I coach a youth basketball team of 4th and 5th graders. We play on a 10ft rim and shoot from the regular foul line.
Surprisingly, all my kids can shoot it and hit the rim from the foul line.
What is a reasonable FT% to expect from kids at this age?

I'm not really sure. If I were to guess, anything above 40% is probably pretty good at this age.

Personally shooting percentage doesn't matter to me because I'm more concerned with the "process" with young kids and not worried about the results yet. Focusing too much on the results before that are ready can be detrimental. Plus few kids that age are strong enough to shoot free throws with good shooting technique. And they end up with bad habits that stick. When work on shooting with young kids it's away from the basket and focused just on the process.

Footwork, dribbling, passing, catching, and coordination are more appropriate fundamentals for this age in my opinion.

If you want to use stats, I suggest the following stats for young kids...
- rebounding
- number of successful passes
- turnovers (for those that are ready)
- hustle stats like first to the ball and diving on the floor

Sorry I didn't really answer your question. I currently coach my son in 3rd grade and my daughter in 5th grade. Free throw shooting percentage isn''t something I've thought about once with my kids or their teams. So I thought I'd share my opinion on why that is.

With that said, I pay very close attention to free throw shooting percentage with my high school players. That is something I expect them to do well!!! And it's a key stat that we look for every game.

So, should our team goal just be make more foul shots than we did in our last practice?

The danger with that age group, and one that you want to avoid in all things, is to become results oriented instead of process oriented.

How is their form? What do their shots look like? Can they self assess their misses?

A realistic goal for that age group shouldn't be set in terms of makes or misses.

How about instead:

We will shoot with proper form on all free throw attempts.

That is something that is measurable, and something that the coach and other players can hold each other accountable on that will result in improvement throughout the season and benefit them as they reach higher levels of play.

I agree with what Brian says. However I would not shoot free throws at all. Free throws with a 10 ft hoop and a 28.5 ball are too hard for 4th graders and 5th graders to shoot with proper form. This is especially true for the smaller players and the girls.

We shoot ZERO free throws with our 3rd and 5th grade teams. With our 3rd graders we shoot away from the basket (at the wall) so they develop good technique and they don't worry about results of it going in the basket or not. With our with graders we never shoot 15ft from the basket. Around 12 feet is the farthest we go because 15 ft is too far. The shooting technique gets bad because they are straining to get the ball there and they "chuck" the ball or use other methods to compensate for their lack of size and strength.

So if you want to set goals, set goals for something they can do properly like lay ups, or number of catches, or number of good passes.

The thing with shooting is you could use really good technique and still miss... especially when you are young. So even though you missed, you want to keep using that good technique. The last thing you want is a kid changing his good technique because he missed. If you set goals, they start becoming "result oriented" instead of "process oriented". With shooting it's important to focus on the "process" with young kids.

Hopefully that makes sense.

Agree with Jeff.

Thanks guys.

We play knockout at many practices. It is an easy game for the kids to pick up, puts them under some pressure but lightens the mood as they perceive no drill component. This is good practice for free throw shooting, rebounding and layups. We don't play for more than 4 or 5 minutes, but I get two baskets going and if you get knocked out you have to switch to the other basket.

Good luck.

Coach: I must agree with Jeff, its the process and technique rather than the results. When I coached pro, we never stood on the line and just shot free throws, everything we tried to do was to simulate game conditions. With free throws, i would teach the technique, i.e. develop a habit, body square to the target, use your legs for strength and distance, and all the other shooting methods that go with it. Then during practice, we would run a tough drill then immediately following, we would shoot two free throws. Run another drill and shoot two more..players must learn to shoot when tired, Standing on the free throw line and shooting 20 30 free throws at a time seems unproductive. What I realized, is we would shoot .30 to 50 free throws throughout the course of the practice. I am now retired and coaching very young children and although we do practice free throws, I dont place as much importance on them as the other fundamentals. As far as percentages for that age group, I really dont know, I just love the surprise on their faces when they make one. Take care Merry Christmas from China Coach Mac