— TRAINING SESSION

Just Play Day (U8)

Block and Bank · 35 minutes · 5 drills · Generated 13 May 2026

Age group: U8
Focus: Fun
Duration: 35 minutes
Drills: 5

Once a month, ditch the structure. All games, all the time. Kids who only ever drill burn out; kids who play stay.

5DRILLS

35MINUTES

7AVG / DRILL

1 Animal Walks Warm-Up

4 min Difficulty: Beginner Age: u8 Court: Half

Players cross the court doing different animal walks: bear crawl forward, crab walk sideways, inchworm forward, frog jumps, spider crawl.

Full-body dynamic warm-up that's actually fun. Activates hips, shoulders, core, gets kids laughing.

Coaching points

Bear crawl: opposite hand and foot together.
Crab walk: bum off the ground, eyes forward.
Inchworm: straight legs on the walk-out.
Frog jumps: explode from squat, land soft.
Don't sacrifice form for speed.

2 Sharks and Minnows

10 min Difficulty: Beginner Age: u8 Court: Full

Classic youth dribbling game. Minnows each have a ball and try to dribble from baseline to baseline. Sharks have no ball and try to knock the minnows' balls away. Last minnow standing wins.

Makes ball-handling fun. Builds protection and court awareness without anyone realising they're being trained.

Coaching points

Minnows: keep dribble on the strong side, away from sharks.
Use your body and off-arm to protect.
Keep your head up, see the sharks coming.
Sharks: contest with the off-hand, never grab.
Get everyone involved every round.

3 Red Light, Green Light

8 min Difficulty: Beginner Age: u8 Court: Full

Players line up on baseline with a ball. On 'GREEN LIGHT' they dribble toward the other baseline. On 'RED LIGHT' they jump-stop in triple-threat. Anyone moving on RED goes back to start.

Teaches stop-and-go dribbling and the all-important jump-stop. Kids love it.

Coaching points

Green light: low and explosive, first step beats the defence.
Red light: jump-stop, both feet together, triple-threat.
Eyes up always, listen and watch.
No travelling on the stop.
First across the line wins the round.

4 Steal the Bacon

10 min Difficulty: Beginner Age: u10 Court: Full

Two teams line up on opposite baselines. Ball sits at half-court. Coach calls a number; player with that number from each team sprints. Whoever grabs it attacks; the other defends.

Classic chaos for grassroots practices. Builds reaction speed, transition, 1v1 competition.

Coaching points

Sprint flat-out, first to ball wins half the battle.
Low on the pickup, don't dive.
Attacker reads, doesn't just charge.
Defender between attacker and basket.
Return to team immediately after.

5 Cool Down Routine

3 min Difficulty: Beginner Age: u8 Court: Half

End-of-practice: 30 seconds each, toe touches, quad stretch, hamstring stretch, calf stretch, lunge stretch, cobra back stretch, shoulder rolls. Total 4 minutes.

Most coaches skip it. Don't. Recovery starts here. Players who stretch consistently miss less practice from soreness.

Coaching points

Slow movements, no bouncing.
Breathe, exhale on stretch.
Don't push through pain, just to the edge.
Hold each stretch.
Debrief while stretching: what worked today?