Core techniques

BASKETBALL TRAINING Reading time : 8 min Updated August 10, 2026
Contents
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
In Paak

After “Core techniques”, plan the session

The generator is right on the session: plan by the players’ age band and the duration, pick a theme. Paak builds a minuted five-block outline (warm-up, two work blocks, a game and a cool-down) from this same library of 49 drills.

Planning, editing and saving the session is free.

Create my club What can Paak do for my club?

You coach, but you don’t run the club? Send this guide to your president