3's and 4's Basketball

My sister has posted a lot of her creative ideas of things she does with her kids.  Among them Lego art and creative Star Wars stuff.  I was asked to coach my son's basketball team.  I was really nervous because I had signed him up because he begged.  I smirked a bit and though I have no idea how 4 year-olds can play basketball, we'll see what kind of magic the coach comes up with. 

Here's what I can up with.  Sorry the pictures didn't go through.  Enjoy!

Dear Parents,

The main goal of 3’s & 4’s basketball is to have fun.  From my experience as an assistant coach in soccer many kids will not have fun if they do not feel successful.  I found that after the other team had scored a goal or two our kids would be upset, go for lengthy bathroom breaks, or just refuse to play.  They were not persistent enough to find success after a discouragement.  I felt that if we could give them more skills and help them find success in completing a pass or mastering a throw-in they would be less likely to get discouraged and more likely to have fun. 

So, how does that translate to basketball?   All the kids want to make a basket.  My concern is that if they aren’t making baskets right away they will get discouraged.  I created some visuals to help them focus on the other skills they use in basketball.  If you don’t agree with me, you don’t have to do any of this, it’s just a suggestion.  I thought we could have parents and other fans hold up the signs, to kind of help coach from the sideline.  I’d love to hear cheering when kids dribble, passes and rebound as well as make a basket. 

Here is a simple run down of the pictures we used in practice last week and what they stand for.  We will not have any more practices this season, so if you want to work with your child on these concepts that would be great.  I believe it will help them find success and enjoy playing basketball this season. 

Thanks,

Coach Andrea

Basketball Visuals

Dribbling- (girl dibbling)  I didn’t actually use this picture last week.  But we all know dribbling is important and should be encouraged.   

 

Passing (form)- (karate guy bowing) Coach Angie taught them to put the ball on their bellies and push down to pass.  The best picture I could come up with for this one was a Karate guy.  Put the ball on your Karate belt and push down to pass.  Try to encourage kids to keep passes low below the waist.  It reduces chance of the received catching the ball with their nose.  

Passing (team work)- (blue triangle)  Triangle passing is probably a little too much for this age group.  Still, I thought I’d give it a try.  The concept is look for triangle shaped passing lanes. If you can’t go forward, look to the side for someone to pass to.  If you don’t have the ball, get  into a triangle formation with your teammate who does, so you’re ready for the pass.  Triangle passing really helps if the other team is good at blocking.  The kids can look to the sides for someone to pass to and get around the block.  Yes, this is a long shot, but maybe it will help someone.  

Shooting (form)- (a large soda pop) Coach Angie also came up with this one.  She told the kids to pretend they are drinking a really big pop and then shoot the ball.  When I was looking for coaching ideas I found that is really important.  One of the main complaints of coaches for older kids is that they have poor shooting form.  They mostly blame it on the kids starting too young  when the ball was too heavy and learning to shoot from the hip.  Using a smaller ball helps, but using the pop bottle will help them remember to shoot with their upper body.  If you hope your child will continue with basketball this would be good to work on.

Shooting (follow through)- (a cookie jar) Correct shooting form uses follow through.  One of the imageries I found for follow through was putting your hand in the cookie jar.  This one might be a little too much for kids this age, but if you want them to continue in basketball, it never hurts to start with correct form.  There are several websites that may help with this.  

Blocking- (a fall tree) Here we use the image of a fall tree.  Be the tree, extend your arms up and sway with the wind.  Catch the ball just like the tree catches the wind.  Some kids may need to be reminded that we don’t take the ball from the other players (no stealing in this league.) 

Rebound Star- (an orange star) I use the rebound start to try to reinforce that after we shoot it is important to rebound.  I’d like to hear a lot of cheering for rebounds.  Some kids will do this naturally; some kids will need a little coaching.  Please also remind your kids that whoever gets there first gets the rebound.  We don’t touch/tackle/wrestle the other players.  If you don’t get this rebound you’ll get the next one.  Just like the baskets.