How to Teach Basketball to Fourth Graders

Teaching basketball skills to elementary children is a time-honored tradition. The relationship kids develop with their coach has the potential to shape a child's athletic life as well as their personal character. Coaches should model proper technique, sportsmanship and integrity while ensuring children enjoy the activity and learn to work to earn success. Like every sport, basketball requires planning and practice. Build on basic drills based on how well team members perform. Repeat drills regularly so they become familiar to players, and to gauge progress in specific areas. Children appreciate repetition, and when they master something during practice, they are more likely to utilize the skill under pressure during a game.

Things You'll Need

  • Size 28.5 basketballs for each player
  • Basketball court
  • Cones
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Instructions

  1. Dribbling

    • 1

      Explain to players that they should dribble the ball to move up the court, to escape a trap, to position for a shot and to stall for the buzzer. Children should use fingertips to dribble while keeping their heads up and eyes ahead. At the 4th-grade level, they should practice dribbling with both hands.

    • 2

      Use the crossover drill early in practice. Dribble the ball using the fingertips of the right hand. Bounce the ball on the right side of the body, then cross the ball to the left using a bounce in front of the chest. Use the left hand to dribble once and then cross the ball back to the right. Repeat several times.

    • 3

      Dribble the ball at waist height. Lower the height of the dibble as low as possible for a several bounces, then return to waist height. Try this with each hand several times. Have a contest to see how many times a player can repeat the drill without stopping to change hands.

    Shooting

    • 4

      Discourage the notion that some players are naturally talented shooters and explain that learning proper technique can equalize ability and performance. However, if a child successfully shoots in one position, allow that player to continue that form while also teaching new techniques.

    • 5

      Teach students to stand with feet separated at shoulder width, knees slightly bent and right foot slightly forward for right-handed players. Left-handed players should stand with left foot forward. Use both hands to hold the ball but only push with the dominant hand when shooting. Point the thumb of the shooting hand upward and bend the elbow in an "L" shape. Pick a spot to aim the ball and release it in a push and flop motion.

    • 6

      Using cones, designate a shooting line and a rebounding line near each side of the basket. Shooters dribble the ball to the line and take a shot. The player first in the rebound line rebounds the ball as it comes out of the basket or collects stray balls that did not make it into the basket. The rebounder passes the ball to the next shooter in line.

    Passing

    • 7

      Remind players that there is no "I" in team and encourage young athletes to work together to gain a victory on the court rather than repeatedly passing the ball to the superstar to score all the points. Teach every child to feel pride in his performance and learn to accept and overcome mistakes. Develop accurate passing by repeating drills at every practice. Build on passing ability and vary the complexity of the drill as players master the skill and appear ready to move on.

    • 8

      Line players up to face the wall about two feet away and pass the ball against the wall as quickly as possible. After five successful passes, have them move a step back and repeat. Continue passing and moving back until children can pass the ball against the wall from 10 feet away.

    • 9

      Separate players into groups of two or three, standing about 12 feet apart. Demonstrate the three basic passes and encourage team members to practice each one until they successfully pass the ball 10 times. Begin with the chest past, then move on to the bounce pass and finish the drill with the two-handed overhead pass -- also called the outlet pass.