Beginning Basketball Coaching

When I was first starting out as a wet-behind-the-ears basketball coach, I had no real guidance about what to do. I had a basketball coaching course in college. I had played most of my life, but had no real concept of what to do as a coach. Today there is a wealth of information available for the beginning basketball coach, however a lot of it is too advanced for someone who may be just getting started. Those men, women, or teenagers who will be coaching youth teams need to be fed information relative to their own knowledge and level of experience, and to that of the youth they will be coaching. They need to learn how, what, and when to do the things relative to that sport. Then, they need to be able to translate this information into meaningful teaching activity for the youngsters.

Teaching requires that learning is taking place. Just going through motions isn’t teaching. Just telling or directing traffic is not teaching.

Let me make something clear right here—(for the rest of this article go to: Beginning Coaching)

Coaching Girls Basketball: Teaching "L", "X" and "Z" Moves in the Post

I find that teaching post play in basketball is a lot of fun and reaps great rewards for
the post players as well as the team. I find this especially rewarding when working
with players who would not be considered natural post players.

When coaching girls basketball vs. coaching boys basketball there is really
no difference in my approach. The strategies remain the same. Boys are stronger,
jump higher, move quicker and have usually a more diverse shooting arsenal. My
teaching methods remain the same, though, concentrating on fundamentals, defense
and discipline—the basis for my teaching philosophy found in my teaching DVD
and books—“Basketball On A Triangle: A Higher Level of Coaching and Playing”.

In teaching post play, unless a team’s strategy is to use a strong and fairly
stationary low post, I would have the post in continuous movement. I do this in
order to confound the defender and to constantly attempt to open up passing
angles. My “L”, “X” & “Z” patterns make it nearly impossible to hold a correct
defensive position all the time. This creates an advantage, or at least an equalizer,
for a smaller post player.

To read more of this post, go to Coaching Girls Basketball...

Youth Basketball Basics For Coaches and Players

Before I got into the competitive marketplace for online basketball, I did a lot of research of the sites I found on the web. I found that there are millions of web pages dealing with basketball related topics. Which sites are right for an individual coach or player depends on what that person is looking for. It could also depend on the individual’s level of understanding and skill for playing basketball or coaching basketball. A coach with some longevity in the game will probably not be interested in how to teach basic basketball fundamentals, while a coach starting out teaching young boys or girls will not require the sophistication of material the more experienced one will.

Basically, basketball coaches and players will have to sift through a myriad of websites to find answers for their particular sets of questions. The problem with many of the sites that I have investigated is that they mostly market the same basketball videos and DVDs. While they may have some good content to their sites, there is also a lot of redundancy making a lot for searchers to wade through. Read the rest of the article at:

Youth-Basketball-Basics-For-Coaches-Players

Who’s Your Mentor

July, 2007

I am always amazed that so many people try to take on so much for which they are obviously unqualified. If you can't play the piano, how can you teach someone how to play the piano. You'll need to learn first. Gonna' teach yourself? How long will that take? Wouldn't it be easier to hire a teacher-a mentor?

Whenever we undertake a new venture, be it coaching youth basketball, some kind of business startup, a hobby or whatever—we usually need help.

Most of us don’t have the luxury of having gurus at our beck-and-call. However, in this computer age, we are closer to being able to reach out for a mentor, anywhere in the world we may be, and anywhere in the world a mentor might be.

We can go one-on-one with someone who knows what we want to know without ever leaving our home.

I’m ready to retire, and want to have a renewable income source to keep me financially secure for the rest of my life. I decided to take everything I’d been doing for more than fifty years in basketball and market it to the world. This would have been extremely difficult for me in the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s, but now in the new millennium, I can accomplish this via the internet.

Upon graduation from college my first basketball coaching position was at the middle school level and I found quickly that I needed more education.

For your continued interest in reading the rest of this article, go to:
http://www.top-basketball-coaching.com/July_2007.html

Basketball Coaching: Teaching Low Post Offense

TEACHING THE DROP-STEP

IN LOW POST OFFENSE

June, 2007

Teaching position specific skills is my specialty. This article deals with taking a young post player and showing them how to begin to move and play in that position.

Whether I’m teaching post offense to a 10-12 year old novice boy or girl or an experienced 16-18 year old, I always start with the same technique tests from the low post.

I want to see how they move around the key as the ball moves around the perimeter. I want to see where they stand when they stop and what the path is they took to get to where they stop. I want to make sure they are facing the ball all the while, that their hands are ready to receive a pass and that their body balance is correct to protect the ball and to withstand defensive play. If they have trouble with any of these things, or all of these things, that’s where I begin to teach.

Moving

To begin this basketball drill, I want to see inside movement that mirrors the perimeter movement of the ball.

For your continued reading interest, the rest of the article may be found at:

http://www.top-basketball-coaching.com/basketball_coaching_teaching_low_post.html

Spiritual Hoops Newsletter

“The Right Thing To Do Is To Do The Right Thing”

SPIRITUAL HOOPS

A Higher Level of Coaching and Playing

SPIRITUAL HOOPS is not about religion, nor is it about discussing team aspects of offense and defense.

SPIRITUAL HOOPS is about having a spiritual base for coaching or playing the game; it’s about promoting global good will through basketball; it deals with issues relating to individual fundamentals, discipline, and creating practice scenarios.

Your response to issues raised here and your sharing of questions are welcomed. All replies should be directed

to Coach Ronn via SpiritualHoops@cs.com.

A new SPIRITUAL TRINITY for the modern world:

1) We are all One;

2) There is no such thing as better (see #1);

3) There is enough abundance for everyone (if we’ll just share-see #1 & 2).

Coach Ronn's International Basketball School

Sarasota, FL (941) 927-3330

For more information, please use this contact e-mail address:
BballOnATriangle@cs.com

Allow me to introduce myself:

I consider myself a teacher more than a coach and pay close attention to details in this teaching. My philosophy is "that a thing done correctly increases the chance of it being done well". Practice doesn't always make perfect. I believe that if we practice something incorrectly, we may get very good at doing that thing incorrectly. Instead, I teach that practice makes permanent. I feel it's very important to learn a skill correctly from the beginning and I spend a lot of time (with a great deal of patience) teaching young basketball players how to undo incorrect practices.

Learning proper techniques that can take a player from whatever level they are to the next level requires more specialization as a player matures. There may well come a time when the parent, youth league coach, or school coach doesn't have the time or the experience to teach proper techniques, be able to break old habits, or develop the player to a higher skill level.

My philosophy of paying attention to details, while teaching basketball fundamentals, defense and discipline, has served my players and teams well over the years. Most of my teams consisted of average players, but these teams' winning records were attained because we paid attention to details other coaches weren't teaching. Teaching the "HOW TO's" is my specialty.

I conduct basketball teaching workshops for coaches. I also conduct individualized workshops where I go to a school. There, I will individualize training for that program, where I instruct the coaches while using the players to demonstrate my teaching methods.

I do private tutoring of position specific skills for high school players focused on playing at the collegiate level.

I conduct Parent-Child clinics for youth organizations, where I have the parents going through the same skills as the players.

If you have questions about coaching or playing, feel free to contact me about my book and DVDs, "Basketball On A Triangle". Every aspect of the individual game is covered there.

COACH RONN'S PHILOSOPHIES

On Life: The right thing to do is to do the right thing.

On The game: The will to win is not nearly as important as the will to prepare to win. Winning doesn't just happen. You must set goals. You must prepare. You must be in condition and be disciplined. You must be fundamentally sound and you must play good defense. With these things in place, only then will you be able to perform at your peak. This takes the right attitude and a determined focus. (Focus keeps you on the line and your goal in sight. Attitude determines your speed along the line in reaching your goal.)

We win, regardless of the score, when you play at your peak and execute those things well which you have been taught to do. No more can be asked than that you give your best in both practices and games. If the other team scores more points, and we have given our best, we have not lost. We have no control over how good or how well prepared the other players and teams are. We do have control over how we play and how well we prepare to play. It is a great test of character to have given your best effort and have lost the game.