In general, the Basketball Community welcomes anyone helpfully and heartily, who wants to learn the sport. There are many basketball professionals, or non-professionals, who are willing to share their knowledge of the sport. This is the reason I started blogging right here so that you can find useful information, which keeps you informed and motivated daily. Basketball beginners have a wide range of opportunities find good and qualified persons who can teach them the fundamentals of basketball. This is what the following blog post is about.

Teaching beginners is not an easy job. It is the same as teaching grade ones who are first exposed to the field of education. It is a great challenge for basketball teachers to educate beginners. It is wise for an instructor to develop an orderly plan to come up with an organized teaching method.
I will give some useful ways on how to teach basketball fundamentals to beginners.

1. Make a lesson a lesson plan
Like every teacher does, you should create a lesson plan. You indicate the skills you want to teach, and organize these skills in an orderly manner. Example, you can teach footwork, dribbling in place, dribbling while moving, shooting, until all basketball fundamentals are achieved. This will serve as your teaching guide. Also, lesson plans are very effective for you to focus on things that should be paid attention to.
The following fundamental skills must be taught:

  • Balance
  • Foot work
  • Dribbling/ball handling
  • Shooting
  • Basic defensive stance

2. Set your objectives
Setting up objectives is important to achieve the purpose of your teaching. The smart thing to do is to indicate the length of time wherein the beginners can be able to demonstrate proper execution of fundamental basketball skills. This will motivate you to manage your time well. Every second counts, and so, it should not be wasted on things that are not important in the process of learning. Aside from the length of time, the different basketball skills must also be included.

3. Know their different age groups and cluster them accordingly
Learning is different among age groups. Do not group young children from older ones. Children may find it difficult to catch up from the older beginners, or the older ones may find it boring to do lots of repetitions of each basketball fundamentals.

4. Ensure facility is appropriate for learning
Ensure that the place is equipped with necessary facilities such as basketball court. You cannot teach basketball in a four-walled classroom. It would not be enough. Beginners should be exposed to the field that the sport will be utilizing. Remember, basketball is played in the basketball court. Moreover, avoid settling on areas which is polluted with undesirable noises. When you teach, provide an environment conducive for learning. It is much easier to learn in an area that is peaceful and calm.

5. Provide necessary equipments
There are several things you might need to teach basketball. Of course, aside from having a basketball court, you must also have basket balls for the beginners to use. As much as possible, each beginner must have their balls. In this way, they can easily relate and demonstrate the skills that you will be teaching. For example, you are teaching them how to shoot or dribble the ball, they can easily follow and execute. Any shortage of balls may require extra time for the entire beginners to learn. And they cannot maximize learning the skills because other beginners will be using the ball too. Before you even try to teach the sport, please make sure that you have a sufficient number of equipment.

6. Acquire assistants who are also knowledgeable of the sport
It will be very difficult to do it by yourself. What you should do is this: try to look for qualified individuals who can assist you in teaching basketball. These assistants are useful because they can provide a one – on – one interaction with the beginners. Lets us say, for example, one assistant will be guiding 2 – 3 beginners and the others will do the same too. The assistants can easily observe whether, or not, the beginners are executing a skill correctly. They can directly correct the beginners if they are not executing rightfully.

7. Let the beginners socialize with each other
The beginners learn together. And so, you should let them socialize with each other. Basketball is a social sport. By the time they start to learn how to play, let them play against each other. It is a good step that you let them play against players who have the same level with them.

8. Start with one fundamental basketball skill at a time
Focus on one fundamental skill at a time. If you want to start with dribbling, center their attention to dribbling alone. Do not move into another skill until the beginners learn how to dribble. This will avoid confusion among the beginners.

9. Be patient
You must understand that you are teaching beginners. You cannot expect much from them. The least thing you can do is to be patient. Learners do not want to listen to someone who is mad about getting them to understand the sport directly.

10. Let them play the game
Give the beginners the opportunity to experience playing a basketball game. By this time, they can now see how effective they are after learning the sport from you. You can start by just letting them run, dribble, and shoot the ball without anyone guarding them. And then, when they get used to it, add additional players to guard them. These players can be your students who are also beginners. Playing an actual game is way different from playing it alone on practice.

11. Make their learning experience enjoyable
Try to make an effort to make the whole learning process as enjoyable as you can. You should interact with them in a manner that they can relate to you. Beginners would be interested in learning with an instructor who is enthusiastic, and not boring.

When you try to teach people who are beginners to the sport of basketball, the fundamentals should always be the utmost priority. It is the soul of the sport that beginners must learn. Imagine playing the sport without knowing how to dribble at all. Every fundamental skill of basketball must be developed to play the game. Otherwise, you are just the same as a musical tune with lacking musical tones. It does not sound good.

[info_box]Picture credit: John Morgan • Creative Commons Attribution[/info_box]