Core techniques

BASKETBALL TRAINING Reading time : 8 min Updated August 10, 2026
Basketball is learned in an order, and that order is published. Here is how the J+S lessons chain dribbling, shooting and passing — and the coaching points that recur from drill to drill.
Fundamental techniques The J+S learning order Three families — dribble, shooting, passing — each taught across three lessons. What changes level to level is the lesson’s printed objective, not the technique.
The learning order of basketball fundamentals in the J+S-Kids programme The J+S-Kids programme teaches basketball fundamentals in three families — dribble, shooting and passing — each across three lessons. Dribble runs from head up to the one-count stop to dribbling without looking at the ball; shooting runs from the standstill shot to shooting volume to the lay-up in motion; passing runs from moving to receive to the pass beating the dribble to the give-and-go with a hip-height catch. Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Dribble Lesson 1 head up, ball pushed not slapped Lesson 4 the one-count stop, no travel on restart Lesson 7 dribble without looking at the ball Shooting Lesson 2 the standstill shot Lesson 5 shooting volume and tempo Lesson 8 the lay-up in motion — its rhythm Passing Lesson 3 move to receive, short accurate pass Lesson 6 the pass beats the dribble — spacing Lesson 9 give-and-go, catch at hip height
  • The three families advance in parallel, one lesson in three each: dribble at lessons 1, 4, 7; shooting at 2, 5, 8; passing at 3, 6, 9.
  • Each objective is the one the lesson prints — it is the day’s success cue, not a style stage.
  • The lay-up arrives only at lesson 8: the standstill shot is mastered before the shot in motion.

Source: OFSPO, J+S-Kids Basketball, lessons 1 to 9 (Dribble 1-3, Shooting 1-3, Passing 1-3).

The published learning order

The J+S-Kids Basketball lessons are numbered, and the order is not decorative: dribble 1 → shooting 1 → passing 1 → dribble 2 → shooting 2 → passing 2 → dribble 3 → shooting 3 → passing 3 → contest forms. Three passes over each family, each harder than the last, rather than one block per theme.

The logic: a child meets dribbling three times across the season at three difficulty levels, instead of “doing dribbling” once in September.

Dribbling

The published objective of lesson 1 is simple: dribble without slapping the ball, stop, and go again. Then the one-count stop, then dribbling without looking at the ball (lesson 7).

The coaching points that recur across the pack: the ball is pushed, not slapped; head up; protect the ball; peripheral vision. Difficulty rises through constraint — weak hand, direction changes, a live defender — never through speed alone.

Shooting and finishing

Shooting starts from a standstill (lesson 2), then after a one-count stop (lesson 5), then on the move — the lay-up arrives in lesson 8 with its own rhythm.

This is also the family where basket height matters most: a shot grooved all year at 2.60 m has to be relearned at 3.05 m. That switch happens at U13.

Passing

Passing is learned on the move, not in lines: the published forms set passing against dribbling (“Passes vs dribble”), add a defender (“The stolen ball”), or give a target to reach (“Ball to the captain”). The idea being taught is that the pass travels faster than the dribble — a spacing argument, not an isolated technique.

1v1 and team play

One-on-one is a decision form, not a technical drill: “The customs officer” (cross a guarded zone), “The duel” (start seated, race for the ball). Team play follows the same logic — numerical advantage (2v1), then 2v2 and 3v3.

Worth noting for the youngest groups: screens are forbidden at U11, so the two-player game off a screen belongs to older categories.

Sources

  • J+S / OFSPO — J+S-Kids Basketball, lessons 1–10 (published learning objective per lesson).
  • OFSPO / ASEP — Cahier pratique 18, Basketball.
  • FFBB — Annexe 3 (basket heights); U9/U11 regulation (screens).
Last updated: August 10, 2026 ID : help.basketball.core-techniques