These ideas for youth basketball practice drills were sent in by Bill, one of my subscribers.   I’ve included them here for you to try with your team.  Keep ‘em coming!

From Bill…
Here’s some fun basketball drills for 7-8 year olds.

1) “Who Wants the Ball“– many of these kids don’t get the aggressive concept of actually going to the ball, boxing out, etc.

At the end of basketball practice we play “who wants the ball?” All 9 or 10 of them gather under the basket as I “miss” foul shots. You can’t leave practice until you’ve successfully re-bounded the basketball, which drives them to be aggressive and get the ball from their peers.

2) “Dribble with the Outside Hand” - kids line up at baseline. I put 4 cones in a line in front of them extending to the other baseline. They have to “figure eight” thru the cones, switching hands to the outside. After a couple times thru that basketball drill, I put a child at each cone. The player is allowed to reach for the ball, but has to keep his feet on the cone. As the players figure eight thru the cones this helps force them to dribble with their outside hand.

3) The best investment ever - $6, Dicks Sporting Goods, black plastic glasses with the lower 3rd blocked off. This forces the child, while wearing them, to dribble without being able to see the ball.

Good luck!

Technorati Tags: youth basketball practice drills, fun basketball drills, basketball practice, basketball, basketball drill

I came up with this tip for basketball coaching from one of my subscribers. It relates to basketball skills evaluation of your players and includes some great tips you can begin using with your team right away.

From Tony…
The tip I would like to share is habit awareness for basketball drills. The first aspect is about stance and body position concepts, I key my players as keeping a tomahawk stance. The second aspect deals with holding the basketball, I key as keeping the ball in the square.

I am currently spending time with four of my former players for half an hour each week prior to their regular team training. The deal was to come and watch them play then discuss and develop an individual improvement program. What I found watching their games was they were not consistently translating the skills they practiced in training as habits into their games. The two aspects underpinning why this wasn’t happening was their awareness of body and ball position. There are a number of ways for coaches to attack this problem including video analysis and developing a buddy system.
An awareness I try to instill into the on court habits of these players is to ALWAYS BE IN A READY POSITION. The stance and ready position technique remains constant whether the player is on offense or defense. Nothing new here but some of the standard, stock phases we as coaches tell and drill our players to get into the ready position include:
Keep a wide base
Feet shoulder width (in a tandem or “tomahawk” stance)
Knees bent/flexed
Hands up

Now I know we all drill these aspects at one time or another but then move on because of other more pressing needs such as skill development, team work and fitness.
My primary tip is to spend time and LINK this awareness for your players with every aspect of their game. The fact is a ready position is not natural but affects everything our players do including:

Blocking out and rebounding position
Closing out on the shooter or moving to block out
Pivoting
Defending the dribbler, jumping to the ball and basic denying the pass
The quarter-court triple threat position
Instead of the focus being mechanical alone on having knees bent etc., relate it specifically to a game or basketball drill situation.

Technorati Tags: basketball coaching, basketball skills evaluation, basketball drills, basketball, basketball drill

I received this suggestion on college basketball defense from Jason, one of my subscribers. Try it out and let me know what you think!

From Jason…
I would like to share a basketball drill that we ran in college.

Take your typical 4 vs 4 or 5 vs 5 shell drill.
As the offense is moving the ball and the defense is reacting, the coach will shout out a defensive player’s name.

This player must sprint to half court, touch the line, and sprint back on defense. This defensive basketball drill puts the pressure on the defense for a short time, as they are one player short. It forces them to communicate, rotate, and pick up the most dangerous players.

It is also a great basketball drill for the offense to try and exploit the extra man advantage in a short period of time. This is a great drill and I know I loved it as a player.  I am always looking for new and exciting drills that support what I am trying to teach.

Technorati Tags: college basketball defense, basketball drill, defensive basketball drill, basketball

Many coaches struggle with coming up with fresh ideas for basketball shooting drills. Here is one suggestion for a basketball shooting clinic that was sent to me recently.

From Lloyd…
We have a basketball free throw drill that we like to use. It works on rebounding, conditioning and pressure free throw basketball shooting.

This basketball drill is called One and One.

Five guys line up, four on the free throw lane and one shooting free throws. The player starts off with a one and one free throw situation. The first shot is worth two points and the second is worth one point. The player continues to shoot until he misses, keeping track of the points scored.

If he misses the first shot of a one and one he takes off and sprints four full court lengths or if he misses the second shot he sprints two full court shots. On the miss the person that gets the rebound now becomes the free throw shooter and play continues as the one that misses runs his sprints. As soon as he finishes his sprints he becomes a rebounder with the other three.

Play continues until someone scores 10 points. After someone scores 10 points the other four have to sprint the number of full court sprints that they are short of 10 points.

Technorati Tags: basketball shooting drills, basketball shooting clinic, basketball, basketball drill

Take a look at this submission from Bob.  A great suggestion for free basketball dribbling drills that can work with all age groups.

From Bob…
Dribble and Passing warm up basketball drill.

Start with half the players on the outside of the circle with a ball.
The other half are inside the circle.  Players work for 30 to 60 seconds then rest.

Players on the outside will throw a chest pass, player on the inside checks to the player on the outside asks for the ball,receives the ball and then plays the ball back with the prescribe pass.  The player then finds another player on the outside and executes the pass.

Players must solve the time and space dilemma and are able to perform basketball passing drills under pressure.  I will work this for chest, bounce, skip, and over takes.

Next I move to dribbling.  I keep the circle.  I put 6 on the outside and 4 on the inside.  The players on the inside have a ball. In addition, I put 4 cones or discs in the middle of the circle  forming a box, or what I like to call a window.

Players are then given a type of dribble to perform with a type of crossover move.  Right, Left, front cross, behind the back, between the legs.  Players in the middle start dribble through the square with speed and look to find  an open player on the outside of the circle.  They execute the dribble move, get their head up, find a player open, pass then the ball.  The player on the outside receive the ball, the player who threw them the ball comes at them and the player receiving executes a cross over move to beat the player, dribbles as directed in one part of the square and out the other side and locates another player and executes the same.

A very continuous drill.  I can then add on the following.

Give and go passing.
I can arrange player at the top of the  keys in the gym and the play can play the ball to them cut to the basket and execute a pass and hit the shot, gets his rebound plays the player, and the player continues through the “window” and finds a player to execute a give and go.  The combinations are limitless. The kids like it, we are working skills at speed with pressure, with a number of players in the same area which causes the kids to make good decisions with the basketball.

Great for fitness and handling pressure.

Technorati Tags: free basketball dribbling, basketball drill, basketball passing drills, basketball