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Keep Youth Basketball Practices Creative and Fun

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

The task of a youth basketball coach is to instil the fundamentals of the game into his or her developing players. The repetition of drills every week is imperative, although, to the players, they can become monotonous.

So a coach needs to find the proper balance between teaching basketball skills and keeping it fun. Of course, both can be achieved simultaneously.

It starts with the coach being positive while teaching skills. In this case, the best essay writer service states that a coach should do a thorough job of both explaining a drill and the importance of the skill. His young basketball players who receive encouragement will want to keep improving their skills.

But to keep players truly engaged, it’s key for a coach to make the drills fun. One of the best ways to do this is to turn the final third of practice into fun, friendly competitions. While these competitions will focus on skill-building, players won’t look at it that way.

One game that is well received by kids is called knockout. It’s a game that reinforces how to shoot a basketball.

To start, all of the players line up in single file behind the foul line, and each of the first two players has a basketball. The first player in line will start the game by shooting a free throw. If she makes it, she collects the rebound and gives the ball to the next person, and moves to the back of the line. If the shooter misses the free throw, she has to sink a layup or some type of short jump shot.

While this is happening, though, the next player in line is trying to knock him out of the game. If the second shooter makes her free throw or layup before the player in front of her, the player who was shooting first is knocked out. If the second shooter misses the free throw, she can still knock out the player before her with an ensuing shot. If she doesn’t, she is vulnerable to the next person who shoots behind her.

As soon as a player shoots her free throw, even if she doesn’t make the shot, the next person in line with a ball can step up to the foul line and begin her round. The players will want to move at game speed, and proper shooting technique improves the chance of sinking a basket. The game knocks players out until all but one is left standing.

Other Fun Skill Games:

Timed Shooting Drill: Put masking tape or small cones on the floor at different spots. Give each player 30 seconds to shoot a layup on each side of the basket. Each basket is worth one point for each made attempt. A free throw is worth two points. Jump shots are worth two or three points, depending on the distance. Count up the point totals and give each player two rounds to try to score the high round or best-combined total.

Steal the bacon: Divide the team into two groups and have each stand opposite the other along the sideline. Give each player a number that is also on the corresponding side. So, there will be two No. 1, two No. 2, two No. 3, and so forth. The basketball will be placed in the middle of the two groups, perhaps just above the foul line. The coach will call out a random number, say No. 3. The two players who are numbered 3 will run to the ball. Whoever gets it goes to offense and the other player shifts to defense. It becomes a 1-on-1 until one player scores a basket to give his team two points. The coach also can call out two numbers, say 1 and 4, and those players will shift to a 2-on-2 once one player arrives at the ball.

X-Out: This layup drill starts at one elbow of the foul line. A player will dribble to the basket for a layup. He rebounds the made or missed shot and dribbles out to the opposite elbow, spins, and dribbles back in for another layup. The sequence is repeated in a 30- to the 40-second timeframe. The goal is to score as many layups as possible while working on dribbling, footwork, and shooting techniques.

The types of games that teach basketball skills are endless. As a coach, just be creative and, of course, fun.

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