Best Basketball Passing Drills for Kids
If you want a great sport for your kids, you should probably consider basketball since it’s easier to learn. The sport helps keep your kids active and has some physical and social benefits. Basketball teaches kids various things such as teamwork, hand-eye coordination, work ethic, problem-solving, agility, and discipline. Basketball involves a lot of skills that kids need to master from time to time. The basic fundamental skills include passing, shooting, rebounding, dribbling, and defense. Your kid can practice these skills at home or in a nearby park. All you need at home for your kid to get started is a basketball ring, a bouncy surface, a wall, and the basketball itself. This will make it easier for your kids to learn and develop better skills required in the game for better performance. One essential skill that kids need to learn includes basketball passing drills. These passing drills help improve the kids’ social skills, encourage sportsmanship and nurtures the competitive spirit. Below are some of the best basketball passing drills for kids:
This is among the easiest drills that can help kids learn how to pass the ball to one another without straining. Target practice starts by putting tape markers on some parts of a wall surface. Alternatively, you can identify visible spots or lines on the wall surface and take them as the targets. Ask your kids to hit the tape markers, spots, or lines using the ball as many times as possible using different passes. You can ask players to start by hitting all targets within a limited time. Alternatively, you can ask the kids to use different passes when hitting the targets.
2. Partner passing
Partner passing drill is ideal for a group of kids regardless of their ages. It works well even for beginners. To get started, separate the kids’ groups into smaller pairs and give each pair a basketball. Ensure the kids are standing on the court’s opposite sides. They can begin passing the ball among other players while maintaining their original position. Alternatively, the kids can dribble the basketball a bit and pass it to one another. The instructor can stand closer to the baseline and see how the kids pass to each other. After every few minutes, you can ask the players to switch to new pass types, i.e., one-handed pass and chest pass.
3. Wall passing
The main goal of this drill is to help your kids work on chest passes. The players can use a wall or a basketball rebounder if available. Rebounders work well for players aiming to improve how they make moves and take shots when there’s no team player available to pass the ball to them. To get started, instruct your kids to stand and face the wall or rebounder at a distance of about 12feet. They can then pass the ball to the wall and catch it after bouncing back. See the number of passes the kids make within 30 seconds and add to about 60 seconds to notice if there’s any difference. The player can also try wall tosses which involve using a single hand to pass the ball to the wall and catch it back.
4. Continuous 3 on 2
As the name suggests, the continuous 3-on-2 drill pits 3 offense players against 2 defense players. An extra player is added to the offense to ensure there’s a free player who can get the ball while the rest of the competing team players maintain a safe distance. As a rule of the game, fewer players must be left standing on the sideline’s edge. Every time an offensive player scores or gives the other team the ball, the teams must switch. In this case, a single offensive player must be sidelined, and a new player must join the upcoming offensive team. The best thing about the continuous 3 on 2 drills is that it gives all players the opportunity for both offensive and defensive teams. This makes kids develop greater ball passing skills while aiming for shots.
5. One hand alternating wall passing
This drill can be a bit challenging to kids, although it helps them a lot when passing when understood. Unlike most drills, the one-hand alternating wall passing drill needs players to have excellent hand-eye coordination. To get started, ask the kids to keep their feet back in line. The next step is to spread the feet apart to their shoulder width. While maintaining this position, they can start throwing the ball against the wall and catch it while alternating their hands. The ball should always be above the head height in the entire drill. The player should be keen to see the ball’s direction while bending the knees slightly. Kids can start with as little as 10 passes and increase as they continue gaining more skills.
6. Stationary keepings off
The general concept of basketball passing isn’t about execution but rather real-time problem solving and sound decision making. The stationary keeping off drill involves teaching players the best mechanisms of protecting and passing the basketball when under pressure from opponent players. Before the drill begins, you need to divide the group of kids into 2, i.e., offense and defense. The offensive team must then pass the basketball between the other players while making minimal movements around the basketball court. This will make the kids learn techniques for moving the basketball for pretty longer distances with fewer dribbles. For better performance, ask the players to use half the court. Ensure the other team plays offense. It’s also essential to ensure that all players participate in passing the ball to one another.
7. Monkey in the middle
Monkey in the middle is a passing drill for kids that involves 3 players. If you’ve got a group of kids, divide them into groups of 3 players each. From each group, ensure that 2 players stand 12-15 feet apart. The remaining player should get between the 2 players, typically closer to the kid holding the ball. The 2 outside players should then attempt to pass to the player on the other end such that the defender in between them doesn’t get the ball. Every time the defender steals the ball, the said player who lost the ball comes in as the defender, and the cycle continues.
