How to Teach Basketball

Ashleigh Kendall
Mrs. Evans
Eng. 095-80
19 February 2013
How to Teach Basketball
If you ever played basketball you have to have your mind set to ten percent heart and ninety percent determination. I can remember growing up playing basketball with my dad because he taught me how to play. We would play all day and night. There were always rivalries in our house because we liked different teams. For example, he liked the Celtics and I liked the Miami Heat. I love to play basketball and I think that the little kids would love to learn how to play basketball. Basketball is a fun sport, but it is also has a lot of physical contact. Steps to teach basketball include rules of basketball, fundamental-skill set and sportsmanship.
The rules of basketball include time penalties and play penalties; no staying in the lane for three seconds, and no double dribbling the ball. I focused on these time and play penalties because I feel these are not emphasized to the players. For example, when the players are playing down low at the block and standing in the lane for more than three seconds it will cause the ball to belong to the other team. Players are only allowed five fouls per game. Once a player gets five fouls they are out of the game and have to watch the rest of the game from the bench. A foul is hitting, slapping or holding another player. You cannot travel, which means taking an extra step with the basketball. You cannot double dribble the basketball, which means dribbling the ball with two hands or picking up the basketball and dribbling it again. Having these rules will reduce injuries while playing basketball.
The fundamental-skill set of basketball is to teach how to stand on defense, how to dribble the basketball, and how to shoot the ball. During defense you bend your knees and put your arms out. To shoot, you put one hand on the ball and shoot, and the other hand goes in the air to add arch to your shot. Another skill to learn is when you dribble the ball with one hand. Some skills to teach are behind the back, cross-over, and double cross over. To go behind your back you have to dribble the ball low and go behind your back. A cross over is where you cross the basketball in front of you. A double cross over is when you take the ball and cross it over, but do it twice. There should be an activity to determine if they are learning the fundamental-skill set. For example, the activity will be done with a basketball player to show them that everyone makes mistakes, but it takes hard work, determination, and practicing every day until you master the fundamental-skill.
Sportsmanship refers to your attitude toward officials, other players, and coaches. Sportsmanship helps the players to keep a good attitude and keep it in check. The referees and coaches also like for the players to have and show good sportsmanship. Wining is not everything because as long as you gave your best that is all that matters. You may lose some, but you always have to keep trying and put forth all your effort. For example, if you know you lost the game don’t get mad and start cussing out the other team because that shows you only care about yourself and not your team. Sportsmanship can be shown by a person’s actions. For example, when you see one of the other teams players fall, you go and help them and are nice about it. Team work is a component of sportsmanship because the team works together to play hard and keep their cool, and not to fight with the other players on the team. Team work is another important factor to basketball because it’s not a one man show; it’s about sharing the basketball and playing as a team. If only one person gets the ball it will make the rest of the players feel like they are not an important part of the team. Parents will be mad at the coaches because their child is not getting any playing time because it appears he has favorite player.
Basketball and other sports are mental sports because you have to do drills, maintain positive attitude, and set high, realistic goals for yourself. Some drills you have to do are run lines, where you run to the line as many times as the coaches tell you to do it. Another drill is running up and down bleachers, balancing up on a wall like a chair to build leg muscles. Maintaining a positive attitude is where you never have anything negative to say about what the coaches have you doing, you just do it without complaining. These are things you can do to maintain a positive attitude. To set high, realistic goals for yourself means to set goals that you know you will be able to accomplish and be successful. For example, you tell yourself that you are going to make fifty free throws and you make all of them, this is setting a high realistic goal and being able to accomplish it too.
Basketball is a good sport for children to learn discipline, sportsmanship and to get exercise. This past weekend I was able to teach an international student how to play basketball and she really enjoyed it. She suggests that we continue to play and to play once a week every week to keep improving her skills in basketball. Basketball or any sport is a great teaching tool about life because it is a mental sport. For example, I can remember my basketball coach saying mental is to physical as it is to one. Basketball is a very fun sport once you understand the concept of it and the fundamentals and rules and are able to show good sportsmanship.