Basketball drills at home for 16 year olds

At a glance

At 16

74 basketball drills the app opens for a 16 year old work at home, across 6 skills.

How long

One home session of about 50 minutes; SSTracker never plans more than 75 minutes for a 16 year old.

How often

At most 5 training days a week, with rest days between. Organized sport in all: no more hours a week than the child's age (NATA), so at most 16 hours for a 16 year old, with two rest days a week.

What you need

Most used: basketballs (59 of the 74 drills), hoop (31), cones (13), wall (5), tape (3), chair or cone (2), agility ladder or tape lines (1), backboard (1). 3 drills need nothing but space. 22 are for two, and a parent can be the partner.

Safe at home

One child and one parent in a room, garage or yard. Never tackling, contact, diving or head-first falls, no stunts or loaded lifting, and nothing that needs a coach, rink, pool or court. Stop when anything hurts.

74 at-home drills

Basketball drills for 16 year olds to do at home

Every drill below is one the app opens for a 16 year old and one that works at home: a room, garage or yard, one parent as the partner, no venue. Each drill's page has the steps, a diagram where the setup can be drawn, three ways to make it a game and a log to print.

athleticism

Athleticism

• Slide, Turn and RunAges 11 and up · 10 min
• Squat Jumps with Soft LandingsAges 11 and up · 8 min
• Core Strength CircuitAges 7 and up · 10 min

ball handling

Ball Handling

• Retreat Dribble and PassAges 11 and up · 10 min
• Spider DribbleAges 11 and up · 10 min
• Two-Ball DribblingAges 11 and up · 8 min

defense

Defense

• Mirror SlidesAges 11 and up · 8 min
• Active Hands Wall DrillAges 7 and up · 6 min
• Hands Up, Feet MovingAges 7 and up · 6 min

passing

Passing

• Triple-Threat Pivot and PassAges 11 and up · 10 min
• Chest and Bounce Pass TargetsAges 7 and up · 8 min
• Overhead Pass TargetsAges 7 and up · 8 min

rebounding

Rebounding

• Wall Tip DrillAges 11 and up · 8 min
• Box-Out StanceAges 7 and up · 8 min
• Chin-It GrabsAges 7 and up · 8 min

A 48-minute session

A home basketball session for a 16 year old

A warm-up, 3 drills and a cool-down, 48 minutes in all. Do it up to 5 days a week, with rest days between.

1. 1Basketball Warm-Up, Ages 14 and UpA 12-minute moving warm-up for basketball players 14 and up: moving stretches, strength, single-leg control, cuts and build-up runs, then basketball moves at practice speed.12 min
2. 2Beat the Clock ShootingFast does not mean rushed. Keep your form.10 min
3. 3Stationary Ball Handling CircuitFingertips, not palms. Eyes up.10 min
4. 4Two-Ball DribblingKeep both hands working. Slow down to stay in control.8 min
5. 5Basketball Cool-Down Stretches, Ages 14 and UpA 8-minute cool-down for basketball players 14 and up after training: stretches for the legs, hips, shoulders and inner thighs, each held 20 to 30 seconds, never to pain.8 min

At 16

What changes in basketball training at 16

The app opens the same 74 at-home drills at 16 as at 15; the ones below are a different selection from that list.

Organized sport in all: no more hours a week than the child's age (NATA), so at most 16 hours for a 16 year old, with two rest days a week.

The week

Fitting basketball into a week at 16

At 16 the limit is 16 hours of organized sport a week. If you count home sessions against it to be safe, 5 sessions of 50 minutes is 4.17 hours, which leaves 11.83 for team practice and games. Even 5 days at the app's longest, 75 minutes, is 6.25 hours.

The research behind it

• Ages 13 to 15 are the "specializing years", after the sampling years of 6 to 12.

  Côté and Vierimaa 2014

• Organized sport should total no more hours a week than the child's age in years, with two rest days a week.

  NATA youth sport specialization recommendations

Questions and answers