Practice makes perfect with these effective and classic drills
When it comes to coaching youth basketball at youth basketball camps like the Young3, there are so many different basketball drills capable of helping develop a young player’s skills in all of the important areas.
But with so many different basketball drills at our fingertips, we wanted to highlight five of our top favorite for the sake of this article:
1. Form Shooting Drill:
Among the most impactful of basketball drills for young players, form shooting is capable of helping develop great shooting form, and ultimately great shooting during an actual game through this practice of promoting muscle memory.
For a demonstration by Rick Carlisle, please see the video below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpjsZAOkq1s
2. Two-Ball Dribbling Drill:
This drill helps the kids get practice dribbling with BOTH of their hands, not just their dominant hand. This is important yet often overlooked. The majority of young players get too accustomed to using their dominant hand, which can really limit their abilities when it comes time to play a real game. This drill will help to strengthen their weak hand so they feel more comfortable using both, while also improving their coordination.
For a demonstration, please see the video below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2FaABi85nY
3. Monkey-in-the-Middle Drill:
This is a really fun drill that helps young players develop their ball handling skills, as well as their defensive skills. With the Monkey-in-the-Middle Drill, groups of about 5-6 players will form a circle with one player standing in the middle. The players making up the circle get to practice their ball handling skills through dribbling, pivoting and passing the ball to one another – not holding the ball for any longer than 3 seconds before passing. The player in the middle will get to practice their defense skills by trying to steal or capture the ball – and once he or she gets it, they’ll become part of the circle and whoever had the ball last will become the new “Monkey-in-the-Middle”.
For a demonstration, please see the video below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuJ9XUqczsM
4. Wall Passing Drill:
Passing is an incredibly important skill for young players (especially guards) to practice in order to excel in the game of basketball. The Wall Passing Drill is a great and simple exercise for improving passing with both hands. During this drill, players will typically stand about 15 feet in front of a hard wall to throw and practice their passes – from bounce passes to overhead passes and chest passes. Players are encouraged to keep their feet firmly planted on the ground rather than jumping while passing in any passing exercise.
For a demonstration by Jason Otter, please see the video below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WRHRhWdsko
5. George Mikan Drill:
Named after NBA legend, George Mikan, this basketball drill is designed to help young players improve their layup footwork around the basket while finishing with either hand. Players can switch from shooting a layup with their right hand directly under the basket, rebounding the ball while stepping through on their right foot and shooting a layup with their left hand, to doing the same with their left hand and foot to shoot with their right.
For a demonstration, please see the video below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUdT0xP4wuk
So, there you have it! These are just some of our favorite basketball drills when it comes to coaching youth basketball the right way — but there’s a whole world of effective and fun drills out there.
Have fun experimenting!
And for more basketball tips, please visit the Young3 Virtual Academy! Be sure to follow @young3basketball on Instagram!
