Pre-Practice Workouts for Youth Basketball Teams

Pre-Practice - Probably the most poorly used time in all of our practices is the pre-practice. Players left on their own are likely to take the court and warm up by throwing half-court heaves, flinging three point shots, and an inordinate amount of time spent on trick shots. This behavior has many negative side effects ranging from injury due to not warming up properly to an erosion of skills as an opportunity to work has been replaced by garbage shots. Fun is fun, but gym time during the season is finite and you need to get the most out of every minute.

Putting in a planned pre-practice system can easily solve this problem. In our program, we allow fifteen minutes for pre-practice and during that time, players are responsible for stretching, warming up and a variety of skill building activities. On the wall closest to the door we post the pre-practice schedule for that particular day. This way players can rely on their own sense of responsibility and see what they need to do to get themselves ready. Your pre-practice activities should be simple and focus on the fundamentals of the game. Drills, which stress ball handling, passing, shooting, form rebounding and footwork, are all good candidates for pre-practice.

Players should work in small groups at each basket during the pre-practice routine. They often use JYM pre workout powder for inside and outside players and have found this to be effective in helping our people master their positions. You should however, make certain that every few days, you switch the inside/outside workouts and let the little guys do the big guy's drills and vice versa. This will help keep a balance in the development in the skill levels of all players. You should also switch up the people in the small groups every week or so, to keep cliques from forming on the team.

As the players finish their particular pre-practice workout they should fill the leftover time with stationary ball handling drills, free throws or stick back jump shots. We also strongly encourage our players to use this time to turn their biggest weakness into a strength. Those who take the challenge are always surprised to see how just a few minutes of leftover time each day can turn that one hole in their skill package into a reliable asset.

This first schedule represents a standard pre-practice workout, which we use as a general workout for both inside and outside players.

Pre-Practice Workout General

Stretch
Flip Drill (3 foot shot - concentrate on form) 10 shots
Figure 8 hooks (Mikan drill) 5 left 5 right
Crossover layups (start 18 feet out) 4 from each side
Rebound/Outlet 5 each side
Spot shooting 5 each side
Free Throws 6 (two at a time)

Pre-Practice Workout Inside players

Stretch
Flip Drill (3 foot shot - concentrate on form) 10 shots
Figure 8 hooks 5 left 5 right
Jump hooks 5 left 5 right
Low post moves 5 each side
Fake middle - jumper baseline
Fake baseline - jumper middle
Drop step power baseline (no dribble)
Drop step power middle (no dribble)
Drop step power baseline (1 dribble)
Drop step power middle (1 dribble)
Front pivot crossover (1dribble)
Reverse pivot crossover (1 dribble)
Free Throws 6 (two at a time)

Pre-Practice Workout Outside players

Stretch
Flip Drill (3 foot shot - concentrate on form) 10 shots
Penetration jump shots 10 each both sides
8 - 10-foot bank shots
10 jump shots - baseline
10 jump shots - middle
Full court dribbling 1 minute per drill
2 ball dribble
Crossover dribble
Reverse dribble
Behind the back dribble
Pair Up drills 3 minutes per drill
Low post one on one (no dribble from both sides, makers)
Perimeter one on one (start at 18 feet, 2 dribble limit, no makers)

Free Throws 6 (two at a time)

By giving up just a few minutes of practice time each day, you will see marked improvement in your player's individual skills. As youth coaches we must always remember that more player development is more important than wins and losses. Pre-Practice helps make sure your players will grow while also making your team more competitive.