What tips do you have for coaching youth basketball? Books, drills, fundamentals?
Don't rely on zone defenses or presses as you'll be doing the kids a disservice in the long run. Teach them man to man defense with help principles. On offense I would work on the basics and run a 5 out offense. There are many helpful sites available. Try:
www.coachesclipboard.net
www.fiba.com
for skill development videos:
www.betterbasketball.com
www.ganonbaker.com
Good luck and make it fun.
10 Answers
This site has hundreds of drills broken down by category: http://www.basketball-drills-and-plays.com/basketball-drills.html
As with coaching kids in any sport, make sure you let everyone play. There's nothing worse than being sat out as a kid. No one is going straight into the pros when they're 8.
Coaching a youth sport team(any sport)is a means to build self confidence,responsibility, sportsmanship and morals "First and foremost". A sport is an organized means to instill these attributes as well as build their character. I recommend Tony Robbins and sport specific motivational instructors(read the reviews on them on the web) for any additional authors. Just don't lose sight of your objective, to impart lifelong traits that will make them a better person, and you will enrich your life as well.
First, if you haven't watched it, the beginning of the movie hoosiers.
I would work on fundamentals, moving without the ball, dribbling [without looking at the ball], passing.
Next, I move to shooting, foul shots, and rebounding.
A very useful tip: for foul shots, start them about 1 foot away from the basket, if they make it, one step back, once they reach the foul line, return to the 1 foot line and repeat.
Lastly, I always try to have each person engaged as much as possible, opposed to lots of lecturing and watching.
Quickness drills before and after practice, i.e. suicides [start at baseline, run out 5 feet touch line, back to baseline, run out 10 feet, touch line, back to baseline, etc...]
Lastly, be quick and fair for the "attention getters", usually a 'time out' works.
Your question depends entirely on the age group and level of competition of your team. What you would do for 8-10 year olds is most likely completely different than 11-13 year olds. Having played basketball all my life and learned from some great coaches, I would encourage you to email me directly if you'd like some specifics, but generally speaking you want to accomplish 3 things.
1. Fitness. This comes in the form of conditioning and education. Push-ups, wind sprints, and skill drills are always useful. Teaching kids about nutrition and being healthy is key as well.
2. The Sport. You need to familiarize yourself and your team with the general rules of basketball along with the specific rules of your league. Any strategies you come up with will likely be based on your leagues rules. A shot clock, for example, while rare in youth basketball is occasionally used and if it is, you'll need to strategize accordingly.
3. The Team. This is arguably the most important aspect for youth basketball, in my opinion. Yes, sports is about fun and competition, but when you're young learning about responsibility, sharing, teamwork, camaraderie, and leadership is especially important.
Good luck, coaching can be so rewarding and fun.
Teach them the 3-2 zone press.
Then sit back and watch them wreck opposing teams.
(Caveat: I'm assuming you'll be coaching relatively young kids.)
Oddly enough, patience is your best friend. I've found simplistic, but fun drills will always win the day. Keep the kids engaged and not knowing they are learning fundamentals and every practice will be rewarding for you and them. Keep your expectations grounded in small victories, hitting the rim for small kids, Running a decent zone for bigger kids, and you won't loose too much hair!