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Basic Basketball Handling Skills

Basic Basketball Skills

Children should be able to move the ball around their body using their hands without dropping the ball

Children should be able to bounce the ball and catch it again

Activity 1:

Free Dribble - Basketball

10 mins

Method:

  1. Give each person a Basketball if you have enough, one between two is ok if not.
  2. Make sure the basketballs are pumped up properly prior to the lesson!!
  3. Ask children to bounce the ball around the space that you have
  4. Children should try to stay within the area, should use their hands to bounce the ball and try to avoid bumping into others (look for spaces)

Teaching Points:

  • Give children the freedom to explore first - then start to drip feed some teaching points...
  • Bend your knees - not your waist for good posture; this helps you to keep your head up and see space/teammates etc when dribbling in a game
  • Press the ball, don't slap it. Use your finger tips rather than palm to press the ball into the ground
  • Encourage children the rise and fall (their hand) with the ball as they bounce it. They should feel the ball in their fingertips as it goes up and down
  • Use just one hand at a time to bounce the ball

Equipment:

Basketballs

Ball Control Skills - Basketball

Activity 2:

20 mins

Method:

  1. Each child should have a basketball
  2. Mark out an area to play in - allow plenty of room for each child to be able to dribble a basketball - you'll need to be on a hard floor and balls will need to be pumped up
  3. If working with reception you may need to start by bouncing using both hands on the ball - bounce it on the spot - a bounce and catch may be necessary for some. If not, ask them to try to bounce continuously
  4. Ask children to bounce the ball on the spot using one hand - focus on the teaching points of posture, handling and height of bounce
  5. Swap hands to the other hand (usually their less preferred hand)
  6. Bounce from one hand to the other alternately
  7. Ask children to bounce the ball up to head height while maintaining control of the ball
  8. Ask children to bounce the ball up to ankle height (as low as they can) while maintaining control of the ball and bouncing continuously
  9. Alternate between high, low and medium height dribbles and specify which hand they should use to bounce the ball
  10. Go back to bouncing up to knee/waist height but start to move around the area trying not to bump into others
  11. Call out the different heights of dribble and which hand you want them to use
  12. Go back to dribbling on the spot. Can they perform tricks such as bouncing the ball from one hand to the other behind their back or throught their legs
  13. Can they progress to doing this on the move
  14. Can they dribble around the area while balancing a cone on their head to ensure that their head is looking forward as they dribble

Teaching Points:

  • Bend knees
  • Keep head up
  • Use fingertips to press the ball rather than slapping it
  • Bounce ball between knee and waist height

Equipment:

Basketballs

Marker Cones

Activity 3:

Body Parts Game - Basketball Dribbling

10 mins

Method:

  1. Mark out an area to play in - enough space for your players to be able to dribble the ball around quickly in
  2. Each player has a basketball
  3. Players dribble or roll the ball around the area using their hands
  4. The coach calls out a body part and the children have to stop their ball and place that body part on the ball
  5. You can make it competitive and give a point to the first player to stop it with the correct body part
  6. Repeat

Teaching Points:

  • Use different types of ways to move the ball (roll, bounce and catch & roll from hand to hand)
  • Keep the ball close to you with gentle touches
  • Keep your head up as much as you can to see obstacles such as other people and their footballs

Equipment:

  • Markers/Cones
  • Basketballs

Activity 4:

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Method:

Teaching Points:

Equipment:

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