Small-Sided Games · U10 drill · ages 8–10

Mushball

Make the free throw and you score. Miss it and three players fight for the rebound.

AgesU10+
Players4–12
Time12 min
Spacelane area
Equipment1 ball
Levelbeginner
Court diagram of the Mushball basketball drill: start positions and movement
Basket at the top. Orange circles: offense, X: defense, wavy line: dribble, dashed line: pass.

Setup

One player on each low block, everyone else in a line at the free-throw line, front player with the ball.

How it runs

  1. The shooter takes free throws and keeps shooting while they keep making them, one point each.
  2. Lane rules apply: the two block players hold until the ball leaves the shooter's hand, the shooter holds until the ball hits the rim.
  3. On a miss all three players fight for it; whoever rebounds is on offence one against two, worth two points for a basket.
  4. Nobody may go more than a step outside the lane, and play ends on a score, a held ball, a violation or the ball leaving the area.
  5. Rotate through the positions and back into the free-throw line.

Coaching point

Same free-throw routine every time, however loud the line gets.

In the U10 Drill Book, page 131

The full drill

  • 3 more coaching points
  • 3 common mistakes and how to fix them
  • 3 progressions to make it harder
  • a way to make it competitive

Plus 119 more drills for ages 8–10, one per page, with court diagrams.

More drills

All free U10 drills · All small-sided games drills · Drill videos on YouTube