shot, they all jumped to block the ball, but most of them were just too far away and couldnt jump high enough to do any good. 

Does "Basket fist" mean trying to block the actual shot, or am i misunderstanding it? 
Click to expand...
Here is how I teach it to my players:

Before you guard your man/zone (my teams are 99% man to man, but the majority of youth coaches will run zones) the first thing you need to do when hustling back is protect the key - basically don't give up uncontested layups. Make sure there is no unguarded player under the basket. It is of little use to sprint back and go stand next to your man or your assigned spot in a zone if the team is giving up a layup to an unguarded player.

Once that has been taken care of, stop the ball. The ball is what scores. Similar to above, it is of little use to sprint back and stand next to your man/zone and watch the player with the ball drive uncontested for a layup or open shot.

Once the basket/post has been taken away and the ball has been stopped, you worry about guarding your man/zone.

 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

parasaurolophus
Kid bullying my daughter.
2
Replies
57
Views
1K
Mrs. Rannous
Mrs. Rannous
supermike80
Thread---Marital Advice
2
Replies
70
Views
1K
coopersdad
C
Anarchy99
At a loss for words . . . the vacation that never happened (apparently)
2
Replies
77
Views
2K
ghostguy123
ghostguy123

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 2 (members: 0, guests: 2)
Top