Basketball drills at home for 8 year olds

At a glance

At 8

31 basketball drills the app opens for an 8 year old work at home, across 6 skills.

How long

One home session of about 25 minutes; SSTracker never plans more than 30 minutes for an 8 year old.

How often

At most 3 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 8 hours for an 8 year old, with two rest days a week.

What you need

Most used: basketball (24 of the 31 drills), hoop (10), wall (4), tape (3), cones (2), agility ladder or tape lines (1), chalk or tape (1), floor line (1). 5 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.

31 at-home drills

Basketball drills for 8 year olds to do at home

Every drill below is one the app opens for an 8 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

• Line JumpsAges 7 and up · 6 min
• Quick Feet LadderAges 7 and up · 10 min
• Core Strength CircuitAges 7 and up · 10 min

ball handling

Ball Handling

• Red Light Dribble GameAges 7 and up · 8 min
• Stationary Ball Handling CircuitAges 7 and up · 10 min
• Figure Eight WrapsAges 7 and up · 8 min

defense

Defense

• Active Hands Wall DrillAges 7 and up · 6 min
• Hands Up, Feet MovingAges 7 and up · 6 min
• Slide Box DefenseAges 7 and up · 8 min

passing

Passing

• Pass and MoveAges 7 and up · 8 min
• Pivot and Pass FakesAges 7 and up · 8 min
• Wall PassingAges 7 and up · 10 min

rebounding

Rebounding

• Grab and Chin ItAges 7 and up · 6 min
• High-Point CatchAges 7 and up · 8 min
• Where Does It Bounce?Ages 7 and up · 8 min

A 23-minute session

A home basketball session for an 8 year old

A warm-up, 1 drill and a cool-down, 23 minutes in all. Do it up to 3 days a week, with rest days between.

1. 1Basketball Warm-Up, Ages 7 to 10An 8-minute moving warm-up for basketball players aged 7 to 10: easy running, moving stretches, balance and soft landings, then basketball moves. Before practice, never still stretches first.8 min
2. 2Stationary Ball Handling CircuitFingertips, not palms. Eyes up.10 min
3. 3Basketball Cool-Down Stretches, Ages 7 to 10A 5-minute cool-down for basketball players aged 7 to 10 after training: an easy walk, then gentle stretches for the legs, hips and shoulders, each held for a slow count of 10.5 min

At 8

What changes in basketball training at 8

The app opens the same 31 at-home drills at 8 as at 7; 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 8 hours for an 8 year old, with two rest days a week.

The week

Fitting basketball into a week at 8

At 8 the limit is 8 hours of organized sport a week. If you count home sessions against it to be safe, 3 sessions of 25 minutes is 1.25 hours, which leaves 6.75 for team practice and games. Even 3 days at the app's longest, 30 minutes, is 1.5 hours.

The research behind it

• Ages 6 to 12 are the "sampling years": high play, low deliberate practice.

  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