God 1st Youth Basketball
Coach’s Practice Guide
2014
Welcome to God 1st Basketball
Thank you for your decision to coach a God 1st Basketball team in 2014.
We appreciate your commitment to the children on your team. This
coaching guide is designed to help you in your efforts to be a very
important leader in the lives of the children of our community. Coaching
young children is challenging, but it is also very rewarding. Please follow
this practice guide… this guide was developed to help you lead the
children in a way that will help them develop their skills and gain
confidence in their abilities as the season progresses.
Important reminders:
 Switch practice drills every few minutes
during your practice time. Many children
have very short attention spans… switching
drills will help hold their attention.
 Stop half way through practice for a break
and devotionals. The mid-practice break
with allow the players to rest and
recuperate.
 Develop a snack list that assigns a parent
to bring snacks and drinks for each
practice and each game.
 Each player is to be given equal playing
time. Have a list for each game that
outlines which quarters each child is to
play and make sure the list is followed.
 Each player is to be given equal
opportunity to dribble the ball up the
court.
 Head league coaches, Beverly Terry (for 34 year old and 5-6 year old teams) and
Joe Wainscott (for 7-8 year old and 9-11
year old teams), are available to help with
any problems or questions you may have.
 This is a non-competitive league. It is for skill
development and for positive fellowship
and growth in Christ. Coaches are to
remain positive and encouraging in their
interactions with the players and the
parents of the players.
 Some of the reasons that no score is kept is
to keep the focus on skill development,
positive interactions, equal playing time,
and growth in Christ. Please keep this in
mind and refrain from telling the children
the score. Also, with this in mind, please do
not allow the quest to “win” to cause
unequal time each child gets to handle
the ball.
The main duties of a God 1st Basketball coach are: to assist players in
growing in their relationship with Christ by making the devotions the center
of each practice and game; to follow the practice guide to help each
child develop and improve basic basketball skills; to model Christ-like
behavior by interacting positively with each player and parent; to
schedule and ensure equal ball handling opportunity for each player; to
organize snack lists and other responsibilities of the team parents.
All of these duties are equally important for the success of your team.
Success in God 1st Basketball is a growth in the players’ relationships with
Christ and skill development.
Practice Week 1
No shooting the first practice
Dribbling games for 15 minutes. Passing games for 15 minutes. Break for 5
minutes (drink, bathroom, sit in group and rest). Devotion for 5 minutes.
Dribbling games for 10 minutes. Passing games for 10 minutes.
Practice Focus: Teamwork, ball handling, getting to know each other
Age groups 3-4 and 5-6: Remember to switch activities often to keep the
children engaged. Encourage by using lots of praise and eye contact.
Age groups 7-8 and 9-11: Remember to encourage by using lots of praise
and eye contact.
Dribbling games… FOCUS ON TECHNIQUE and BALL CONTROL
Dribble racing. Form two “teams” (split as evenly as possible). Have each
team line up at the sideline. Have a dribbling relay race.
All Directions (dribble dance). Have each child dribble the ball while
standing in place. Call out a direction, then blow your whistle. Have the
children dribble in that direction. Call out a different direction, blow
whistle. Children switch direction. Older children can also switch hands.
Shorten time and lengthen time between switches.
Dribbling train. Have each child line up like a train… and dribble as the
“train” moves. A coach acts as the “engine” and leads the train in all
directions and at various speeds. Older children can also be told to
switch hands.
Fast and Slow. Have each child dribble in place. Have them dribble fast,
slow, high, low, switch hands.
Passing Games… FOCUS ON TECHNIQUE and BALL CONTROL
Bounce pass name game. Have children line up. Coach bounce passes
ball to each child. Child bounce passes back and calls out their name.
Bounce pass step out. Match each child with a partner (as evenly as
possible). Position them fairly close to each other. Have them bounce
pass to their partner and have the partner bounce pass back. Then, have
each child take a step away from each other, pass again both directions.
Continue until it is a struggle for most to pass in a controlled manner then
have them step toward each other as they pass back and forth.
Dribble bounce pass. While grouped in “partners”, have each child take
turns dribbling in place to the count of 3 and then bounce pass. So,
Dribble, two, three, pass… back and forth between partners.
Practice week 2
Dribbling games for 15 minutes. Passing games for 15 minutes. Break for 5
minutes (drink, bathroom, sit in group and rest). Devotion for 5 minutes.
Shooting games for 10 minutes. Dribbling games for 10 minutes.
Practice Focus: Teamwork, ball handling, starting to shoot.
Shooting during last part of practice. After devotional only.
Dribbling and Passing Game: FOCUS ON TECHNIQUE and BALL CONTROL
 Dribbling and Passing games from week one.
Shooting Games: FOCUS ON TECHNIQUE and BALL CONTROL
Lay-ups or dribble, dribble, shoot (depending on skill level). Form two
lines. One line takes turns going in for lay-up or dribbles in and shoots.
Other line rebounds and bounce passes to next in shooting line.
Free throw block out. Have one player at free throw line. Have others line
up around the lane. Have players rebound the shot. Rotate so the next
player gets to shoot.
Rebound roundup. Have players pair up. The coach misses a shot… the
pair of players go for the rebound. Focus on not fouling… keeping hands
up… blocking out.
Practice week 3
Dribbling games for 15 minutes. Passing games for 15 minutes. Break for 5
minutes (drink, bathroom, sit in group and rest). Devotion for 5 minutes.
Shooting games for 15 minutes. Passing games for 5 minutes. Dribbling
games for 5 minutes.
Practice Focus: Teamwork, ball handling, simple plays such as defending
goal.
Shooting during last part of practice. After devotional only.
Dribbling and Passing Game: FOCUS ON TECHNIQUE and BALL CONTROL
 Dribbling and Passing games from week one.
Shooting Games: FOCUS ON TECHNIQUE and BALL CONTROL
 Shooting games from week two.
Practice week 4
Dribbling and Passing games for 15 minutes. Shooting games for 15
minutes. Break for 5 minutes (drink, bathroom, sit in group and rest).
Devotion for 5 minutes. Shooting games for 15 minutes. Passing games for
5 minutes. Dribbling games for 5 minutes.
Dribbling and Passing Game: FOCUS ON TECHNIQUE and BALL CONTROL
 Dribbling and Passing games from week one.
Shooting Games: FOCUS ON TECHNIQUE and BALL CONTROL
 Shooting games from week two.
Practice week 5
Dribbling and Passing games for 15 minutes. Shooting games for 15
minutes. Break for 5 minutes (drink, bathroom, sit in group and rest).
Devotion for 5 minutes. Shooting games for 15 minutes. Passing games for
5 minutes. Dribbling games for 5 minutes.
Dribbling and Passing Game: FOCUS ON TECHNIQUE and BALL CONTROL
 Dribbling and Passing games from week one.
Shooting Games: FOCUS ON TECHNIQUE and BALL CONTROL
 Shooting games from week two.
INCORPORATE SIMPLE PLAYS DURING THE SHOOTING GAMES AND PASSING
GAMES
Practice week 6
Dribbling and Passing games for 15 minutes. Shooting games for 15
minutes. Break for 5 minutes (drink, bathroom, sit in group and rest).
Devotion for 5 minutes. Shooting games for 15 minutes. Passing games for
5 minutes. Dribbling games for 5 minutes.
Dribbling and Passing Game: FOCUS ON TECHNIQUE and BALL CONTROL
 Dribbling and Passing games from week one.
Shooting Games: FOCUS ON TECHNIQUE and BALL CONTROL
 Shooting games from week two.
INCORPORATE SIMPLE PLAYS DURING THE SHOOTING GAMES AND PASSING
GAMES
Practice week 7
Dribbling and Passing games for 15 minutes. Shooting games for 15
minutes. Break for 5 minutes (drink, bathroom, sit in group and rest).
Devotion for 5 minutes. Shooting games for 15 minutes. Passing games for
5 minutes. Dribbling games for 5 minutes.
Dribbling and Passing Game: FOCUS ON TECHNIQUE and BALL CONTROL
 Dribbling and Passing games from week one.
Shooting Games: FOCUS ON TECHNIQUE and BALL CONTROL
 Shooting games from week two.
INCORPORATE SIMPLE PLAYS DURING THE SHOOTING GAMES AND PASSING
GAMES
Practice week 8
Dribbling and Passing games for 15 minutes. Shooting games for 15
minutes. Break for 5 minutes (drink, bathroom, sit in group and rest).
Devotion for 5 minutes. Shooting games for 15 minutes. Passing games for
5 minutes. Dribbling games for 5 minutes.
Dribbling and Passing Game: FOCUS ON TECHNIQUE and BALL CONTROL
 Dribbling and Passing games from week one.
Shooting Games: FOCUS ON TECHNIQUE and BALL CONTROL
 Shooting games from week two.
INCORPORATE SIMPLE PLAYS DURING THE SHOOTING GAMES AND PASSING
GAMES
Thank you for your
commitment to the
children of our community