Youth Basketball Skill Training

Ballhandling Familiarity

• The key to ballhandling is familiarity with the basketball. Simply put, the more time a child spends with a basketball, the more natural the relationship. As easy as this sounds, it means always keeping a basketball nearby. While watching television, your child can practice spinning the ball on a finger, shooting it into the air or passing it around his waist. Even if holding the ball has nothing to do with a basketball on-court skill, the time spent in the presence of the ball will improve his ballhandling and feel.

Ballhandling Drills

• Whether practicing alone or with teammates, ballhandling drills develop a key skill component for youth players. While alone, have your child practice dribbling with her nondominant hand. If your child develops use of her weak hand at an early age, she will have a head start on many teammates and opponents. Once your child feels comfortable dribbling with both hands, she should focus on a crossover dribble in which she quickly transitions the ball from one hand to the other. A great crossover dribble does not need to be fancy or through the legs. Rather it should be quick, controlled and effective.

Quickness

• The spider drill is a favorite drill at many youth basketball camps for developing quickness. Have your child stand over the basketball. To begin, your child should start with one right-handed dribble followed by one left-handed dribble. Quickly, he repeats the same process with his arms behind him and then back in front of him. In all, there are four main dribbles which he alternates as fast as possible. Ideally, the ball should remain positioned in the center of his stance. Once he has mastered the spider drill, see if he can do the drill while walking forward and backward. This drill develops quick hands and a feel for the basketball.

Shooting

• Every young basketball player loves to shoot. The problem is that basketballs are either too heavy or hoops are too high when she first starts playing. As a result, she develops poor shooting habits, frequently using two hands to push the ball toward the basket. If your child is young, lower the basket to seven or eight feet or use a smaller basketball so that she can complete this drill. With one hand behind her back, start in close to the basket and have her shoot with just one hand. To do this, have her hold the ball in the palm of her hand, then turn the palm toward the basket, making a right angle at her elbow. With a flick of the wrist, she should shoot the ball and follow through. This drill is tricky at first, but it teaches your child that the nonshooting hand should only serve as a guide and not a component of the actual shot.

Defense

• At the youth level, defense is frequently overlooked. A drill to develop defensive posture and quick feet is called foot fire. To start the drill, have your child get into a defensive stance with legs bent and positioned slightly greater than shoulder width apart. As the drill instructor, you give your child different commands. At the word "fire," he taps his feet rapidly while staying in a defensive stance. However, you must also point in different directions. As you point, he slides in a defensive stance in that direction until you give the next command or point in another direction. Another command is "loose ball." When you shout loose ball, your child dives on the floor to pick the ball up and then quickly gets back to his feet and resumes foot fire. This drill is exhausting but builds develops strong defensive posture, mentality and endurance.