This idea for [tag]summer basketball skills[/tag] was sent to me by Steve– Very creative with encouraging results.  Try this [tag]basketball[/tag] [tag]drill[/tag] with your young players!Summer Basketball Skills

From Steve…
Here’s my drill that arose from noticing that a harsh reality for our kids (5th and 6th grade boys) was that they had terrible “hands.”“  Despite some pinpoint [tag]passes[/tag] from our [tag]point guards[/tag], many of our players (and usually our centers and forwards) were continually fumbling or completely missing the ball subsequently affecting the quality of [tag]shots[/tag] we were taking.

I decided that they needed to learn how to “catch” a ball…

I brought a variety of balls to practice (plastic golf balls, tennis balls, a football, etc) and breaking them into small groups (3-4) I took them off to the side and simply played catch having them focus on seeing the ball into their hands.  I would start off small with the golf or tennis balls and progress from their.  The football was particularly effective in that it forced them to position their hands to catch a pass.

We’re early into this but we are seeing some encouraging results…