From Jerry…
I coach a girls middle school basketball team and kids ages 9 through 14 tend to get bored pretty easy doing fundamental basketball drills and just practicing in general.

So now for the last 20mins of practice we divide into two teams (blue & white) and play 4 five minute quarters running clock with assistant basketball coaches as refs. They work much harder during practice and some of the best games are the blue & white. Playing for bragging rights is very competitive. Hey the kids love it and our improvement is fantastic. Thanks for the opportunity to share.

From Sheryle…
I am coaching an elementary girls team. Don’t get into too many detailed plays at this level as learning the basics seems to be the way to go. I too love to have new basketball practice drills ideas to keep the girls from getting bored and learning new things.

I try to have a well organized practice which can be very time consuming. Anyways here is a basketball play that was passed on to me. Ball thrown in to point guard. PG brings ball up court to 3pt or foul line. Two post are at baseline, switching back and forth, waiting for the pass. PG passes to the one post, the other post continues the switch and is given a hand off. Takes a shot. Catches D off guard.

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From Linda
Here is a basketball drill that I created and have tried–a little unorthodox, but the boys loved it and it warmed them up in a really fun way for practicing lay-ups.

Our basketball warm up was- working in pairs - standing on one leg hopping -Trying to get your opponent to put down their other leg on the floor. No holding permitted.

This continues for 5 minutes, rotating partners putting dominant players together from pairs. The aim of this was to get the boys used to the physical contact.  My boys tended to be a little timid on game day, and often back off if the opposition is good at using their body.  The hopping (both feet have to be used) is for strengthening their ankles as they are triggering all the balancing tendons/ligament muscles etc.

Next basketball drill was on to layups, focusing on the jumping and lifting of the opposite leg, talking about using your mass momentum.

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From Melissa…
I am an elementary school and YMCA basketball coach who deals with beginning female players that change year to year. I have to include everyone, keep it fun and a positive environment while hoping to win some games and light some fires.  As such, my basketball drills remain basic and I rely on the old standards. Yet these two basketball coaching tips have helped me enormously, maybe they will help someone else:

1.)    I hate to try and talk over bouncing balls.  So if someone bounces a ball after I blow the whistle to give instructions, the whole team runs a lap. This means everyone helps me with crowd control!

2.)    I have a lot of kids participating at school and many would be tempted to straggle in after school. I have divided them into three squads/teams.  Before practice I list required drills (10 layups, 5 free throws, 10 dribbling figure eights, etc.). These take approximately 10 minutes to complete. Each squad is required to police their own members to complete these BEFORE the beginning of practice or that squad runs extra laps.

Now everybody is early to practice and warmed up!

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From Brian…
Passing and catching basketball drill.

I put all the boys in  circle arms length apart at the center of court.  Everyone takes 5 steps back to widen the circle.  I coach from the middle of the circle.  One boy has a basketball and bounce or chest passes to the next boy until we complete the circle.  We are concentrating on making eye contact with the next player, stepping to the player making a sharp pass.  The receiver has to step to the pass, secure the ball, use his pivot foot and pass to the next boy.

I will time the boys to see how long it takes to complete the circle.  I will introduce a second ball half way around the circle and possible a third ball to the circle.  This keeps the boys attention and helps with speed and passing fundamentals.

After 5 times around the circle I will have the basketball coaches play passive defense on the inside of the circle to help the boys make good passing decisions.

Technorati Tags: youth basketball coaching resource, basketball passing drill, basketball drill, basketball, basketball coach

From John…
Out of Bounds Play

We taught the kids this basketball play back in 3rd grade but two years later it’s still working. It’s another version of the Stack play and the reason it works is because it plays right into the philosophy of youth rule #1 on defense “stay between your man and the basket”.

Out of bounds under your own basket, the players line up in a stack with the first man in the line starting on the box in front of the man taking the basketball out. Typically the 4 defenders of the stack will all line up on the basket side of the stack. On “break” the first man in line jumps out of the stack towards the corner and either puts his hand out looking for the pass or actually calls out the name of the man taking the ball out. If he feels the defender follow him out of the stack he immediately turns and runs around the stack and cuts hard to the basket.

You’ll be amazed how often he’ll be wide open for a lay up. The other 3 kids in the stack don’t move until the first guy has run around the back of the stack. Then the 2nd man cuts to the corner (ball side), the 3rd man takes one step forward looking for a lob pass and the 4th man steps backward so we have a man back on D. After you do this basketball drill a few times the defender of the first man in the stack will stop following him through and will wait on the other side of the stack for him to run around it. Now when the first man jumps out of the stack and doesn’t feel the defender following him he’ll be wide open for a short shot.

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From Lee…
The Marines at Camp Pendleton, here in north San Diego, have a tradition of practicing a basketball drill in which they have two squads of five men pass the ball and run their offense, but no dribbling is allowed!

I took that drill and adjusted it for our 4th-graders, and ran a scrimmage, with a three-on-three full-court scrimmage for 8 minutes (two groups), and then a 5-on-5 scrimmage for 8 minutes…the boys loved it so much they begged for a second 5-on-5 scrimmage for 8 min. and I reffed the “game” just as usual, plus no dribbling.

The boys understood the message of team play and passing.

From Judy…
Here is a variation of hustle/aggression basketball drills that we use with under 15 year old boys to encourage aggressive play and hustle.

4 lines at baseline; basketball coach in the middle rolls ball towards middle of court then blows whistle. The first player from each inside line race to get ball, after they take off towards ball, first player from each outside line sprints up sideline towards opposing basket.

Player retrieving the basketball must immediately pass to sprinting player on his side of court.  The other sprinter, and player not getting initial ball are defenders and must stop the layup. Sprinter must either layup ball or pass back to trailer who stops and pops.

All 4 players clear out after shot and rebound, then next group  goes.

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From Kevin…
I don’t have a name for this basketball drill, but the intent is to teach the very young players passing skills and how to move and get open. It’s keep-a-way in a box.

I just use a box because very young players need some reference point or they will run all over the gym.Three players on the corners of a box with 15′ sides play keep-a-way from one player in the middle. There is always one open corner.

The players cannot pass across the box, but only to an adjacent corner. If a corner adjacent to the basketball is empty then the player diagonal must move to fill the empty spot. The passer must make a decision to pass left or right, faking out the person in the middle. After every pass, someone must move. If the person in the middle gets the ball, whoever they took it from moves to the middle.

This is intended to be a fast moving game with many touches on the ball teaching movement, getting open, and passing skills. After the players get the game down then the “box” can be removed and they can play on half of the court.

I’m now coaching very young players and need basketball drills focused on teaching basic ball skills.

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From Kyle…
Here is a simple basketball drill that the players on my team really enjoy.

There should be 2 lines (1 starting at the elbow and the other line is a few steps toward the nearest sideline).  Both lines are facing the far basket. Everyone in the line at the elbow has a basketball.  The 1st player in the other line runs full speed towards the basket while the other player throws a far lead pass for the player to catch and shoot a layup.  Players should switch lines.

I have the passer become a trailer and rebound or put back any misses and then give the ball to the player who just shot the layup and they alternate lines.

To make it a little more fun, tell team they must make a certain amount in a minutes.

From Greg…
A drill we use to keep kids from running under the basket to get a rebound.
When a shot goes up, the defensive players have to box-out until the ball hits the ground. It helps the kids concentrate on boxing-out first instead of just running under the basket.

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From Dan…
With young inexperienced players it’s difficult to get players to understand the importance of not becoming robotic.

Every good offense is designed for players to create scoring opportunities. Each basketball practice I will split the court and work post and perimeter. I came up with a basketball drill for my perimeter players to become more aggressive in creating opportunities for themselves and their teammates.

It’s a simple “penetrate and kick” drill, where you play a simple game of three on three with a few tweaked rules.

RULES
-only way to score is in the paint or behind the arc.
-players must continually fill to areas behind the arc after penetration
-no posting up

POINTS OF EMPHASIS
-drawing weak side defenders
-making the extra pass
-good shot fakes
-catch ready to shoot

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From John…
This is a basketball drill I do with my younger teams usually near the end of the season. It breaks up the monotony of working on fundamentals (although very necessary!), and let’s me see how they’ve improved on some of their basic skills.  It’s a variation of the kids’ game “Steal the Bacon”.

I break the team into two evenly matched groups. Each player in group 1 is assigned an odd number; 1, 3, 5, etc.  Group two players are assigned even numbers, 2, 4, 6, etc.

Group 1 stands along one side line, group 2 along the other. A basketball is placed in the center of the court.  To begin, I call out 2 numbers, one odd and one even. On the whistle, these players go for the ball…whoever gets it is on offense, the other player plays defense.

This results in a 1-on-1.  If the offense scores, their group is awarded 2 points. If the defense makes a stop, the defense is awarded 1 point.  I can call out multiple numbers, “1, 2, 3, 4″ to create a 2-on-2.

This drill can also be run as a 3-on-2, 2-on-1, or any combination you choose. The kids love it when, after starting with, let’s say a 2-on-2, I call out only one additional number DURING play to simulate the introduction of a trailing player to the mix.

I usually run this drill until one team reaches 21, but any point total can be set.  It creates a great team atmosphere, and allows players to work with many different player combinations on the court, in both offensive and defensive sets.

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