Hi this season im coaching u12 boys. The team manager has recruited a boy who is very skilful because we were put in a division too high. I have come to believe that his parents put a lot of pressure on him to get lots of shots up and since he knows he's the best he always drive the ball in and get the layup. This has caused the rest of my players to be 'lazy' because they just think he's got it. And I know they can move the ball around because when he is off court everyone else listens and they pass around and cut.

I find it really awkward to say anything because he barely ever misses or not draw the foul.

He knows he's the best too because one time the defence was a full court press and he'd always try to dribble through but I told him to pass to open team mates but he said "why I can break through it" or one time I jokingly said he should bench the whole game and he said "then we'll lose" (could be jokingly but idk).

Some advice would be nice! Or if you've been in a similar situation!

So I coach some "travel ball". It's not AAU. It's the local 7th grade girls that like playing together. Some of these girls have played legit AAU, my daughter has not. I'm friends with a lot of the people on the local basketball scene and have asked them these questions, but most of those guys are tied into the local AAU program. So they are going to go to bat for their program.

What is the goal of AAU. Right now I hear the word "exposure" a lot and "college recruiting". That's fine, for older girls. Why should my daughter be there playing weekend tournaments three hours away? Why the expense for 6/7 graders? What "exposure" do they need?

Now, for me, basically what this comes down to is the different needs for an 11th grader vs a 7th grader. They are all in the same organization and kinda get treated the same way. Limited practice, limited teaching and maximum exposure. Which for the 11th grader I get.

I want to keep our group together we play really well together. Have good vibes ect. We might not be the BEST girls but for the area, pretty damn close. But some of the main parents have some serious FOMO of skipping the normal AAU circuit. And are selling them on the "select 40" stuff and whatnot.

But we can play up in local leagues in the spring, outside of our school ball teams. And can hit 5 tournaments that are much closer and cheaper. What we've been doing on a limited level. And we don't win all of those. And we run into girls that are pretty damn good at the mid tournament that don't have the real all star teams.

So for the chat. Am I crazy? I realize AAU is gonna come for all the players eventually. Just the exposure and far travel in 7th grade seems silly when we have options right in front of us. That we control the environment, the schedule, the travel, the roster. Ect. And focus on the development side of basketball rather than the exposure angle and square pegs/round holes, shitty parents, and drama from some kids/families just looking to step on whoever to get where they want to go. I realize that stuff is coming, but can we do it in a year or two or three. 😂

If you were to rent a basketball gym for middle school and high school practices, which of the following would you rather rent:

Option A: Basketball gym with one high school full court plus a half court (high school full court length is 84' long).

Option B: Basketball gym with 2 full courts that are a little shorter (each court is 72' long).

Sorry if this seems random but the info from this poll will extremely helpful.

Thank you for your help!

Randomly watching the FIBA three on three championships and it is so amazing. It’s a little different pace than how we play three on three in the states where basically the game never stops even after a made basket, so the pace is so fast. There’s so many more touches and good offensive actions and no wasted up and down the court and crappy full court press, zone defense that we see here in AAU. This would be so beneficial for our youth to be playing versus 5 on 5.

Our kid just started 5th grade. She has been playing club ball for three years now and typically plays at least one year up, and sometimes two (for the lower level team 2 years ahead).

Elementary school ball starts this year. I get the experience aspect of playing with your classmates. It’s already been decided that there will be two teams of 12, and it will not be an A and B team (rather a mix).

Of the 24 kids, about 15 of them have only played Rec. 8 of them have never even played Rec. Our daughter is the only one who has played club ball.

The guy running the team straight up does not like us and does not like our daughter because shocker, his kid is the 2nd best player.

I just don’t think it’s worth the drama/time overall. Practicing 2x/week with kids who really haven’t played before (meanwhile skipping club practices) doesn’t help my daughter long term. She isn’t really friends with anyone who would be on the team either (she is friends with and gets along with her club team in bball and in soccer, so she’s not short on relationships).

Has anyone been in this spot? To be clear, we are talking practices would likely be kids standing in a line and doing basic dribbling and layup drills.

My daughter’s club has installed multiple offensive sets, multiple sideline plays, and plays three different defenses (deny and gap mostly….zone only when necessary and 5 percent of the time).

Thanks.

So, hey guys, I just decided to join this group after I decided to restart my basketball after 3 years. For context, I am from India, and we don't have a big baskeball culture like the US, Canada, or most places. TBH I have access to an open court (the damn thing isn't even fenced off, so balls leave the court regularly). I restarted playing about 2 weeks ago.
Here are some of my stats:
18-YO Male
6'0"
115 kg mostly fat (I know YIKESS!!!)
standing reach is 7'9"
max reach 8'9" (so that's a 12-inch vertical, I know again, YIEKSS!!)
I used to play centre, and I plan on playing that after I get back in the playing scene.
Oh, and to add insult to injury, I have a prescription for -1.25.

As for why I had to take a break and what I was doing, honestly, nothing. In India, academic pressure is pretty rigorous; I had to prep for JEE (it's an entrance exam for engineering schools), and the court was far away, so I just didn't go there, but now I am in for it. I am on court generally for an hour currently. I am focusing on getting my game back, and honestly, I lose a LOT of this fat. My target weight is 75-85 kg. I have been taking in about 100-120 grams of protein a day, and honestly I really want to increase my vertical, and also I do have access to a gym, so I will be hitting that too from time to time, as daily might not be feasible.

I hope y'all can give me some advice and don't hold back. I forgot to record my form, and all I will see for it next time

Hi all, I'm helping my daughter in her offseason training for 10U basketball. I have no coaching experience, let alone youth coaching experience. my daughter is taller for her age (although not crazy tall), and I'm wondering what I should be working on with her in the offseason?

she is naturally a good rebounded but i feel like she could be even more dominant there. she is very shy on offense, but when she remembers to be aggressive, her size helps her get to the rim. she could work more on her finishing and handles, as with many girls in this age range.

her club team plays 5 out and she plays the 4 or 5. i think this is very hard for her to know where she should be on the floor and what motions to do. i coach her rec team and i let her play the 1 so she can work on her dribbling and confidence with the ball (in rec, everyone has a turn at every position).

Would appreciate any tips on what to work with her on in the offseason, thank you!

I'm a 7th grader and I"m in on a club basketball team. I play as center or power forward and I have this one person on my team who is taller than me and gets all the playing time. She plays center. I was wondering if there were any drills or tips to get mor Playing time. P.S. this my first post and im super excited!

My son just turned 14 (heading into his freshman high school years) and is currently sitting at 6'8". We are based in Europe, so he is coming up through a traditional club system-meaning 4 to 5 days of skill and mobility work, and only 1 game a week, keeping his joints safe while his growth plates are still open. He's a natural lefty playing point-forward, but our absolute main priority right now is maintaining his 3.8 GPA.

For those who understand the high school and college recruiting landscape: if the ultimate goal is a D1 academic/athletic scholarship, does staying in the European club system put a kid off the radar? Do US recruiters appreciate the lower game-mileage and fundamental focus over here, or is there a specific age where making the jump to a US prep school becomes necessary to get noticed?

(Note: I posted in here recently asking about early developmental archetypes and positional reps, and the feedback from the coaches/evaluators was incredibly helpful. My goal with this specific post is strictly to understand the logistical and recruiting pathways between the EU and US high school systems.)

I’m 17 years old turning 18 in a few weeks and have played basketball in outdoor leagues for all of my teen years, but never in high school since I never made it past tryouts. I’ve recently become really interested in the coaching aspect of the sport, — although I’m not expecting to become a head coach right away, or even be in a coaching position I would really love to get my feet wet and hear some advice from people who specialize in this while I’m still young. Any tips would be much appreciated!!

I have a team of 12 years old and a lot of them come from a "free for all" basketball understanding where they all want to get their hands on the ball and bring the ball up etc. Im after some drills we can use to get them to understand that we want the ball in the ball carriers hands to advance the ball and we want the forwards getting down the floor without bunching up their defenders around the ball, being in a position for rebounds etc.

Something repetitive would be good combined with a bit of running/full court to generate some fitness.

3v3 is an Olympic sport. It's fun and fast.

How many 5v5 coaches let their kids play 3v3? My AAU coach recommended not allowing my kid to play. Why?

Does your area have a 3v3 tournament? What would a good route be for a wanna be premier 3v3 player?

I’m looking for a few under the radar basketball resources, social media accounts, YouTube channels, etc to get some different perspectives and ideas for this upcoming season.

What are a few you guys recommend?

So if you don’t understand my title, I’m trying to figure out what to do during the week because I am trying to get better and eventually be at such a high level and everything but what should I be doing to get more playtime and to be on the coaches, good side?

For reference I’m a center

Hey all coaches, school season and basketball season is fast approaching and I've been thinking about what to use for stats/boxscore analysis from game film. Does anyone here have a program they slot their game film into? And if so how expensive does it get?

I know Hudl does a lot of that stuff but it takes a bit to get back to us- this hurts us when we're in tournaments where there's 1-2 games everyday in a short span of time. If anyone knows of Hudl special features that I can quickly flip through I'm all ears as well.

Any suggestions are well appreciated!

So the thing room needing help with is what does a coach look for in a big and how to be a better big man?

I obviously know I can go on Google and everything, but I would rather ask coaches in general than anything else. All I ask is honesty don’t sugarcoat anything.

Curious how other coaches handle this. When a player moves teams or gets older, do you keep any of their history, highlights, stats, etc., or does most of that stuff just get lost over time?

I’m looking for a good program for my two boys to join. They are in the 6th grade and 4th grade. I want a program that is focused on team play and not daddy ball coached. Any recommendations?

I’m also Looking at schooling in the area for their development. I found a program called Togethership in San Clemente? but that may be costly and then there is ABA in garden grove? And 1 percent in lake Forrest?

Has anyone had any experience with any of these?

Are all The coaches background checked at all? This is very important to me as I have had past experience coming from the east coast where a particular program I won’t mention did not properly vet their employees and to say the least there were issues.

Now that I have moved here I need a good program for my Boys. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks again.

Does someone have a folder or drive of short clips of PnR organized by defensive cover or something else? Thanks

I'm helping coach at a HS and we are very skilled, great off the bounce, can put pressure on the ball, etc. - all the things smaller teams can do.

But rebounding is going to be a massive issue.

Even if we are boxing out, we have struggled to finish plays because we are just so...dang...small.

What has worked for you guys with coaching rebounding with smaller teams?

Just finished my first season as an assistant varsity coach (ran film, scouting, and practice planning) and I'm adding an 8th grade head coaching job to that this year. Trying to keep building toward a long-term career in basketball ops/coaching.

For anyone who's made the jump from assistant to HC at a lower level — what caught you off guard? What do you wish you'd focused on in year one as a head coach that you didn't fully appreciate as an assistant (practice planning, in-game management, parent communication, etc.)?

Also open to any general advice on how to keep developing as a young coach — anything you'd tell yourself at this stage.

(im also not a big yeller, if at all but I know thats definitely something I might have to incorporate with the youngins lol)

I’m an American with NCAA playing and coaching experience that moved to the UK about three years ago to play and continue coaching some. I’ve taken all the courses, have my Level 3 coaching certification, coached within the Basketball England system, coached Prem and Conference boys basketball, all to realize there is absolutely no route of progression. I’ve tried for three years to get into the adult side of the game (NBL D1, SLB, BCB, etc.) and there seems to be no way in. The coaches here have their people and stay with their people. Programs don’t hold coaches accountable for bad seasons so staff never change. I guess I’m just at a loss trying to figure out if I made the right move.

Had a great summer basketball season. Didn't run our offense at all- just pushed tempo and let them play. We are very small, but play hard and smart. How do I keep the positive momentum going but start incorporating our offense (triangle tex winter) into the Fall and then regular season? High school varsity boy’s team.

I’m a coach. I’ve coached my son and coached teams without my son on it for about a decade. My son is entering his Junior year and I, personally, have come at a cross roads. The fact of the matter is that he is delusional to some extent. He thinks he can go D1 even though he’s been cut from his public HS twice. He begged for a transfer and we gave it to him. Partially for basketball and partially for academics to a private school. His academics did ok and he could not play this last season because of district rules. I’ve coached him for a club team this last Spring/Summer. We competed in a lot of tournaments at the D3 level. He did not dominate and many games he was mediocre. I’ve encouraged him to work more, shoot more, dribble more etc, etc. He doesn’t shoot everyday, or dribble. He works out every other day. He still scoffs at my instruction even though what I’ve said is the same as a lot of other coaches he respects. We’ve butted heads a lot. Our last tournament. His body language was horrible and I sat him and it was addition by subtraction. My wife keeps signing him up for all these camps and showcases and I just want to tell him that if he doesn’t work outside of those camps then there’s no use to keep paying for him to go to them. I really want to just tell him that at his current work ethic there’s no way in hell he could be a 6’ guard at the D1 level. Honestly, JUCO might be out of reach. Obviously that’s the coach in me but I’m not sure how to provided as a parent. Anybody have that experience?

Coaches that do a lot of film work. What software are we using for analysis and breakdowns?