HoopClinics

Contributed by Coach Ken Sartini (aka Coach Sar)

I think that most of us are always looking for different things to use at our camps… things that will keep ALL the kids interested and wanting to come back. This can be tough if you have kids of various ages, sizes and strengths.

Were you ever chosen last? Were you ever the one no one wanted on his or her team?

Here are a couple of thoughts.

1- You might have the lessor players chose the players for the teams, that way they are NOT the last ones being chosen and they can feel a little better about themselves. Seems like a simple thing, but some kids feel pretty bad when they are chosen last.
2- We would play short games, usually to six… the rule was very simple.. EVERYONE had to score one basket BEFORE any player could make the winning shot… you will be amazed how hard the kids will work to get that kid who is not a real good scorer a shot, maybe having to do it for several tries until he scores. A true teaching tool of teamwork. (this worked very well for us) YOU can change the rules too… like YOU choosing WHO makes the game winner…. I usually picked the kid that was the lesser of the players… or maybe a kid that needs a little more self-confidence?

We had shooting camps also…. kids of all ages. This can be tough when you have 4th graders all the way up to your varsity players. In my camp our Varsity kids came free…. because I expected them to help with the younger kids… several reasons here, they get to know the younger kids and build a relationship for the program – the kids love it when the older guys worked with them – taught the varsity kids leadership skills – and I found that IF the varsity kids can teach it, they can do it since we covered the fundamentals every day.

One summer this little kid comes into the gym with his mother.. he is very small and very young…. she looks around and says “maybe this is not the right camp for my son.”
I told her to forget about the fee right now, let your son stay for a few days on me and let him decide if HE is having fun and learning anything. The next day she came in with the check and said that he loves the camp and is having a lot of fun.

It was a two hour camp so we certainly did more than just shoot. We worked on dribbling, passing, pivoting etc. We taught them a reverse pivot and a lot of the kids questioned that move… I told them that they all know the standard front pivot and I was just giving them another weapon.

We played various shooting games with a small treat going to the winner. It was great to see one of the younger kids get the treat. Talk about getting competitive… woah … these kids wanted that treat. In the shooting drills and contests the kids were NOT allowed to just throw the ball up anyway they could…. they had to use the form we taught.. of course… the younger/smaller the kid the closer to the basket we let them shoot from. (by the way, we taught the BEEF method from George Lehmann)

Basketball Coaching