7 Basketball Training Drills For Kids: Fun For Younger Players
Playing basketball is enjoyable even if you’re an adult. But youngsters may have much more fun with it! Young basketball players need to understand how to develop their game appropriately. that they don’t lose motivation and give up the sport too soon.
In this blog post, we will discuss some of our favorite basketball drills for kids aged 10 and under. We’ll also tell you why practicing basketball from a young age can have many benefits!
Why Should Kids start Training Basketball at An Early Age
Anyone could start basketball, at any age. However, the earlier you start, the more likely you are to become a better player. This is because children who start training in their childhood years develop the basic skills necessary for improvement much faster than adults.
These fundamental basketball drills for kids cover things like dribbling, passing, and scoring, to name a few!
Your youngster will become better at all facets of the game with the help of these basketball workouts for kids. both by strengthening their foundation and boosting their self-assurance.
The Warm-Up Circle
Little children can benefit from this basketball workout since it promotes coordination, balance, speed, and agility! Also, it gives them a chance to interact socially with people who are on the same level as them.
You will need a few players, a basketball, and an empty circular area to complete this workout.
The size of the groupings should be comparable to one another (for example, with two teams or more). They then all form a circle and stand there.
One person dribbles their ball and begins to round the group counterclockwise. One member of that team joins him once he has crossed over to the other side of the circle. So now there are two dribbling individuals on opposing ends of the circle.
Up until their turn, the others encourage these two runners/dribblers by staying where they are positioned. You can replace someone who becomes fatigued or have various children alternate going first or second. whatever suits your child’s needs the best!
Shoot, Dribble & Pass
This basketball exercise is excellent for enhancing your child’s shooting precision and ball handling. You have a choice as to whether you play it with two teams of four players each or just one person. Divide your group into two equal groups in order to play the game. Then arrange them in a line at the opposite ends of the court or field, behind the baseline.
You will need a full-sized basketball court or similar area that allows enough space between teammates. So they are far apart enough from each other when passing back and forth.
Team A’s first player begins dribbling towards his teammate across from him who is already prepared and stands with their legs spread far apart, knees slightly bent outward, and arms raised in the air.
The player from Team A passes the ball to his teammate when the dribbler is directly in front of him. who then circles back and begins passing to a different teammate. This procedure continues until the last player on your team’s line receives the ball!
Have them run slowly the first time so they can get used to what you are asking of them.dribble
Once everyone has had a chance at being both a passer and receiver switch things up by making them speed it up or adding some rules like forcing players to keep one foot behind before receiving each pass (this forces kids to learn how to pivot properly).
The goal here isn’t necessarily for them all to make every single reception but rather that everything runs smoothly as a unit!
Dribbling Obstacle Course
This basketball drill is fantastic since it’s entertaining and teaches your kid how to dribble around challenges and under pressure. It enhances hand-eye coordination as well (which can affect almost every other aspect of the game). Ten cones, five on each side, arranged in two rows, are needed to play this game.
When arranged in their designated row, you should space them so that they are around six feet apart from one another (with equal distances between all cones). In order to complete the course without stopping or touching any lines, each player begins from a separate cone.
Have them perform this drill three times: once without dribbling, once with their non-dominant hand, and once with both hands. By placing a new obstacle between the cones, you may also make the course more challenging.
Altering the process they use (for example having one kid stand on their left leg when going around the first cone before switching legs at the second, etc.). It’s an excellent basketball drill. Because players have the chance to move faster in addition to improving ball handling.
So, it is not always necessary to perform running drills immediately following a game. Even more practice during downtime can sometimes be beneficial for kids!
Dribble Tag
This is another one of basketball drills for kids which might sound similar to the previous dribbling obstacle course but it’s quite different! Instead of trying to make your way around obstacles. Players are doing their best to avoid being tagged by other players who are ‘it’.
This basketball drill for kids is perfect for improving hand-eye coordination, concentration, and reaction time. Here’s how to play it:
- The Set Up: Each player only has access to a half of the court and a ball. Each player must maintain a live dribble the entire time.
- The Drill:
- One player is “it” at the beginning of the game. Each player must attempt to tag another player, who becomes “it,” while continuing the dribble. Participants attempt to avoid being “it” and being tagged. They must continue dribbling while remaining in the half court.
- A player becomes “it” if they leave the area, double-dribble, cease dribbling, or are tagged. Players must maintain their heads up and have vision to avoid being tagged in this drill that develops ball handling skills.
- Put the better dribblers on one end and the other group on the other if you have a big group with some good ball handlers and others not so good, so the same youngsters don’t get picked on constantly. By requiring them to exclusively use the opposing (weak) hand, you can change up this exercise.
- Tougher Variation:
- Every participant is given a ball and is limited to staying inside the 3-point range. The same regulations stated above still apply, which means that no player may double-dribble, cease dribbling, or exit the playing area.
- The players in this elimination game dribble around and attempt to flick the ball belonging to the opposing player. You are considered “out” while the other players continue dribbling once you lose the ball, stop dribbling, double-dribble, or leave the area.
- You will eventually reduce the number of players. Then alter the playing field such that they must remain inside the lane or “paint” region until only one is left—the victor!
This basketball drill is great because it helps your child develop quickness along with dribbling skills. But most importantly this game will teach kids how important teamwork is when playing sports like basketball. Since no one person ever wins games by themselves.
If things haven’t been going well for your little one. It might be time to take a break and focus on something they would rather do – like playing basketball with friends!
Around the World
This exercise teaches children how to dribble as close to their bodies as they can without really touching them. This basketball exercise’s objective is control, not speed. In order to avoid losing the ball or looking down, players should first move slowly until they can do so with ease.
You will need five cones placed in a circle arrangement around 10 feet apart from one another in order to play this game. A basketball is located in the topmost cone, although players can start well adjacent to any of the other cones.
The player begins by moving two steps away from that beginning position, then dribbles the ball around their body to return to the starting position. This is accomplished by getting as close to each cone as you can without really touching it.
Players should move down two cones and begin anew from there after completing that course once or after losing control of the basketball (the bottom-most point).
You can play this exercise with just one other person as well! Simply getting them to circle around on their own would suffice. while keeping their heads up to always be aware of where other players are.
There’s also an advanced version of this game that involves moving laterally instead of staying stationary throughout – we’ll talk more about those kinds of drills later though!
Simon Says
Among other basketball drills for kids, this is a fun one for helping kids learn to pass and catch. It’s essentially just a game of ‘Simon says’ with basketball. To play this game you will need to divide players into two lines with half as many kids on each team as there are baskets, or four people total if playing solo.
At the free-throw line, one line should be stretched and facing the opposing group who line up in a single file ten feet or so behind those starting points.
The first person in that back row then starts by passing the ball to any player from across the court (or someone standing next to them). Once that pass has been made. They step forward before calling out something like “left”, “right” or “behind the back”. And then receiving a pass in return.
The use of more specific commands like “left-hand lay-up” is also available to players. Maybe they could just say, “Pass it to me,” or something like.
Players’ reflexes will get stronger the harder they make these drills for themselves by calling out more difficult maneuvers, dribbling styles, etc. when you finally want them to play real games! This exercise is meant to teach younger children comfortable passing and catching the ball.
While moving around at high speeds. So this would be a great way of preparing them if they’re going into competitive basketball leagues soon where speed becomes very important.
The Knock Out Game
You might have played this game in school yourself when you were younger. But the knock-out game is just one of those things that people forget about until they’re adults. To play this drill all players will need a basketball and to line up in single file along either sideline facing towards the other end of the court.
The first player then starts by throwing or bouncing (depending on their age) the ball against any part of another person’s body. If it doesn’t hit them then it must be caught! Then once someone has been hit with a pass. They join hands with whoever threw it before moving down into the next available spot in line.
So there are two kids standing side-by-side. Instead of one lonely person waiting for everyone else to catch up before attempting.
This Basketball drill is fun for younger kids. Because it doesn’t require any kind of complex or especially difficult movements. They just have to focus on throwing the ball accurately and catching it too without hurting their friends!
The older you get though, the more competitive this game becomes as people call each other out with harder throws that are closer together in time, etc., so there’s always a way to challenge yourself when playing this one.
Conclusion
There are many more basketball drills for kids that we could have mentioned in this blog post, but these should be a good start. If you want to add other drills that your kids enjoy or would like to try out, please let us know below!
