12 Basketball Drills Kids Can Do at Home This Winter
No hoop, no gym, ten minutes. These are the drills our coaches actually send kids home with, in the order we would do them.
- Ten minutes a day beats an hour on Sunday. Consistency is the whole trick.
- Nine of these twelve drills need no hoop at all.
- Ball handling and footwork are the two things that improve fastest at home.
- Shooting form can be practised lying on the floor. It is the drill kids resist and the one that works.
From November to March in Saskatchewan, the driveway hoop is decorative. That is a long stretch to go without touching a ball, and it is why kids often come back in spring a little worse than they finished in the fall.
None of this needs a gym. Most of it needs a basement, a hallway or a garage, a ball, and ten minutes.
Ball handling (no hoop needed)
1. Pound dribbles
Dribble as hard as possible at knee height, 30 seconds each hand. The goal is force, not speed. A hard dribble is a dribble a defender cannot take.
2. Crossovers, in place
Low and wide, 30 seconds. Eyes up the entire time. If they are watching the ball, slow it down until they are not.
3. Figure eights
Weave the ball around and between both legs, one direction for 30 seconds, then the other. This is the drill that builds soft hands.
4. Two-ball dribbling
Two balls at once, same rhythm, then alternating. Nothing exposes a weak off hand faster, which is the point.
5. Wall taps
Tap a ball against a wall with fingertips, above the head, 30 seconds. Fingertip control is what makes everything else possible.
6. Chair or cone weaves
Set up two kitchen chairs and weave through them with a change of direction at each one. Slow and correct beats fast and sloppy every time.
Footwork (no hoop, no ball needed)
7. Defensive slides
Stance low, hands active, slide five steps one way and five back. Three sets. Feet never cross. This is the drill nobody does, which is exactly why it stands out at a tryout.
8. Jump stops
Two or three steps, land on both feet at the same time, balanced, hold it. Then pivot on one foot. Travelling calls disappear when this becomes automatic.
9. Closeout steps
Sprint three steps, then chop the feet short and get the hands up. Learning to arrive under control is the difference between contesting a shot and fouling.
Shooting (a hoop helps, but two of these do not need one)
10. Lying-down form shooting
Lie on the floor, shoot the ball straight up, catch it. Check three things: elbow under the ball, wrist snapped, ball rotating backwards. Fifty of these teaches more about form than a hundred shots at a rim.
11. Wall form shooting
Stand a metre from a wall and shoot into it with one hand, aiming at a spot. The off hand only guides; it never pushes.
12. One-hand finishes
If there is a hoop in the garage or at a school gym, ten layups with each hand, every day. The off-hand finish is the most common thing missing in a young player's game and the fastest to fix.
How to actually make it stick
- Ten minutes, most days. Small and boring beats big and occasional.
- Same time every day. After school or before dinner. Habits beat motivation, especially in February.
- Count something. Kids will do 100 crossovers and quit at "practise your handles for a while".
- Do not correct everything. One cue per session. "Eyes up" is enough for a whole week.
What home practice cannot do
It cannot give a player live reps against someone trying to stop them, and it cannot correct a habit they cannot see. That is what a coached hour is for.
Weekly Skills Training runs every week of the year in groups of eight, and 3x3 sessions are almost entirely live play. If your child is going to practise at home all winter, one coached hour a week makes that practice worth far more. There is also open gym, $10 to drop in, for the weeks when they just want to shoot.
Frequently asked questions
Can kids practise basketball at home without a hoop?
Yes. Ball handling, footwork and shooting form all improve without a rim. Nine of the twelve drills in this post need no hoop at all.
How long should a young player practise at home?
Ten minutes a day, most days, is better than one long session a week. Consistency is what builds the hands and the habits.
What is the fastest skill to improve at home?
Ball handling. It needs no hoop, almost no space, and it responds to daily repetition faster than anything else in the game.
Where can my child play indoors in Regina during winter?
Open gym runs every week of the year, $10 to drop in or free with a membership, and weekly coached sessions run all winter too.
Not sure where your kid fits?
Leave your name and email and a HoopLife coach will help you work it out. Or start with the $10 Get Started package: a planning meeting with a Director plus their first session.
