Passing drills
Basic Passes
1. Two-handed chest pass
2. Bounce pass
3. Overhead pass

• Partner passing – have everyone pair-up around the gym approximately 6-8 feet apart. Have them work on a series of passes beginning with the chest pass. Move fairly quickly through the other types of passes
• Dribble passing – using a similar setup as Partner passing, have each player take three practice dribbles before passing the ball to her partner.
• Pass-Receive -  have everyone line up in two lines facing each other. Have the first player pass the ball to her receiver and then runs to the end of the receiving line. As the players move through the line, yell out different kinds of passes.
• Run up and down the court in pairs passing back and forth yoyo style.
• Look at spreading the floor on offense – one person brings the ball up with everyone on their spot. When they cross half-court, the forwards shift with the guards. The dribbler, passes to one of the guards, who pass it back. Keep repeating until everyone has touched the ball. Let the last guard who touches the ball pass it to the forward on their side to shoot the layup.

Dribble drills
Important aspects of dribbling
1. Fingertip control
2. Stay low
3. Head up
4. Dribble with either hand
5. Protect the ball

• Stand on the baseline, face right, dribble with your right hand while looking down court. Reverse hands
• Dribble out to the foul line and jump on the line. Repeat back to the baseline. Dribble out to the foul line and forward pivot. Repeat to the baseline. Same thing with reverse pivot.
• Dribble around the cones, up and down the court
• Dribble from three quarters court as fast as you can. Add a layup at the end.
• Dribble relay race – Divide the players into pairs and have one of them speed dribble to a line on the court and back. When they come back to their teammate, make sure they do a jump-stop and hand the ball off.
• Stationary dribbling – have the team spread out on the floor. Have them dribble in place with either hand, keeping their heads up. Upon voice command, they should switch hands.
• Moving dribble – have them line up on the sideline. When you say, “Go!” all the players dribble with the preferred hand across the court. When you blow the whistle, they should come to a stop but continue dribbling. Variation: have them change direction and/or hands upon the whistle.
• Dribble tag – Layout four cones in a square. Have a player dribble the ball and try to tag a player who doesn’t have a ball. Both players must stay in the square. Make the square smaller to make it easier to tag the other player.

Warm ups

·         Stretches, jumping jacks, run in place.

• Laps – have your players run along the perimeter of the court. Point out where the out of bounds lines are for the court.
• Quick jumps – short, quick jumps, keeping their hands over their heads. After a minute, yell, “Right foot only!”. Have them do 10-15 jumps and then switch to the left foot.
• Power jumps – players stand with their knees bent and their hands below their knees. Have them repeat this for 20-30 seconds.
• Feet of fire – have the team spread out. Have them assume the ready position. Have them jump from foot to foot as quickly as possible. Use a voice command to have them do a quarter jump to the left or the right, then jump back forward as quickly as possible.

I thought I'd put the agendas for our basketball practice up here on the website in case some other coach is looking for ideas for how to run practice for first and second graders. This first agenda ran long so that we never got to the scrimmage:

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Basketball practice agenda

5:50 – 6:00 Coaches get together and go over agenda

6:00 – 6:10 Coaches and players introductions and ice breaker – Brian

6-10 - 6:15 Warm-up stretches and run around the gym - Nora

6:15 – 6:25 Dribble drills – Peter

6:25 – 6:30 Passing drills - Brian

6:30 – 6:35 Water Break

6:35 – 6:45 Shooting drills – Ally or Nora

6:45 – 6:50 – Defense drills (if time allows) - Brian

6:50 – 7:00 Scrimmage – all

Wrap-up – all

Emily and I went running for the first time in a long time today. We ran down at Marymoor after walking Odette. The weather was really nice - a bit on the chilly side but sunny. We ran two miles at a very slow pace but it felt great to be at it again. Maybe the dream of running in a marathon might still live. Let's see... May of 2008? Capital City marathon or Vancouver marathon?