A basketball practice plan can make a huge difference in a team’s success.
The Well Prepared Coach plans feature agendas for 30 practices with minute-by-minute breakouts of each exercise, along with key coaching points, basketball drills, shooting workouts, plays, and more. Available as an instant digital download, this ebook lets you print out each plan and bring it to practice or review it on your smartphone. You’re ready in a matter of minutes.
Why a Having a Plan is Essential for Youth Teams
You’ll save time, and you’ll be implementing a proven system that works. You’ll look great as a coach, and your players will be the primary beneficiaries. The difference from one season to the next can be dramatic! At practices, coaches can shine if they’re well prepared.
Coach’s Testimonial
“Thanks for the 30 Practice Plans! I coach 5th and 6th-grade girls’ basketball, and after winning only three games the previous two years combined, I began using your structured practice plans each week, and now we are one game away from the league championship!”
Mike Jadach, JV Coach Assumption School, Ansonia, CT
What College and Professional Coaches Say About Planning
“I would spend almost as much time planning practice as conducting it. Everything was planned out each day,” wrote legendary coach John Wooden. Most great basketball coaches are fanatics about their practice time.
“Practice structure determines success,” said Bobby Knight.
“Coaching is preparation,” notes Pete Carril.
“You better have great practices,” wrote Al McGuire.
Great basketball coaches know games are won before the first whistle sounds. Practices make a difference. Win your practices with planning and preparation. See basketball coaching quotes to gain additional insights into the importance that great basketball coaches place on planning.
It’s not just successful college basketball coaches who are concerned about planning. There’s a reoccurring problem: youth basketball coaches are not coming to basketball practices with plans. If you’re a youth basketball coach, you can shine by coming to practices with a proven system.
Teach your players ball handling, how to shoot a free throw, motion offense, how to receive the ball, and how to handle a full-court press. Offense skill development and defensive skill work. The fundamental skills that players will start with will improve dramatically. You’ll save on the amount of time you put in pre-practice work and will be able to coach at the moment.
“Your plans are fantastic! Many youth coaches are pressed for time, and these organized practice plans help me run an efficient practice with little preparation time needed. The plans are efficient for coaches, but the drills have paid dividends for our players. I really appreciate the work put into these.”
Mike Kobbervig, Coach – Casselton, North Dakota
The Well-Prepared Coach — $29.99
Free Youth Basketball Practice Plan
Here’s your sample practice plan template to get a feel for how it works. Each practice session is set for 90 minutes of court time. Coaches can elect to extend some activities and shorten other activities based on individual team needs. There’s a focus on basketball fundamentals for kids.
The 90-minute sessions can be extended to a 2-hour segment by adding some scrimmage time in the end. Or, to take a different approach, the practice time can be shortened to a 1-hour plan by removing 30 minutes of scheduled time at the coach’s discretion. Having an agenda for youth teams is essential. Don’t get left behind before the games even start.
Basketball Planner
This 88-page e-book includes tips, a coaching philosophy, pre-practice meeting agendas, practice agendas, inbounds plays, basketball drills, and sideline plays. It also has simple offensive plays, where to go for more ideas, fill-in activities and drills, off-season, driveway workouts, strategies, tactics, and more. See the table of contents pages for these plans below. The printable basketball plays are great for throw-in situations from the sidelines or underneath the basket.
This guide will get basketball coaches off to a great start with their teams. It’s essential to build trust with your basketball players. Don’t think in terms of just running drills. It’s about being a teacher. Players will develop the skills from the drills. You’ll have the master plan – a proven system that works.
This guide and basketball drills work for both girls’ and boys’ teams. The focus is on basketball fundamentals. Players will learn to rebound the ball, dribble the ball, and pass. They’ll learn plays for defenses and drills for defense. The drills coaching various skills will have your team executing offensive plays and defensive plays more effectively.
Coaches use this guide by printing off the practice plan for the practice and using it as an agenda. It’s beneficial to know what you’re doing next to focus on coaching at the moment. Other coaches access the plan via their smartphones.
CONTENTS
Coaching Book
HOW TO USE A PLAN. Print the pre-practice plan on one side of an 8.5 x 11″ sheet and the practice plan on the flip side. Either attach the one sheet to a coaching clipboard or fold it and put it in your pocket. It’s advised to review each plan before the practice, but if you’re running late, you can grab the sheet and the bag of basketballs and be on your way.
Sample Sideline Play
The Well-Prepared Coach strongly recommends that coaches meet with their players usually about 10 minutes before court time. These pre-practice meetings have many benefits. Players are ready to go when the court is available.
It’s also the time for a coach to get to know the players better. It gives players some time to talk a bit and ask questions. Coaches can cover essential topics, team news, and updates and prepare players for what will happen at practice. The extra time allows the coach to pass on important life lessons: the value of hard work, the importance of sportsmanship, and the power and magic of teamwork. Pre-practice topics and talking points are included to make things easier for you. Just follow the plan.
Increase your Chance for Success
To make the most of the coaching opportunity, it makes sense to you that you need to have a system. They should address an overall plan for the season and individual plans for each practice. You know that your team won’t be ready by just running a few drills and scrimmaging the rest of the time. The plan needs to address:
What to coach and when? It would help if you had a plan for what basketball skills should be taught at the first practice and in the early going and what can wait until later practices.
Fundamentals. You need to coach strategies, tactics, and skills that players can carry to future teams. You don’t need intricate plays that future teams may not run at all. Teams’ skills at every level are solid man-to-man defense, pick-and-roll, rebounding, and give-and-go.
How to keep your players engaged throughout the course of a long season and at every practice. How to balance repetition with variety so that kids stay interested.
Preparing your team for different situations that come up in a game and season is easy with the preparation provided by this guide. What should players do when they face a zone press? How to inbounds the ball from the sidelines to create a scoring opportunity?
How to make the most of the 10 minutes before each practice when you take the court. Here’s your opportunity to get to know your players better and pass on valuable knowledge. You’ll also teach some life lessons that players will carry on with them long after their days on the hardwood.
You might like Funny Basketball Jokes.
Enjoy the Basketball Season More
Using these agendas will enable you to enjoy the season more fully as you won’t be panicking on practice day, worrying about a plan for the evening’s session. Parents of players and other coaches will notice that you move through your practices with confidence. You’re prepared. You’re organized. It shows. Best of all, your players will learn a lot, play their best ball, and love basketball!
Here’s What You Get
• 30 ninety‐minute plans for 4th – 8th-grade teams. Exercises, explanations, and teaching points.
• 30 agendas and talking points for pre‐court-time meetings. Don’t miss your opportunity to really get to know your players and cover important topics. Here’s your opportunity to teach some life lessons. Typically, a tiny percentage of players play at the college level or the pros. But, the lessons kids can learn from a basketball coach can stay with them for a lifetime.
• A “Driveway Workout” for your players’ off‐season efforts. Youth basketball drills and shooting drills enable players to improve greatly if practiced regularly.
• Proven inbounds plays and sideline plays.
• “The Special Play” — This play results in many open lay‐ups in games. Here’s the ticket when you have to have a basket at a critical point in the game.
About the Author
MICHAEL O’HALLORAN has coached his four children on 15 different basketball teams. His 5th-grade girls’ team won the Minnesota State Championship. He authored Layups and Life Lessons: 101 Coaching Tips for Youth Basketball, Never Forget They’re Kids — Ideas for Coaching your Daughter’s 4th ‐ 8th Grade Basketball Team, and co‐created “The Well‐Prepared Coach™” line of coach handouts and award certificate printables.
He’s the founder and editor of Sports Feel Good Stories.com. Blogs.com selected the site as a “Top 10 Youth Sports Blogs for Parents.” His “Never Forget They’re Kids” approach to coaching sports emphasizes learning, having fun, and creating memorable experiences for players.
Digital Download Available Immediately
Upon purchase, you’ll receive a PDF – this product is a digital download. The PDF works on both Macs and PCs – make sure you have the latest version of Adobe Reader (available for free) on your computer. The PDF enables you to print out pages you want when you need them.
With purchase, you receive a link immediately to download this ebook. The PDF file, which you’ll save to your computer, works on PCs and Macs.
The Well-Prepared Coach — $29.99
Key Benefits
• A proven winner. First of all, the topics covered in a basketball practice plan, and the order in which they’re taught, have led to many a successful season, dozens of tournament trophies, and a Minnesota State Championship title.
• A time saver. You’ve heard the expression, “Plan the work and work the plan.” A big part of your coaching role has been completed for you with this purchase. You won’t have to worry about the ride to the gym about what you’ll cover with your players at practice, as you’ll be organized and prepared.
• A new sense of confidence in your coaching. By having a complete plan in place for every pre-practice meeting and every practice, you’ll be more relaxed and be able to enjoy the process more.
• A more competitive team. Your team will have the advantage of tested strategies that work — including inbound plays, sideline plays, and a “Driveway Workout” for off-season development.
• Engage your Players. Keep your players engaged. A well-thought-out agenda will keep your players involved as they improve their games and have a lot of fun in the process.
When you purchase this ebook, you’re sent a link immediately to download the PDF. The PDF file, which you’ll save to your computer, works on PCs and Macs.
What player ages are these plans appropriate for?
Appropriate for players ages eight years old to 16 years old.
Basketball Coach
Coach’s Testimonial
“Last year, I coached a 5th-grade boys basketball traveling team. It was my first year coaching and the kids’ first year playing. I used your practice plans, and they were great for me, and the kids did really well. This year they are playing 6th-grade ball at their school and are so far undefeated. I will be coaching them again after their school season is over and will definitely revisit your practice plans.”
Fred Dubray, Coach – Mobridge, South Dakota
Basketball Skills, Fun, And Life Lessons
When coaching youth basketball to kids, a lot of the skill teaching involves repetition. When players dribble and pass the correct way time after time in practice, it becomes part of their muscle memory. As a coach, you need to keep it fresh and fun.
Ultimately, the Best Youth Basketball Coaches are Great Teachers. What do great teachers do? They prepare and plan. They come ready to class. Great coaches assess what students are learning. They make adjustments. And great coaches are not just teaching basketball skills; they’re teaching life lessons.
The Well-Prepared Coach — $29.99
Basketball Coaching Bundle
You get both Youth Basketball Plans and the Award Certificates. Buy the bundle and save a bundle.
Get both the Plans and the Basketball Award Certificates Printables — $35.99
Check out these other sports practice plans
Also, check out our basketball certificate templates.
You might like: