I'm in my 5th year coaching varsity boys. I have a junior that's about 6'5" and athletic. Works hard, great kid, continuous improvement. He does lack some skill at the moment but we are pushing him to be a complete player, not just our big guy. I'm not sure if he's a division 2 player in college but I want to help him find him s place.

He is my first player that has the potential to play after high school. What should I be doing to help get his name out? He plays aau. Parents have home signed up with one of those recruiting agents(for lack of a better term)

Start of October so official practice starting in Oklahoma. I’m on second year of my coaching sabbatical. Just doing some scouting for a website.

My social media algorithm is a ton of basketball clips, a lot of posts from high school players come across my feed. I saw this particular type of post in football season a lot as well. It’s been really prevalent so far this pre-season. I see it from both male and female athletes.

sad music plays
Slide 1-2 : basketball action shots
Slide 3: shot of them on the bench
Slide 4: Text convo telling Coach they are quitting
Slide 5-6: messages saying they’ll always love the game.
Usually with the general demeanor being that they didn’t get a fair shot.

I just feel like some of these bench players feel like their two days of internet validation is going to give them more of a dopamine hit than the 4th quarters they’ll get to play/joy from being on the bench when they win a game.

I’m not saying kids should play if they don’t want to, and I know that kids have been thinking “I should quit before I get cut/so I could say I WOULD have gotten to play”.

However, I truly feel like social media is adding a whole new side to some kids decision making.

Unless you've had that coach who makes an impact on your life further than X's and O's, or been given that ultimate compliment from a former player that you made an impact on their life, it can be hard to see the impact you make on kid no matter what skill level the league is. I am lucky enough to have been given both in my life.

This post is a thank you to that coach and how he shaped the way I coach teams. I had no idea at the time the impact this man in his early 30s would make on me when I accepted an invite to play on his 12U AAU travel team.

A flood of memories came back to me (35M) tonight of my travel ball days. Some of my favorite memories from my childhood came from playing on that team. It wasn't because we were a lucky group of kids who had automatic friendship chemistry. While we all did get along as well as most young people with similar interests do, I truly believe how he coached and treated us built the team to feel more like a brotherhood through those years. He might not have been the best X's and O's guy, but he treated us as equals.

He would listen to us if we had an opinion on a play in practice, or how to attack a player if we noticed a tendency in a game. Outside of practice and games, he'd have regular conversations with us as if we were his buddies, even cracking jokes with us or about us during practice. Some of the favorite practices I ever had were the ones that turned into two hours of roasting each other. While it sounds like he might not have been pushing us, that's not true at all. Those practices were earned and were not happening if we weren't giving it our all or if we became a distraction. Hard work was rewarded, and we understood that.

He held himself accountable. During scrimmages, if we were a player short, he'd fill in, and if he was on the losing end, he'd run suicides with us. If he felt like he made coaching mistakes that cost us a game, he'd run suicides. It made him feel like even more of a part of the team and one of us.

He was there for you if you needed him. While I was more fortunate with the family I was given, others were not. If someone needed a ride, all you had to do was say so and he'd be there. I know he did a lot more than that for a few kids on the team who needed an extra role model in their lives.

It took me some years to realize my coaching style emulated his. I started coaching my little brother's 8U YMCA basketball team at 14 after my last travel ball season. I kept doing it because it was fun for me, and I truly enjoyed getting to know, hang out with, and coach these kids in the same ways that coach once did for me. Coaching my little brother from 8U to 18U YMCA leagues and being an assistant coach on his travel teams throughout middle school was a major bonus. He would even eventually assistant coach with me on the younger YMCA team I coached each season once he turned 14, too. I loved seeing him get the same joy out of it as I was.

The first time I realized I was doing this for more reasons than myself was when I had parents requesting to have their kid on my team because not only did their children enjoy themselves, but they liked how I treated their children and trusted me with them. But the ultimate compliment comes years down the line when a player you haven't seen since they were 12, 14, or 15 runs into you as a young adult and tells you how much they appreciated and enjoyed their time with you.

If you've been told this before, you know just how deep this hits. Or if you haven't been told yet, don't worry; you're doing it right, and your impact is bigger than it feels. Sadly, a lot of people won't get a chance to hear this, so just appreciate it in the moment. It won't only be the players who look fondly back on these memories when you make yourself one of their teammates as well as their coach.

I don't believe any of that would have been possible for me without that coach. I'm writing him a personal message to say a lot of these things because I believe people in your life who made an impact on you deserve to know that.

If this sparks something in you and you had that coach, write to that special person who inspired you and let them know. You have no idea how much it will mean to them.

Thank you, Coach Davis, for being that coach for me.

I have been a rec coach at this age and younger. On offense I have mixed in some designed plays with success but for the most part I have just assigned guards and forwards and let them play offense under a couple very loose guidelines within that. We're now splitting our grade into an top team and a lower team. I'll be coaching the top team. I'm debating whether I should try to put in multiple plays or if I'm better off trying to teach them a motion type offense. Our league will be quite competitive and my team will have talented players. My thought is structured plays will be picked up on by the defense very quickly. And a motion offense is something they will need to learn eventually even if its just the very beginning of it now. Can anybody who has walked in these shoes offer any feedback?

My son is a great kid, tries to stay involved and active. He is one of the shortest kids in his class. He loves baseball and enjoys basketball. Problem is that he is not all that athletic. Basketball is very frustrating for him but he keeps joining every year and I’m proud of him for that. He is in 7th grade and this year is the first year of actual middle school ball instead of rec. Any pointers for me to help him out? Is the mindset of be a good aggressive player to keep and get the ball and not worry about shooting as much (he is still working on this but does everyone need to be great at scoring?). He is a fairly good runner but needs work on his dribbling. We unfortunately live pretty far in the country and only have gravel so it’s hard for him to practice which I feel bad for. Any advice for me to give to him/things we can do to be a better player

I'm about 168 cm tall and want to play 1-on-1. Are there any useful techniques or training you can recommend to help me win or score against someone much taller than me? Whenever I drive inside, I can't break through his defense, and whenever I choose to shoot a 3-pointer, he manages to block it. Facing this makes me really want to find a way to beat him.

When I first started playing basketball, I tried practicing shooting with my left hand because I wanted to be comfortable using both hands. However, it somehow ruined my right-hand (dominant) shot. I’m no longer as accurate as I used to be, and I can't generate enough power to reach the rim anymore.

Has anyone else gone through this? If so, does anyone know how to fix it or have any advice to share?

Hi everyone! This year, I took over a senior women’s team (I was the assistant coach last season) competing in the third tier of the national league.
I decided to install a classic Princeton offense (low post entry, point entry and chin entry, along with another play that’s a variation of the chin entry).
We’ve been working on it for a month now and, although we’ve made some progress, we’re still struggling a bit. The season has only just started and we’re currently 1-1.
I’ve noticed that we still lack some fluidity and continuity in our offense, and our spacing isn’t quite where it needs to be yet. I guess this is normal at this stage, but I’m open to any suggestions on how to implement the system more effectively and how to deal with very aggressive defenses.
We lost by 20 points today despite getting off to a good start.

I’ve been cranking out NBA teams playbooks every single season since 19-20, and the 2026 NBA championship New York Knicks' playbook is locked and loaded.

Hey everyone!

I've been playing pickup basketball for about 12 years now. I know the rules, understand the game pretty well, and I really love basketball.

Lately, I've been thinking about getting into coaching, especially helping kids develop their skills and learn the fundamentals.

I've already started coaching my own son, and seeing his improvement has made me want to take this more seriously.

So, I have a question for the experienced coaches here: If you were starting from scratch today, how would you go about becoming a good youth basketball coach?

I'm curious about things like:

- Where should I start?

- What certifications or coaching licenses should I look into?

- Are there any good books, courses, or YouTube channels you'd recommend?

- How did you get your first coaching experience?

I want to approach this as a complete beginner when it comes to coaching. Playing basketball and teaching it are two different things, and I know I have a lot to learn.

My goal is to do things the right way, get the proper training and certifications, and eventually feel ready to coach other people's kids.

I'm not trying to become an NBA coach overnight. I just want to learn, become a good coach, and help kids get better while enjoying the game.

Any advice or resources would mean a lot. Thanks, everyone!

Hi all,

I have a son, who's now 7 years old (8 in March), and he is in love with balls since he was a year old and got his first round object. In daycare we were already advised to let him play some kind of ball. Since I'm playing basketball myself and he watched me, his interest went that way.

We started in a ball playgroup when he was almost 4 with our local basketball team, that happens to be one of the best in the country, although in our country basketball is not really THAT popular. So their youth development is quite good.

They switched him from U7 to U10 when he was 5 years old and he got to play with older kids, which at first worried us a bit but he liked it and wanted to keep it that way.

He's in this age group for 2 years now and the coach approached me suggesting 2 different options.

As the U10 is getting quite big and the age gap from 7 to 10 is quite big, they need to make two teams, one with the older kids, one with the younger ones, but they both play in the same division.

Option 1: He stays in the older team even though he's younger, because he's "ready". Here he has to accept that others are older and better, but he has his spot on the team and can play and compete with them.

Option 2: He practices with Team 1, but plays games with Team 2, where he will get a bigger role as one of the go-to players with the ball in his hands more.

The coach wanted to make a decision together and I think both options have their pros and cons. In Team 1 they will most likely win the championship in their division and he will play alongside better players. In Team 2 he will learn to have a bigger role and handle the ball more, but he will also learn how it is to NOT win. The competition level for both teams will be the same.

I'm leaning towards Team 2 because he has always been the youngest on the team by far and now he could experience being one of the older ones with a bigger role. But on the other hand if he sticks to Team one, the older kids will eventually switch divisions and it will come organically.

Happy to get neutral opinions on the topic and some advice on what you guys would do/recommend.

I run a youth basketball program and I'm trying to find a camera that films games on its own and makes highlights for each player. Every time I search I just get soccer stuff.

What I need: films the game with nobody running it, makes clips for each kid automatically, and some basic stats would be nice. Has to actually work for basketball, not a soccer camera that technically works inside.

What are programs like ours actually using?

My son just turned 2 and has been absolutely obsessed with basketball for the past year. He falls asleep and wakes up talking about basketball, loves watching it, and points out every basketball hoop we pass while driving or on walks.How I can support this interest without making it too structured or turning it into “training” at this age. I want to understand what kinds of foundational skills actually matter for basketball so I can work some of them naturally into the stuff we already do.Right now he’s pretty skilled on the toddler hoop and has been shooting from farther back for a while. He’s also been practicing two handed bouncing and can get about 4 bounces. He’ll also grab the ball and move around us almost like he’s trying to get past a defender, even though he’s obviously not dribbling while he does it yet. We didn't initiate this game. I think he picked up on it while watching the older kids at the park or the community center. Often times, he will watch them play for 30 mins and refuse to leave.

What are some little games you’d play with a kid this age that build skills beyond just shooting? He knows how to throw the ball to me when I say "Pass to Mama" but neither my husband or I were ball sports oriented in our youth so we're a bit at a loss on how to encourage this interest in daily playing. Are there things that don’t look like basketball at all that you think are really useful?

For example, he enjoys scootering, baseball, and paddles/rackets, any type of throwing or aiming game. I feel like all of that probably overlaps in some way but I don’t really know enough about basketball development to know what’s actually helpful.I want to let him drive what he’s interested in and what skills he wants to experiment with. I think I’m also just looking for resources to educate myself. I have no idea what’s baseline for a toddler or what kinds of foundational skills are worth giving him more opportunities to explore. That way, if he’s still into basketball when he’s old enough for something organized, he has a good foundation and can get more out of that experience.

Any recommendations or ideas for teaching littles how to dribble? I’m talking 4-5 years old. I work with her older brother and now she wants to start too. I have figured out everything else, but struggling to teach dribbling. Like how to bounce the ball hard enough that it bounces back up. Thoughts and ideas welcome.

"If I want to start making basketball tutorial videos for beginners, specifically targeting kids, what topics should I focus on in my curriculum/schedule?"

Background: played high school basketball and was pretty good but fell in with the wrong crowd/habits so never took it super serious even though I loved the game a lot.

About 3 years ago, I started coaching again and it re-ignited my love for the game. I've been doing it on a volunteer basis since.

I'm deep enough into my day-job career and enjoy it enough/have enough skill and experience built that I want to keep working in that field, but I find myself increasingly thinking about coaching passively, it's become a bit of an obsession.

So while I don't want to change careers this late in my life to a profession that has very low pay for the first 5-10 years, and I don't want to switch to become a teacher so I can coach in high school, I wanted to see if anyone had experience with coaching as a "side hustle", alongside a primary career.

I don't need it to be a full second income, but some supplementary income to put money in my kids' education fund or help pay for a family vacation every year, on top of doing what I really love, would be my ideal setup.

Does anyone have experience with this and if so, how did your path work to get there? would love some general ideas to get to that point.

I have coached the same 2 teams for the last 2 years now. And while they are still around B/C level skill wise they have improved greatly as a team. As I am getting ready for the winter season, I am looking for some good ideas for practice to keep them interested and still improve their game.

Ran a 5-out motion system last year, but players only cut after passing the ball.

I want to incorporate more continuity of off ball movement, screening away, ball screening, etc but not sure how to simplify it. Help!

My freshman year I tried out for the basketball team and made it but I stopped going to it cause I had band and felt like I didn’t have free time I love having free time,so I didn’t even tryout my sophomore year now it’s my junior year, I love basketball to an extent would I want to play it in college no but I love playing it still, so now I have to decide to play it my junior year I have hard courses this year that take up a lot of time but to be fair I did pick all the hard college classes this year to take with all my aice class for dual year enrollment, should I try out for the team marching band season ends around a month after basketball starts than we go to concert season and theirs not a lot going on at that time. Overall should I join the basketball team I value my free time and love having free time but I love basketball to.

I am from the USA, living in Sweden, and started coaching my son's team a few years ago. I come from a family of coaches and have some, but pretty limited, coaching experience myself. Mainly I'm trying to help out, fit in, and do things the way they do things here—which is often much harder than it sounds.

A couple of years ago I started with a new team of 12-year-olds, most of whom were absolute beginners. We had a training match against another team in our club. They beat us 90–4, pressing the entire game, cheering loudly, running fast breaks, chanting "DEFENSE" in the 4th quarter...like it was a competitive match or something

Our second match was against a team from our club that was a year older. They beat us 108–? When they broke 100 (on an under-the-leg layup), their bench and parents erupted like they had just won a championship.

I confronted both coaches afterward and they acted like I was insane. One told me I needed to learn to be a "better loser." The other told me they really "needed this win" because they hadn't won any matches the previous year.

These last couple years, I have realized these massive blow-outs are pretty common, since the teams are very uneven skill-wise. A lot of "serious" teams ( often with parent-coaches who were former players ) start their teams very young ( 6 or 7 ), so older beginners are often at a disadvantage.

This year I'm helping coach another team of beginners, this time 14-year-olds. There is a big increase in interest in basketball in Sweden right now, but a shortage of coaches. We play in a lower-level league, but for matches, in order to avoid getting completely blown out, we were given a few players from the club's A team, who play at the top level. Apparently they needed some playing time.

The screenshot above is from our last game. We won 132–8. The loaned players were responsible for more than half of our points.

I don't feel good about this. I've brought it up with other coaches, but they insist that not playing your hardest, or not going for it on every possession, would actually be a greater insult to the other team than easing up on the competition.

As the immigrant in the group, I do speak up, but I also don't want to constantly push against the local coaching culture.

In the USA, at least in my experience, this would generally be considered pretty poor sportsmanship at this level. Or any level really. I grew up playing extremely competitive Catholic-school basketball in Oklahoma in the 80s and 90s, and I honestly don't remember seeing anything quite like this.

So I guess I'm wondering if I've been assuming something was universal when it actually isn't.

Is this attitude toward youth basketball blowouts common elsewhere in Europe or the world? Or is this unusual even by European standards?

I will soon be coaching an 8th grade team who went undefeated the prior season. We have the size and skill to roll the ball out and beat any team in our league pretty handily.

These kids are able to play at the high school level once their junior high season ends. And most will be contributing to JV with one who has a chance to contribute to varsity.

The main thing I want to get out of them this junior high season is communication. They are all unselfish but pretty quiet kids. Would a 2-2-1 zone press trying to get traps near half court, and then scrambling back to man once the ball crosses be the best way to force communication out of them during competition?

What are some drills in practice we could use to force communication out of them? Was thinking we would do a lot of 3 on 4 shell drill. But wondering if anyone has had success in other ways getting kids to talk on the court.

If I'm in the wrong sub, let me know. But I couldn't think of anywhere else to ask this.

I'm managing my team for the first time and I have a lot of questions about how team fees should be handled. I know prior captains have had to carry an extra player or two worth of fees, so I'm hoping to avoid that where I can. So, with that said:

What is your approach to mens league fees and expenses?

League fees

We have our league fees, of course. My approach is to have 10 full-time players and divide the fee by 10. Problem solved.

Jerseys

Our league requires everyone to have the same style jersey. Similarly, the same approach would be to have everyone pay for their jersey, and they can keep them at the end of the year.

Equipment

Where it starts to get a bit tricky. Because of the jersey requirement, we need a few extra jerseys for subs. Dividing the fees by 10 means there's little wiggle room for additional expenses like this. I've thought about tacking on $5-$10 onto every player's fees and using that to buy new jerseys and then replace them as needed beyond that. The worrisome part of that, for me, is ending up running a surplus after a few years. It'd only be like $100 a year, but may start to add up if we're good with our sub jerseys.

Insurance fees

On top of that, all players have to sign a waiver and pay required insurance and registration fees. It's a lame fee that I hate, but it's a requirement and the league is very strict about enforcing it for everyone - subs included. Fees are about $20. A few people have expressed interest in subbing, but asking them to register and pay and possibly never needing them is a risk. Also, the league freezes our roster 1/3 of the way through the season, so there's little flexibility there.

Any thoughts or tips on managing these team fees?

Hi everyone I am M23 trying to learn basketball from scratch

I have never played any sports in my life and is very unathletic

I am trying to be good in any one sports since college is almost getting over

Can anyone help me learn how to play

I am 5 7 height

I absolutely love this offence. It is old school and very structured compared to today’s style but if you can get players to buy in, there are tons of opportunities to score.

I am going to rely on the more experienced offensive minds in here to take it to the left level though. In this video, Coach Saia does not really get into how to disguise the offence, or how to avoid having the defence jump it., that is, how to avoid your players simply running to the spot to kick off the action and making it predictable. When teams have figured out what we’re doing we’ve had a lot of turnovers.

My players have trouble understanding how to bring up the ball and time everything to get things going. Hard to explain, but I hoping you guys can help.