We had a great practice with our 4th grade girls team last night! One of the best practices we’ve ever had. Here’s the practice plan…
Go over core values.
Form shooting with left hand (1 min)
Form shooting with right hand (1 min)
Footwork, lay ups, and shooting – spin outs (12 minutes… 1 min for each sequence)
- Right foot drop step from right elbow
- Drop step counter
- Left foot drop step from left elbow
- Drop step counter
- Right foot front pivot from right elbow
- Front pivot, step through
- Left foot front pivot from left elbow
- Front pivot, step through
- Left foot reverse pivot from right elbow
- Reverse pivot, sweep
- Right foot reverse pivot from left elbow
- Reverse pivot, sweep
String spacing / shooting (8 minutes… 1 min each side)
- Backcut. Top and wing. Drive, backcut.
- I shooting. Wing & post. Dribble baseline & float up lane line
- Wing drive middle, post float to short corner.
- Circle. Post & guard spot. Dribble at post & post circles under
1 on1 moves at chairs – cross, inside out, double cross, behind back, push ball out (5 min)
(Everyone has a chair and a ball)
High Five 1 on 1 (12 min)
(Two groups — 5 players in each group)
Review defensive emphasis in half court (5 min)
- ball pressure
- communication
- stay in stance
- move on pass
3 on 3 half court controlled scrimmage (30 min)
(For offense, emphasis spacing, ball movement in all directions, and getting open.)
Part of what made it a great practice was the fast pace.
We stuck to our 1 minute limit for each sequence, whether players were doing it right or not. Players enjoy the fast pace. And I’m finding that even though I’m not stopping to get most players doing things properly, they improve at the next practice.
Almost without fail, players that did a poor job in the last practice (do much better in the next practice with their technique), even though I’m not stopping them to make sure they get good reps. We just keep moving along with the practice and stick to the allotted times!
Jeff
what is/are
1) I shooting. Wing & post.
2) Go over core values.
3) High Five 1 on 1 (12 min)
(Two groups — 5 players in each group)
thanks
Luke
1) I Shooting.
Player with a ball on right wing and player in the post (right block). Wing player dribbles with right hand toward bottom (baseline) side of post player. As wing dribbles, the post player moves (to maintain 10-15 ft of spacing) up the lane line. Post players stops near elbow to receive a pass and take a shot. Rebound the ball and repeat.
2) Go over core values.
I just take a few minutes to ask questions and discuss the core values for our team. They are:
1. Hard working
– Effort
– Do more than what is expected of you. Try harder.
– Prepare (sharpen the saw) – enhance skills every day
– Be proactive
– Be passionate – don’t be lukewarm, commit to excellence
2. Resilient
– Never say the word can’t
– No excuses
– Never give up and don’t be afraid to make mistakes.
– Maintain a positive attitude at all times. .
3. Selfless
– Help others
– Make teammates better, lead by giving.
– Be caring and thoughtful in everything you do.
– Treat others the same way you want them to treat you.
– Be a great friend.
4. Honest
– Be someone that can be trusted and relied upon.
– Be responsible. Do all you have agreed to do
5. Grateful
– Have an attitude of gratitude – say “Thank You”.
– Be grateful and thankful for what you have.
– Enjoy practices and the process.
6. Kind
– Be caring and thoughtful in everything you do.
– Be respectful.
– Treat others the same way you want them to treat you.
– Be a great friend.
3) High Five 1 on 1 (12 min)
Here’s a link to the drill:
http://www.breakthroughbasketball.com/drills/high-five-one-on-one.html
Joe, do you have something similar for a girls 5/6 grade team? We are starting practice right after Christmas. Thanks!
Surprisingly our 4th grade practices are not much different than our 10th grade boys practices. We use many of the same drills and focus on the same things…. dribbling, passing, footwork, using and reading screens, cutting, man to man defense, competitive drills, etc.
I recently heard Brian McCormick say the same thing… his youth practices are surprisingly similar to his high school practices. I chuckled when I read that because I am the same way.
Our 10th grade team is struggling this year from a win/loss standpoint. But it has nothing to do with the practice planning strategy. Our struggles this year have been for other reasons. I’ve had undefeated seasons using the same drills you see above with high school players.
So I would not hesitate using the plan above for a 5th/6th grade team.
Hi Jeff,
I would like to ask you how you coaches and the players manage to spend one minute on each sequence. I mean, do you have time to explain/show the sequence or do the players know exactly what to do? Are they able to be focused throughout the practice with so many sequences?
I coach 12-13 year old girls and we usually need to spend at least the double on each sequence. If we spend much more time they drop focus and if we spend less time they don’t get it and get frustrated and unfocused becuase of that. So we try to balance how much time to spend on each sequence.
I would like to ask you for your thoughts about how much time to spend on each sequence on new and “well-known” sequences. And i would also like ro ask you how often you change the sequences on your practices.
Regards,
/ Michael
Michael,
The players already know the footwork and have run the drill before. The first time we ran the drill we only did a few pivots.
As 3rd graders we taught the pivots using stationary drills. Now that they know the terminology we can use more game-like drills like you see above.
There were a couple new pivots this year. I took a minute to show the new pivot but did not spend much time on it and they all made mistakes. We just moved on and in the next practice they did it much better.
Now that they all know the pivots, I just holler…. right foot front pivot, step through. Then I yell coaching cues… “take a long explosive step.” “First step goes straight to the front of the rim.” etc
If I see a player mess up the footwork pretty badly 3 times in a row, I will stop them (while all the rest continue) and demonstrate the correct technique and have them try again.
If it’s brand new, we spend extra time explaining. However we still try to go at a fast pace, knowing that next practice they will do better.
By limiting to just one minute, I find players enjoy it more and maintain a better focus.
Jeff
Can you explain how you taught the pivots using stationary drills for your 3rd graders? Also, how how are the players set up on the floor for the 12 minutes of footwork drills?
Kevin – When teaching young kids pivots, I just have them spread out (arms length apart) on the side line. Then I demonstrate the pivot (ex: right foot front pivot). Then they all get in triple threat position while holding a ball and mimic what I do in front of them. Kids will use the wrong pivot foot, turn the wrong way, etc. It’s easier when you have assistants helping but I have also done this by myself. Generally I get them started and half will get it right. I keep calling out the pivots and walk around helping each kid. For me the easiest way is to lightly step on their pivot foot so it stays in place, and then pull their shoulder in the correct direction with my hand. No words needed. Just grab their shoulder and they figure it out.
Here’s another great drill for teaching the pivots to young kids, after they get the stationary pivots down.
https://www.breakthroughbasketball.com/play.asp?id=75
For the 12 minute drill mentioned in this blog post, I split them up evenly at each basket. In my case I had 6 baskets and had 2 players at each basket (12 total players). They stand on the baseline in a line. First player in line spins the ball out to the elbow, executes the pivot, and finishes with a layup or shot. The next person in line starts to move out and spin the ball as the first player finishes their pivot. You want them to keep moving to get lots of reps.
Hi Jeff, can you tell me the ages of your 4th graders. I want to do a quick calibration with grades here in Tasmania Australia.
Most of them are 9 years old.
That is close to ages for 4th grade here. Most of my players are only starting Bball in the 4th grade at present so the plan would be appropriate a little down the year’s program. Like your core values – presented in appropriate language for that level.
Thanks
Jeff, when you play 3v3 half court (only 6 players), then what the rest of the players do?
For this particular practice I don’t remember what we did with the rest of the players. Sometimes we only have 6 or 7 player so only one player is out. But generally we have 8 or 9 players in each practice. In this case I think we have 8 and I just rotated one player for each team. When players are sitting out and I’m not teaching something to the group, an assistant coach usually works with them on stationary dribbling, planks, wall passing or something to make sure they are doing something productive.