Basketball drills for 6 year olds

At 6

The age at a glance

This year

USA Basketball and the NBA group players by single age from 6, but their health and participation tables start at 7. At 6, SSTracker's basketball plans are the ages 4 to 6 games: play with a ball, no positions and no contact.

Ready for a team

Most children are ready for organized sport at about age 6; before that, young children need ample free play every day.

At 6

Organized sport in all: no more hours a week than the child's age (NATA), so at most 6 hours for a 6 year old. USA Basketball's hours table starts at 7.

At home

SSTracker keeps one home session for a 6 year old within 30 minutes and plans at most 3 home days a week, with rest days between.

8 drills

Drills for 6 year olds

Every drill here is one the app opens for 6 year olds, at the level for the age. Each page has the steps, a diagram where the setup can be drawn, three ways to make it a game and a practice log to print.

No hoop needed

At home without a hoop, at 6

8 drills for 6 year olds need no hoop or basket, so they work in a driveway, garage or hallway: Bounce and Catch, Animal Parade, Big Ball Catch, Flamingo Balance, Frog Jump the River, Rocket Run, Shoot into the Bucket, Tail Tag. Each drill's page says what to bring.

• Bounce and CatchAges 4 to 6 · 3 min
• Animal ParadeAges 4 to 6 · 3 min
• Big Ball CatchAges 4 to 6 · 3 min
• Flamingo BalanceAges 4 to 6 · 3 min
• Frog Jump the RiverAges 4 to 6 · 3 min
• Rocket RunAges 4 to 6 · 3 min
• Shoot into the BucketAges 4 to 6 · 3 min
• Tail TagAges 4 to 6 · 3 min

Questions parents ask

Basketball for 6 year olds: questions and answers