Hi guys, I coach an under 10 boys team and they are playing in a semi final this weekend. They made the grand final last year but unfortunately didn't get the win. What are some good drills to run to get them prepared for a finals game? They already have very good defense but their offense is an area that sometimes needs improvement. Also what is a good warm up drill for them before the game? I have a mixture of ages from 6 to 10 years old and a range of height and skill level. Any tips on what to say to get them fired up will be appreciated as well!

Chris -

Now, this is just me, but with just a little time to work on things, I wouldn't be changing a thing... I WOULD correct any problems I might have. The last thing you would want to do is to confuse them with something new. Tweak something here and there, ok, but you have gotten this far with what you have done, don't take away their confidence. JMO

Look at your offense and ask yourself, what needs improvement... then spend some time on that.You have gotten this far by doing whatever.... so stick with that. They already know that they are playing for the semi final win - I don't think you need a "win one for the gipper" speech. Keep them relaxed and do what you have always done. GOOD LUCK and I would make sure that at this age, THEY HAVE FUN.

Coach Sar is spot on. You want your players relaxed, go with familiar warm-ups to build confidence. I found adding new drills or warm-ups before big games wasn't a smart thing to do. Nothing wrong with tweaking a few things or emphasizing something they really need to focus on (e.g. blocking out every time, good passes) during the game, but I'd keep it simple and only focus on a few major things you want them to do well.

Since you mentioned offense, I'd go with some non dribbling drills in practice. We have one called 5 good passes. It seems to work best with teams of 3. You're playing half court and all the offense has to do is make 5 good passes to their teammates. The defense plays tight and denies the ball. We let them play a bit meaning we're not too worried about a few bumps here and there. With the younger ages, you have to be careful they aren't really hacking on D. Team A is on offense, Team B is on defense, Team C is on sideline. If Team B gets a steal or Team A throws the ball away, they're off the court immediately, Team C comes in on defense and Team B is now on offense. It's basically cutthroat for passing. If a team completes 5 good passes, the other two teams have to do 5 push-ups.

As far as getting them fired up, I'd tend to go with more of a confidence builder quick speech. They know what they're doing, you have confidence in them, you're proud of them and tell them to have fun out there.

Good luck!

Thanks for the tips guys, they won the game on the weekend and are through to the grand final in two weeks time! We got to the grand final last year, but fell just short on the day. Their offence really picked up on the weekend, I was proud to see one of the boys set a screen twice for a drive to the basket which got the bucket to get us in front! I'll keep doing what we have been doing as it seemed to work for us. Love the drills on the site too, especially the fun drills. Great tip on the pre game speech too, they were already fired up so to tell them to go out, have fun and do what they do best just got them more excited! I also got the boys down half an hour before the game to let their nerves calm a bit. I'll let you know how they go in the grand final.

Congratulations.... Now is the time to correct everything that you didn't do well in the last game.

After every game we played, my asst. and I went out for a "pop" and a sandwich.... while they were preparing the food, he and I would write down all the areas that we didn't do well, every situation that we handled poorly. THOSE THINGS went into our next practice plans. We wanted to clean up all those areas.

The situations that we didnt handle well wsnt into our "SITUATIONS" part of practice ( at the end ) the kids loved that, it was a great way to end practice and a great way to teach them how to deal with things when or IF you didn't have a time out left.

You can also look at all the things you did well and ask yourself IF I can tweak them a little bit to make things better, if not, move on.

Again, congratulations and good luck in the BIG game..

Congrats! Time to get out the Tums for the big game. How to keep things relaxed and fun, yet still get ready and compete, it's a tough balancing act at that age. If you can do that, you're cooking. Game-like drills (skills they will use during games) that incorporate a challenge and are still fun for the younger ages can produce big results.

Coach Sar has some excellent points, like the SITUATIONS drills. I'm assuming you only get a few practices before the final game, but the more prepared they are for situations, the more calm they will be on the court. When A happens, they do B kind of thing. Can't cover every possible situation that could arise, so you pick some major areas and plug those bigger holes first.

The pregame speech should be easy this time around. They've made it to the big dance twice now. You don't get the big dance unless you're doing something right.

Good luck and let us know how many bottles of TUMS you go through.

Forgot to tell you how the boys went! We ended up winning the game by one point! We were a bit sloppy at the start of the game but a time out fixed that. One of the boys dribbled the ball to run the clock out for the last 8 seconds which was great as we were passing in from under the other teams basket and had run out of time outs! Thanks again for the tips coaches.

Congrats Chris..... nice to know that all everyones hard work paid off.

Very cool! Now that's a game the kids will remember. Well done.