How to organize a youth basketball practice

3 Basketball Practice Plans for All Age Groups (7

“Players win games. Coaches win practices”.

Practices are the time coaches have the biggest opportunity to impact the basketball skills of a player…

However, I constantly attend practices that are inefficiently run.

The coach spends half of practice trying to work out what drill to run next.

All coaches should be spending the majority of their time encouraging and providing feedback to their players… not working out what the next drill is going to be.

How do coaches fix this and make practices more efficient?

Create a basketball practice plan.

Two of the greatest coaches of all time knew how important a practice plan was…

“I always designed my practice plans the night before and then made tweaks a few hours before practice began” – Bobby Knight

“I would spend almost as much time planning a practice as conducting it. Everything was planned out each day” – John Wooden

Having a plan for each practice is absolutely essential.

Here is how to do it:

At Basketball For Coaches, we break down a typical practice into 5 sections…

1. Dynamic Warm-Up/Body Movement
2. Skill Work
3. Team Strategies
4. Scrimmage/Small Sided Games
5. Cool Down

First, let’s discuss each section in more detail.

Later on we’ll break down how long you should spend on each of the sections.

And then I’ll share 3 complete practice plans that you can print off and use with your team.

This section of practice cannot be skipped.

Most youth teams perform a 2-minute warm-up before moving immediately on to other sections of practice.

When I watch youth basketball games, it becomes quickly apparent that the best players have fantastic:

• Balance
• Coordination
• Change of Speed
• Change of Direction

The players who struggle haven’t learned how to control their bodies yet.

It’s extremely important to help players establish an athletic foundation. With this foundation in place, it becomes much easier to learn new basketball skills as they progress.

This section of practice will help your players with much more than their basketball skills. It will help prevent injuries and will help them in all sports and movements of life, because as we all know, players shouldn’t be specializing solely in basketball at a young age.

Here are a few examples of body movement and coordination movements you need to incorporate into your dynamic warm-up.

• Jogging
• Sprinting
• Backpedaling
• Sliding
• Change of Direction
• Change of Pace
• Jumping
• Landing
• Lunging
• Skipping

The bulk of a youth basketball practice should be skill work. The drills should be fun and interesting while still improving the skill of your players.

This includes drills that teach players how to perform the skill movement correctly, along with drills that assist them to learn when to use the skill.

Drills that allow the player to learn when to use the skill are commonly skipped over.

Referring to shooting, this is a great quote by Jeff Van Gundy…

“Shooting percentage is just as much about decision making as it is about technique” – Jeff Van Gundy

This rule goes for all skills, not just shooting…

We need to put players in positions that require them to make decisions and gain game-like experience.

A lot of coaches will show players exactly what they need to do… they’ll give fantastic instructions, and the players will eventually look brilliant at training.

Then, the players will get 
into the game and it’ll look like they’ve forgotten everything!

Why does this happen?

Because they haven’t learned to play against competition.

We need to include drills that will teach players the technique, and drills that will teach them when to do it in the game.

I recommend splitting these two types of drills up 50/50…

Dribbling Example:

5 minutes of stationary ball handling and then a game of 1v1 in the full-court. 


Shooting Example:

5 minutes of shooting form and then 1-on-1 partner close-outs with the offensive player deciding whether to shoot the ball or drive.

Passing Example:

5 minutes of form passing and then a 10 minute game of 5 vs 4 keep-away.

While I list small-sided games at the end of practice, I still use them in this section to improve individual skills while making decisions.

“Perform drills that force your players to think” – Bobby Knight

BFC TIP: At the youth level, drills should be no more than 10 minutes long. The players will start to become disinterested after that time. Keep them short and fun!

Team strategies are the least important component of a youth basketball practice.

And in my opinion, they are not necessary for players under the age of 10.

The team strategies section of training includes:

• Offense
• Defense
• Set Plays
• Special Situations

If you decide to use this section of practice with your team, dedicate only a small amount of time to it.

Too many coaches steal practice time from skill development and spend half of practice helping athletes memorize set plays.

Remember that we want to teach our players how to play basketball, not give them a couple of spots on the floor they have to run to each possession.

So, I’m not opposed to teaching team strategies… I’m just opposed to spending half of your valuable practice time on it.

Only practice team strategy for the recommended amount of time, or less.

Scrimmages and small-sided games are very important to include in every basketball practice plan.

What’s the point in your players learning how to do a crossover with great technique if they don’t understand when to use it in a game?

Technique is important, of course… but allowing kids to practice when to use it is just as important.

This doesn’t mean letting them loose in a 5-on-5 game every practice…

Most of the game-play in a youth practice should be “small-sided”.

Small-Sided Games (SSG’s) have fewer participants on each team than a normal game. (1v1, 2v1, 3v3, etc.)

There are many benefits to using small-sided games with your players:

• More Touches
• More Space to Practice Moves
• More Opportunities to Score Points
• and many more

Small-sided games result in the players developing quicker and having a lot more fun!

If you have more than one ring and basketball available, play multiple small-sided games!

Another thing I love to do in scrimmages or small-sided games is incorporate rules to work on different skills.

For example, one of my favorite rules is the “no dribble” rule, which forces kids to read the play and make cuts to get open.

Without this rule, you’ll find it’s common for a youth player to take 5 or 6 dribbles with their head down before throwing a wild hook shot at the ring while 3 of their teammates stand around wide open.

The cool down section of your training should consist of a couple of minutes of slow jogging and walking up and down the court and then a few minutes of static stretching.

This allows the body to decrease in temperature and begin to flush out the waste products (lactic acid), amongst other things.

The stretching part of the cool down is a great time to talk to the players. We might talk about an upcoming game/tournament or how we felt practice went.

Now that you understand each section of practice, let’s work out how much time during practice should be dedicated to each section.

The first thing you’ll need to decide is if you’ll be implementing any team concepts like offenses, defenses, or set plays. If so, I still recommend only spending the listed amount of time on it.

If not, I recommend adding the extra minutes to skill work.

The following is how I generally divide up the minutes depending on the length of practice time you have.

60 Minutes
Dynamic Warm-Up/Body Movement – 10 minutes
Skill Work – 25 minutes
Team Strategy – 10 minutes
Scrimmage/SSG – 10 minutes
Cool Down – 5 minutes

90 Minutes
Dynamic Warm-Up/Body Movement – 10 minutes
Skill Work – 45 minutes
Team Strategy – 15 minutes
Scrimmage/SSG – 15 minutes
Cool Down – 5 minutes

120 Minutes
Dynamic Warm-Up/Body Movement – 10 minutes
Skill Work – 60 minutes
Team Strategy – 20 minutes
Scrimmage/SSG – 20 minutes
Cool Down – 5 minutes

This structure combines the technical learning of the skill with the practical application of the skill.

Too many practices overlook teaching players when to use skills.

3 Sample Basketball Practice Plans

7 – 10 Years Old (60 Minute Practice)

Disclaimer: This training session has been designed for a half-court, as most teams this young only have access to half the court to train on.

Practice Goal: Bringing the ball up the court against pressure.

Run each of the following to half-court and back:

1. High Knees – Bring knees to waist height while running.

2. Butt Flicks – Flick the rear with your heels as you run.

3. Grape Vine – Face side-on, step with the front leg, alternate stepping in front and behind with the rear leg.

4. High Jumps, Quiet Landing – Run forward, plant with two feet, jump as high as you can, land as quietly and softly as possible.

5. Zig Zag – Run to the right diagonal for a few steps, plant your outside foot, push off and cut to the left diagonal. Repeat.

Perform through to half-court, jog back to the baseline.

1. Lunges – Take a large step forward, keep the back upright and the hips straight, slowly drop down until your rear knee is just above the floor.

2. Squats – Take a few steps, stop with feet wider than shoulder-width apart. Keep the back straight, stick out the rear end, and squat down until the thighs are parallel with the ground.

3. In to Out – Take a few steps, lift right knee to waist height. Keep the hips pointing forward, and bring the knee from pointing forwards, to pointing sideways. Drop the foot back down, take a few steps, and repeat with the left knee.

4. Toe Grab – Take a few steps, put your right heel on the ground out in front of you, keeping your right leg straight. Bend down and grab onto your toe. Hold for two seconds, stand up, and repeat after a few steps with your left foot.

Run each to half court and back.

1. 50% Speed

2. 70% Speed

3. 80% Speed

4. 90% Speed

5. 95% Speed

Skill Work (10 to 35 minutes)

Setup:

Pair the players up (similar skill level). One basketball between two players. Spread out around the court.

Instructions:

1. Have the player with the ball jog and dribble in any direction. The other player acts as the defender.
2. At any moment, have the defensive player sprint and stand directly in front of the offensive player.
3. Upon this cue, the offensive player shall plant their front foot, push off it hard, and hop back to create space!
4. Have the offensive player change the direction they’re dribbling in.
5. The defensive player chases the offensive player, and steps in front of them again.
6. After 30-45 seconds, have the players switch jobs.

Coaching Points:

The defensive player isn’t trying to steal the ball, or truly pressure the offensive player! They are only there to help show the offensive player when they should be making this move. They are helping the offensive player learn.

Setup:

Pair each player with a similarly skilled teammate. Split the court into two playing with an imaginary line between the baskets (otherwise known as the split line, use cones to mark if you wish).

Instructions:

1. Starting on the baseline, the offensive player must dribble the ball across the half-court line.
2. If the defensive player steals the ball, they must give it back to the offensive player.
3. If the offensive player loses control of the ball or goes out of bounds, they must retrieve it and start again where they last had control of the ball.

Team Strategy (35 to 45 minutes)

Three Options:

• 1-4 Press Break
• Man-to-Man Defense
• 5-Out Motion

Scrimmage/SSG (45 to 55 minutes)

3-on-3 “Touchdown”

Setup:

The offense starts with the ball, out-of-bounds on the baseline. They must inbound the ball, and dribble and pass it to half court.

Instructions:

1. If the defense gets the ball, the game stops, and they become the offense.
2. The game begins again out-of-bounds on the baseline.
3. Once the offense get the ball to half court, they must place it on the ground, on the half-court line.
4. Another offensive player (who didn’t place the ball on the ground) must sprint to retrieve the ball. They then turn around and look to score on the basket.
5. Once the ball has been placed, the defensive team must all turn around and touch the baseline with their hand.

Coaching Points:

As coach, give limited feedback during the game! If you see a certain mistake three times in a row, give advice quickly, but spend most of your time observing. How they perform in this small-sided game should inform how you design your next training session!

Cool Down (55 to 60 minutes)

• Jog to the other end of the court and back.
• Walk to the other end of the court and back.
• Sit down, and do some static stretches.

The cooldown stretching gives the coach some time to have a conversation with the players about training, and potentially some quick information about the next opponent.

11 – 14 Years Old (90-Minute Practice)

Disclaimer: This training session has been designed for a full-court.

Pre-Training Talk (-15 to -10 minutes)

Before your time on the court begins, share a very clear goal for training with the players. Each training session should have a purpose. For a 90-minute training session, there is enough time to practice two “goals for training”.

Example goals:

• Passing Decision-Making
• Transition Defence

Foam Rolling (-10 to 0 minutes)

Once kids are 11 or older, I highly recommend that each player owns a foam roller for use before training.

Teenage years are renowned for growing pains, and as coaches, we can help our players by dedicating the last 10 minutes before entering the court to foam rolling.

They’re very cheap, and if a player forgets theirs, they can use their own basketball.

Roll each area for 20 seconds each:

• Glutes
• Between the back and the outside of the upper leg.
• Outside of the upper leg.
• Between the front and the outside of the upper leg.
• Front of the upper leg.
• Inside of the upper leg.
• Calf (lower leg)

Warm-Up (0 to 10 minutes)

Run each of the following to half-court and back:

1. High Knees – Bring knees to waist height while running.

2. Butt Flicks – Flick the rear with your heels as you run.

3. Grape Vine – Face side-on, step with the front leg, alternate stepping in front and behind with the rear leg.

4. High Jumps, Quiet Landing – Run forward, plant with two feet, jump as high as you can, land as quietly and softly as possible.

5. Zig Zag – Run to the right diagonal for a few steps, plant your outside foot, push off and cut to the left diagonal. Repeat.

Perform through to half-court, jog back to the baseline.

1. Lunges – Take a large step forward, keep the back upright and the hips straight, slowly drop down until your rear knee is just above the floor.

2. Squats – Take a few steps, stop with feet wider than shoulder-width apart. Keep the back straight, stick out the rear end, and squat down until the thighs are parallel with the ground.

3. In to Out – Take a few steps, lift right knee to waist height. Keep the hips pointing forward, and bring the knee from pointing forwards, to pointing sideways. Drop the foot back down, take a few steps, and repeat with the left knee.

4. Toe Grab – Take a few steps, put your right heel on the ground out in front of you, keeping your right leg straight. Bend down and grab onto your toe. Hold for two seconds, stand up, and repeat after a few steps with your left foot.

Run each to half court and back.

1. 50% Speed

2. 70% Speed

3. 80% Speed

4. 90% Speed

5. 95% Speed

Skill Work (10 to 55 minutes)

3v2 Around the Key (10 to 20 minutes)

Setup:

One offensive player on each block (side of the keyway), one starts behind the FT line. One defensive player starts under the front of the basket, and the other starts two steps directly in front of him.

Instructions:

1. Coach passes the ball to any of the offensive players.
2. A game is played until the offense scores or the defense has the ball (or the ball goes out of bounds)
3. Everybody chooses a new place to start, and the game begins again when the coach passes the ball.

Coaching Points:

When you’re coaching this drill, make sure to focus upon the decision making of their passing. We have clearly told the players what the goals of training are, and we must coach to that. If you give all kinds of different advice to the players, it’ll be difficult for them to take it all in.

‘Call Names’ 3v3 (20 to 35 minutes)

Setup:

Depending on numbers and space, play a 3v3 game in the full court, or two 3v3 games in each half-court.

This is a normal 3v3 game, with an extra rule to force the players to make passing decisions while they’re dribbling, not after they’ve finished dribbling.

Rule:

The ball-handler must call the name of the teammate they’re passing the ball to either (a) before passing the ball, or (b) before they pick up their dribble.

If a player passes the ball or picks up their dribble before calling the name of a teammate to pass to, it is a turnover!

1v1 Chase Down (35 to 45 minutes)

Setup:

Pair the players up into similar speed levels. The offense starts a few steps onto the court, either on the left or right side of the court. The defense starts a step or two behind.

Depending on the speed of the defensive player and the speed dribbling ability of the offensive player, you’ll need to adjust where they begin.

Instructions:

1. The coach blows his whistle, and the offense begins speed dribbling towards the basket at the opposite end.
2. The defense has to sprint and get in front of the offensive player.
3. Play until either the offense scores or the defense has the ball (or the ball goes about of bounds).

Balance the Floor 3v3 (45 to 55 minutes)

Rules:

If you’re below the free-throw line when a shot is attempted, go for the rebound!

If you’re above the free-throw line when a shot is attempted, sprint back onto safety!

When either team has the ball, it is a normal game of 3v3.

Instructions:

Once a shot is taken, the offensive players must either:

(b) Sprint back towards the half-court line if they’re above the FT line

(a) Sprint to the basket and attempt to make a rebound if they’re below the FT line.

If the defense gets the ball, the drill stops, and everybody freezes. If the offense gets the ball, they may shoot it again and continue to play.

Once the defense gets the ball (and everybody freezes), the coach can observe how the offense (who have just become defense) have ‘balanced the floor’.

Team Strategy (55 to 70 minutes)

Three Options:

• 4-Out 1-In Motion
• Run and Jump Defense
• Princeton Offense

Scrimmage/SSG (70 to 85 minutes)

Play a full-court game, with as many players as you have!

Ideally 5v5, but 4v4 or 3v3 would work too.

To help the game express the goals of training that we have been working on (passing decision-making, transition defense), we will add an extra rule.

Rule: If you shoot the ball, you must touch the baseline before rejoining the play!

This rule puts more pressure on defensive transition than a normal game, and therefore they’ll have to do a better job to be able to prevent an easy fast-break basket for the opponent.

The momentary 5v4 advantage for the offense also allows more opportunities to display their passing decision-making.

Cool Down (85-90 minutes)

• Jog to the other end of the court and back.
• Walk to the other end of the court and back.
• Sit down, and do some static stretches.

The cooldown stretching gives the coach some time to have a conversation with the players about training, and potentially some quick information about the next opponent.

15 – 18 Years Old (120-Minute Practice)

Disclaimer: This training session has been designed for a full-court.

Pre-Training Talk (-15 to -10 minutes)

Before your time on the court begins, share a very clear goal for practice with the players. Each basketball practice should have a purpose. For a 120-minute session, there is enough time to practice three ‘goals for training’.

Example Goals:

• 1v1 Finishing
• Full Court Man to Man
• Defensive Rebounding

Foam Rolling (-10 to 0 minutes)

Once kids are 11 or older, I highly recommend that each player owns a foam roller for use before training.

Teenage years are renowned for growing pains, and as coaches, we can help our players by dedicating the last 10 minutes before entering the court to foam rolling.

They’re very cheap, and if a player forgets theirs, they can use their own basketball.

Roll each area for 20 seconds each:

• Glutes
• Between the back and the outside of the upper leg.
• Outside of the upper leg.
• Between the front and the outside of the upper leg.
• Front of the upper leg.
• Inside of the upper leg.
• Calf (lower leg)

Warm-Up (0 to 10 minutes)

Run each of the following to half-court and back:

1. High Knees – Bring knees to waist height while running.

2. Butt Flicks – Flick the rear with your heels as you run.

3. Grape Vine – Face side-on, step with the front leg, alternate stepping in front and behind with the rear leg.

4. High Jumps, Quiet Landing – Run forward, plant with two feet, jump as high as you can, land as quietly and softly as possible.

5. Zig Zag – Run to the right diagonal for a few steps, plant your outside foot, push off and cut to the left diagonal. Repeat.

Perform through to half-court, jog back to the baseline.

1. Lunges – Take a large step forward, keep the back upright and the hips straight, slowly drop down until your rear knee is just above the floor.

2. Squats – Take a few steps, stop with feet wider than shoulder-width apart. Keep the back straight, stick out the rear end, and squat down until the thighs are parallel with the ground.

3. In to Out – Take a few steps, lift right knee to waist height. Keep the hips pointing forward, and bring the knee from pointing forwards, to pointing sideways. Drop the foot back down, take a few steps, and repeat with the left knee.

4. Toe Grab – Take a few steps, put your right heel on the ground out in front of you, keeping your right leg straight. Bend down and grab onto your toe. Hold for two seconds, stand up, and repeat after a few steps with your left foot.

Run each to half court and back.

1. 50% Speed

2. 70% Speed

3. 80% Speed

4. 90% Speed

5. 95% Speed

Skill Work (10 to 70 minutes)

‘Read the Help’ (10 to 20 minutes)

Setup:

Spread the offensive players out to both ends of the court. Each player should have a basketball. To work on right-handed finishing, line the offensive players up, outside the 3pt line, in line with the right-hand side of the key-way. One player begins on the left block.

Instructions:

1. The first player in line should stand in triple threat position. To quickly begin their dribble, they throw the ball down towards their right-hand side, and drive to the basket.
2. The extra player on the left block will give one of three different signals, to inform the driving player which finish they should attempt.
3. If the player on the left block runs and stands directly underneath the basket, the offensive player should make a powerful move, directly to the basket, and finish as high as possible.
4. If the player on the left block runs and stands between the driver and the basket, outside of the charge circle), the driver should shoot a short ‘floater’ over the top of the defender’s head, without running into them (if your court has no charge circle, have them stand a 4-5 feet in front of the basket).
5. If the player on the left block runs across the keyway to the right block, the driver should make a ‘change of direction’ move with their footwork, and finish on the left-hand side of the basket. An example of this type of move would be a ‘euro-step’ or a ‘pro-hop’.

1v1 ‘Ball on Back’ (20 to 30 minutes)

Setup:

The defender starts by standing on the 3pt line, facing the basket. The offensive player stands behind the defender and places the ball upon the defenders back.

Instructions:

1. The drill begins when the offensive player takes the ball off the defensive player’s back.
2. Play until either the offensive player scores or the defensive player gets the ball.
3. The defender facing away provides the offensive player an advantage, which they can take with a fast, decisive move to the basket!

2v2 ‘Rugby’ (30 to 45 minutes)

Setup:

The ball starts out of bounds on the baseline.

Instructions:

1. The offensive inbounder must pass the ball into the court to his teammate.
2. After this first pass, the offensive team may only pass backwards.
3. The goal is to get the ball into the key-way at the other end of the court.
4. The defensive team must work on having a player closely guarding the ball. His teammate should be behind the line of the ball, narrowing the space that the offensive player has to dribble.

3v3 ‘Hockey’ (45 to 60 minutes)

Setup:

This is a game of 3v3 in the full court, with one extra rule which allows the defense to apply more full-court pressure.

Rule:

Borrowing from Ice Hockey’s ‘off-side’ rule, the offensive ball-handler must be the first offensive player to cross the half-court line. Before the ball is dribbled across the half-court line, no other offensive player may be in the front half of the court.

This prevents offensive players from sprinting ahead for easy long passes, and allows the defense to practice their full-court defense more effectively.

Find, Hit, Get (60 to 70 minutes)

Setup:

Two players start on the top corners of the keyway (offence), and another two players start on the blocks (defence).

Instructions:

1. Coach shoots the ball from the foul-line.
2. Once the ball is shot, all 4 players can move to rebound.
3. Upon the shot, the two defensive players yell:
   “FIND!”, and run towards the offensive players.
   “HIT!”, and make contact with the offensive players.
   “GET!”, and attempt to rebound the ball.
4. Whichever team gets the ball becomes offence, and attempt to score on the basket the ball was just shot upon.
5. Players rotate positions after either team has scored.

Team Strategy (70 to 90 minutes)

By the time your players are 15 or older, they’ll need a couple of set plays to score with.

If you do not already have a few plays up your sleeve, check out this link below.

28 Basketball Plays to Dominate Any Defense

When practicing set plays, make sure to use all the players you have available!

5v0 might make your plays look great, but they won’t look great once you get to the game!

Practice your plays with defenders.

To begin with, have them not steal the ball or try and blow up your play, but make sure you build towards practicing your plays against a live defence!

If you only have 8 players at training, 3 defenders is better than 0 defenders!

Scrimmage/SSG (90 to 115 minutes)

With 3 different focuses for this training session, we can use small-sided games or 5v5 scrimmages to apply what we have learned to a game!

3v3 Small-Sided Game (90 to 100 minutes)

To emphasize finishing on the basket, we will change the scoring system!

Play either until a certain score, or for an amount of time.

Scoring System:

• Score inside the bottom half of the keyway= 3 points.
• Score inside the top half of the keyway= 2 points.
• Score inside the 3pt line, but outside of the keyway= 1 point.
• 3pt Basket = 0 points, but the opponent’s score goes back to 0.

Making mid-range baskets only worth 1 point will encourage players to keep driving, and not settle for pull-up jump-shots.

Creating a large consequence for the defense giving up a made 3pt shot will cause them to close out harder, creating more driving opportunities for the offense.

5v5 Scrimmage (100 to 115 minutes)

To focus on full-court defense and rebounding, we introduce two simple rules to influence how the game is played.

Rule 1:

Once the defense first gets the ball (on a made basket, a rebound, or a steal), the player who has the ball must place it upon the ground. Another teammate shall run across and pick up the ball, and the game shall resume. The new defense cannot defend the ball until it has been picked up by the other team. This gives the defense a chance to set up their full-court defense, on every change of possession.

Rule 2:

If the offensive team gets an offensive rebound, they get a “power-play”. They have a free chance to score, without any threat of losing the ball. Once the defense has the ball (on a rebound or a steal), the game stops, and the offense get the ball back.

Coaching Points:

We recommend that you play mini-games, and coach in between each game. Play until either team has scored two baskets. After the mini-game, bring the teams in, and coach them for 30-45 seconds. Make substitutions, and send them back out onto the court!

Coach in dot-points, not paragraphs.

Cool Down (115 – 120 Minutes)

• Jog to the other end of the court and back.
• Walk to the other end of the court and back.
• Sit down, and do some static stretches.

The cooldown stretching gives the coach some time to have a conversation with the players about training, and potentially some quick information about the next opponent.

The biggest thing I want you to take away from this article is that you need a basketball practice plan for every practice.

A planned practice is more efficient, your players will improve quicker, and you’ll be a far better coach.

How to Structure a Youth Basketball Practice – Rookie Mentor

Being a youth basketball coach can be one of the most exciting and fulfilling jobs for a person to have. Coaches get the opportunity to teach young kids how to not only play basketball but more importantly, how to teach kids life lessons that will last a lifetime. 

When structuring a youth basketball practice consider; your team goals, alternative skill development drills that vary from the previous session, your coaching philosophy, rewarding hustle and focusing on the fundamentals whilst not pointing out every mistake. Winning at youth level should not be what drives coaching decisions at practice. 

Not many things in life give you the ability to make positive and long lasting impressions on young kids. Kids love basketball! Many kids live and breathe basketball. They love to learn it, play it and watch it. Read on to see how you continue to grow their love of basketball through practice. 

How Do You Develop a Practice Plan?

A practice plan is essential and will help create a structure for your practices. This ensures that there isn’t wasted time when transitioning into drills.

Once your players get a feel for how practices are structured your practices will run more smoothly. The practice plan should include everything from specific drills with coaching points to even scheduling water breaks.

When planning for practice, the ability and level of the team should determine how long each practice should be.

For beginning players, the practice should not be longer than 60 minutes. Intermediate players should practice for 90 minutes and advanced players should be in the gym for 120 minutes.

These practice time guidelines will allow coaches to be able to maximize player effort without experiencing player burnout as the season progresses.

As coaches, we should promote when kids are playing multiple sports. When deciding on the length of your practice you should be aware of kids that have other obligations.

Try to schedule your practices with that in mind and avoid overworking your players. 

“Trust me, setting things up right from the beginning will avoid a ton of tears and heartache…” – Kobe Bryant

Start with a Team Building Conversation (5%)

To begin practice, coaches should bring the team together to talk about a value or characteristic that the program would like each player to subscribe to.

Have the players engage with one another about different topics of why a team is successful. This is a great chance to teach valuable lessons that align with your coaching philosophy (or developing philosophy!).

Depending on the make-up of the team and player personalities, the coach can choose to lead the conversation or allow the players to lead it themselves. Having this conversation whilst stretching works well. 

Have A Dynamic Warm-Up (5%)

A youth basketball warmup routine should allow the players to warm-up for practice along with learning different aspects of the game.

Coaches may overlook warmups and expect players to show up ready to begin but warmups can be a major learning opportunity for players whilst also preventing injury.

Warm-ups are important because they set the tone of the effort level of the practice. As the coach, you should push your players from the beginning of practice to work hard and this all starts during warm-ups.

Skill Development (60%)

The most important part of a youth practice is skill development. Skill development at the youth level consists of ball handling, passing, shooting and footwork. This part of a youth practice should be physically intensive and focus on creating a game-like atmosphere. 

Coaches should emphasize on their coaching points selected during the development of the practice plan. At this point of practice, players’ mistakes should be corrected more frequently than any other point in practice. 

Work On Defense; NO Zone! (15%)

All practice plans should include a defensive session. Youth players need to learn the concepts of how to play man-to-man defense.

At the youth level, many coaches dedicate a lot of practice time to playing zone defense. If the goal is to win youth basketball games and tournaments then playing a zone defense will probably work. But, the goal of youth sports should always be skill development and being able to play man to man defense at a high level is an essential skill for all basketball players.

Zone defense creates bad habits that are hard to correct when players move up to a more competitive level. Man to man defense principles can transfer into any other type of defense so it is of utmost importance that youth players are able to understand it at a young age. 

Teach Offensive Concepts (10%)

It is important for youth players to learn the basics of a motion offense. Avoid pattern offenses or set plays. Players should learn how to play the game on a deeper level and not just be robotic and go through the motions.

Coaches should introduce new offensive actions that players can utilize while on offense. Short term, it may look chaotic and disorganized but long term, coaches will see progress on offense once players become more comfortable.

Building confidence and basketball IQ is the most important part at this point of practice.

End with Competitive Games (5%)

The end of each practice should include some type of competitive game. Split the teams up and give out a consequence to the losing side. While fun is the focal point of youth sports, a competitive spirit still needs to be instilled within the players.

The coach sets the tone of the practice. Youth coaches should work to create a positive image of basketball for all kids.

You will have kids that are less skilled or athletic than others but it is still important to keep the positive energy flowing. Do not be the reason why a kid chooses to quit!

As a coach, you want all kids to be successful but sometimes we need to take a step back and let them make mistakes in order to learn.

Mistakes are going to happen. Allowing them to correct their own mistakes will help build their confidence and is a more effective tool than stopping practice every time one of your players does something wrong.

As we talk about later, players pick up on what you decide to emphasize throughout practice. A coach should be pointing times when a player makes a play that aligns with your philosophy. Since your philosophy translates off the court, you are also teaching valuable life lessons.

If you’re coaching philosophy is still developing – that’s okay!

Not every drill needs to be this spectacular show that makes players work on multiple skills all at once. Sometimes it is best to keep it simple and work on the fundamentals.

Take time to teach the small things like how to make a proper ball fake or a reverse pivot. As kids get older, the fundamentals are what separates an average player from a great player. 

Let a player know when he makes a good hustle play. Coaches need to pay attention to the small details during practice and praise the players that make the extra effort.

For example, when a player dives on the floor for a loose ball, make a big deal out of it. When it comes time to play a game, the moments that separate teams are the small details.

A hustle play that earns them an extra possession could be the difference in a close game. Win or lose, at the youth level you should always reward hustle and hard work.

The most talented player on my team will sit the bench for the one that works the hardest at practice. In many cases the most talented youth players are jumped by the hard-working ones. Players with a good attitude about working hard are the players I want on my team.

The best learning happens in basketball when players get a chance to play. They learn how to deal with game situations and how to make adjustments on the fly.

Allowing your players to scrimmage uninterrupted by the coach will give the ability to learn how to play the game on a deeper level.

Once the scrimmage is completed, have the players reflect on the things they would have done differently. This allows for great coaching and learning opportunities. 

Players need to be able to build their basketball IQ and coaches need to begin the process at the youth level.

Creating game-type situations during practice is going to help players become better all-around. It will help them understand the game on a deeper level.

You don’t have to use a scrimmage-type drill to create a game-like situation. Make players run sprints and shoot free throws. Emphasize that when they are playing they will be tired and the importance of using their legs to get lift on their shot. 

If you do scrimmage, use a score clock and set at time. You can set parameters for the scrimmage and then let the players go. Have them make their own decisions, call time outs and be their own coaches.

This is a great way for them to learn what it is like to manage a game and will give them more insight when they are in the game. 

What Drills Should You Run?

Youth coaches should utilize drills that are time effective and support skill development.

Explaining drills for the first time will take up valuable practice time but coaches need to ensure that the focus and emphasis is communicated to the players.

Some of the most effective drills for youth players are the most simplest and will provide more time for players to focus on their development. 

Some coaches like to run the same drills at each practice to cut down on the time they take to explain each drill. Personally, I like to mix up the drills that my players run. This keeps things fresh and fun for the players. Like I said earlier, we don’t want them to turn into robotic players so changing drills each practice is a positive way to teach them how to stay focused and locked in during practice. 

Touch the Line (Warm-Up):

To start the drill, all players line up on the baseline. The coach then calls out a spot on the floor (ie: “Elbow”, “Block” etc.) and players begin moving towards that spot on the court performing while an action (ie: high knees, butt kicks, defensive slides etc).  

Weave Dribbling:

Line up three cone lines with the first cone starting on the baseline and moving towards half court.

One line of cones should be 1-2 feet apart and other lines have cones that get increasingly spread out.

Players line up behind the first line of cones with a ball. Each player then weaves in and out of the cones while dribbling the ball performing a crossover dribble.

Once each player has dribbled through each line of cones three times.

For more advanced teams and players, the coach can mix in certain ball handling moves (ie: between the legs, in/out dribble etc.). 

Partner Passing:

This drill is performed in pairs with each group having one ball to start.

Each group will stand 5-7 feet apart and pass the ball back and forth performing a different pass each time (chest pass, bounce pass, overhead pass). Coaches should focus on players using a proper passing technique.

As time progresses and the players are getting more advanced. The drill can transition into running while passing and catching. Adding a second ball to the drill will add another level of difficulty to this drill.

Form Shooting:

After being instructed on the proper shooting technique, players each have a ball and find an area in the gym away from each other. The coach will then talk through each step of a proper form shot pausing for each player to perform that step.

This drill will progress each practice to eventually shooting with a partner at a hoop without the coaches verbal prompts. 

SHELL Drill (defense):

For beginning players, this is an essential drill that should be in each practice plan.

The first time players are performing this drill, there should be three offense players and three defensive players on the top of the key and the two wings.

The ball should start at the top of the key and each player should move to the correct defensive position.

One player guarding the ball while the two wing defenders are in a “gap” help position. The coach then instructs the offensive player to pass the ball. The defense should then adjust to the new ball position. The focus of the coach needs to be on correct defensive positioning and making sure the players are jumping towards the ball while it is in the air.

Coaches should focus on building communication during this drill. Players should be taught what to say how to communicate and it should be an expectation every time this drill is on the practice plan.

This video from the Junior NBA is a great example of how the Shell drill works.

Shooting Competition:

Split the players into two equal-sized teams. Players then line up at a spot on the court and take turns shooting while counting all of their makes.

The coach can utilize a timer or the first team to certain number of makes to determine the winner of the drill.

The losing team then performs a conditioning or strength drill.

Proper form should be used and is the coaching emphasis while running this drill. At the youth level, players may try to go as fast as they can and lose focus on using a proper shooting form. Focusing on having players use a proper from will assist them with translating a proper form into a game situation. 

Dribble Relay:

Split the team into two equal sized teams and have them compete in a dribble relay race. Players should be dribbling as fast as they can. Mistakes should be expected but with time you will see an improvement in their ball handling skills. 

Hustle Drill:

This is a good drill to end practice with!

Have the entire team line up on the baseline and one player will go at a time. The coach rolls the ball out and the player must sprint to get the ball before it goes out of bounds on the other baseline. They should dive for the ball if needed.

Once they get the ball, they speed dribble back to the baseline they started at and make a layup. (Have teammates cheer for each other and promote togetherness)

What Are The Goals of Youth Basketball?

Youth basketball can present a lot of different challenges that coaches must learn to navigate. Coaches are often looked at as heroes and role models that people reflect back on their lessons learned long into their adulthood so it is important for a coach to determine their values and goals when deciding to take on the role of a coach in a youth basketball program. 

The first and most important goal of youth basketball is providing a fun experience for kids! Players should be having fun while practicing and competing with one another. An emphasis on having fun will play a major factor in a players decision of whether or not they choose to proceed to the next level. 

The next goal of youth basketball is developing the skills and fundamentals of the players. Winning at the youth basketball level should not take precedence over the development of skills and fundamentals. 

Parents and coaches need to be able to see the bigger picture and think about the progression of skills rather than the win/loss column during the youth years. When a player leaves practice they should leave with a sense of accomplishment and belonging.

Before you have your first practice, you will need to establish a coaching philosophy that reflects your priorities and establishes what you will emphasize as a coach. A coaching philosophy will guide your decision making throughout the season.

Kids pick up on the coaches behavior. It is important to always follow through on your coaching philosophy.

If you are prioritizing sportsmanship, but during the first game you get a technical foul for screaming at a referee. You show your players that sportsmanship isn’t actually what you prioritize, thus losing the ability to emphasize it with effectiveness for the rest of the season. 

During my youth basketball career, my coach always emphasized hustle and playing hard. We knew that if we were not giving it our all of the court during practice and then we would be sitting on the bench. The emphasis of hustle and playing hard allowed my teammates and I to understand what was expected of us at all times. 

As the coach, what you decide to emphasize is completely up to you.

All coaches view the game in a different way and not all coaching philosophies are the same. Whatever is decided needs to be reinforced and communicated during practice, drills, games and whenever you are together as a team. After a while, you will see your players hold each other accountable for the values outlined in your coaching philosophy. 

A coach’s philosophy doesn’t always have to be all about basketball. For example, one of my coaching philosophy values is to “never turn one mistake into multiple mistakes”.

This value has just as much meaning on the court as it does off. By instilling this value on the court, players will begin to translate these lessons to their lives off the court. 

“There are five fundamental qualities that make every team great: communication, trust, collective responsibility, caring and pride. I like to think of each as a separate finger on the fist. Any one individually is important. But all of them together are unbeatable.”

Coach K – Mike Krzyzewski

Keep Reading:

• Do You Need a Degree to Coach High School Basketball?
• How Many Players Should Be On A Youth Basketball Team?
• What is the Best Sports Video Editing Software & Apps?

In Summary: How to Structure a Youth Basketball Practice?

When structuring practice, coaches should choose drills that make practice fun! Remember, the main goal of youth basketball is not winning but to develop fundamentally sound players. 

Cheers,

Daniel

How to create a children's training plan

Many times, visiting the training of children's teams in Ukraine and Portugal, I have seen and still see that most coaches do not have a pre-prepared training plan in their pocket. For some trainers, exercises last 20-25 minutes each. The coach thinks that this is how he achieves the successful completion of this exercise, not realizing that the players get bored doing the same action for a long time, and they lose interest and concentration. It was very rare that I saw a coach reach into his pocket and, having taken out a training plan, look at what was next in his training and what time was allocated for the next exercise. And it is very important whether this exercise is suitable for the age and technical preparedness of your players.
On this occasion, I would like to offer you an article by American basketball blogger Coach Mac - How to Create a Youth Basketball Practice Plan and a statement by leading coaches.

"Players win games. Coaches win practice." Practice is the time when coaches have the greatest opportunity to influence a player's basketball skills... However, I've attended practices so irrationally run that half of the coaching session is just trying to figure out which drill to do next.
All coaches should spend most of their time encouraging and providing feedback to your players. How can a coach fix this and make training more effective? We create a basketball practice plan.

Here are just a few quotes from great coaches that highlight the importance of having a plan to follow in a workout

"I always prepare my plan the night before a workout and then make adjustments a few hours before the workout starts" - Bobby Knight . "I spend almost as much time planning a workout as I do the workout itself. Everything is planned for every day" - John Wooden. Knowing how important it is to have a plan for every workout, let me show you the structure you should use to plan every workout.

Workout structure
We break down a typical workout into 5 sections ...
1. Dynamic warm-up / body movements
2. Mastery work
3. Team strategies
4. Small group games / games
5. Cool down
First, let's look at each section of the structure in more detail, and then later on, consider how much time you should spend on each of the sections.

Dynamic warm-up / body movements

Unfortunately, many of the children's basketball coaches are quickly released from this section. They have their team drills done in 2 minutes of dynamic warm up and immediately move on to other sections of the workout. When I watch children's games, it becomes obvious that the best players have fantastic balance, coordination and speed and change directions quickly accordingly. And there are those players who are struggling, trying, but who have not yet learned to control their body properly. It's extremely important that we help players build a sports base early on. With this foundation, it becomes much easier to learn new basketball skills as they progress. This workout section will help your players much more than their basketball skills. This will help them avoid injury and help in their movements in life. Here are some examples of body movements and coordination moves to include in your dynamic warm up.
- Jogging
- Sprinting
- Back Pedaling
- Side Stepping
- Changing Direction
- Changing Pace
- Jumping
- Landing
- Lunging
- High Knee Running
For more information on the best body movement exercises you must use Alan Stein's YouTube channel.

Skill work
Individual technique work should take up most of the training time at the level of the children's basketball team. Training should be fun and interesting, and at the same time improve the skills of your players. This includes drills that teach players how to properly perform skill skill moves, along with drills that help them learn when and how to use that skill. Drills that allow the player to learn when and how to use this skill are generally skipped.

As for throws, there's a little quote from Jeff Van Gundy ... Shooting hit percentage depends as much on the player's decision making as it does on his throwing technique - Jeff Van Gundy

This rule applies to all skills, not just throws. We need to put players in positions that require them to make decisions and learn from experience.
Here's a simple example to explain my point of view on the drill... Many trainers will practice the V-snatch to open up on the perimeter. They will show the players how to sprint, footwork to cover their defender and then rush in to get the ball. They will even show their players how to grab the ball and use 1- or 2-hit dribbles to complete a jump shot or double step shot. But when a player gets into a real game, and although he knows his rushing technique and footwork pretty well, he can't open up and get the ball. Why? Because they haven't learned when and how to use movement in competition. They didn't have enough experience with a defender to know when and how to rush behind the back and get the ball, etc. The bottom line is that we should include drills that teach the players' individual technique, and definitely drills that will allow them to gain experience on when and how to use it competitively. I recommend trying and splitting these two types of drills 50/50. Dribbling is an example: 5 minutes of steady ball handling and then a 1 on 1 game of hard tackling. Throws - example: 5 minutes of throwing technique and then 1 on 1 with a partner entering a defensive position where the thrower should decide whether to shoot or pass. Passing - example: 5 minutes of passing technique and then 10 minutes of 5 vs 4 play, so the attacking team has the advantage and will always have one player open. When I flip through games in small squads at the end of a workout, I still use them in this section to improve individual decision making skills. "Perform exercises that make your players think" - Bobby Knight.

TIP: At the youth basketball level, exercises should be no longer than 10 minutes. Players become uninterested in completing after this time. Keep the exercises short and fun!
Team strategy. Let me start by saying that "team strategy" is by far the least important part of kids' basketball training, and in my opinion not essential for players under the age of 10.

Training section *Team strategy* includes:

- Attack.

- Protection.

- Game schemes for attacking.

- Special situations.

If you decide to use this section of the training session with your team, please allow only a small amount of time for it. I see way too many coaches stealing practice time from skill development and spending half the practice helping players remember where they need to be for multiple play formations. Remember, we want to teach our players how to play basketball, not give them a couple of spots on the floor where they have to work every time they have the ball. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind teaching team strategy to players. - I include it in my basketball training. - I'm opposed to wasting half of your precious training time on this.

Team Wrestling and Small Team Games

These two sections are very important for every workout. What's the point of your players learning how to crossover with great technique if they don't understand when and how to use it in the game? The technical side of the performance is important, but it is also very important that allows children to use this technique in the game. This doesn't mean letting them loose in a 5-on-5 game in every practice though (even if this is indeed the case). One-sided games with a small composition include games 1v1, 2v2, 3v3, etc.

There are many benefits to using mini-games for your players including:

- Touching the ball more times.

- More space for movement training.

- More opportunities to hit the ball in the basket.

- And much more.

All of these benefits help players develop faster and have more fun! So if you have more than one hoop and enough balls, use them and play in small formations using all the baskets in your court. Another thing I like to do in 5v5 and small team games is to apply different rules to work on different skills. For example, one of my favorite rules is "no dribbling". It forces the kids to read the game and make tugs to open up. Without this rule, you will find a common youth habit of a player dribbling with 5 or 6 head down dribbles before throwing a wild hook into the basket while 3 of his teammates are standing wide open.

Cool Down

Cool Down - This part of your training should consist of a few minutes of slow jogging and walking up and down the gym, followed by a few minutes of static stretching. This allows the body to lower its temperature, and static stretching aids in flushing out waste products (lactic acid), among other things. I find stretching part of the cooldown important for communicating with the players. We could talk about the upcoming game/tournament or how we feel about our practice.

Structure of the Workout Plan

Now that you understand each section of the workout, let's talk about how much time during the workout should be dedicated to each section. Below is how I distribute minutes depending on the duration of the workout.

60 minutes

Dynamic Warm-up / Body Movement - 10 minutes
Skill Work - 25 minutes
Team Strategy - 10 minutes
Team Wrestling / SSG Small Squads - 10 minutes
Cool Down - 5 minutes

90 minutes

Dynamic Warm Up / Body Movement - 15 minutes
Skill Work - 45 minutes
Team Strategy - 10 minutes
SSG Team Wrestling and Small Squads - 15 minutes, Cool Down - 5 minutes

120 minutes

Dynamic Warm-up / Body Movement - 20 minutes
Skill Work - 60 minutes
Team Strategy - 15 minutes
SSG Team Wrestling and Small Squads - 20 minutes
Cooldown - 5 minutes
Using this structure, I believe that it combines the teaching of individual technical skills with the practical application of these skills.

A Final Word on the Workout Plan
The biggest thing I want you to take away from this article is that you need a workout plan always and for every workout.
By using your training more effectively, your players will learn to play technically and effectively faster and you will look much better as a coach.
I want to hear from you. What do you think is the biggest benefit of planning and writing a kids basketball practice plan?
V. Melnychuk translated 12/07/2016.

How Youth League players got into basketball and who they look like

Stories of young talents.

Konstantin Bakaenko (Zenit-2)

How did you get into basketball : “My father was a professional basketball player and I went to the court with him since childhood. At the age of 8, I started playing football, went to the section for two years, and then I realized that it was impossible to break through to a high level in my small town of Bratsk in the Irkutsk region. That's how I got into basketball. Bogdanov Alexander Mikhailovich became my first coach, he was also my father's mentor. It was this person who saw in me not only growth, but also potential. "

Idol : "There are a lot of good players in the National Basketball Association, but Russell Westbrook is my favorite."

Dmitry Khaldeev (Samara-2)

How I ended up in basketball : “My mother brought me to basketball. She knew my first coach and suggested that I go to basketball. I attended several trainings and I liked it. That's how I got into basketball."

Idol : “I don't have one favorite basketball player. Naturally, as a child, I, like many, liked many celebrities like Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant or LeBron James, but I never singled out any of them. In the game plan, I try not to be equal to someone specific, but I try to create my own style of play. Of course, I watch the players who play in my position and take various techniques and movements from them, but for the most part I rely on what I do best.

Maxim Dorofeev (Yenisei-2)

How I ended up in basketball : “As a child, I had a friend with whom we lived in the same house, went to the same kindergarten, and then one class at school. He was tall enough for his age, a head taller than me, and his parents enrolled him in basketball. And since we were inseparable, I went to basketball with him. I liked the training so much that I quit judo and began to devote all my free time to basketball.”

Idol : “There used to be a show that showed recaps of all the matches of the game day, then I admired the game of Steve Nash. I was very inspired by the way he gives assists, scores points and leads the team. In honor of him, I took the number 13, which I still wear on my game jersey.

Gleb Suvorov (Khimki-2)

basketball from the city of Kemerovo. One day I came to the gym just to look at their training and I liked it so much that I didn’t miss any more of their training in the gym, I just sat and watched, and when the gym was free, I just tortured my mother to go with me to throw. She is my own basketball player and she taught me the basics: two steps, a shot from under the basket, a little dribbling. For which I am grateful to her. Upon arrival home, the coach came to the school and began to recruit a team, so I went to basketball after classes, and after one year I was taken to the strongest team in the city and then I already played for them. The team was really 97 years of birth, but I had something to strive for. »