I have a 12 y/o on my little dribblers team that is a good player. Will be a starter on the all-star team when the season is over. He has a great jump shot. And like most kids stands around shooting 3's anytime he's playing with buddies or by himself.

The problem is that this kid cannot hit point blank shots and layups. Easily shoots under 50% in practice and worse in games from inside 5 feet.

Is it a mental block at this point? Or just a lack of practice? I have him practicing more inside but it doesn't seem to be getting better yet.

Any drills that y'all have used? Maybe y'all have some I haven't tried yet.

Does he shoot layups underhanded or over handed? That could be part of the problem? If it's just jump shots near the basket it sounds like he has the yips. Can he shoot free throws?

What's the issue with his layups? When I was in junior high, our varsity coach was watching us and kinda pushed aside our regular coach (who was normally the varsity O-line coach, and didn't care about basketball at all, ha!) and taught us to dribble up to the basket and when it was time to extend up to try a layup, imagine that (in your ball hand), the elbow was tied to our knee on the same side. So, whatever hand has the ball in it, you push off with the opposite leg, because your elbow is "connected" to your knee. This helped with the footwork which was the hardest part of it for me growing up until I reinforced that my elbow and knee were "connected".

It's about starting the layup process at the right distance, we used to practice that a lot when we were first learning. What superunknown posted is really good advice as well. I havent looked, but I would imagine there is probably an excellent video on youtube for "basics of the layup" as a building block guide.

I'd also say, that being able to do them in practice and in a game is different, as you are usually running at a more frantic pace in game. Gotta use that square on the glass and know the angles/spin to use. 12 is about when you can consistently expect to use correct form in most phases of the game, in my opinion.

Mikan drill.

All day.