Thinking about coaching a pee-wee basketball team-Advice appreciated

[40MinutesOfHellFOREVER]

so I am thinking about volunteering to coach a pee-wee basketball team, and I want to run the 40 Minutes of Hell, pressing and trapping style of basketball with them.  So my question:  Has ANYONE here ever coached the pee-wees on the hardwood? If so, did you try to teach them the 40 Minutes of Hell full-court press style of play?  If so, how did it go and do you have any tips for me?  I would appreciate it. Thanks.

[East TN HAWG]

For pee wee you teach them the basic fundamentals.  Dribbling, passing, shooting (correctly), lay ups, etc.  Basically, how to play the game. 

I was able to open it up some 4 or 5th grade.

[40MinutesOfHellFOREVER]

EASTTNHOG, thanks for the reply. Can you please expand on your statement regarding your ability to "open it up a bitf or 4th and 5th graders."  Did you play a 40 minutes of hell style with the 4th and 5th graders?

[Dr. Starcs]

Most pee wee leagues I've seen or been a part of restrict the time you can full court press.

[BrooklynRoss]

Most pee wee leagues I've seen or been a part of restrict the time you can full court press.

Yes, Dr. Sparcs is correct. You can't full-court press in most elementary leagues. However, you can totally do a 1-3-1 half-court trap. Put your most athletic player at the top. Tell him to guide the ball-handler to one or the other side. The wings should be inching up as the ball comes down, anticipating. Then, the wing defender comes up to set the trap. At this point, the two back defenders shift to cover outlet-pass guys in the back, leaving only the player farthest from the ball open.

[hogsanity]

It would help to know exactly what age your are talking about. A stated above most youth leagues do not allow pressing, even some of the 7th grade scholastic leagues do not allow it. Some of the youngest ages do not even allow double teams in the front court.

[East TN HAWG]

Our pee wee league was not allowed to press either.  We could beginning 3rd grade.  Kids need the fundamentals.
 

[rzrbk4life]

Our pee wee league was not allowed to press either.  We could beginning 3rd grade.  Kids need the fundamentals.
 

Yep. Kids that young need to learn fundamentals first. But heck what do I know kids nowadays know how to operate an iPad better than i do

[maxhog5]

so I am thinking about volunteering to coach a pee-wee basketball team, and I want to run the 40 Minutes of Hell, pressing and trapping style of basketball with them.  So my question:  Has ANYONE here ever coached the pee-wees on the hardwood? If so, did you try to teach them the 40 Minutes of Hell full-court press style of play?  If so, how did it go and do you have any tips for me?  I would appreciate it. Thanks.

Don't because you obviously have no idea what you are doing.  Teach them the basics.  How to dribble, pass, shoot, rebound and basic defensive principles.  Anderson's system takes months for experienced kids to learn.  If you want to pressure the ball play a 1-3-1 zone trap.

[JIHawg]

Just tell them in the huddle to get out there and smash some faces.  Motivation is the key.

[hogsanity]

You could do like alot of the coaches in our local peewee league do it, as soon as the ball crosses half court, jump the ball handler with 4 players and leave your best player around the FT line to catch the desperation heave the player does when attacked by 4 players.

[mbgrulz]

Yes, Dr. Sparcs is correct. You can't full-court press in most elementary leagues. However, you can totally do a 1-3-1 half-court trap. Put your most athletic player at the top. Tell him to guide the ball-handler to one or the other side. The wings should be inching up as the ball comes down, anticipating. Then, the wing defender comes up to set the trap. At this point, the two back defenders shift to cover outlet-pass guys in the back, leaving only the player farthest from the ball open.

Good lord. That's such bad advice.

If you're getting into to pee-wee ball, do it because you love kids and want to help them develop and learn to love the game. DO NOT  get into it for W's and L's. Nobody cares if you are 25-0 with a 5th grade team.

They should ban zone defenses in pee-wee BTW.

[PharmacistHog]

Good lord. That's such bad advice.

If you're getting into to pee-wee ball, do it because you love kids and want to help them develop and learn to love the game. DO NOT  get into it for W's and L's. Nobody cares if you are 25-0 with a 5th grade team.

They should ban zone defenses in pee-wee BTW.

You lousy socialist. Everybody doesn't deserve a trophy.

[PigDaddyKane]

As asked earlier what age?  When I used to coach my daughters team I stressed fundamentals. Defense, rebounding, etc.  we couldn't guard players until they crossed mid court. On d I focused on hand and feet positioning.  Including a hand in the face of the kid with the ball.

[tophawg19]

most that i've been around as a ref required man to man defense , you just teach fundamentals , team first concept . The best coaches i dealt with focused on court awareness , and player roles .

[ErieHog]

Depends on the age you are dealing with;  realistically, until they're at least 10,  you are teaching fundamentals--  jump shot, chest pass, bounce pass, dribbling with the off-hand,  etc.

[GolfNut57]

One piece of advice I haven't seen here yet is this. IGNORE THE PARENTS when they start stepping in with their opinions on how to do your job. I ran into that a lot both in coaching Little League baseball and peewee basketball in the past. No parent usually wants to fool with coaching kids but they love to interfere with the ones who do.