Youth Curriculum (Grades 4-8)

Travel Basketball typically begins at the 4th grade level. This level of basketball usually introduces competition against other towns, full-court presses, and eventually zone defense. Over the years I've had the opportunity to coach players at this age level in camps, town recreation, and the travel level. What I wanted to create was a Grades 4-8 Youth Curriculum that coaches could use to create well-thought-out practice plans that fit their particular age group. In this curriculum, I included:

• A Skills & Scheme Checklist for each Grade
• Three different Practice Design templates to choose from
• A Drill Library that coaches could build their practice plans from
• Customizable Practice Plan Document built from the Drill Library
• End-of-Season Evaluation Form

The skills & scheme checklist is meant to be an overarching look at what players in this grade level should be familiar with by the end of the season. These are not things that they should have "mastered", but at least exposed to. The practice design template is meant to get coaches thinking about what they want to accomplish in each particular practice. Are these practices meant to be "skill heavy", "teaching heavy" or "free lay heavy"? Depending on which way we are leaning we should allot a certain amount of time to various elements of the game. Finally, I included a drill library that includes over 30+ practice concepts to use with your teams.

With the Grades 4-8 Youth Curriculum you can arm your coaches with the information necessary to build solid practice plans.