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Youth Basketball Drills

From the Coach’s Clipboard Basketball Playbook
"Helping coaches coach better..."

Drills are drills, regardless of the age of the player, and many of the same drills are used not only by young beginners, but also advanced level players, and even professional players. I have selected a number of drills that youth coaches will find helpful. There are many more drills listedhere: Coach's Clipboard Drills index.

When teaching young players, spend time every practice doing ball-handling and dribbling drills... we usually do these in the first 15 minutes of practice and then move on. Teach how to shoot correctly and how to execute lay-ups. Of course, passing drills are important, and I like drills that have players pass and catch while on the move.

Footwork... the jump-stop, pivoting, and the triple threat position, etc are very important. Teach 1-on-1 dribble moves and have the kids go at each other 1-on-1... the offensive player is working on his/her offensive moves while the defensive player is learning good on-ball man-to-man defense, getting the stop and then boxing-out and rebounding. There are many individual and team skills that need developing and we have many drills to select from.

Make many of your drills competitive with losers doing push-ups. Don't dwell on one drill, even if the kids are not "getting it"... move on to something else after about 10 minutes per drill. They will get better when you come back to the drill at your next practice. See Planning Practices for more pointers on how to use drills.

Here are many favorite drills applicable to youth teams.

Partner Drills
Ball-handling and dribbling drills
Passing drills
Shooting drills
Offensive drills
Full-court transition offense-defense drills
Defensive drills
Rebounding drills.

Basketball Drills - Ball-Handling and Dribbling Drills

All players should do these drills.
Ball-Handling... stationary ball-handling drills, especially important for young players (5 min).

Stationary Dribbling Drills... basic one and two-ball drills (5-10 min), especially important for young players.

2-Ball Dribbling Drills... Coach Krzyzewski's Duke teams did 2-ball dribbling drills nearly every practice.

Tight Chairs Dribbling Drills... dribble-moves, get lots of reps attacking the chairs (5-10 min), a favorite of ours.

Full-Court Dribble Moves Drill... dribble-moves, attacking the chair on the wing (10 min), a favorite of ours.

Sideline Dribbling Drills... teach dribble moves and get conditioning at the same time (10 min).

Dribble Tag Drill... fun drill for young players.

Video Clips of Ball-Handling and Dribbling Drills... See all the video clips of ball-handling and dribbling drills.

Basketball Drills - Passing Drills

Fast-Break Passing Drills... full-court passing on the move, good conditioning, a favorite of ours (10 min).

Weave Passing Drills... the full-court 3-man weave, full-court weave with 3-point shot option, full-court 5-man weave, and half-court weave with shooting/close-out (5-10 min).

Basic Half-Court Passing Drills... Rapid fire drills, partner drills, "monkey in the middle", triangle passing drill, drive and dish drill, and find the receiver drill (each 5 min).

Basketball Drills - Shooting Drills

Team Shooting Drills... several good competitive team shooting drills.

Guard Breakdown Shooting Drills... fifteen (15) breakdown drills for perimeter players.

2-Man Shooting Drills... partner shooting drills, catch and shoot, shot-fake and jump-shot, shot-fake and lay-up, etc.

Lay-up Drills... several good lay-up drills.

Free-Throw Shooting Drills... several free-throw shooting drills.

Basketball Drills - Miscellaneous Offensive Drills

Learning the Jump Stop... footwork, jump-stop drills (5 min).

Footwork Drills

1-on-1 and 2-on-1 Drills... competitive 1-on-1 and 2-on-1 drills (5-10 min).

Guard Breakdown Shooting Drills... fifteen (15) breakdown drills for perimeter players.

Low-Post Breakdown Drills... several low post drills for developing your post players.

Motion Offense Drills... breakdown drills for teaching motion offense (10-15 min).

Breakdown Drills for Attacking the 2-3 Zone Defense... breakdown drills for teaching how to attack the 2-3 zone defense (10-15 min).

Screen, Pick Drills... screening drills, pass and screen-away, pick and roll (5-10 min).

Basketball Drills - Full-Court Transition Offense-Defense Drills

2-on-1 Continuous Transition Drill... transition offense-defense, conditioning, passing on the move, 2-on-1 offense-defense.

5-on-0, 5-Trips Drill... use this drill for teaching the secondary numbered break, or for running plays off the break (5-10-min).

4-on-4 Transition... transitioning from offense to defense, defense to offense (10 min).

4-on-4-on-4 Transition Drill... a favorite full-court 4-man teams drill (10-15 min).

11-Man (and 7-Man) Drills... a popular full-court transition drill (10-15 min).

Pitch and Fire... full-court transition, conditioning drill with speed dribble, pass and lay-up (5-10 min).

Piston Full-Court Drill... full-court conditioning drill, sprint after the speed dribbler and cut and defend (5 min).

More Full-Court Transition Drills

Basketball Drills - Defensive Drills

1-on-1 Drills... half-court and full-court (cut and pressure) drills, defending in the open court (5-10 min).

Close-Outs and Drills... two drills for teaching good defensive close-outs (5-10 min).

Shell Drill... a favorite used for teaching man-to-man principles of deny, helpside, etc (10-min).

Man-to-Man Positioning Drill... teaching man-to-man positioning, on-ball, deny and helpside (5 min).

M2M Defense Breakdown Drills... this has many of the drills that will help you teach team man-to-man defense.

Breakdown Drills for Teaching the 2-3 Zone Defense... breakdown drills for teaching the 2-3 zone defense (10-15 min).

Z-Drill and Lane Slides... teach players defensive footwork and conditioning (5-10 min).

Take the Charge Drill... rotate and take the charge.

Basketball Drills - Rebounding Drills

2-on-2 Drills... competitive 2-on-2 box-out and rebounding drills.

Rebounding Box-Out Drills

War Drill... a variation of Michigan State's team rebounding drill.

Hustle Drills... loose ball, hustle drills.

Gun Shootaway Shooting Drills:

Also see:
Basketball Drills and Drills Tool Selector