Basketball Point Guard Practice Plan for 7 and 8 Year Olds

The point guard's two seeds: dribble with your eyes up, and love the pass more than the shot. Both plant here, as games.

Stationary dribbling (either hand, comfortable rhythm) while you stand ten feet away flashing fingers; the kid calls each count. Miss the count, restart the streak. Two minutes each hand, streak record chased. Eyes-up is not a lecture; it is a game the eyes learn to win.

You walk unpredictable paths around the driveway; the kid dribbles behind, matching your route and speed, eyes on your back, calling out every direction change ("left! stopping!"). Three minutes, then swap: they lead, you follow dribbling (badly, to their delight). Dribbling becomes background noise; navigation becomes the job. That is the whole position in miniature.

The classic with a dribble: advance on green, freeze INTO a protected stance on red (ball on the hip, off-arm bar, eyes on you, dribble killed or kept low by your call). Wobbles or eyes-down restart. First to cross wins, best of three. Composure under a stop call is exactly what coaches need from a kid bringing the ball up against pressure.

Dribble-and-dish reps: the kid dribbles at you, and the MOMENT your hands present a target (chest height, anywhere), the pass fires crisp (chest or bounce by distance, their choice announced). Ten reps with the target moving around. Count "assists" out loud all session; the scoreboard teaches the identity. Point guards count assists the way scorers count points.

Dessert: passes thrown while looking at a decoy spot (you hold a hand wide as the fake target, the real target at your chest). Five silly reps, then two "real" ones where the look genuinely freezes you. Deception through the eyes, planted as comedy. The giggles are load-bearing: kids repeat what delights them.

Three narrated possessions where the kid is the floor general: bring it up (eyes up past your token pressure), call the "play" (any name they invent, shouted), and finish with an assist to your moving hands or a layup on your "GO!" call. Announcer voice throughout. End with the truth, said casually: the point guard is the coach on the floor, and coaches talk.

What to watch today: eyes dropping under any stress. The finger game and follow-the-leader hold the standard playfully; the moment a challenge appears (the red-light freeze, the pass window), watch whether the eyes dive to the ball. Every eyes-up rep under mild stress is the actual position being built; count those, and the rest is dessert.