Tag: Youth Basketball Tryouts

Youth Basketball Tryouts: Evaluate Speed & Dribbling
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The following drills are designed to evaluate players at a youth basketball tryout!

Speed and Full Court Dribbling: The following drills are excellent to evaluate dribbling skills and speed. Each drill is quick. A coach can space the drills throughout a practice. There are many factors involved in selecting a team. Identifying players who are athletic should a priority early in in the evaluation process. An ideal candidate is an athlete who possess good basketball skills. This is not the case for all players.

The question a coaching staff must ask is “Would we rather have an athlete with limited skills who might develop into a good player or do we prefer a good fundamental basketball with limited athletic ability?”
1. 3 trips (Full court dribbling) (Basic Skill Level): This is a simple drill that measures how quickly a player can dribble the ball full court. Each trip is down and back. You can give a time or simply group the kids into categories A, B, C. Variation: For younger players (grades 4 and under) have players dribble only with strong hand.
  - Strong hand dribble
  - Weak hand dribble
  - Alternating Dribble
2. 4 trips (2-ball Full court dribbling) (Advanced Skill Level): This is a more advanced drill that can be incorporated into practice once a team is selected. Players will dribble 2 balls for 2 trips and 1 ball for 2 trips. Each trip is down and back. You can give a time or simply group the kids into categories A, B, C.
  - 2-balls together
  - 2-ball alternating
  - Strong hand dribble
  - Weak hand dribble
3. Suicide Sprints (speed) (Basic Skill Level): This drill evaluates two things. First, how fast a player is - SPEED. Second, is the player in good shape - CONDITIONING. The team lines up on the baseline. On the whistle, the players run to the free throw line, touch the floor and return to the baseline. The players then sprint to half court, touch the floor and return to the baseline. Now the the players run to the OPPOSITE free throw line, touch the floor and return to the baseline. For the final segment the players run to the opposite baseline, touch the floor and return to the baseline. Record the fastest and slowest scores. If you want you can create a point value for times 1 - 10. Variation: Full court sprint, Down and back, half court back, full court and back.
October 14, 2016
Youth Basketball: Travel Team Tryouts
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October 5, 2016
Youth Basketball Tryout: Full Court Dribbling Drills
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Basketball Jokes & Youth Tryout Ideas
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The following drills are designed to evaluate players at a youth basketball tryout. There is a limited amount of time and often a large number of players. Ideally there should be a 1:1 or 2:1 ball to player ratio to guarantee the maximum amount of repetitions.

Evaluating the players is huge challenge with these drills I would group the players into 3 categories:

A = Top players who dribble well with the head up and are the first to finish.

B = The “middle of the pack” players who dribble ok and finish in the middle.

C = Players who do not dribble well and are good athletes.

* For suicides and sprints, it is a straight speed evaluation. Simply group the players based on order of finish.

Speed and Full Court Dribbling

1. 3 trips (Full court dribbling) This is a simple drill that measures how quickly a player can dribble the ball full court. Each trip is down and back. You can give a time or simply group the kids into categories A, B, C.
- Strong hand dribble
- Weak hand dribble
- Alternating Dribble
2. 4 trips (2-ball Full court dribbling) This is a more advanced drill that can be incorporated into practice once a team is selected. Players will dribble 2 balls for 2 trips and 1 ball for 2 trips. Each trip is down and back. You can give a time or simply group the kids into categories A, B, C.
- 2-balls together
- 2-ball alternating
- Strong hand dribble
- Weak hand dribble
3. Suicide Sprints (speed): This drill evaluates two things. First, how fast a player is. Second, is the player in good shape. The team lines up on the baseline. On the whistle, the players run to the free throw line, touch the floor and return to the baseline. The players then sprint to half court, touch the floor and return to the baseline. Now the the players run to the OPPOSITE free throw line, touch the floor and return to the baseline. For the final segment the players run to the opposite baseline, touch the floor and return to the baseline. Record the fastest and slowest scores. If you want you can create a point value for times 1 – 10. Variation: Full court sprint, Down and back, half court back, full court and back.

Dribbling (10 Reasons to Teach Dribbling 1st)

1. Dribble March (between the legs) This is a simple basic dribble that players lift the leg up as they dribble the ball between the legs. Variations: Stationary to introduce. & Use a side dribble (or more) before dribbling between the legs.
2. Dribble Walk (between the legs) This is a simple basic dribble that players lift the leg up as they dribble the ball between the legs. Variations: Stationary to introduce. & Use a side dribble (or more) before dribbling between the legs.
October 5, 2016