PRACTICE 4

GOAL: Continuation of teaching techniques for dribbling, passing and shooting.  Also, begin to introduce basic defense and offensive skills

First 5 Minutes

Have each coach and player say his name to the team again. Talk to the players and encourage them to work hard and have fun.  Concentrate on better technique today than the first practice and tell the players what will be done during this practice. Plus go over some new rule each practice, whether it is what a line on the court means or a certain foul, etc.

Next 5 Minutes (Stretching)

Stretch legs for two minutes and stretch arms for two minutes. Stretching prepares the muscles to prevent injury. The last minute should be used to jog around the court once.

Some more stretching examples:
  • Stand straight and extend the right arm behind the body. Grab the right wrist with the left hand and pull back and over toward the left side. Hold for a 10 count. Mimic with the other arm. This will stretch the front of the shoulder.
  • Stand straight and bend the right arm with the elbow touching the back of the head. Grab with the left hand and pull toward the left shoulder. Hold for a 10 count, then mimic with the other arm. This stretches the shoulder joint.
  • Stand straight and extend the arms straight out. Do trunk rotations from left to right. One to two sets of 10 will suffice. This stretches the oblique muscles.
  • Jumping jacks

Next 10 Minutes (Proper Passing Mechanics)

Put the players in two lines, facing each other. Make sure to step into the pass, follow through on each style of passing with your thumbs down and aim for your teammates hand target.  Anyone receiving a pass should have their hands up.  Maintain eye contact between players throwing and catching.  Have each player call out the name of the person they are passing to, so that everyone gets to know everyone's name very quickly.  Increase speed as players become more proficient.  Practice chest passes and bounce passes.  Remember, same form for both passes and the ball should bounce about 2/3 the way between players.

Coaching Points
  • Be sure they follow through correctly.
  • Eye contact and hitting the target are always important.
  • Incorporate simple game drills so the kids can see how they rate against their peers.  Simple relay type or timed games as they become more familiar with passing.

Next 15 Minutes (Dribbling)

Now we move onto ball handling.  Start slowly and keep them stationary to start with.  You can begin to move them with the ball but tell them to keep it low! Make sure the players use the pads of their fingers and look up as they dribble. Use both hands and alternate.  Then start them moving.  Have them dribble around cones, chairs, etc., and teach them how to change hands or crossover when they reach each obstacle.

Coaching Points
  • Controlled setting to learn basics of dribbling.  Make sure the players use the pads of their fingers and look up as they dribble. Use both hands and alternate.
  • As you are talking to players, have them look up at you as they do the drill so they learn how to dribble without looking at the ball.
  • Incorporate simple game drills so the kids can see how they rate against their peers.  Simple relay type or timed games as they become more familiar with passing.

Next 3 Minutes (Water Break)

Give the players time to break for water. It is extremely important for the players to remain hydrated at all times.  The players must be told your expectations for returning, so make sure you tell them when time is up, hustle back to where you want them next.

Don't be afraid to tell them the pros and cons of water vs. energy drinks (Gatorade)

Next 20 Minutes (Full Court Passing and Dribbling Drills)

Now we take all the basic skills of passing, dribbling and shooting and incorporate them into a series of full court drills so that you can see how they handle everything on the move.  Give the series of drills a name so they can do these and any drill on a moments notice without much coaching to get it started.  Basically pair them up and go through a series of drills in your assigned full court area that incorporate:
  • Chest passing back and forth around the inside of the perimeter of the court.  The outside player keeps his back to sidelines and stays inbounds and switch positions when they go though once.
  • Outlet pass and speed dribble for a full court lay-up and then switch on the way back.
  • Outlet pass and speed dribble to a jump shot from the foul line and switch on the way back.
  • Outlet pass and speed dribble to the foul line and jump stop and bounce pass to the passer for a lay-up and switch on the way back.

Coaching Points
  • Remind players of eye contact for passes.
  • Make sure they speed dribble with their head up.
  • Jump stops on the foul line.
  • Maintain form on all shots.

Next 3 Minutes (Water Break)

Give the players time to break for water. It is extremely important for the players to remain hydrated at all times.  The players must be told your expectations for returning, so make sure you tell them when time is up, hustle back to where you want them next.

Don't be afraid to tell them the pros and cons of water vs. energy drinks (Gatorade)

Next 15 Minutes (How to get open without the ball)

Good drill to do after a high intensity drill.  Begin to teach the theory of V-cutting to get open.  Have one player on offense and one on defense.  Show the offensive players how to jab step and set up the defense.  Take the defense away from the direction you want to go.  Teach how changing pace of slow vs. fast can help you get open.  Not every player is quick or fast, but show them the difference between how they can use changes of speeds to get open.  Only reward the offense player with the ball when they are open and have them go one on one with defense until someone scores.

Coaching Points
  • The closer they get to the defender, the easier it can be to get open.
  • Proper footwork is more important then speed.
  • Make sure they don't push off the defender and explain fouls in this situation.

Next 15 Minutes (Basic Defense)

Finish up practice with something you want to build on each week.  The first part of defense is teaching them how to guard the ball when their player does and doesn't have the ball.  Teach them proper footwork and stance, forcing the player to their weak hand and giving proper distance between the ball handler and the defender.  As the player moves, defender slides their feet and tries to stay half a step ahead of them and tires to turn them back to the other direction.

Coaching Points
  • Sit in his stance, one hand up, one hand on the ball, and within one arms length of the ball.
  • Tell the offensive player to go slow.  Remind them to work on their skills as well.
  • As the players get more confident, speed up the tempo of the drill.

End of Practice

End practice with line drills of some sort and having them to make foul shots when they are tired. While the players are drinking water, huddle them together for a talk. Take this time to recognize the work that was done well, but also discuss what needs improvement.  Always finish the talk in an upbeat, positive way. Tell the players the next practice time and follow up with an email to their parents.

Coaching Point
  • It is always fun to have the players huddle and place their hands together and yell, '1, 2, 3 (with the team name)!' Do this at the end of practices and before a game.