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Kindergarten Fundamental Checklist
Coaching 5 and 6 year-olds is a challenging task. Many coaches might feel this is too young of an age to teach basketball, but if you keep the instruction fun and focus on age-appropriate skills, it can be an enjoyable experience for coaches and players.
Below are some focus areas. Click here for a complete list of tips for coaching kindergarten basketball.
Effort and Enjoyment
- Can have FUN!
- Can develop age-appropriate skills
- Can be a good teammate
- Can be LOUD and enthusiastic
Kindergarten Dribbling
- Stationary Dribble (strong hand) with head down
- Jogging Dribble (strong hand) with head down
- Lay-up Dribble (strong hand) with head down
Kindergarten Lay-ups
- Know the aiming point: Top Corner of the Square
- Lay-up SHOT / Block Lay-up with no footwork
Kindergarten Shooting
- Knows the shooting fundamentals BEEF – balance, elbow, eyes, follow through
- Hold the ball correctly: line up the seams with shooting hand, non-shooting hand cover the side seams
- Imaginary shooting: Good “imaginary” shooting without the ball
- Right block shot, Left block shot (rarely makes shots)
- left baseline, center, right baseline (rarely makes shots)
Kindergarten Passing
- Know “TIPS TO TARGET” & “THUMBS DOWN”
- Stationary chest pass: Able to make a decent chest pass
- Stationary bounce pass: Able to make a poor bounce pass, unable to select the proper point to have the ball bounce (3/4ths the distance). Bounce passes are very inconsistent.
Kindergarten Catching
- Able to have hands up in receiving position.
- Stationary chest pass: Has difficulty catching a chest pass consistently
- Stationary bounce pass: Able to catch a bounce pass MORE consistently than a chest pass.
- Rarely able to catch any type of pass in a game situation
Kindergarten Defense
- Able to get into a defensive stance