You have volunteered to coach 5th grade basketball. You have never coached before and now here you are trying to learn what to do. I am here to help. The following is a detailed mock practice plan for 5th grade basketball. If I was coaching 5th grade this is what I would be doing. Hopefully this practice plan will help you figure out how to use your practice time to the best of your ability to get every player to make the most gains for each practice.
I am of the belief that “Biddy” basketball or pre-Junior High basketball should be focused on player development. Winning and losing should not matter to anybody at these ages. The work I detail in this practice plan speaks to that mindset. The fundamentals of dribbling, passing, shooting and defense are covered throughout the practice and only after those fundamentals are covered are team concepts introduced. The running of plays should be very limited at this age. I would recommend one motion offense and maybe 2 quick hitters is all that should be taught. The majority of the time in practice should be focused on the skill development of each player. With that in mind here is a practice plan for 5th grade basketball.
*Note-These plans and drills can be used for younger and older players.
0-5 Minutes-Dynamic Warmups
5-10 Minutes-Dribbling Drills
10-15 Minutes-Dribbling
15-20 Minutes-Outlet Passing to 2 on 0 Offense
20-25 Minutes-2 on 0 to 4 Cuts
25-30 Minutes-5 on 2 Passing
30-35 Minutes-1 Dribble Pullups
35-40 Minutes-2 Dribble Pullups
40-45 Minutes-Change of Direction to Pullups
45-50 Minutes-Stop the Cut-Offense and Defense
50-55 Minutes-Stop the Cut
55-60 Minutes-Closeouts
60-65 Minutes-Closeouts
65-70 Minutes-Closeouts
70-75 Minutes-Team Offense-Quick Hitters
75-80 Minutes-Team Offense-Quick Hitters
80-85 Minutes-Scrimmage 5 on 5/Game Situations
85-90 Minutes-Scrimmage 5 on 5/Game Situations
I am going to breakdown each segment a little more and outlined what I would be looking to accomplish as a 5th grade coach. While each segment is focused on one skill in particular, most of the drills and segments allow for multiple skills to be used in the drill. So even though the focus may be on defensive closeouts, you can let the offense play out the possession so your team is working on offense at the same time you are focused on defense.
0-5 Minutes-Dynamic Warmups
This first segment is to get the players moving and loosened up for the rest of practice. Full Court Layups or some type of full court dribbling would be best. That would get all the players running up and down with a ball in their hands to start practice.
5-15 Minutes-Dribbling
After the warmup, then I would have the players start working on dribbling. I would be switching the drill every practice to keep the players engaged. Do some stationary ball handling one practice. Then work on cone drills the next. Do full court 1 on 1 turn drill with a defender to work on body control and change of direction dribble the following practice. Keep switching the drill but have the focus be on dribbling.
15-25 Minutes-Outlet Passing to 2 on 0 working on the four cuts
I am going to assume the team has access to the full court. In this drill start with a simulated rebound and outlet pass. Once the rebounder throws the outlet pass then have them follow the ball handler down to the other end of the court. Once both players get down there then run a 2 man game with the cutter simulating making the four cuts off of the non-ball screen.
25-30 5 on 2 Passing
This is a nice little passing drill that I use at the high school level. It helps with passing but also works on defensive communication and anticipation. The way it works is 5 offensive players are standing in a circle. Think about the two blocks, halfway between 3 point line and foul line in the middle of the floor and about 2 foot outside the lane just above mid post. The offensive players are standing in those 5 spots.
The two defenders are in the middle of the offensive players. One ball is used. The offense tries to complete passes while the defense works on getting deflections or steals. The offense cannot move and is only allowed to pass to the 2 players not standing next to them.
This drill is fast paced and the defense works on anticipating the pass and filling the passing lane. The offense can pass the ball as quickly as possible to prevent the defense from getting into the passing lane. After a deflection or steal or after a certain number of passes then have the players switch positions and continue.
30-45 1 Dribble, 2 Dribble, Change of Direction Pullups
This 15 minute block is for shooting. Players now a days tend to only shoot 3’s and layups. So I try to use the mid-range as much as possible. The ability to defend the 1 dribble and 2 dribble pullups is very hard for defenses.
In this drill you can put 1 line on each wing and 1 line at the top of the key. Start with 1 dribble to the right and shoot. Then 1 dribble to the left and shot. Have all the lines move in the same direction so players are not running into each other. Have the players rebound their own shot and take the ball to the next line.
After 1 dribble, then have them dribble twice and shoot. Finally have the players dribble once then change direction with a crossover or between the legs and shoot. This segment is designed for shooting but it will also work on dribbling at the same time.
45-55 Minutes-Offense vs Defense-Stop the Cut
Now the team can break down and work on 1 defensive movement. This could be pick and roll. This could be post feed and relocation. This can be done with 2 or 3 or 4 players on offense and defense.
For this practice plan I have put stop the cut. One offensive and defensive player will start on the wing. One defender will be in help side guarding an offensive player in the opposite corner. The offensive player in the corner cuts to the basket. The help side defender stops the cut and redirects the player up the lane. The player with the ball passes the ball to the redirected player and then those 4 players play out the possession. Players are switching lines and offense and defense after each possession. These 10 minutes can be used to work on any individual defensive concept.
55-70 Closeouts
The next 15 minutes would be focused on closeouts. These can be 1 on 1, 2 on 2, 3 on 3, 4 on 4, or 5 on 5. A good defensive team is able to closeout to shooters without getting beat off the dribble. A bad defensive team will either not closeout close enough and give an easy look at a shot. Or they closeout too quickly and their man goes right around them off the dribble.
The defense starts with being able to closeout without giving up an easy shot but also not get beat off the dribble. The rest of defense does not matter unless the closeout is there.
So, start this drill using 1 offensive and 1 defensive player. Have the defensive player closeout and then play the possession out. After going through everybody once or twice add another player. Now you have on the ball defense and help side. Then add another offense and defense. I would not get up to 5 on 5 yet. I would keep it at 4 players on offense and 4 on defense so there is additional spacing forcing the defense to play in more space making it harder to guard.
70-80 Minutes-Team Offense-Quick Hitters
As 5th graders the players should be heavily focused on skill development and not on team concepts. But team concepts should be introduced a little bit. I would recommend 1 motion offense and 2 or 3 quick hitters. These 10 minutes would be for running and learning those 3 or 4 offensive plays. A quick hitter is a play that should get a shot in under 10 seconds. Start out here without defense and run the play on air. After learning the play then move into the last 10 minutes of practice.
80-90 Scrimmage-Game Situations
The last ten minutes continues off of the previous ten. Put a defense out there to guard the quick hitter. Put 15 or 20 seconds on the clock and have the offense get set up and run the play and get a shot off within those 15 or 20 seconds. It may take a couple of practices before the players can execute the play well. But plays should be ran in practice before using them in a game. Also some plays just do not work with the players so do not be stubborn as a coach. If the team has ran the play over and over again and still cannot execute it then scrap that play and put in a different play.
Conclusion
At the 5th grade level, the players are becoming more skilled and the ability level of the players and teams are starting to increase greatly. The fundamentals are becoming mastered but not quite all the way there yet. Running possessions with offense and defense make practices fun. But at the same time each possession is now working twice as efficient because both offense and defense is being learned at the same time. It is also a point in time where the basketball iq of the players are starting to show where the smarter players are separating themselves from the other players. Realize as a coach the level of each player and put each player in positions to fail but with some practice are able to succeed in each drill.