All right, we are going to give you a handful of great [tag]basketball[/tag] teamwork drills that will work in most, if not all, [tag]basketball teams[/tag].  They might work better with some over others, but as coach you can find creative ways to tailor these drills to each of your basketball teams.

1.) Number one rule – Play Games

This is one of the keys to building basketball team skills.  It doesn’t matter what sport you are in, and how old the players are – everybody loves to play games.  And we’re not talking scrimmages – I’m talking about games that are good old fashioned fun.

If you think back to some of your best sports memories it was probably during some of the crazy antics that went on during certain games that you played in your sports.

It doesn’t matter if you play tag, leap frog, have relays – whatever the case, you can build the basketball team mentality and a ‘brother or sisterhood’ of sorts if you play games that build a fun and enjoyable atmosphere where players take away the competitive nature of their game and are out there just for a bit of fun.

Take the players away from the game

With parents permission (and help with supervision) take the players to somewhere outside of the game.  You might go and watch a film, or you might just go have pizza and watch the basketball game.  As a coach, you may even invite the players and their parents over for a barbecue. 

It doesn’t matter so much what it is that you are going to do, just that you get the players away from the game, so you, and they, can learn more about each other.  Often time in bigger schools, the people that come out for basketball teams might be from different groups or have other interests outside of the sport.  It is a perfect opportunity for the players to have a little bit of growth as people and to get to know each other a little better.

Another key to this one is to have fun.  This is also very important.  Fun makes things go round.  You will hardly ever find a basketball team that grows together in the face of anger, disparity and frustration.  It never works.  You might go through tough situations that help you grow together as a basketball team, but those are the natural basketball team ups and downs. 

Take them away from the game for a bit, and watch them grow together.