Interesting Dribble Drill

One of the unique things to try with 7-8 year olds is to have them dribble 2 basketballs at once.  At this age, the kids are used to dribbling, and using both hands.  Now is the time to introduce dribbling with BOTH hands.  

Why?

It will be natural for the kids to favor their strong hand.  This drill not only works both hands, and the muscles that go along with it - but it also makes the kids concentrate.  Try it yourself - it's pretty difficult to keep both balls going under control.  If you've mastered the static dribble (in one place), try moving around...  

You will find that the kids enjoy this drill, because it's fun, and can be very funny to watch.  In a practice where each kid has their own ball, you can have half the team run while the other half dribbles, then switch.  If anyone gets good at the drill, you can have them try to bounce the balls at different heights, or bounce them independently (not in synch).

If this drill doesn't go well at first, try it again later on.  The kids should obviously be pretty comfortable with standard dribbling drills first.

Lessons Learned in 1 month of blogging

I looked back and it appears that May 24th would have been my 1-month blog anniversary, if there is such a thing.  Sounds kinda silly, but I feel like I've already gone through a lot of material.  This is good - because now it's out of my head and out for others.  

I've had a lot of positive feedback from friends, parents of kids I've coached, and even people I haven't known up until now.  I'm happy that so many other people are interested in coaching, and in coaching WELL.  As I've said before (maybe?) - I coach for the kids.  It's nice to have a blog, and it's nice to be recognized by parents, but I'd rather have a bunch of happy kids enjoying the sport they're playing.

Blogging has been a great forum for creativity, and for expression.  I said I wasn't much of a diary person - and I'm probably still not - but getting all of the coaching info down somewhere makes me feel much better.  Now I'll have a place to look for it when I forget.  So far, I wouldn't really change a thing - other than, I think I still need a website.  But with times as they are, a bunch of my life is dedicated to work.  So I'll keep blogging, and planning the site with the hopes of executing on the ultimate vision someday.

Thanks for reading - hope it's been helpful, and maybe a bit entertaining?!  I'm sure there's plenty more to come.

Practice Facilities

Hopefully you are lucky, and you're associated with a program that has adequate practice facilities for you and your team to use at a reasonable hour, and at a cheap price (or free). If so, go ahead and spend some time looking over some of the outstanding prior blog posts :)

Assuming you're among the majority of coaches leading the younger kids, you do not have a practice facility provided, and must seek one out. This can be more difficult than it seems, what with our litigious society, and many people looking only to their own liability exposure.

What do you need in a place to practice? This depends on the sport, of course. For football, just about any open space will do, provided there's some room to run. Parks, schoolyards, open lots likely all do fine - watch out for rocks and large divots and holes. Pretty much the same is true for soccer, although if the grass is to tall it may impact soccer more than football. For tee ball and coach-pitch baseball, a diamond is a luxury - but again, most any space will do (unless you have big sluggers). When you get into Little League, and into the 6-7 year-old range, it's getting to the point where a diamond with an appropriate backstop is the only option.

Basketball can be a little tricky - especially for the very young kids (up through 7). At these ages, it is typical to use a 6-foot or 8-foot hoop. Some schoolyards, and even some parks have these lower hoops in place, but many do not because of vandalism or mis-use. There are special attachments that can be made to standard hoops, but these typically require a ladder and some tools. When hoops aren't readily available, I have run practice without shooting. Surprisingly, many kids who play basketball understand very clearly that the goal is to shoot the ball in the basket... Let this work to your advantage, and focus on dribbling, passing, and defense instead. If you go the basket-less approach - be sure to get some shooting in before the game if you can.

All practice facilities should be in good repair, and yes, you should ask permission first. At a park, you're likely hassle-free unless something else is scheduled... schools are typically accommodating (especially outdoors), but can be a bit trickier at times.

Once you've found a good place - stick with it. You might even see what you can do to keep the fields or courts in order, or volunteer to help when funds are needed for repairs or rebuilding. Above all - treat practice as an important part of the sporting experience. It surely is.

Right Hand, Left Hand?

It took me by surprise the first time I had a left-handed child on my team.  Not that this was shocking, and it wasn't that I'd never seen anyone who was left-handed...  I just wasn't ready for that.  If you're coaching soccer, this is largely a non-issue, because the kids will kick how they kick...  but for the other sports, clearly it's a different story.

Throwing a baseball or football left-handed is largely the same as throwing right handed.  The mechanics are all the same, just on the other side.  Point, step (with the proper foot), then throw...  But - for me at least - teaching kids to shoot a basketball left-handed has always brought me a special challenge.  In a future post, I'm sure I'll get to the "L" and proper basketball shooting form...  regardless "how" you shoot a basketball - I challenge you to try it with your off-hand.  

It is vital to recognize who is left-handed, and aside from setting up drills accordingly - pay special attention to shooting form.  This is the best age to start stressing "proper form" - even though many younger kids have no option other than the push-shot to get the ball anywhere near a 10-foot hoop.  Even if they need to improvise during the game, there's a lot of value in stressing the right form during practices.  As the kids grow, they will develop a more consistent shot, and therefore be more successful over the long-term when playing basketball.

After you've set your mind to shooting with your off-hand for the sake of teaching, I'm sure you'll find that you're in excellent position to adjust to all of the kids - regardless of which hand they prefer.  

Role Models

I'm sure you can think back to your childhood and remember role models you had - whether it was Robin Yount, Joe Montana, or Betty Crocker... All of those, along with many others past and present, set a positive example for others to follow. It is these people who shape and inspire others to achieve, sometimes well above what their "talent" may have been.

But what about the ones who aren't such a positive example? Pete Rose, Barry Bonds, OJ Simpson... Manny Ramierez. I can think of about a dozen others right off the top of my head, too. How do you explain to a 7-year-old that their favorite player can't play for 50 games because he was cheating?

While it will always be important for kids - and all of us, probably - to admire others who are famous, and - apparently - good at what they do, it's important to set good examples right where we are. Sure, Manny is on TV a lot, and he hits like few others. And that hair is pretty cool. But he doesn't live in your house, or drive the kids to school, or take them out to Baskin Robbins. He can't take the time to show Little Bobby how to hit a curve ball, really.

As coaches and as parents - heck, as adults - it's our obligation to set good examples for our kids. In life. In sport.

It never fails that during a season we play the team of sore losers - what kind of coach allows this type of behavior if they're down a few runs, or can't seem to score a goal? The message SHOULD be to go out, try a little harder, and chip away at the lead. If you ultimately fail - congratulate the victors, and work harder in pratice for next time. What is the conversation is between the kids and the coaches and parents after a bad game compounded with bad sportsmanship... and what kind of adults do those kids become? When things don't go their way (didn't get the job, failed to qualify for the loan, etc) - do they sit and pout? Do they call the loan officer names?

Kids will imitate what they see and hear. If they get a truly positive message, and develop to drive to achieve, there's no stopping them. When they hit a bump in the road, they won't sulk, they'll seek out another way...

I'm not saying coaches are perfect - nor do they need to be. I don't know anyone who is. That's human. But to strive to do the right things, and to admit and explain when you have failed is really what a role model is. In that light, maybe Manny deserves another chance...

Following up on yesterday's post

It seems I didn't stress the "fun" in fundamentals enough yesterday.

Just because the kids are learning the basics doesn't mean it has to be boring... there are tons of great drills that you can do to teach the kids what they need, but also let them have some fun.  Typically, younger kids can handle a "serious" drill or two in a row.  After that, it's usually time for something a little more fun.  

What is fun?  Usually, "fun" involves some kind of competition or game (how many dribbles can you do in a row before you lose the ball, stuff like that).  In soccer, I'll race the kids to the fence - yes, they always win - but along the way, they are controlling the ball and learning agility.  ...of course, the older out-of-shape guy is pushing himself, but it's all in good fun.

Sometimes I'll let the kids pick a drill (later in the year, after they've been through a bunch of drills a few times).  This is always popular.  Laughing, smiling, giggling, are all good things to have at practice!

There.  I feel better.  Consider yesterday's post complete.

FUNdamentals!

One of the things I've noticed is that some coaches try really hard to be fancy. Fancy is not a bad thing, but it's not as effective when you haven't covered what's essential.

My first experience with this was a few years ago when my son was playing soccer. He was probably 5... The kids on the other team had the most amazing choreography on kickoff plays - making all kinds of bizarre moves, but not really accomplishing anything. As it turns out, they had plenty of time to do what they did on kickoffs, because they couldn't score or defend at all! Frankly, the kids really seemed to enjoy the little kickoff dance (as I named it in my head) - which is great, but was that really the best thing for the kids?

Since my first experience with coaching 15 years ago, I've seen the value in stressing the basics of the game. If you can't hit the ball, catch the ball, and make accurate throws, you will struggle with baseball - regardless of your knowledge of the infield fly rule. If you can't dribble a basketball, forget about a full court zone-trap press.

Coaching younger kids gives you a tremendous opportunity to make a huge difference. Not only is teaching fundamentals fairly easy, there is huge benefit. The kids will get frustrated running plays if they aren't able to perform the skills that are assumed in creating the strategy. The basics are different per sport, but here's my suggested foci (focuses? focus? ...I mentioned I really wasn't a writer - you were warned).

Basketball: Dribbling (with head up, with one hand, while moving), Passing (bounce, chest pass), "Triple Threat Position" - more on that in another post, Shooting (w/ proper form), Defensive position (man-to-man).

Soccer: Dribbling (both feet), Ball control (stopping, starting, changing speed), Defensive position (including goalie play, if applicable)

Baseball: Contact hitting, ground-ball fielding, basic throwing and catching. For baseball, I'd throw in a quick discussion about baserunning, if applicable.

Football: This one depends a lot on how you're playing the kids - fixed position vs. playing all positions. I focus on throwing with proper form, catching (with hands), and defensive positioning. For flag football - focus on flag pulling, which you'll find to be vitally important. For tackle, obviously tackling technique would be important.

Don't out-fox yourself with the youngsters. Focus on the basic skills first. If they've mastered that, you're ahead of the game and have free reign to do whatever else you'd like.

Rules

For as much as I want to encourage parents - or anyone - to volunteer their time to coach, you have to really want it. You have to be the "authority" on the team - the example for everyone to follow. And, you have to know the rules... of the sport, and of the league you're playing in. It doesn't matter when you learned them - just that you know, and adjust your coaching and strategy accordingly.



Why isn't this just really obvious? Because there are a lot of other things to think about. Equipment. Emails to the team. Dang, work was really bad today... When is practice? Little Johnny can't make that day, can you please move it to Tuesdays? In fact, that's the only day he can make it... But, you've seen soccer on TV - it can't be that hard, right? No hands, 11 players per side...?


Nothing is more embarrassing than to show up having practiced with goalies and now you can't use them. Or finding out that the basketball hoops are really 8 feet and not 6. Or that your team missed out on scoring a touchdown because you didn't realize you only had 2 timeouts per half. I've seen all of this happen, and none of it was positive.


Reading the rules literally takes a few minutes. It's ok to have questions. Every coordinator I've ever worked with was more than happy to follow up on any questions I had. Once you've read and understand the rules, don't let anyone else dictate the rules as they understand them to you (not parents, and especially not other coaches!). You will have practiced skills and put in strategy around the rules to give your kids the best chance of success (RIGHT?!). This is not to say you shouldn't agree to minor rule modifications with other coaches or officials as individual situations dictate! But knowing the rules puts you in that authority role that coaches should be in. Your parents will respect this, and the kids will rally around it.


Rules are your ally. They are in place to put the kids in the best and safest environment to succeed in the given sport. Knowing them well gives you an advantage, and it is difficult to argue what's written in the coaches' packet (vs. what you've "heard" or assumed about the league). This simple action can make the difference between great and not-so-great experiences on the field.


For my friends who may be reading - or for those of you who enjoy "The Big Lebowski" - yes, the scene with Smokey and Walter was the inspiration for this post.

This blog really should be a website...

I was looking through the first 10 posts, and it seems like there's a lot good information. Practices, drills, thoughts - wow... Alright. Now that I'm done patting myself on the back, I am wondering - how the heck is anyone going to make heads or tails out of any of this? What happens if you're looking for "football stuff" and there's all the soccer and baseball stuff mixed in? What if you're more about the "random thoughts" and less about the technical details?

I've been doing some research on other youth sports websites. Thankfully, there are a few worthwhile, but I haven't found one I really liked yet (although, you'll see links to some of the better ones here soon). So, I'm thinking about setting up a real site, then having the blog as a compliment to that. Yeah, that's gonna take time and effort - but we have a Mac!

On another note, our spring seasons are winding down - just 1 game left for both soccer and football. But - maybe even more than other seasons - I am extremely proud of both teams. Those kids have all worked very, very hard, and gotten much better over the course of the season! We'll continue on with 5-year-old soccer in the gym for the summer, and also 8 and 9-year old basketball (where the real fun starts). I'm sure there will be plenty more about that as those seasons get closer.

Anatomy of a Practice: Flag Football

The 6-8 year olds are 6 games and 7 practices into the 8-game season, and we've established a pretty regular routine. Here's a brief overview of how we spend 45 minutes once a week.

Stretching and Running - Each practice starts up with a brief warm up period, followed by some sprints. Keep in mind, these are little kids, not high schoolers. I'll usually have them do 2 sets of sprints, and then we'll get started with the rest of practice.

Next up is route running practice. I have installed a basic route tree, with 9 patterns. We spent much more time on this for the first few weeks as the kids were learning the routes. Now, we go over them as a review, and to try to run them more precisely. I'll talk more about the routes and plays later on.

Now that we're probably 15 minutes into practice, it's time for a break. I like to stop every 10-15 minutes so that the kids aren't distracted by needing a quick rest of being thirsty. There's plenty of other distractions for them.

For the next 10-15 minutes, it's usually a drill or two. In earlier practices, we did basic throwing and catching. At this age, it's important to stress the mechanics of throwing, and watching the ball all the way in on a catch. I also try to stress catching with hands (if they can), versus catching against the body. This will help them later on, but may lead to a lot of dropped passes in the present. In practices later in the season, I've also run center-quarterback snapping drills, as well as some flag-pulling drills. As you can imagine, pulling flags is vitally important...

After another quick break, the last 15-20 minutes is on offensive and/or defensive strategy. We've installed a zone defense scheme (more on that later), because the kids struggled with 1-on-1 responsibilities. We've also had some difficulty running plays correctly, so it was important to me to get 2-3 plays down. I'm not sure we did, but it was worth a shot.

Running through all of this can easily consume an hour. If the kids seem distracted, move on to the next activity - or - if they are acting up, you can always have them run more.

Football is a strategy-based sport. There's a lot of teamwork involved... be sure to use practice time wisely to give yourself and the team the best shot at success during the games.

Which sport should my kid play?

Everyone has a theory about which sports their kids should play and why. I do too. I'm not an expert in child development, but I was a kid and I am a parent - and I can tell you what worked for me...

First off, I'm a believer in encouraging your kid to get involved in something at a young age. It doesn't matter if it's ballet or basketball or basket-weaving. Activities allow them to be engaged, interact with others, and gain confidence as they have success. Once the activity is chosen, it's important to stick with it through the commitment - usually, that means the season. Quitting early, or not giving full effort sends the message that sticking with something isn't important.

For really young kids, maybe up to at least 3 years, I think it's best to play informally. Maybe put them in swimming lessons, but play ball in the backyard, kick the soccer ball around and help them develop basic motor skills. But at some point, they're ready for soccer.

Soccer is great for 4 year olds and up. There's really 2 things to think about - kick and run. Yes, the games are usually a pack of kids surrounding a ball in close proximity... but it's cute. During the practices and games, the team bonds, and learns the basics of sportsmanship along with the actual game. It can be rough going, but it sets the stage for enjoying soccer further, or playing other sports.

It was difficult for me to explain "offense" and "defense" to 4 year olds. I gave up on that, and instead talked about kicking the ball toward "our goal" and away from "their goal". That's probably another topic.

My son was able to play basketball as a kindergartner. Of course, you have 6' hoops, and there's not much dribbling or passing, but there's only slightly more to think about than soccer (run, shoot, and then anything else they can remember). With basketball, offense and defense is a little bit clearer, because you're doing different things.

When I was a kid, I played tee ball in first grade, and so we tried baseball (coach pitched) with Alex at 6. This added the next step in complexity - when batting, you just swung the bat and ran when you hit it... easy. But what do you do in the field? Usually the rules are set up so that baserunners stop either at first base, or at the base they're on after the ball is touched by the defense - so for fielders, you can tell them to "throw it to first" all the time, and that's pretty safe. But, baseball has lots of complex rules about force outs, tag outs, etc. It takes a little bit of practice and playing the game for the more advanced concepts to begin sinking in...

At 7, Alex begged to play football. I was ok with that. Flag football. He's now at the age where he understands games and rules, and can easily adapt. We rotate sports, although he has his favorites (which doesn't include soccer). The most difficult part about the football team is that there are 6-8 year olds, covering kindergarten through THIRD GRADE. If you've made it this far in the post, you probably understand how that's a bit of a challenge...

Most importantly - encourage your kid to do something. Every child is different, and - maybe there's a football prodigy out there who's 4... But if you're scratching your head, pick a soccer league, and see what happens.

Communicate Effectively - With Parents

One of the reasons I have been so involved in coaching my kids' teams is an experience we had with a "bad" coach. "Larry" was assigned to be the coach of my son's soccer team many years ago. His son was also on the team, and he seemed like a nice enough guy. However, throughout the season, Larry would routinely send out cryptic emails, cancel practice at the last minute, and sometimes not show up for games. Larry was a decent enough coach on the field, but he was a poor communicator.

This irritates and frustrates parents, and it can impact the kids and their performance.

No one expects a coach to do everything perfectly. Jobs, illness, and life sometimes get in the way of making every practice and game on time - or at all. That said, it is important to build repoire with parents. Find out how to communicate with them (email works great for me, but some prefer phone). In addition to coaching, you are obligated to either be or find a "team coordinator". I am lucky - my kind and loving wife has helped me during he past several seasons - organizing email lists, sending reminders, keeping the snack schedule... this may seem like "little stuff" - or even stuff that doesn't matter. But it does.

Set the expectation - what can they expect from you? What do you expect from them? This likely changes a LOT as the kids get older...

Players whose parents know when they practice, where they practice, and when the games are will usually pay you back by being on-time and supportive of your efforts. They will be more apt to communicate with you - or even volunteer to help you out. Your communication style can create harmony on your team, which will lead to a much more rewarding experience. ...and the mood impacts the kids, and their enthusiasm (or not) for the game.

Communicating effectively with parents takes a little work, but the benefits far outweigh the costs. These skills also transfer directly into the actual coaching work - but that's for another time.

Why?!

This is my first entry in my first blog.

I have never been one to keep a diary or take a lot of notes. I don't really even like writing all that much. That said, I think now is the right time and youth sports / coaching kids / volunteering is the right topic. Why? I love coaching and inspiring kids through sports, teamwork, and sportsmanship. I like teaching, and I like seeing them "get it". I've been coaching my son, Alex for almost 4 years now through many sports, and have begun my first season of coaching my daughter, Nikki. I was also involved in coaching younger kids when I was growing up. During that time, I have seen a lot of bad coaches. I have seen TERRIBLE coaches. I have seen marginal coaches, and I have encountered some very excellent coaches. I have also met many parents - some just happy to have their kids involved. Some wanting to coach (or assist) but not knowing how. Some wonderful, some obnoxious. If you are interested in any of these topics, then maybe this blog is for you.

I hope to share everything from little stories to drill ideas. Some topics may be "from the archives", while others might be fresh that day. I will cover basketball, baseball, football, and soccer - not sure my knowledge is the same depth and breadth across all of those, but I'm sure you'll quickly find how I feel about each...

Your comments will always be welcome. I would prefer welcome, thoughtful comments - but I realize this is the Internet...

Happy coaching!