Fun Basketball Drills for Beginners

Although beginner-level basketball players may want to practice fancy dribbling tricks or three-point shots, they first need a good foundation in the basic skills of basketball: dribbling, passing and shooting. These drills will help you and your team learn the skills in a fun, competitive way.

  1. Dribbling Drill

    • One of the most valuable skills in basketball is the ability to handle the ball with a good amount of control. While dribbling the basketball up the court or around defenders, the player should not have his eyes on the ball.

      As a way to teach dribbling skills, line up the players behind the out-of-bounds line on one side of the court. Instruct your players to dribble the ball to the other side of the court without looking at the floor. Beginners will most likely lose track of the ball. If they lose the ball, send them back to the starting line to begin the drill again.

      Once your players have mastered this drill, place some small cones every few feet throughout the court. Each player can either dribble around the cones or switch hands and dribble around the obstacles.

    Passing Drill

    • Teach your players about three of the basic passes: the bounce pass, chest pass and overhead pass.

      Once you have demonstrated these passes to your team, ask the players to arrange themselves in large circle on the basketball court. Hand a basketball to one of the players and yell out another player's name and the type of pass. Each player must follow your instructions correctly and pass the ball to the second player. As the team players become more skilled with practicing the passes, you can conduct the drill at a faster pace.

    Free Throw Drill

    • Free throw shooting is one of the most underrated skills in basketball. In the last few minutes of the game, the extra point from a foul shot can make the difference between winning and losing.

      Separate your players into two teams. Instruct the first team to line up in the defending positions below the free throw line. The second team can line up above the free throw line.

      For each successful shot, the team receives one point. If the player scores on the first shot, she may continue shooting until she misses. Allow each player a maximum of five shots. Members from the opposite team can rebound the ball and pass it to the next player.

      Once the team members complete their foul shots, switch places with the team standing in the rebound positions. Repeat with the next team. Both teams will learn how to shoot foul shots, deal with possible distractions, rebound and pass the basketball.

    Shooting Drill

    • HORSE is one of the most popular basketball-related games. This game can help your players improve their shooting accuracy from all parts of the basketball court.

      Instruct the first player to attempt a shot from any spot on the court. If the first player misses, pass the ball to a second player.

      Once one of the players makes a shot, the other players must attempt to make the shot from the same spot. If the player misses the shot, he will get an H. After the missed shot, the third player can attempt to shoot from another spot in the court.

      If the second player does not miss the shot, continue shooting from the same spot until one of the players misses or all of the players make the shot. If all of the players make the shot, the first player may choose to shoot from another spot in the basketball court.

      The players who collect all of the letters in the word HORSE are out, and the last player standing is the winner.