Customer Reviews

Coaching Youth Basketball: A Baffled Parent's Guide

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I was drafted to coach a my son's basketball team a few months ago. An experienced coach, I'm not. It was an absolute delight to have a friend suggest this book. It provides everything from a great youth coaching philosophy to all the Xs and Os I could ever need. Equally important is that it provides offensive and defensive schemes that the team could understand and remember. Bottom line: these kids aren't the athletes they will be someday, but they have begun to understand how to play the game intelligently, that they are more successful as a team than as individuals, and they support one another in games and in practices. There is a David-and-Goliath element to their play now. They are usually over-matched physically, but they manage to pull most games out at the end.

This book will be great for your team and, as time goes on, for the game of basketball and the kids who play it, too. Coach Faucher really knows how to capture the kids' attention.

i decided that i wanted to coach basketball at my school, i wasn't sure what i should do, how to do it, etc. this book is a real good start. it talks about what skills kids need to be taught, it gives drills on how to teach those skills, it gives you sample practice plans that show you how to organize the drills, etc. it even gives you some plays for inbounding the ball, etc. all in all the book has everything a first year coach would want. a small warning however, this book is designed for first year coaches. you are not going to find how to run a triangle offense, or how to beat a pressure defense. but if you are looking for a book to start you off, then this is the one.

When I started reading this book, I knew absolutely nothing about basketball. I was asked to coach because the girls' league in my town desperately needed a coach, and I decided to give it a try.

This book was very helpful inasmuch as it gave me a guideline on the skills to emphasize in basketball. I also appreciated how the book pretty much guided me on everything from dealing with parents to what strategies to use in the game.

I can't say that at the end of the season I had myself a championship team, but I did have a bunch of girls with highly improved basketball skills and a great confidence in their abilities.

About 4 practices and a game into the season I was totally frustrated. My practices were disorganized, and the team wasn't responding to any of my "drills". I found this book at the store and bought it. It was wonderful! I now had renewed hope, and a plan. The kids responded quickly, and I enjoyed coaching much more.
The next season I started fresh after reading and re-reading the book. It was a great season, and many parents told me how much they enjoyed my coaching style, and the kids had fun too. I owe most of it to the book. I was more organized and polished.

I had previously coached boys soccer, but not basketball. This book helped me immensely. It covers everything from the first practice and parents meeting through more advanced drills. I saw my 4th grade team improve when I started to apply the principles and drills from this book. I highly recommend it.

I had never coached basketball prior to being asked to coach my daughters 6th grade basketball team. This book has and is a huge asset to me. The skills shown in the book are eaisly passed on to the players. We are a new school in an highly competitive distict and we have won 3 of 4 games so far. Our only loss coming from the top team by just a few points. The drills are fun for the kids and they and I are learning alot. I owe it all to this book. I highly recomend it.

I played a lot of basketball before taking on coaching my 6 year olds' team, but I had never coached. I digested the basics of this book in about an hour and it was a roadmap to get me started. I keep reading and using it as the season progresses. Very very good for first-time coaches for kids leagues of about 5-13 years old.

I bought 4 basketball coaching books for my husband when he signed up to coach our son's Kindergarten basketball team. He has never coached basketball before. This is the only book he wanted to keep. He uses it to come up with basic drills and general coaching tips. It's good. If you buy only one, I'd recommend this one.

Having been a ball player through school (20 years ago!), I wasn't too nervous about accepting the volunteer coach position for our county's homeschool high school basketball team. However, as the first practice started nearing, doubts began to creep in. Did my coaches teach me the right stuff? How much did I remember? How much do I really know about coaching the post players? Etc.
So, I picked a couple of books from Amazon that were rated highly. (The other, by Dean Smith, also looks very good- but I have not needed to dig much in there yet.) This book has proven to be a tremendous asset. I can easily imagine how much less structured our first practices would have been without this book. It clearly lays out drills and plays; and clearly organizes offense, defense, and fundamentals in separate sections. I would absolutely recommend to all but the most seasoned coach. For all of the rest of us, it is an absolute breeze to mine as much or as little as you need to make coaching a pleasure and not a chore.

I will be honest, I did not buy this book but had a copy given to me by a friend who wanted to know what I thought about it given that I coach basketball for a living.

To sum it up, this is a very good book for any individual who wants to coach a youth basketball team. It has a lot of good, basic information, particularly about organizing practice, etc, and teaching fundamentals.

These two issues are key to the success of any youth sport team and this book addresses those.

It could be more indepth about strategy and tactics and more advanced concepts, but given the intended audience, this is not really an issue and is more of an observation based on what I always look for in a coaching book.

The book is well organized, easy to follow, and provides meaningful examples. So many coaching books have great information in them but are so poorly organized and lack good examples that for the average reader, the book is not useful.


Kevin Sivils - author of Game Strategies and Tactics for Basketball
Game Strategies and Tactics for Basketball: Bench Coaching for Success