How to Plan Your First Week of Practice

The first week of practice is the most important week of the season that nobody watches. There are no games, no crowds and no scoreboards. But the habits your team builds in those five or six practices will show up in every game you play.

When I was a freshman head coach, I learned that the first week is less about installing plays and more about teaching players how to practice. How to move between drills, how to listen, how to compete. Get that right, and everything else goes in faster. Here is how I would plan it.

Decide What Week One Is For

Before you write a single drill, decide what you want players to walk away with after week one. I would keep it to three goals:

1. Players know how practice runs. Where to go, how fast to get there and what is expected in every drill.
2. Players know your defensive foundation. Stance, ball pressure and basic positioning.
3. Players believe this team competes. Every practice has winners and losers, and effort is the minimum.

Notice that “install the whole offense” is not on the list. That can wait.

Build a Practice Template You Will Repeat

Players learn faster when practice has a predictable flow. Create a template in week one and keep it for most of the season. A simple version:

• Dynamic warmup with a ball (10 minutes)
• Fundamentals block: footwork, ball handling, finishing (15 minutes)
• Defensive teaching (20 minutes)
• Offensive teaching (20 minutes)
• Competitive live play (20 minutes)
• Free throws and closing huddle (5 to 10 minutes)

Adjust the times to your gym schedule. The point is consistency. When players know what comes next, they waste less time and focus more on learning. I go deeper on practice structure in How to Plan Efficient Basketball Practices.

Day 1: Standards and Energy

Day one is about showing players what practice feels like here. Keep the talking short, maybe five minutes at the start. Then show your standards through action. If you want sprints between drills, stop the first time someone jogs and run it again. That moment teaches more than a speech.

Introduce stance and slides, a simple ball handling series and a competitive drill to end the day. Players should leave tired and excited to come back.

Day 2: Defensive Foundation

Review stance quickly, then add on-ball pressure with live one on one. Introduce your basic off-ball positions using a shell drill with passing only. Keep the offense simple: maybe your spacing rules and a basic passing drill.

If you need a defensive teaching order, I laid mine out in How to Teach Man to Man Defense Effectively.

Day 3: Offensive Foundation

Day three is a good time to introduce the base of your offense. Spacing, cutting rules and one primary action. Run it against no defense first, then against passive defense, then live. Keep the shell going for a few minutes so the defensive lessons from day two stick.

Day 4: Transition and Competition

Add transition basics on both ends. Sprint back on defense, fill lanes on offense. Then spend more time than usual on competitive drills. By day four, players are starting to get tired and a little bored. Competition brings the energy back.

Day 5: Put It Together

End the week with controlled live play. Half court five on five, using what you have taught. Stop often and teach. Celebrate players who do the little things, like talking on defense, sprinting back and making the extra pass. Finish with something fun, like a shooting competition or a team challenge.

Things to Do Every Day

• Start on time. Your punctuality teaches theirs.
• Keep score. Something competitive every single day.
• Shoot free throws when tired. It builds the habit early.
• Learn something about a player. Relationships start in week one, too.
• End with a short huddle. One thing that went well, one thing to fix tomorrow.

Common First Week Mistakes

Too much conditioning

Running players into the ground in week one feels tough, but it mostly creates sore legs and lower quality reps. Build conditioning into your drills instead. More on that in Preseason Conditioning That Prepares Players for Games.

Installing too much

Five sets and three defenses in the first week means nothing gets learned well. Go slow early so you can go fast later.

Too much talking

Players learn by doing. One teaching point, run it, correct it, run it again.

Week One Sets the Season

Nobody will remember your first week of practice in March. But they will feel it. The way your team moves between drills, competes and listens all traces back to what you established in those first few days. Plan it carefully, keep it simple and hold the standard from the first whistle.

If you want a full first-week practice plan template, along with drill videos, it is in Underdog Hoops University.

Frequently Asked Questions

What should you do in the first week of basketball practice?

Focus on teaching how practice runs, building your defensive foundation, introducing the base of your offense and making every day competitive. Save advanced sets for later.

How long should the first basketball practices be?

Most high school teams practice around 90 minutes to two hours. Plan every minute, and keep the structure consistent so players learn the flow.

Should you condition hard in the first week of practice?

Build conditioning into game-like drills rather than running separate sprints for long stretches. Heavy conditioning early often lowers the quality of skill work.