My 11-year old boy has decent dribble skills and he has high percentage shots on layups from both left and right during practice.
My goal is to develop him to be a well rounded basketball player so he can enjoy basketball and play well in his adult time. College basketball is not something I dream of. But I hope for him to make to middle school team (he is 5th and our ISD starts basketball team at 7th).
In addition to YMCA team games/practice, I him do the following when we go tot he gym (usually for 1 hour/week).

do you guys have anything to add? Or do you think any of the below may do harm at this age?

shooting
Close range form shooting
Line shooting (line up right foot on a gym line and shoot to make sure the ball drops on the same line)
Mid-range jump shot
Shooting at right elbow
Run, catch and jump shot
Free throw

layups
V shape layups (alternate left and right) (10 makes each side)
Jump-stop layups (5 makes each side)
Mikan layup (not implemented yet)

Dribble
Stationary dribble (left, right)
Timed dribble (how fast for 10 runs back and forth in the gym)
Dribble between legs
Spin dribble

Rebounding
throw to the board and catch (emphasize: chinit for defensive rebound, score for offensive rebound)

Catching
Bounce the ball off the wall, pivot and catch (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKw-x1yY6fk)

play
pickup game (1 on 1 or 2 on 2) if there are other kids

Two things I would add: two ball dribbling drills and two ball mikan drills. Always work on weak hand in every practice, both dribbling and shooting. Pick up games are a great way to get more exposure to aggressive and physical play.

I noticed you mentioned that you had goals and dreams of him being a well rounded player along with making his middle school team. Be careful as you go along this path to make sure his goals and dreams match yours.

I agree Rob.... talk to him about HIS goals, what he wants to do... how far he wants to go in basketball or where he wants it to take him.

I think your plan is a good one.... as long as he wants to do this, otherwise he will end up disliking the game as it will become work for him... make sure that at the end of every workout, you do something FUN with him.... like the games you mentioned.

Thanks Coaches Rob and Sar,
I will add the two ball drills.
Regarding comments on interest, he is now pretty interested as he gets better and starts to beat people with good skills. He wants to work on skills and fix his weak areas.

Michael -

Sounds like your son has a healthy outlook. Things start to heat up around middle school, expectations can get a little out of whack and kids can feel pressured more than normal.

I remember in 6th grade when my son entered the "competitive realm" of basketball. I made him cry for the first time in the 8 years he'd played sports. I didn't think he was hustling enough, so on the car ride home, I let him know in no uncertain terms that "he was in the competitive world now and needed to act like it" The reality was, he was hustling as hard as he could for his skill level. Not a cool scene. Slept on the couch that night.

I told my story to a fellow coach who gave me the best advice I've ever received on dealing with a son/daughter after a game. Tell them, "It was fun watching you play", then shut up. No advice. No critiques. No tips or observations. Talk about something else and move on. Three days later when they've forgotten about the game is when you tweak a few things at the local court.

The temptation to offer advice was extremely high for me as a coach/dad. You may never experience that temptation; stuff it away somewhere in case you need it.

I always tell fathers of sons that play... AFTER the game, go out for a pizza, a pop, ice cream, anything to take their mind off the game. IF THEY want to bring the game up, so be it, otherwise, forget about it. The fastest way to turn your kids off is to rag them after a game, especially if they lost or didn't have a good game.

Keep everything positive.

I was reading youth sports leagure article on this site. it was very insightful to know that making cut to a league doesn't gaurantee skill level. I had thought kids who made to the leagues were all good.

that also got me into thinking how the youth sports at ymca here are run. due to time constraint (only one practice/week), coaches (all volunteers) can only affort to focus on plays and scrimmage during practice. no time for individual skills. you often see kids who are very aggressive and can penentrate but can't deliver the shots from their weak side (or even strong side).

one time during pratice, coach had everyone do left-hand layups. My son was the only one who could do it from left side. four months ago, he was afraid to even touch the ball with his left hand and kept saying something was wrong with his left hand. now he feels pretty good for being able to do it.

so I was just working out the plan with him on individual skills (hence the drill list posted here) in addition to team pracitce and game.

It does sound like your son has a good attitude towards this. I was like that when I was younger, except my parents weren't working with me. I came up with the lost of goals on my own and worked tirelessly in the driveway. I had small college offers my Junior year, but a blown knee the summer before my senior year ended all that. So while you say college isn't on your mind, I would at least store it in the very back. Great way to pay for an education, even if it's "small time college ball."

I get frustrated when I see coaches working endlessly on plays at this age instead of focusing on fundamentals. At this age the HOW is so much more important than the WHAT. I coach 5/6 grade boys and 4th grade girls. We do not have one set play. The boys team is 4-0-1 and the girls are 4-5 (lost to two 5th grade teams). After last night's boys game my wife overheard an opposing parent asking one of our parents if we even run any set plays. Like it's a bad thing that we don't. But we have kids passing and cutting, back-cutting a denial, setting ball screens. All without a single play call all season.

Keep working on the fundamentals and keep increasing the amount of "tools" in their "toolbox". Then any coach worth his salt will be able to build a dreamhouse with all those tools.

Last thing, try to mix in something fun and goofy in between all the serious/hard drills and work. I've found this keeps kids wanting to work hard.

We did this at the end of every practice.... every kid loves to compete a little. We ran " SITUATIONS " at the end of every practice.... sessions that would run from 15 seconds to one minute. You make up the situation. Down 2 with the ball, 1 or NO timeouts.... shooting the bonus etc. Stuff like that.

This was a varsity team so IF we handled something poorly the game before, we ran that situation (s) in the next few practices. That doesn't mean it will fix it completely but at least they knew how to handle it.

Forgot about that little gem. Players love that one and it provides practical teaching opportunities. You can't cover every conceivable "what if", but there are a few common situations. Have a few with someone at the FT line, X amount of seconds left, down by X. Great suggestion by Ken.