How To Plan A Good Youth Basketball Practice Plan? (7-18 Years)

Everyone knows that practice makes perfect but not every practice is created equal. And this is certainly true for youth basketball practice plan. As a professional youth basketball coach I can vouch for it.

When planning a youth basketball practice session, few things are as important

• 1-Knowing your coaching responsibilities and duties. 
• 2-The skill level & age of the players in your program is one of the biggest factors

But utilizing this talent to its fullest potential depends on your ability to create the most effective training plan possible.

Planning the Youth Basketball Practice Plan

This practice plan is good for age 7-18. Start with a written training program with specific times allotted to every attack and defensive maneuver segment. When combined with the seasonal master plan, the training plan will help you determine what to teach your players and how to plan productive youth basketball practices.

Writing your practice plan allows you to communicate more effectively with your assistant. This makes it clearer to them what will be practiced during the next session.

Always save your written workout plans for future reference. You never know when you may need to look back on them later in the season or in future seasons. 

Basketball practice calendar 

Planning youth basketball practice requires a concerted effort, but it doesn’t have to be a full-time job. Scheduling a 2-hour workout usually takes 15 to 60 minutes depending on the complexity of the plan.

Developing a winning practice

Coaching provides coaches with the ideal opportunity to help the team become successful. Our coaching program revolves around an exercise planning model that allows us to maximize our time, focus on fundamentals, and develop moderation and standardization. 

Practice philosophy of youth basketball

To develop a workout plan that works for you, start by creating a list of philosophies that constitute an effective youth practice session. Here’s some of what we’ve found works best for us: 

1. Practice should be fast-paced

We are first and foremost a running team. But even when we’re not running, we train at a fast pace to maximize time and improve stability. In general, we try not to spend too much time sprinting.

2. What we practice should translate to games

We never perform drills and exercises just for fun. We use small-scale games as much as possible to develop skills that will be useful in game situations.

3. Practice should be constantly moving forward 

The majority of your workouts should last between five and team minutes. A few can go up to 15 minutes if necessary. But when the time is up, move on to the next exercise. If they don’t get it within the allotted time, they probably won’t get it that day. So instead of doing the drill over and over, we opt to redo the exercise and/or find a better way to teach it.

Practice organization of youth basketball

We’ve found that we get the best results by organizing practice sessions into specific focus areas. But before practice, we post the group shooting for the day and prepare all the necessary equipment, including watches, stoppers, cones, water bottles, and balls.

Practice sessions focus on the following areas: 

1. Shooting segment
2. Dynamic stretch
3. Pre-practice 
4. “Achievement” phase

1. Shooting segment 

This typically lasts 11 minutes. We start by spending three minutes on form kicks, including under-basket shots. When the player sinks two in a row, they can take a step back.

2. Dynamic stretch

After straining, we regroup and hand out HEART jerseys based on yesterday’s training. 

3. Pre-practice

This lasts from eight to ten minutes. We usually change the exercises before the workout. Some days we focus on handling the ball, other days on passing, receiving, or finishing. We have small groups of exercises/games for each concept that we can use.

4. “Achievement” phase

This lasts from six to eight minutes. It gives players an opportunity to achieve something before starting a team practice game. 

We often have a transition exercise for the players to move and boost their energy. We may have a relay firing exercise or some type of forwarding cycle that works on our fast interrupt system.

When players hit the target, we let them choose a three- to four-minute drill that they like. If they don’t hit the target, we run a sprint and the coach chooses something that each player can achieve. For example, each player may need to dive on a loose ball before starting practice. 

Also Check: What Does ISO Mean In Basketball? Explained

Final thoughts

If you’ve followed along up to this point, you should know how to plan a good youth basketball practice. Check out our other guides and articles to help you better plan your workouts. 

If you haven’t written your training plan yet, I recommend you do so now! Over time, you will find your workouts become more organized and your players more focused.