First of all, we commend you for stepping up and coaching this season. Coaching youth basketball is challenging, but incredibly rewarding. One of the primary challenges is creating practices that are fun, focused, & fundamental.

With that in mind, here is a sample structure for a basketball practice plan tailored to players aged 7-10. These basketball practice plans would be designed for players in grades 1, 2, 3 & 4.

It may not be exactly what you would do in every practice. For example, on some days, you may spend more time on athletic skill development. You might decide to devote a few extra minutes to that.

Other days, you might play games to teach skills for half the practice (which I highly recommend).

Below is a template of the basic structure of every practice. It is based on a 60-90 minute practice duration.

Additional Resources! We’ve included sample practice plans & blank practice plan templates for your use at the end of the article!

Simple Practice Plan for Grades 1-4: What to Teach and When

• Dynamic Warm Up & Athletic Development Work - 10 to 15 minutes

  This is probably the #1 thing missing from most youth practices. It helps prevent injury, improves performance, & improves athletic ability. 

  What good is a basketball player who is injured or not athletic enough to utilize the basketball skills they have? The better the player moves, the better they perform. Why not spend time on it?

  However, with this age group, be aware of short attention spans. 7-10 year olds cannot retain a lot of technical instruction. Thus, keep it simple and straightforward.

  If you can get your players to arrive 5-10 minutes before you take the court, you can do a hallway warm up before your practice time starts. This allows you to hit the ground running when practice begins.

  Another great idea is to incorporate a ball into your warmup. This is especially helpful when practice time is limited.

• Teaching Skills & Using Fun Drills To Improve Skills - 25 to 30 minutes

  The #1 reason kids quit sports is that it isn’t fun anymore. Youth coaches’ primary focus should be to teach skills & make it an enjoyable experience. This isn’t high school, college, or even pro basketball, so don’t treat it like that.

  Try the skill-fun drill technique. This means that you teach a skill, then follow up with a fun game or competitive drill (such as these 10 fun basketball drills for kids) to reinforce the skill. It helps break up the monotony of practice.

  Using a constraints-led approach is another effective way to teach in a fun and engaging manner. With the constraints-led approach, you continually alter drills to provide an appropriate level of challenge for every player. This keeps all your players engaged and feeling like they can succeed!

  Additionally, our youth basketball drills page features over 100 drills, divided into areas of focus.

• Games To Practice Offense & Defense (Including Plenty of 2v2 & 3v3 Work To Teach Skills) - 20 to 25 minutes

  You’ll notice that we don’t include 5v5 in this list. That’s because we believe 3v3 is the best way to teach the game to these ages. It gives players more touches and provides them with enough space to utilize their skills.

  That said, many of you are coaching in 5v5 leagues. In that case, you should incorporate some 5v5 work. You might spend 10 to 20 minutes of practice on 5v5 if you have enough players.

  You could play 5v5 with no dribbling.

  You could play with weighted scoring systems to incentivize certain behaviors.

  However, don’t make it the majority of your practice. Skill work & decision-making opportunities are more important at this age.

• Special Situations - 5-10 minutes

  This is a time to work on things like out of bounds plays, press breaks, zone offense, and presses.

  These should not be a primary focus, but you will need to devote time to them so players are able to execute in games. 

Sample Basketball Practice Plan For 1st-4th Grade Teams

Dynamic Warm Up & Athletic Work - 10 minutes

• Dribble Tag - you could also alternate days with regular tag

• Races from Different Positions - This is a great way to improve athletic ability & it’s a fun way for kids to work on their first-step quickness. On your command, kids race to a spot (3 point line, free throw line).

  You can alternate between starting positions, such as standing, lying on your stomach, lying on your back, facing the opposite direction, or any other position you can think of.

Teaching Skills & Fun Drills - 20 minutes

• Jump Stop Drill - 5 minutes

• F-A-S-T - 5 minutes

• 1v1, 2v1, and 2v2 Fast Break Drill for Dribbling, Lay Ups, and Passing - 10 minutes (Alternate practice sessions between 1v1, 2v1, and 2v2)

Special Situations - 10 minutes

• Zone Offense

Fun Games To Practice Offense & Defense - 20 minutes

• 3v3 Closeout to Live- 10 minutes

• Fiba 3x3 - 10 minutes

Full Court Scrimmage - 10 minutes

• 25 Point Game

Interactive & Printable Youth Basketball Practice Planning Templates & Samples

Blank Practice Plan	Guided Practice Plan
Sample 2nd Grade Youth Practice	Sample 3rd/4th Grade Practice Plan
Sample 5th/6th Grade Practice	Sample Middle School Practice

Youth Basketball Coaching Resource

Want to Make Youth Practices More
Fun and WIN MORE GAMES

Coach Huber's Youth Coaching System gives you all the tried and true practice plans, drills, skills and concepts you'll ever need. Inside you'll get:

• 64 Interactive Practice Plans for all levels of youth basketball

• Exactly What to Teach - Offense, Zone Offense, Defense, Press Breakers, Out of Bounds

• Age-Apropriate Skill Development - for ages 9-14

• Drill Progressions From Beginner to Advanced

• Step-By-Step Instructions

SEE THE YOUTH COACHING SYSTEM

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