Basketball Finishing Practice Plan for 11 and 12 Year Olds

Three answers to traffic: through it (two-foot gather), around it (euro step), before it (floater). All walked before run, all ending soft off the glass. Strong gather, gentle finish.

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Two 45-second rounds of classic Mikan, one of reverse Mikan, counting makes against last session. Then six full-speed layups, three each side, footwork held to standard. The warmup ends when both hands have finished soft at speed.

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Attack from the wing at speed and, at the block, land BOTH feet together in one little hop (the gather), then rise strong for the finish off two feet. Five each side. The two-foot landing turns a flying layup into a loaded jump: stronger, balanced, un-bumpable, and it can wait a half-beat for a defender to fly by before releasing.

Walk the landing twice before the first speed rep. The hop is small and quiet; a big leap into the gather kills the jump that comes out of it.

Same drill, but as they gather, a parent gives a soft cushion bump on the shoulder or hip. The job: absorb it in the two-foot base and finish soft anyway. Start with taps and grow only as balance holds. Eight reps, alternating sides. This is where "finishes through contact" is actually built, one gentle cushion at a time.

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The euro is a layup whose two steps go in different directions: step one AT the cone defender, step two long and diagonal AROUND it, finish with the far hand. Walk it five times each side saying it out loud: "at him, around him." Then jog it. The ball swings low across the body during the second step, away from the imaginary reach.

Full approach from the top, one dribble into the euro at the cone, finishing off either hand. Five each direction. Watch for the travel that hides in rushed euros: the gather has to happen ON the first step, not before it. If steps blur, drop to a jog for two reps, zero drama.

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From the elbow: one dribble in, two-foot gather at the dotted-line distance, and a high soft one-hand runner over an imaginary rim protector, off the glass or straight in, their choice. Six reps right hand, six left. The floater is a shot put, not a flick: stiff-ish wrist, ball riding up on the palm shelf, released early and HIGH. Most first floaters are line drives; keep asking for ugly-high over pretty-flat.

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Six live-decision reps: attack the cone at speed while a parent calls the answer late: "through!" (two-foot gather finish), "around!" (euro), or "early!" (floater). The move is chosen by the call, at speed, off either side. End the session on a clean answered rep and name the day's best one on the walk inside.

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What to watch today: the second-to-last step. Every move in this session is decided there: the gather hop, the euro's lying first step, the floater's early rise. Film three reps on a phone, watch that one step together, and the whole session's coaching fits in ten seconds of slow motion.