Included in this article:

• Planning an engaging session
• VOICE: Things to consider when coaching youth basketball
  
• CHOICE: How do you coach basketball to a beginner?
  
• How do you coach more advanced basketball?
  
• VOICE: Coaching drills for young children
  
• Coaching drills for high schoolers

When people think of basketball, they are most likely thinking of the highly-paid statuesque stars of the NBA and WNBA. Few of us will get to coach basketball on that grandest of stages – but whoever you coach, putting children first is at the heart of coach development, and there are so many ways to progress when you’re coaching youth basketball. And of course, you’ll be supporting young people to become the best basketball players they can.

The sport offers plenty of opportunities for smaller and younger athletes via its small-sided mini-basketball variation – and of course wheelchair basketball now boasts a high profile thanks to its showcase in the Paralympics. It can be enjoyed by disabled and able-bodied players alike.

Here we look at some of the key things to think about when planning basketball coaching sessions for kids – from the principles that guide your planning to the activities you might try out. 

Planning a kids' basketball coaching session

Things to consider when coaching basketball to kids

A child-first coaching philosophy is easy to embed in your sessions as you teach basketball to kids. Ryan Raghoo, a top-class athlete himself who now coaches a variety of sports to young people including wheelchair basketball, has some great advice on what coaches should be considering.

How do you coach basketball to a beginner?

Sergio and Ryan both coach different formats of basketball – but they agree that the only way to coach a complete beginner, particularly a very young one, is to make it fun. And the most fun way to do that is to get them playing basketball right away.

"I like to use lots of little games – not just, ‘Go away and do 20 of these,'" says Ryan. "Let's play a game, let's make it interactive, and get as many people involved as possible."

"Let them play, that’s the only way," adds Sergio. "They’re out there because they want to play."

Creating that sense of fun with beginner basketball players is the best way to ensure their engagement with the sport.

“There’s nothing you can teach if they don’t come back,” Sergio points out.

How do you coach more advanced basketball?

As a general rule, Sergio’s approach to coaching is the same regardless of who’s in the group, but he urges coaches to get to know who they’re working with, from the youngest to more advanced basketball players.

"Coaching is the same across all ages and with boys and girls," he says, "but you have to make the effort to look at the world through their eyes.

Ryan works with both absolute beginners and those on national squad talent pathways, and says that there can be variable levels of ability in any group. However, the fundamentals of the game need to be covered whenever you’re thinking about how to teach basketball to kids.

"So for example, with defence, those who are experienced, I might ask them to defend a space for a certain amount of time," he says. "With those who are still learning defence, we'll look at are you in the right position, where's your chair in relation to the other person?"

Kids' basketball coaching drills

Basketball coaching drills for young children

When it comes to activities to coach wheelchair basketball, obviously one of the biggest lessons to learn is using the chair safely. Ryan says that health, safety and cost might seem big concepts for the littlest ones, but they catch on quickly.

"From my perspective, a lot of times most kids have never been in a wheelchair before. So before we get to play basketball, I've got to teach them how to move the chair," he says.

"There's all the health and safety bits that no one wants to hear – basic safety features, like keep your fingers out of the wheels, put your feet inside the chair, and then actually how to push the chair, how to stop the chair, how to turn the chair. There are some sessions when we might not even touch a basketball with beginners, even though it’s wheelchair basketball, because it's so important to learn the movements of the chair.

"The second session you can introduce passing, dribbling, basic ball skills. It might be the fifth session you introduce shooting. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that – I’ve never had a kids’ session where they’re not having fun! It’s not about how quickly they’re progressing."

"They get a sense of fun from it," he says. "Sometimes we use playground games, sometimes smaller versions of the sport, but always play – we don’t bore them with explanations or high-level terminology."

Depending on the facilities available, he suggests avoiding too much chat from the coach, and instead putting the children into groups of three or four and getting them playing as quickly as possible – baskets not necessary.

Some playground or party games that might be usefully adapted for coaching children basketball include:

• Tag: The child or children with the ball have to dribble the ball while trying to "tag" as many of their classmates as they can.
• Balloon bounce: Each child has a balloon that they need to keep in the air. Make it more complicated and promote better balance by asking them to stand on one leg or crouch on all fours and keep the balloon up.
• Follow the leader: The group copies the action of the leader, whether that’s dribbling, catching, or some fancy footwork. You as the coach might be the leader to begin with, but one of the players could take over when they are more confident. 

"You can play benchball, or end-zone, when you pass the ball around and try to get it to the other side," Sergio says. "You can do relay races – they typically go down quite well. Think of games they already play, and think, 'How can we throw a basketball in there?'" And of course, the children themselves can be involved in coming up with these kinds of suggestions.

Basketball coaching drills for high schoolers

This all works for coaching youth basketball with slightly older children as well if they want to try out some activities in a session – making it more complicated and more involved depending on the age group, their skill level, and the basketball coaching facilities the venue might have.

"A lot of it comes down to prep," says Ryan. "There’s often times where we have people who have never shot a basketball before with people who have been playing for a long time. You can teach similar stuff – something like shooting, you teach the fundamentals, the mechanics of how to shoot rather than go away and score ten baskets. It’s looking at where is the individual in their personal journey."

Final thoughts

Ryan believes that coaching wheelchair basketball is a privilege and a huge opportunity – introducing children to ideas around teamwork, communication and inclusion. He explains: "I wish more teachers and more coaches experienced wheelchair basketball. You're able to teach a lot more than you can in mainstream sport. In mainstream football or cricket, I might teach them about football and cricket and teamwork. If I'm delivering wheelchair basketball, I'm doing all of that and more."