Practice Plans for Beginning Coaches
We have a lot of coaches who are just starting out and wondering how they should structure their practices. A lot of this will depend on what ages of kids you are coaching and the following outline is one that should be used for teams where practices are over an hour each time. That would usually be Junior High aged kids or teams that are competing at a higher level at an even younger age.
Use this set the first week of practice so that the kids get an idea of what is expected. Don’t worry about full court scrimmaging and I did leave some time off for conditioning.
15 minutes for Stretching/Warm Up Drills
15 Individual Defense Skills
20 Team Offense
10 Foul Shots
15 Set Plays/Inbound Plays or Situations
20 Offense vs Defense (HALF COURT)
2nd Week of Practice
15 Stretching
15 Individual Offense
20 Team Offense
10 Foul Shots
15 Rebounding
15 Full Court Scrimmages
Again, these are just guidelines and if you have more time I suggest you really focus on the defensive strategies as well as the offensive skills. At young ages the kids are like sponges and can take in so much. Don’t underestimate them and don’t be afraid to make them work.
