In our last article, we went over some great drills for your kiddos to run to help them on the road to basketball super stardom! Being big buffs of basketball here at Rebounderz, our Lansdale trampoline park offers its very own trampoline basketball court. It’s a great place to take your kids for a fun night out, or to replenish their love of the game. But in the meantime, if you want to help them improve on their basketball skills, here are some drills that you can run with your kids.

21 Cones

This is a great game for building shooting form. In it, all of your players are divided up into two teams. Cones are lined up at half court, each team is given a basketball, and each team shoots from a designated spot. When a team member shoots, if they make it, they run to half court and grab a cone for their team while the next in line grabs the ball to shoot. The goal of the game is to get the most cones by the time they are all snatched up.

Pressure

Want to help hone your kid’s shooting game while helping them perform under pressure at the same time? This drill is perfect. In it, players just form a line at the free throw line. They will take turns shooting free throws. Whenever someone makes a basket, the next person is “under pressure”. They must make their shot, or they are out of the game. If they make their shot, the next person in line is “under pressure”. This continues until there is only one player left, who wins the drill.

Dribble Knockout

If you want to work on ball handling and defensive dribbling, then this is the drill for you. Essentially, you just gather everyone into a small area (for five or six people, within the three point line works). Each person gets a basketball, Their goal is to dribble their ball while trying to knock away everybody else’s. Once enough people have been knocked out, the coach can make the designated out of bounds area smaller. The last person with their ball left wins the drill.

Collision Dribbling

This drill is very similar to the dribble knockout, with one major difference; players aren’t allowed to knock out their opponents’ balls. You’ll want to section off a much shorter out of bounds area for this drill, so that players don’t have much room to move. When you yell “start!”, they must dribble around each other in the small space provided without looking at the basketball. As players lose control and get out, shorten the out of bounds area. The last player standing wins.

Scarecrow Tiggy

Another dribbling drill, this one is high intensity and keeps players on their toes. Everyone on the team gets a basketball except for two players designated as taggers. Everyone with the ball starts at the half court line except the taggers. When the coach yells “start!”, the taggers try to tag everyone with a basketball. If a ball handler gets tagged, they must stand with their legs spread out holding the ball above their head. Another ball handler can get them back in the game if they dribble their ball between the out player’s legs. The game is over if the taggers get every other player out.

Dribble Tag

This game is very similar to scarecrow tiggy, and helps your kid build on their skills under pressure. Everyone on the team gets a basketball in this drill, and the coach selects two taggers from the team. The remaining players spread out around the taggers, and the coach yells “start!”. The taggers will attempt to steal the ball of everyone else on the team, and the last dribbler with a ball wins. If the taggers are unable to get anyone out after an extended period of time, the coach should tighten the out of bounds area.

Sharks and Minnows

This drill will help your child with ball control up and down the court. Gather your team, and select one or two members to be sharks. The rest will be minnows. All minnows start from one in the court, while the sharks start in the middle. When the coach yells “start!”, the minnows try to dribble to the other side of the court, where they are safe if they make it. If a minnow gets tagged by a shark before they reach the other side, they must stand still over their basketball as a “scarecrow”. While scarecrows cannot move, they can tag out other minnows that dribble too close to them. The last player not to get tagged wins the drill.

Partner Passing

This is a great drill to instill the basics of passing in your budding basketball star. Pair off all of the members on your team. Have them stand parallel to each other on each side up and down the court. Each pair gets a ball, and the coach will yell out different types of passes. Each player must pass to their partner whatever type of pass is yelled (bounce pass, one hand push pass, chest pass, etc.) If a pass isn’t caught, or the wrong pass is done, that team is out. The last team with the ball wins.

Stationary Keepings Off

This is a great drill, especially for young kids, to teach the importance of spacing, passing, and decision making under pressure. It is basically an altered version of monkey in the middle. Pick one or two kids off of the team to be defenders. The rest will get one ball, and will spread out across the court. The defender’s job is to steal or deflect the ball, and the rest of the team has to keep it away from them. However, they are not allowed to move from their positions. Switch the defenders out with other team members every few minutes.

Continuous 3 on 2

This is a great drill for making progress on passing skills and decision making in stressful situations. Select two small groups out of your team, one of two and one of three, and have the rest wait in line. The group of three will be offense, starting at one end of the court, while the group of two will be defense, starting at the half court line. The offense will use the advantage of their extra member to try to pass the ball to the other end of the court and score. Whether they score or have the ball stolen, two members of the offense group will run to the half court line to become the next defensive team, while the third gets in the back of the line. The two defensive group members from the play will be joined by a third person from the line, and become the new offensive team to try to score on the other end of the court.

Hopefully you find these drills helpful when teaching your child the sport of basketball. If you’d like to spark some interest in the game, consider bringing them by our Lansdale trampoline park to try out our trampoline dunk basketball course. Feel free to give us a call if you have any questions about hours, location, or attractions!