LEARNING RESOURCES
JR NBA Curriculum Resources
Basketball Players Skills Checklist | Ages 6-18
Below you will find four documents breaking down all the required skills needed to become the best possible basketball player based on the age and level you are at from the Jr. NBA. You may consider looking at all four documents to see if there are any gaps in your foundation and development to adjust your training and skill work to incorporate those skills. When training and working at home it is important to to build all your base skills first before moving into more advanced or complicated concepts. These documents provide simple skills checklists required to be completed and mastered by the end of the age category shown above as outlined by the Jr NBA program.
These foundational skills use universal language and terminology that is widely understood by elite and high-level coaches and basketball trainers. An important to note is that these are base foundational skills and not a complete set of all the basketball moves and skills. Currently, there is too much information online, and sometimes this can be overwhelming when looking around for content and trainers to learn from. Our best advice is to focus on mastering the basics and the boring and the foundation to build a strong basketball player. When, former NBA legend Kobe Bryant trained his daughter, Gigi, the vast majority of their time together was spent working on base foundational skills, and not the advanced, technical fancy skills you may see on the internet or social media. The adage less is more could not be more true, and hopefully, these documents and tools will help you take your game to the next level.
Rookie
Ages 6-8
Starter
Ages 9-12
All-Star
Ages 13-14
MVP
Ages 15-18
Long-Term Athlete Development Model (LTAD)
So we use Canada's Long-Term Athlete Development model when planning and designing our athletic programming. It is important to train athletes at the level they are at and guide them appropriately using scientifically data-driven results training methods to support their athletic development better. This model is not just exclusive to basketball but can be adopted in all frameworks of athletic activity and sport, as the goal for any athletic program or sport is to create individuals who are active for life beyond the years of sport and later on as adults.
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We have two comprehensive documents for you to read. The first is the complete Long Term Athlete Development in Sport for Life (LTAD 3.0). This is the most updated version available, and the second document is the Long-Term Athlete Development Information for Parents (LTAD Parents). We know how important parents are in ensuring the appropriate development and support for their young athletes, so why not keep this guide with you as a tool and resource to understand better how you can better support your athlete at the appropriate age and level of your child's athletic development?​​
What is the LTAD Model?
Human development from birth to adulthood is a continuous process. To understand the process better, experts divide human development into distinct stages with specific characteristics; these are called stages of development.
In Canadian sport, experts have identified seven stages of development, each with its own physical, mental, emotional, and cognitive characteristics. This is our Long-Term Athlete Development (LTAD) model, and it’s the basis for the optimal training and competition kids need to enjoy sport the most and perform their best.
Why do we need the LTAD model?
Because participation in recreational sport and physical activity has been declining and physical education programs in schools are being marginalized.
Because the international performances of Canadian athletes have been declining in some sports.
Because other sports are having trouble identifying and developing the next generation of international athletes.
Because NOT matching skills and activities to a stage of development has serious negative consequences, and Canadians and the Canadian sport system have been suffering from them for some time. To mention just a few of them​:
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​Children don't have fun
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They develop bad habits because of the over-emphasis on winning;
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Their skill development is poor;
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They don’t reach their optimal performance level;
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Many burn out and drop out of sport.
References:
Long-Term Development in Sport and Physical Activity 3.0. Sport for Life. (2019). https://sportforlife.ca/portfolio-item/long-term-development-in-sport-and-physical-activity-3-0/​