Parachute Drills for Kids Basketball Practice
Most elementary schools have a giant multi-colored parachute that the basketball program can borrow for these kids basketball practice drills. Kids love playing with the parachute, and coaches can use it as a tool to teach important basketball skills.
For these games, have the players form a circle while standing around the parachute. The players should all hold on to the parachute with two hands except for one player, who is holding the basketball.
Passing Game
Players all raise the parachute in the air while still holding it in their hands. The parachute will billow up, creating a space where the kids can see across to the players on the other side. The coach will call out a color on the parachute, and the player holding the ball passes it to a player holding on to the corresponding color on the parachute.
All the players holding that color should watch to see where the ball is going, and the player it has been passed to lets go of the parachute to catch the ball. This should all take place before the parachute naturally billows back down, so players need to be quick with their decisions and movements.
Dribbling Game
This game is similar to the one above, except for this time when the coach calls out a color the player holding the ball dribbles underneath the parachute to one of the spaces with the corresponding color. Then he or she hands the ball off to the player who was in that spot, and that player will be the next to dribble.
Coaches need to keep track of who has had a chance to pass and dribble and make sure each player gets a turn. They should also remind the players not to jerk on the parachute but to treat it gently. The parachute will rise and fall at a safe, natural pace if the kids carefully raise it together. Finally, coaches should watch to see that the players are being safe and respectful when passing and dribbling the ball.
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