How to Be a Basketball Teacher

As a basketball coach, the primary responsibility is to be a teacher. You have an awesome opportunity to develop not only good basketball players, but fine young men and women. There is a strong correlation between academic teachers and successful basketball coaches. In this article I will focus on tools that coaches can utilize to strengthen their teaching skills.

Things You'll Need

  • Basketball team
Show More

Instructions

    • 1

      Earn the respect of the team. This is done by displaying your commitment to each player and the success of the team overall. In order to earn the team's respect, you must first respect the team and its members.

    • 2

      Mandate that all team members will maintain eye contact when speaking and spoken to-this will help deliver teaching points and maintain focus.

    • 3

      Be organized. The team should have a plan and the coach drives that plan. This includes everything from what offensive/defensive sets are being used to having a published practice agenda. If the coach is organized, the team will fall into line and be most effective.

    • 4

      When instructing, be sure to speak very clearly to make sure all team members are understanding. It is important to watch the body language of individuals to be sure the message is hitting home. Repeat the message enough that it sinks in.

    • 5

      Teach through demonstration. Most learning is done through watching and then quickly applying what was just taught. For most skills, it is best for the coach to provide the first demonstration and then have some players try it.

    • 6

      Focus on praising the players whenever possible-learning increases significantly when players are feeling good about what they are doing. Incorporate individual and team rewards into your practice schedule when earned. Be careful to be genuine in your praise so you do not lose credibility.

    • 7

      When improvement is needed, criticize constructively. When you are pointing out a mistake or fault, be sure to explain why it was incorrect and instruct how it can be improved.

    • 8

      Teaching is most effective when using a conversational tone. Avoid yelling at players-the message will get lost on the player amidst the emotions attached to the yelling.

    • 9

      Don't overload the team with too many concepts. Be detailed in each concept, but be sure the team has a good grasp before moving onto the next concept. It is better to have a strong foundation in a smaller number of concepts than to have little depth with a million concepts.