Fifth Grade Basketball Practice Drills

When it comes to coaching youth basketball, it is important to have a variety of drills that the team can practice to improve their dribbling, passing and shooting skills. Fifth grade players need to have the fundamentals of playing basketball down before moving onto the more complex aspects of the game such as running plays and playing defensive zones. Here are some basketball drills for your fifth grade basketball team.

  1. Lay-ups

    • Divide the fifth graders into two lines standing atop the three-point line. One line will have basketballs, while the other line will not. Have the line with basketballs dribble toward the hoop and let each player perform a lay-up on that side of the court. The line without the basketballs will follow and rebound the balls whether the shots are made or not. The players who rebound the balls will then dribble to the shooting line, and the players who shot the lay-ups will go in the rebounding line. After everyone has had two turns, switch the shooting side so they can practice making a lay-up with the other hand.

    Free throws

    • Have the fifth graders practice their free throws by standing on the free throw line and attempting shots. Instruct them to concentrate on form while at the same time focusing on not "jumping" when they shoot the ball. Younger kids may need the extra push from the jump, but fifth graders should work to keep their feet on the floor.

    Dribbling Drills

    • Set up chairs in a straight line all the way down the basketball court. Instruct the fifth graders to weave in and out of those chairs as they make their way from one end of the court to the other. Also, while they are dribbling, they must use the hand that is closest to the sideline. So as they move left, they must dribble with their left hand; as they move right, they must dribble with their right hand. Run the drill so that they travel up and down the court four times total.

    Passing

    • Instruct the fifth graders to pair up and stand about 10 feet apart from each other. Have them work on their chest passes and bounce passes by passing the ball back and forth between each other. Both passes should start with the hands, palms down, securely on either side of the ball. As they thrust their hands forward, their palms will turn outward as the basketball releases. For the chest pass the players will aim for each other's chests. For the bounce pass they will bounce the ball about 2/3 of the way toward their partner so that he will be able to catch it in the correct hand position.