Fun Basketball Drills For Kids

Score and Stop Challenge This fun basketball drill for beginning players provides them with game-like play with an extra challenge. Players will form teams of five and play full- or half-court sets. Teams are awarded points not for scoring, but for scoring and then successfully getting a stop on defense. Athletes are challenged to work on their transition game and not pause to celebrate once they score, but to instead turn around and immediately focus on defense. The first team to a certain number of points, or the greater number of points in a certain time, wins. Seven Chances This basketball drill for kids also has teams of five playing full- or half-court sets. This time, the offensive unit will have seven chances to score against the defense. Once the offense has used their seven opportunities, they will switch to playing defense and the new offense will get seven chances to score. For some extra motivation, the team with the most baskets at the end of the drill is the winner and the losing team has to run suicide drills. The dreaded suicide drill is a strong motivational tool to get players to work hard. Dribble Tag Dribble Tag is another beginning basketball drill that improves dribbling skills. This drill can use either the full or half court, depending on the size and ability level of your players and how many players are practicing. If you have some bigger and better players, it might be best to divide the court in half and make sure those players are split up to make the game more fair for everyone. Once the boundaries have been determined, have each player start dribbling their own ball. Assign one player to be "it," and, just like in the regular playground game, that player must attempt to touch someone else and make that person the new "it." Athletes must use proper dribbling form at all times and focus on maintaining control of their balls while running from the player who is "it."