coachKidsSports.com

Basketball is basketball. - Oscar Robertson

Remember the 5 Question Interviews I ran with the Men's and Women's Basketball coaches?  I asked both of them to tell me the most important thing to teach the kids.  Both coaches said "Fundamentals".  In basketball there is nothing more fundamental than ball handling.

I found an eleven part online Youth ball handling clinic at kudda.com.  I think it's great to have an in depth course available free of charge, but I felt the videos were a bit lacking in actual instruction.  You should watch the videos and get ideas for drills, but if you aren't up to speed on the fundamentals yourself, you'll need some help to make sure the kids are dribbling correctly. 

Maybe that's me reliving my general incompetence on the hardwoods, but by the end of level one the kids were doing things I couldn't do.  Be careful not to rush the kids through the levels too quickly.  Watch the videos and determine where your kids fall on the ability scale, then use those drills in your practices.

• Level 1 - dribble while looking at the ball
• Level 2 - dribble with head up
• Level 3 - moving with the ball
• Level 4 - moving at full speed 

One tip I took from Level 2 on how to get the kids to keep their head up — have the kids call out the number of fingers you are holding up.  Simple, yet effective.  I love that kind of teaching method — and you can use that in any sport.