Driveway Session: One Hand, Big Arc, Soft Landings
Everything in this session protects one thing: a one-hand release with the legs underneath it. Range is the enemy at this age. Stay close, aim high, and let makes make it fun.
Duration5 minEquipment1 ball (size 5)
Around the waist, around the knees, figure-eight through the legs, then ten soft catches: you toss, they catch with two hands and eyes on the ball. Finish with five "statue holds": they hold the ball in shooting position, ball on the finger pads of the strong hand, other hand on the side like a guide, elbow under the ball, and freeze for three seconds.
The statue hold is quietly the most important thing in the warmup. It is the shape every shot in this session starts from.
Coaching Cue
Cue: "Ball on your fingers, elbow under, freeze like a statue."
Block 1: One-Hand Form Shots · 10 minutes
Duration10 minEquipment1 ball, a spot 3-4 feet from the hoop
Stand three to four feet from the basket, straight on. Knees bend, ball rises, and they shoot with ONE hand, guide hand just resting on the side. Tell them there is an invisible fence between them and the rim and the ball has to go over it, not through it. High arc, soft landing on the rim or through the net. Ten shots, little break, ten more.
If the other hand keeps pushing the ball, have them shoot five with the guide hand behind their back. It feels wobbly, and that wobble is the lesson: the shooting hand can do it alone.
Coaching Cue
Cue: "Over the fence, not through it."
Durationincluded aboveEquipmentsame
Every fifth shot, they hold the follow-through until the ball hits the ground: arm up, wrist floppy, fingers pointing at the rim. Make it silly. Take a photo of the pose. At this age the follow-through sticks because it is fun to hold, not because they understand release mechanics.
Coaching Cue
Cue: "Hold it till the ball bounces."
Block 2: Make-It Games · 10 minutes
Duration6 minEquipment1 ball, 3 close spots
Three spots in a little arc around the basket, each about four feet out: left side, middle, right side. They have to make one shot from each spot to "go around the world." Count how many total shots the trip takes and try to beat that number on the second trip. Swishes count double toward nothing at all, except bragging rights, which at 8 is everything.
Coaching Cue
Cue: "Same shot every spot: bend, rise, over the fence."
Duration4 minEquipment1 ball
Alternate shots from the same close spot. Their makes are worth two, yours are worth one, first to ten. Shoot your shots with exaggerated perfect form and narrate nothing. Kids copy what they watch far more than what they are told.
Coaching Cue
Cue: none. Let them play.
Duration5 minEquipment1 ball
Five shots from their favorite spot. Count makes out loud, high-five every one, and end the session on a make even if it takes shot number six or seven. Last memory of the day should be the ball going in.
Coaching Cue
Cue: "One more make and we're done."
What to watch today: where the ball sits in their hand. Palm means every shot is a push. Finger pads mean a real shot is being built. Fix that one thing this year and you have done more for their shooting than any amount of distance work.
