Sylvia Hatchell - The Complete Guide to Coaching Girls Basketball: Building a Great Team the Carolina Way

THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO COACHING GIRLS BASKETBALL

Building a Great Team the Carolina Way

SYLVIA HATCHELL, Head Coach, University of North Carolina WITH JEFF THOMAS

Dedication

To my loving parents, Veda Shepard Rhyne (died 12/22/04) and Carroll Costner Rhyne, from whom I learned countless valuable lessons, and built my life and success on their faith, hope, and love.

To my husband, Carl (Sammy) Hatchell, and my son, Van Davis Hatchell, the loves of my life.

To my loyal staff, Andrew Calder, Tracey Williams-Johnson, Charlotte Smith-Taylor, and Greg Law.

And to all the wonderful players Ive had the good fortune and privilege to coach at Francis Marion University and the University of North Carolina.

Sylvia Hatchell

To Burke and Catherine. I cant believe how lucky I am to be your Pop.

Jeff Thomas

Copyright 2006 by Sylvia Hatchell. All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the United States Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

ISBN: 978-0-07-178007-0
MHID: 0-07-178007-6

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My heartfelt thanks go to the women who demonstrated the basketball skills in this books photographs. I am proud to have coached them:

LaTangela Atkinson, Meghan Austin, Heather Claytor, Christina Dewitt, Erlana Larkins, Ivory Latta, Camille Little, Rashanda McCants, Iman McFarland, Alex Miller, Jennifer Nelms, Latoya Pringle, Jessica Sell, Martina Wood.

So many people have influenced my coaching careerfar too many to listbut Id like to acknowledge three people who have helped me more than I can ever repay them for: Jerry Green, Head Coach at various universities; Hubie Brown, former NBA Head Coach; and Howard West, Head Varsity Coach at Ronald Reagan High School (Pfafftown, North Carolina).

Sylvia Hatchell

This book is based on the knowledge and insight Ive gained over many years of coaching. My focus is on how to coach girls who are 11 to 18 years old; that is, girls who play middle school, AAU, and high school basketball. I address everything you need to know to be a successful coach, whether youre a first-timer or youve coached for twenty years. My goal is that this book will be the only reference you need, the one source for information on how to be successful at whatever level you coach. My goal is for this book to be a complete guide to coaching girls basketball.

I begin with how to teach the fundamentalsfootwork, dribbling, passing, shooting, and all the individual skills that are critical to becoming a good player. In many games, the proper execution of the individual skills is the difference between winning and losing. Talent, strategy, psychology, and luck affect the outcome of a game, but often when a team loses its due to a lapse in fundamentalsa missed layup or bad pass at a critical moment, the dribbler not protecting the ball, the rebounder not blocking out, a defender losing sight of the ball, or poor footwork that results in an untimely travel. The basis for coaching basketball successfully at every level is fundamentals. At North Carolina, though my teams have highly talented players who have played basketball for years, we spend the first several days of every season on nothing but fundamentals.

Next, I go beyond the fundamentals into how to teach advanced individual skills. Then, I cover team skills, from elementary offensive and defensive principles to more complicated principles and alignments. I also cover many other essential topics, including how to choose your team, how to motivate players, how to decide what offenses and defenses are best for your team, and how to pick the best strategies and tactics for various situations. I explain a variety of offenses and defenses so you can choose what best fits your players and coaching philosophy. Throughout, I use diagrams to make the explanations easy to understand.

Lastly, I include seventy-five drills, ranging in difficulty from beginner level to advanced level, that will allow you to match drills to the experience and abilities of your players.

Im proud to bring this book to you. I hope you find coaching as fulfilling, enjoyable, and exciting as I do.