Where to Play: Basketball Courts and Stadiums Across South East Melbourne

One of the better things about basketball in this part of Melbourne is that you are never far from a hoop. Between the association stadiums and the outdoor courts councils have put in over the last decade, there is somewhere to play in most suburbs. Here is what is worth knowing.

The Association Stadiums

These are the big indoor venues where domestic and representative basketball is played. Dandenong Stadium is the largest in the region and hosts a huge amount of Saturday domestic competition. Casey Stadium at Cranbourne East covers the Casey corridor. Timbarra Community Stadium at Berwick runs club training through the week. There are others across Knox, Waverley and the surrounding areas.

You generally cannot rock up and shoot around at these — courts are booked solid with competition, training and school programs. They are where your child plays, not where they practise on a Sunday afternoon.

Outdoor Courts

This is where most of the real individual work happens. Councils across Casey, Greater Dandenong, Monash and Knox have built or resurfaced a lot of half and full courts in local reserves, and plenty of them are genuinely good. If you have not looked lately, check your nearest reserve — there is a decent chance there is a court there now.

What makes an outdoor court worth using comes down to a few things.

• A flat, clean surface. Cracks and gravel wreck ball handling and ankles.

• Proper rings and nets. A bent ring teaches a kid to compensate. Find another court.

• Lighting, if you want winter. Melbourne dark at 5pm ends a lot of practice routines in July.

• Space to work alone. Skill work needs repetition, not a queue for the hoop.

The Ring Height Problem

Most home and park rings are ten feet. For a seven or eight-year-old that is far too high, and the result is a two-handed heave from the hip that can take years to undo. Where you can lower a ring, lower it — around eight feet for ages seven to eight, nine feet for nine to eleven, and full height from about twelve. I have gone into that and the other common faults in this article on shooting.

If You Only Have a Driveway

You do not need a court to improve. Ball handling, footwork, form shooting and passing against a wall all work in a few square metres, and they are the skills that improve fastest with daily reps. There are ten of them in this guide to at-home drills.

Court Etiquette Worth Teaching

Public courts are shared. Kids should know how to ask to join a game, how to call their own fouls honestly, how to lose a game and stay for the next one, and how to leave when younger kids are waiting. It sounds minor. It is not — the players who get invited into good runs are the ones people want to play with.

Where We Train

We run sessions at stadiums across the region and coach players from Berwick, Narre Warren, Cranbourne, Dandenong, Glen Waverley, Rowville and the suburbs around them. The full coverage is on our areas we serve page, and for how our weekly sessions, camps and private work fit together, see the complete guide to training in South East Melbourne.

If you tell me your suburb, I will point you at the session closest to you.

Book a session or call me on 0403 312 624 and tell me about your player.

Train with purpose. Meet Your Peak.