How to Run Basketball Tryouts

These are the stations the scorecard builder can add to the sheet, in the order they usually run. Delete the ones you are not running: a station on the sheet that never happened leaves a blank that looks like a missing score.

1. Spot-up shooting. Spot-up shooting from five set locations, a fixed number from each spot, with a passer and a rebounder so the player shoots off the catch. Use distances suited to the age group, and finish the station with free throws. Record the free throws made as a number. What to score: Shooting, with a note on form and balance. Write free throws made out of ten in the measurables table.
2. Ball handling. Two lines through cones, then the same moves against a defender who is allowed to reach. Include a change of pace, a crossover, a retreat dribble and a weak-hand finish. Cones for the first half and a live defender for the second, because cones flatter players who have only ever dribbled in a driveway. What to score: Ball handling, and whether the player keeps their head up. Note which hand they trust.
3. Finishing lines. Layup lines from both sides with a right-hand and a left-hand finish, then a drive and finish against a pad or a coach holding a hand up. Add one finish through contact and one off-balance finish for older groups. Let the youngest use a lowered rim if your league does. What to score: Finishing, and the weak hand in particular.
4. Defensive slides. Defensive slides across the lane in a stance, then closeouts from the help side to a shooter, stopping under control. Keep the drill short, because as players tire, their defense becomes less representative of their usual level. What to score: On-ball defense and the quality of the closeout.
5. 1-on-1 and 2-on-2. Live 1-on-1 and 2-on-2 at a basket, in short possessions of three or four trips each. Pair players of similar size where you can, and rotate partners so nobody is matched against the same player twice. In the 2-on-2, add a screen so you see how players handle the pick. What to score: Ball handling, finishing and on-ball defense under pressure, and court vision in the 2-on-2.
6. 3-on-3 half court. 3-on-3 half court, short games to a fixed number of baskets or a few minutes, with mixed teams. It is the first place you see spacing, cutting and help defense, because with only three players there is nowhere to hide. What to score: Help defense, court vision and basketball IQ.
7. 5-on-5 scrimmage. 5-on-5 full court in short shifts, with the teams mixed every game so each player is judged with and against different people. Substitute at set times so everyone gets similar minutes, and put an evaluator at each end of the court. What to score: Basketball IQ and coachability, and a second look at anything that looked different from the drills.

Most tryout problems start before the first player arrives. Pack and set up from this list the evening before, so the morning goes on watching players.

• Paperwork. A sign-in sheet, each player's registration and medical consent, one scoring sheet per evaluator with spares, and clipboards.
• Numbers. Pinnies in two colors with numbers, so the scrimmage teams can be mixed and told apart, and a master list of numbers to names that only the registrar holds.
• Court assignments. Which group starts at which basket, written on a sheet taped to the wall, so the first rotation does not begin with twenty players asking where to go.
• Balls. Basketballs in the size your age group uses, enough for one between two at the shooting stations, plus spares that are pumped.
• Timing. Stopwatches for the lane agility and the sprint, a way to mark the lines, and a visible clock or a timer so rotations end when they should.
• The gym. A dry, swept floor, every basket you plan to use ready (lowered for younger groups if your league does), and who has the key and who locks up.
• First aid and water. A first-aid kit and ice, since ankles are the usual injury, water for everyone, and the plan for a hurt player written down with a phone that works.
• A whistle. One whistle and one voice, so a gym of twenty players hears when a rotation ends.
• Afterward. A way to collect every scoring sheet before anyone leaves, and a short message ready that says when and how families will hear.

• Judging from the drills alone. Drills show a stroke and a handle. Decisions, spacing and defense only show against live opponents, and the best decision-maker in the gym may be an average dribbler through cones.
• Letting height decide. Height follows growth at youth ages. Score what the player does with it, and look again in a year before you label anyone.
• Scoring only the player with the ball. Basketball hides contribution. The screener, the rotator and the rebounder are scored on the same sheet as the scorer, and they are the ones an evaluator forgets.
• Reading makes as shooting. Ten shots is a small sample. Score the stroke and keep the makes as a number.
• Ignoring defense. A player who scores in the scrimmage and is never guarded has not been scored on defense. Watch the possession after a miss as closely as the shot.
• Watching the scrimmage from one end. The play at the other end is half the game. Put an evaluator at each end and compare.

This is the basketball version. The general tryouts & evaluation works for any sport, and the basketball forms and templates page lists the other 5 basketball documents.

Playbook Logix provides customizable templates for informational and administrative use. They are not legal advice and will not meet the requirements of every organization, sport or jurisdiction. Review anything you intend to rely on with your own attorney or your insurance carrier, and check your league and state requirements.