This coaching manual has been developed by Collingwood Basketball Association (‘the All Stars’) to help domestic coaches who are new to coaching.
It is designed to help you understand some coaching fundamentals and to help ensure you coach to the best of your abilities.
This manual covers several different areas, not all of them necessarily about basketball. Things discussed include:
- practical details
- training, drills and small-sided games
- court time and substitutions
- time-outs and how to use them
- defensive basics
- offensive basics
- communication
- behavioural expectations – for both players and coaches
- resources.
We hope you find this manual useful and if you have any suggestions for further improvements, please let the Club know.
1. INTRODUCTION
Congratulations on becoming a coach for the Collingwood All Stars – you are lucky to have one of the most satisfying and exciting jobs there is.
You are in the privileged position of teaching habits and life skills that will stick with your young players for the rest of their lives.
Your players will look up to you. They will listen to you. And you have an amazing opportunity to make a positive impact on their lives – both on and off the court.
We know that players respond best when they are encouraged and when they are having fun. It’s important to remember that kids play for fun and enjoyment, and that winning is only part of their motivation.
The way they behave and perform in their lives is influenced by many factors. An important influence is the person they see as a role model – coaches often take on this role. What you say and how you act can be most important in modelling the behaviour of players.
2. PRACTICAL DETAILS
WWC
Coaches (and team managers) aged 18 and over must:
- hold a current Working With Children (WWC) Check, and
- complete a Member Protection Statutory Declaration every two years.
PHYSICAL CONTACT WITH PLAYERS
Physical contact between a coach and young players that is considered standard within a basketball game – such as a hand shake or a high five – is OK.
Physical contact can sometimes be misinterpreted as sexual harassment or even molestation. Particular care needs to be taken in coaching children.
PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS WITH PLAYERS
Positive relationships with players are essential to building trust between a coach and players. However, the power imbalance in a coaching situation makes it unacceptable and improper – and thus prohibited – for any relationship with young players to develop beyond normal and appropriate coach<>player respect.
FILL IN PLAYERS – DOMESTIC
If you’re running short of players (due, for example, to illness of injury) you can use fill-in players with some restrictions:
| ALLOWED | NOT ALLOWED | |
| Player from an A Grade team can “fill in” for: | ||
| – Older age group | A or B Grade | C, D or E Grade |
| – Same or younger age group | NIL | A, B, C, D or E Grade |
| Player from a B Grade team can “fill in” for: | ||
| – Older age group | A, B or C Grade | D or E Grade |
| – Same or younger age group | A Grade | B, C, D or E Grade |
| Player from a C Grade team can “fill in” for: | ||
| – Older age group | A, B, C or D Grade | E Grade |
| – Same or younger age group | A or B Grade | C, D or E Grade |
FORFEITS AND WALKOVERS – DOMESTIC
Sometimes you may struggle to find fill-in players. In this case, you should play an ineligible player in order to have enough players to start the game, known as a FORFEIT game. Note, you should never use a fill-in player under an assumed name; it is a reportable offence.
If your team cannot provide four eligible or ineligible players within 10 minutes of the scheduled starting time, a WALKOVER will be declared. A WALKOVER incurs a fine and should be avoided all costs.
BEHAVIOUR
The Club expects coaches to act professionally and reasonably in all circumstances, but most particularly when interacting with parents, players and refs.
There is no excuse for a coach to incur a technical foul for poor behaviour.
Coaches may ask questions of refs during dead ball situations (eg. time-outs and half time), but should always do so in a normal voice. Do not raise your voice at the ref, badger the ref, remonstrate with the ref (for example, by constantly raising your arms) or make calls on the ref’s behalf (for example, calling out ‘Travel’ or ‘Foul’). Such behaviour will likely result in a warning and eventually a technical foul.
You should not, under any circumstances, walk onto the court during a game without first gaining the ref’s permission. Walking onto the court uninvited may result in a technical foul being awarded against you.
MANAGING PARENTS
Parents should not sit on or near the team bench (unless a parent has been specifically invited to do so by the coach) as this can distract the coach and players. Parents should also not congregate near the team during time-outs and half time. It is important for parents not to issue instructions to their children during the game as this is confusing and may contradict what you, as coach, are advising players to do.
3. TRAINING, DRILLS AND SMALL-SIDED GAMES
With the All Stars’ domestic basketball program, teams are allocated a one hour training session each week.
Experienced lead coaches will train the entire group for the first 30 minutes of training. Team coaches then have ‘team time’ for the second 30 minutes to run team-specific training.
Our leach coaches are all experienced basketballers and can help you to coach and drill your team during team time – just ask them.
DRILLS
There are plenty of resources you can access that outline drills you can get your team to run during training – see Section <<X>> for a list of some of the resources.
With beginner teams, the drills you choose should focus on fundamental skills – such as dribbling, passing, catching, rebounding and shooting.
SMALL-SIDED GAMES
You should try to incorporate small-sided games into your training – these are simply games with fewer players than the traditional 5 on 5. This can mean games of 3 on 3, 2 on 2, 4 on 3, etc. All the different combinations are effective in their own special way.
Here are some reasons why small-sided games are important:
- With less players on the court, each player will get more touches of the basketball. This means more opportunity to make decisions and work on their skills in a competitive situation.
- Players make better decisions when there are fewer players on the court as there are less options to consider.
- Every kid loves to score a bucket – less players on the court means greater scoring opportunities.
- More space to run around allows players to get off shots and try different moves without immediately running into a wall of players.
- It’s easy for young players to hide in a game of 5 on 5, but much harder for them to hide in a game of 3 on 3 or 2 on 2. Every player has to contribute in small-sided games
4. COURT TIME AND SUBSTITUTIONS
The Club’s policy is equal court time for players.
The Club doesn’t expect ‘exactly’ equal court time – many things will make this difficult including how many times the whistle is blown during a game and how many time-outs are taken. But ‘roughly’ equal court time is the Club’s expectation.
On a team with eight players, this means around 25 minutes per game for each player.
Here’s how many minutes each player should roughly get depending on how many are playing:
- six players = 33 minutes
- seven players = 28 minutes
- eight players = 25 minutes
- nine players = 22 minutes
All players need and deserve reasonable court time. Avoid overplaying talented players – it is unfair to both them and those who are not so talented. Players cannot improve without the opportunity of a reasonable amount of court time – it can lead to morale problems and eventually, see players lose interest in the sport altogether.
Player substitutions can be called during any ‘dead ball’ situation – generally, every time the whistle is blown.
Coaches should cross their arms above their head and call out ‘Sub black’ (as the All Stars’ domestic uniform is predominately black) to one of the refs – wait for the ref to respond before making the sub.
Coaches should generally try to substitute only one or two players at a time – substituting more players than this can lead to on-court confusion.
5. TIMEOUTS AND HOW TO USE THEM
As a coach, timeouts are an important weapon and it is important to understand how to use them.
HOW TO CALL TIMEOUTS
You have two timeouts per half – a total of four during the game. Each timeout lasts one minute.
In the first half, timeouts do not stop the game clock, but no timeouts can be called in the last three minutes of the half – for clarity, a time-out may be called with 3:00 on the clock, but not with 2:59 on the clock. In the second half timeouts can be called at any time as the clock stops for all whistles during the last two minutes of the game (note, timing rules slightly differ for finals).
You can call a timeout whenever the:
- whistle blows
- opposition scores a basket.
To call a timeout, point your index finger to the bottom of your other downturned hand and loudly call ‘Time out!’ to the ref.
Once you’ve called a timeout, get your players into a tight huddle – even the players on the bench – and talk calmly and purposefully. Don’t give the team any more than three messages – the last thing you tell them is the thing they’re most likely to remember.
HOW TO USE TIMEOUTS
Here are some of the reasons you may wish to call a timeout:
- Stop an opposition scoring run: If the opposition goes on a scoring run, use a timeout to stop the game and regroup.
- Stop panic: If the opposition goes on a scoring run players may start to panic, especially late in a tight game – this can cause further turnovers and errors. Use a timeout to calm players down and reassure them.
- Make an adjustment: Basketball can be like speed chess. With so much happening, there will be times where your players struggle to make adjustments on their own. Timeouts can help. Calling a timeout to make a complex adjustment (switching up your offense or defense) or relatively simple adjustments (correcting player mismatches) can help get a game back on track.
- Rest your players: There’s two minutes left in the game and you’re up by three points, but your team is looking tired. You might want to use a timeout. Sometimes all a team needs is a short rest, a drink of water and a pep talk to get their legs back.
- Design a special play: Timeouts can be used to setup special plays – especially BLOBs (baseline out of bounds) and SLOBs (sideline out of bounds). Use a timeout to draw up one of these plays and you might just get an easy bucket.
- Set up end of game strategies: Here’s an amazing thing – if you call a timeout with two minutes or less in the game AND you have possession of the ball, you can choose to advance the ball into your offensive half and restart the game there. So you should try to keep at least one timeout up your sleeve for late in the game.
- One minute left in the game, scores are tied and you just got scored on? Call a timeout, set up a play and restart the game in your offensive half.
- Fifteen seconds left in the game, and the opposition scores leaving you with only a two point lead? Call a timeout, restart the game in your offensive half, and inbound the ball and hold it.
6. DEFENSIVE BASICS
In general, young players should be taught defensive principles before offensive principles.
As many basketball greats have said, ‘Great offense wins games, but great defense wins championships.’
MAN TO MAN DEFENSE
Man to man defense is the most common defense in basketball. It involves all five defensive players on the court being allocated one opposition player who they’re accountable for defending whenever they’re on defense.
There may be times when players switch opponents or help each other on defense, but for the most part, each player is responsible for one player from the opposition.
While there are many rules associated with man to man defense, the most important one is this: don’t allow offensive players down the middle of the court. Instead, defensive players must position themselves in such a way that the opposition can only dribble down the sideline and the baseline.
Please note, the use of zone defense is banned for all U14 and younger teams.
DEFENSIVE TRANSITION
Transition defense is the process of switching from offense to defense after a change of possession – it can be as simple as having one guard creating on-ball defensive pressure after a score, rebound or steal, with the rest of the team hustling back on defense. Or transition defense may be full-court man-to-man pressure.
All players should sprint back on defense.
One player (probably a big) should run to the rim and take one step out. Their job is to defend the basket and try to make the offense pass at least once.
A second player (probably a guard) back should find the ball wherever it is on the court and stop it. Even if the offensive player gets by them in the open court, they will have slowed the ball down, giving other defenders time to get back.
The remaining three players should sprint back but instead of running straight to the paint, they should look to see where the offensive players are and go to them. This requires communication.
CLOSE OUTS
A close out is an offensive player receives the basketball and a defensive player closes space between themselves and the player they are guarding.
When a player closes out on an opponent, they are attempting to neutralise the opponent’s ability to shoot, pass or dribble.
Players must close out close enough to ‘get a hand up’ and contest the shot, but not so close that the opposition can drive past them – an arm’s length away is about right.
This means getting there quickly but you must strike a balance between closing out quickly and closing out under control. If you simply sprint at an offensive player they may dribble down straight past you. In the last one metre before getting to an offensive player defenders should take short, choppy steps so they can stay light on their feet and stay in front if the player tries to drive past them.
BOXING OUT AND REBOUNDING
To consistently win basketball games, you must find a way to consistently take more shots than your opponents. The most obvious way to get more shots is to get more rebounds.
That’s the simple reason why rebounding is an incredibly important aspect to basketball.
Boxing out is where a player positions themselves to best get a rebound after a missed shot – it is an important part of defensive rebounding.
Here are some tips on how to box out:
- Think position: Defenders usually have the inside position closer to the basket when a shot is taken, and will get the majority of rebounds if they keep and protect this position.
- Keep an eye on the player you are defending all the time: Ensure you know where your direct opponent is at all times. If your opponent has the ball, you should face them with your arms raised, and your feet at shoulder width apart. On the other hand, if your opponent does not have the ball, drop back a little so you can see both the ball and your opponent.
- Watch your opponent’s movement: When a shot goes up, keep a short distance between you and your opponent. Bring yourself between your opponent and the ball.
- Establish contact and lower your body: Both big and small players can box out. Lower your body to drop your centre of gravity, and get enough strength to push your opponent away from the rebounding area. Use your butt and back to box out, and face the ring to see where the ball will fall.
- Stick with your opponent: Your opponent will try get around you. If they do, keep a low body position, slide your feet and keep your arms raised and spread out.
7. OFFENSIVE BASICS
For young players, a motion offence works best.
Motion offense uses broad ‘rules’ to help players read the defense and make decisions. It involves lots of passing, cutting and great spacing – maybe also some screening.
WHY A MOTION OFFENSE?
Here are some reasons why a motion offence is perfect for young players:
- It promotes long-term player development: With motion offense, players follow a broad set of ‘rules’ that help them make decisions. This is the opposite to set plays where players are told – for example – exactly where to go, what to do and when to do it.
- Every player contributes: All five players on the court contribute to a motion offence. Even if an offensive player doesn’t touch the basketball, their spacing, cutting and screening is still important.
- It wears down the defense: A well-executed motion offense is hard to defend. If your players are cutting hard, moving the ball quickly and setting strong screens, the defense will start to break down.
CREATING A SUCCESSFUL MOTION OFFENSE
There are different types of motion offence you can run (described below). Regardless of which one you choose, there are a few things that will help make your motion offence successful.
Hard cuts
Players need to make strong, hard cuts – even when they’re unlikely to receive the ball. Hard cuts work because:
- They force help from off-ball defenders: If a player in help position notices an offensive player cutting hard and calling for the ball, they’ll be forced to slide over and provide help. This can lead to an open offensive player for a scoring opportunity.
- It prevents the cutter’s defender from helping: When a player cuts hard to the basket, it prevents their defender from helping – they’ll have to stay close to the cutter and deny the pass.
Quick passes
Quick passes force the defence to shift. Several quick passes – especially around the perimeter – force the defence to shift multiple times. The defence will eventually be slow to shift, creating scoring opportunities.
Good spacing
As players pass the ball and move around the court, it’s important they maintain good spacing – this allows gaps to open in the defence which can lead to open shots, drives and layups. Correct spacing will depend on the motion offense you choose to run – there’s more on this below.
Dribble for a reason
Basketball is a passing game, not a dribbling game. Read that again – it’s important.
Unnecessary dribbling is bad basketball – this is because the ball needs to be moving quickly to ensure all cuts, screens, and player movement is effective.
Strong screens
Whether it’s a back screen, on-ball screen or off-ball screen – a strong screen gives an offensive player an advantage and can help them to:
- get open to receive a pass
- give them a driving lane to get to the basket
- create the space needed to shoot
- allow them to set up a teammate.
Positionless players
With motion offense players can fill any spot on the floor, leading to long-term player development.
Constant movement
When you put all these things together, you will have a constantly moving and shifting offense with hard cuts, strong screens, quick passing, smart spacing and purposeful dribbling. And with that comes plenty of scoring opportunities.
5-OUT MOTION OFFENSE
The 5-out motion offense consists of all five players on the perimeter, and no one inside – a player at the top of the key, a player on each wing, and a player in each corner.
This is a great offense for young teams because it creates a lot of open space for players to drive and get to the basket. A complete coaching guide for the 5-out motion offense can be found here: https://www.basketballforcoaches.com/5-out-motion-offense/
Here are some of the basics:
Set-up
‘5-out’ means all offensive players are starting outside the three-point line. The five spots are:
1. Top, 2. Left wing, 3. Right wing, 4. Left corner, 5. Right corner
The first progression with 5-out offense is the basic movements of passing and cutting. There are four basic passes and cuts that can be made.
This simple progression can be a great offense for a youth basketball team by itself. It will provide great spacing and get your players reading the play and making decisions. Have your players practice this progression until they’re comfortable with the passes and cuts.
1. Top to Wing Pass
On a top to wing pass, the passer basket cuts all the way through the key and fills the opposite corner. Once 1 has cut, 3 and 5 fill up the positions closer to the basketball.
2. Wing to Corner Pass
On a wing to corner pass, the passer also basket cuts all the way through the key and fills the opposite corner. Once 2 has cut through, 3, 5, and 1 fill up the positions closer to the basketball.
3. Corner to Wing Pass
On a corner to wing pass, the passer basket cuts and replaces themselves. The other four players wait in the same spot for the next action.
4. Wing to Top Pass
On a wing to top pass, the passer basket cuts and then fills the corner of the same side they cut from. On 3’s cut, 4 fills up closer to the basketball and then 3 replaces them in the corner. The other three players wait for the next action.
OTHER MOTION OFFENCES YOU MIGHT WANT TO CONSIDER
Here are two other motion offenses you may wish to consider depending on your team’s strengths, weaknesses, and the skills of your players.
4-out, 1-in motion offense
The 4-out, 1-in motion offense consists of 4 players on the perimeter, and 1 player inside – a player in each slot (top of key), a player on each wing, and a player on the low block. The player in the low block usually stays on the weakside, but can occasionally flash to the ball.
This creates more space around the three-point line for perimeter players, and also gives the offense a target inside. If you have a strong ‘big’, this could be a great offense to consider using.
A complete coaching guide for the 4-out, 1-in motion offense can be found here: https://www.basketballforcoaches.com/4-out-1-in-offense/
3-out, 2-in motion offense
The 3-out, 2-in motion offense consists of 3 players on the perimeter, and 2 players inside – a player at the top of the key, a player on each wing, and a player on each low block.
This motion should only be used by teams who have two high quality post players – you’re looking to get the basketball inside on every possession and then allowing your ‘bigs’ to make plays for themselves or teammates.
A complete coaching guide for the 3-out, 2-in motion offense can be found here: https://www.basketballforcoaches.com/3-out-2-in-motion-offense/
8. RESOURCES
There is a wealth of online resources you can call upon as a basketball coach.
Here are some of them.
www.breakthroughbasketball.com – a comprehensive site with a strong focus on junior basketball
www.coachesclipboard.net – another comprehensive site with a strong emphasis on junior basketball
www.hooptactics.com – this site has a premium user-pays section, but there is loads of great free stuff
www.coach.basketball.net.au/video – huge amount of videos and resources
www.basketballforcoaches.com – lots of drills and plays