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rules of the game. It's also necessary to keep it in the child's mind that basketball is a team sport. Teach the child to learn to not be so dependent on the strong hand. Learn to use the left as well as the right.
o Coach: Here is when you can be competitive. Have fun with drills to teach the player how to shoot, rebound, pass and dribble. Do dribble relay races with teams of three (dribble down with right and back with left). Dribbling obstacle course to help with hand-eye coordination. Shooting and defense drills like have a player call another player out and they play one-on-one until the first person scores. Have four players line up around the key while you brick jump shots in teaching how to rebound and box out.

o Coaching Player: You have a great advantage but remember to keep home and gym separate. You can have your child/athlete began to work on dribbling by tying one hand behind the back and strengthening the skills. Teach the child how to properly shoot a jumper by having them lie on their backs and shoot the ball as straight in the air from their head as possible. Assign the child to shoot so many shots a day from four spots on the court and have them track their progress. Assign an older more experienced player to your child and let them play one-one allowing your child to get better by trial and fire.

Now, this is a lot of information but I promise if you follow these tips for your age range you will teach a child to love and enjoy a great sport. Not everyone is the next Larry Bird, Dr. J, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan or Dwayne Wade but anyone can be a good player and have fun doing so. Thank you Dr. Naismith!

Learn more about this author, Walter Davis.
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