Currently I am working with a group of girls that are in 3rd - 5th grade. I notice when doing practices with them that the younger girls have a harder time coming together than the older girls. Could be maturity, but beside that I was wanting to see if you had any good drills for that age group. Also I am new to this so I myself am learning the rules... I notice from watching that when they are in zone they just stand there and don't attack, not sure why. Also should I ever do woman on woman instead of zone and when? Dribbling seems to be the big issue about 4-5 steals had happened because of dribbling. Passing at the right time, over head or bounce pass and how do I run a play to get them open around defense? Next is bringing the ball down on offense for them to get open and they cant really do a three right now anything good to practice for that? That\'s it for now thanks for any response you have and just link me on your site and I will look at the information if you send any thanks and have a blessed day.

Domenik: You are in a bit of a pickle arnt you? Lets see, you have 3rd to 5th graders, I'm not sure of the age ranges but i would guess 8 - 10 year olds. Please dont even mention zone to me at that age my young coaching friend. You must begin to teach Man to man pricniples and if you check to the left of this posting, you will find a ton of drills to aid you in this portiion of the game. Dont get too hung up on plays at this age, this is the time for kids to begin enjoying basktball if you make it boring, they will eventually leave. There are so many fun things on this site for kids to be doing and LEARNING at the same time. I have a good friend on here and I know what Coach Sars would be saying is Have FUN, this is not the time to get an ulcer. Let me make a suggestion, Joe and Jeff have a great DVD on here called coaching youth Basketball with Bob Bigelow. I have it I use it when I do clinics with young kids I fiind it highly effective and I coach Professional basketball. If we can be of further assistance please do not hesitate to ask. Yours in basketball Coach Mac.

Dom .......

Listen to Coach Mac here.... NO zones and forget the plays..... teach fundamentals like he says... this is great advice... and let them have FUN. They are young kids and they should be having fun playing this GAME.... Keep it light and keep it simple. Oh yea, and God Bless you for coaching kids of this age group.... its a tough job.... so you need to have fun with them also while you are coaching them.

GOOD LUCK!

Coach Sars: you are simply too kind to me your words make me blush. How was Hawaii, did you meet the big Kohuna? Did you surf Big Sir? and did you dance in a grass skirt?
Coach Mac is Back

Your replies are usually SPOT ON! I doubt that anyone makes you blush! HAWAII was GREAT! 5 days each on Oahu & Maui, whats not to like? Met a coach, Chic Hess and his wife.... nice people. NO surfing or grass skirts for me thank you. Went to Pearl Harbor, went around the city - Diamond Head - Punch Bowl - King Kamahama (?) the Zoo, Catamaron Ride all on Oahu.... Maui was deep sea fishing, Sugar Cane train, Helicopter ride over Maui and Molakai...... and capped off by a Luau. Long walk thru Lahania - hotter than hades there.... no breeze from the ocean....

All and all, its PARADISE.... Whar Can I say....my favorite place to vacation. How are you doing? Where have you been? Bring us up to date my friend.

Coach,

That is such a difficult age range. The 5th gradrers already have 2 years experience with basketball fundamentals. The 3rd graders are just learning to dribble.
As the above coaches said, Teach fundamentals of basketball. Go over rules of the game, violations, fouls, etc. Explain areas of the court, and other basketball terminology.
Because of their age and their short attention span, keep lectures and drills short, 5-8 minutes...then move on.
Keep all drills fun and competitive!! Make basketball as much fun as possible at these ages.
Start with basics of passing, shooting, dribbling, defense and rebounding,
Here are a few fun youth drills/games that I have used with great success, especially with girls:

Drill: Dribble X
Type: Stationary Dribble Control
Level: Beginner

Use masking or medical tape to mark an X on the gym floor on the side of each kid.
Each girl must dribble with control on the X. Ensure they control dribble on the side of their body. At this stage, the player is allowed to look down at ball to maintain accuracy of hitting X and establishing “feel” for ball. Go about 30 seconds switching to weak hand, then back to strong hand. Do a number of sets with each hand.

Drill: Dribble Alphabet
Type: Stationary Dribble Control
Level: To be used after above drill

Have players bend over and start dribbling low in front of them. Coach will call out letters of the alphabet. Players will dribble the shape of the letter in front of them. Players should use a very low controlled dribble of maybe 6 to 10 inches above the floor. Switch to weak hand and repeat. Option: Dribble Shapes- have players dribble triangle, square,
circle, rectangle shapes…..throw in a trapezoid just to see their reaction!

Drill: Blind Dribble
Type: Stationary Dribble Control
Level: Intermediate

Have girls line up each with ball and dribble on the side of their body. Maintain control
while looking forward. Now have them close their eyes for 20 seconds while dribbling.
Open eyes…close…open…. Now switch to weak hand…repeat. Now have them bend knees and get down low with a power dribble….close eyes for 20 seconds….open….repeat.


Drill: Red Light, Yellow Light, Green Light
Type: Motion Dribble Control
Level: Beginner

Have all girls start at baseline each with a basketball. Coach is at other baseline. On whistle coach calls out Green Light, or Yellow Light, or Red Light randomly. Green Light means player will jog while dribbling ball toward other baseline. Yellow Light- they must walk while dribbling…Red Light means they must stop but still maintain dribble. Repeat with weak hand.

Drill: Chair Slap Weave Drill
Type: Motion Dribble Control
Level: Intermediate

Grab six folding chairs and line them up as follows. Standing at the baseline looking toward key: set first chair
at left low block with seat facing toward you, 2nd chair at middle of post with seat facing you and 3rd chair at left elbow with seat facing you. The next 3 chairs will go opposite side of lane with seats facing OUT toward half court. Player with ball starts at baseline at left side. Player will dribble and weave through chairs, as player passes a chair they must slap the chair seat with free hand. During weave, players must change hands which means they are dribbling and slapping with different hands as they go from seat to seat. Start slow, have girls walk thru this drill. As the girls get better have them move faster, maintain ball control, stay low and keep head up. Allow a number of practices before going faster.

Drill: Clothes Pin Tag
Type: Motion Dribble Control
Level: Intermediate/Advanced

Go to the Dollar Store and buy some clothes pins. Seal off an area of the gym floor with cones, for 10 girls….seal off maybe a quarter
court area. All girls get a basketball. All girls get 2 clothes pins clipped onto the back of their shirts. All girls must stay within the cones. All girls must maintain dribble. Object
of the game is to grab clothes pins off your teammates back but protecting your own back
while dribbling a basketball. Players that get both clothes pins taken off their back must sit and watch the fun. As you get down to 6 players left, move cones closer. As you get down to 4 girls enclose area more. With final 2 girls enclose to a small area of about 6 X 6 feet. If final 2 girls are just taking too long to grab clothes pin, end it as a draw.


Drill: Tennis Ball Dribble Catch
Type: Stationary Ball Control
Level: Advanced
Equipment: 5 tennis balls

Use this drill at least half way thru the season as they are a little more experienced with ball control and keeping head up. Pair up all players. Every player has a basketball. Pairs are facing their partner about 4 feet apart. One partner in each pair has a tennis ball. On whistle they start dribbling. On next whistle they start having a catch with tennis ball while maintaining their dribble. Players must toss it underhand, soft and easy so their
partner can catch it. This can be a difficult drill at first but keep reinforcing this drill throughout the season. This drill takes mind and eyes off of dribbling and puts focus on catching and throwing a tennis ball. As they get proficient have them back up one giant step. By the end of the season downsize to plastic golf balls just to make it a little tougher. Make a contest out of it by seeing which team catches the most in 60 seconds. Try breaking that record next practice. Switch hands so they are dribbling with weak and throwing with strong hand. If you have odd number of players just add one player to a pair and form a triangle.


Drill: Musical Dribbling Chairs
Type: Motion Dribble Control
Level: Advanced
Equipment: Folding Chairs, CD Player

Use this fun drill mid-season when they are experienced with movement and ball control. Use folding chairs and form a circle with seats facing out. Each girl has a basketball. Set up 9 chairs for 10 players. Have one coach turn his back to the game and start music on CD player. As music plays girls must dribble around chairs. Other coach is watching game. The first coach will randomly stop music and each girl must find a chair to sit down WHILE STILL maintaining their dribble as they are sitting. They can not stop dribbling even if they are sitting. The player who is left sits out and one chair is removed.
Rearrange chairs the best you can as you get down to 3 or 4 chairs……should end with 1 chair and 2 girls battling for it.

Drill: Spoon and Golf Ball Dribble Control
Type: Motion Dribble Control
Level: Advanced


Use this drill near end of season. It can be quite challenging for some girls. It is hysterical to watch!!! Every girl has a basketball, a plastic spoon and a plastic golf ball. Line up girls on baseline. They are dribbling with strong hand while holding a spoon with their weak hand and balancing the golf ball at the end of the spoon. Start slow…have them slowly walk to half court then back while maintaining ball control and keeping ball on spoon. Again, this drill takes the focus off of dribbling and puts it on something else.
Switch ball to weak hand and repeat. As season progresses have them speed it up. Have dribble races. When they get really good at this, split team into 2 teams, everyone with a
ball and a spoon but just one golf ball per team. First player in each line must race downcourt dribbling and balancing ball on spoon. When they return they must transfer ball from their spoon to their teammate’s spoon waiting in line. The girls go crazy with this race!! They MUST keep dribbling even during transferring ball from one spoon to the next. Some players may have problems transferring so if they drop it 3 times in a row then they can use their fingers to transfer ball.

Drill: Ball on a Rope Rebound
Type: Rebound
Level: Beginner
Equipment: Ball on a Rope

This teaches young players to jump up and meet ball in mid-air reaching with both hands. It helps with their timing when they actually have to jump up for a rebound during a game. You can either buy a ball sling on a rope or you can improvise like I did, basically I took an old basketball and duct-taped a 10 foot rope to it. To begin the drill, throw ball over and into rim while holding rope outside of rim. Pull on rope and hold ball at an appropriate height for a 3rd and 4th grader to rebound. Have player turn their back facing half-court so they can not see ball, on whistle they spin around, find ball, jump up and pull down hard with both hands. When they have possession of the rebound, pull on rope to try to rip ball from their hands. This will teach them to squeeze ball tight after rebound. After doing this drill the girls should be ready for actual practice rebounds where the coach would toss them off the backboard.

Coach A,

Great stuff for young kids..... good job!

Coach A:

Those are simply great drills and seem to be fun, I am giving a clinic next week to a ton of youngsters and I'm so glad you submitted these. thanks Coach Mac