The Test Begins

Well, tomorrow's my first day of practice.  From the sound of it, all of my players and their families didn't lose too much during the hurricane.  Hopefully, that good luck will carry over into the season.  But then again, it wasn't all good luck as I've already lost one player.

Short story is that when I sent out the emails to let everyone know they made the team, I was in a hurry and a little distracted.  Come to find out I fat-fingered an email address, and who knows where the "Congrats on making the team" email went.  It didn't go where it was supposed to and the kid signed up to play somewhere else.  I didn't realize it until today when I went through my contacts to create the email distribution list that it was wrong, and well...too late.  Moral of this story: Keep a draft of that email on your phone so that if life gets hectic you can send it out anytime from anywhere.

With 9 players, its a gift though.

1. I get a free workout since most drills will need an even number of participants, and I needed something to encourage me to finally get in shape enough to get those extra 2 inches added to my vertical so I can dunk.
2. One less kid to share playing time with, which ultimately gives me that much more time to think about game strategy instead of parent strategy.

Speaking of strategy, how does one start the season.  It's a given in just about every situation, if you start with trash, then end is still trash.  So how you start the season is crucial.  For me, my philosophy is big on team success, so I start with team based activities.  The Fall is a short season, about two and a half months long, with maybe five tournaments.  So you don't have much time.  But I'll be going up against some teams that have played together for years.  I have to at least try to get them comfortable with each other enough to look like we've been at it for years.  Some of them have though, so who knows.  Maybe that chemistry will already be there and I won't have to work too hard to put it to use.  The other thing I'll focus on is communication.   You'd be surprised how little 5th and 6th graders talk on the court, which only adds to the likelihood of a turnover, blown zone assignment, and things of that nature.  To encourage this, I've got this drill that forces them to either talk to each other and learn to trust one another, or they run into each other and do something like wind sprints or wall sits.  I'll explain that drill, and let's see what people think.


You'll need the full length of the court for this, but I'm sure the more creative coaches can adapt it for a smaller space.  Have the players line up under a basket, with their backs to the opposite basket. They will backpedal, one at a time, at full speed until they reach the other basket, at which point it's up to their teammates to tell them to stop (our gym has a padded wall that is not much fun if you unexpectedly run into it).  Once the player reaches the other side and has been told to stop, they take a side-step (I send my kids to their right), and sprint back towards half court.  Once the player hits the half court line, he/she will break down into a defensive stance and perform a defensive slide to the near sideline (again, my players are told to go right).  Once the player hits the first sideline, they perform a defensive slide to the opposite sideline.  Once there, the player will finish the drill with a sprint from half court to the starting baseline.  Essentially the drill looks something like this:

S = Start     F = Finish



F_____S______
^           |          
 |           |  
 |           |
 |_____ | ______
             |  _____|
             |  |
             |  |
             |  |
             |_|


I usually let the kids go at a relatively slow pace the first couple of times, so that they make sure they learn each others names, understand how it's supposed to look and all that fun stuff.  The first time I'll tell them to go when the player before them gets to the opposite free throw line, and once we've been at it for a few minutes, I'll end up with 6 kids on the floor at the same time, and you'll hear a pleasant chaos of "Chris stop!", "Jason, man behind you - slow down!" and other directions all going on at once.  By then end, names are learned, the players are used to running and talking, and it looks like it brings them a little closer.  Mission accomplished. In the two seasons I've really worked this, the in game communication has gotten better, so I'd like to think it's working.  


Well, I have a parent's meeting to prepare for.  Balls have air, shoes are laced.  It's basketball time!!