BASKETBALL DRILLS
The purpose of this drill is to improve the players’ ability
to make an accurate bounce pass. Also,
the player in the center will get practice time in defending against the bounce
pass.
Line up your players around the circle at center court or if
not available, around the free throw circle (i.e., the solid and dotted
line). One player is in the middle of
the circle on defense.
The player with the ball must execute a bounce pass to any other
player in the circle, except for the player on either side of him. The defender will attempt to intercept the
ball. Coaches should keep an eye on the
defender. She has a tendency to close
out on the ball. She must stay in the
center. If she intercepts or deflects
the ball, she replaces the player whom attempted the pass.
The drill should be run at full speed. Offensive players should deliver the ball to
a player that the defender is not looking directly at.
Source: 101
Offensive Basketball Drills, George Karl, Terry Stotts
and Price Johnson.
Here’s a drill that teaches the players how to look off
their intended receiver.
Line up in three columns at half court as if you were going
to run a standard three on two, fast break.
You instruct the player with the ball (middle) that he is to focus his
eyes directly on the coach. The coach
will be dead middle of the goal just below the foul line.
At first, they should focus their eyes on the coaches’
eyes. The coach must focus on the player’s
eyes to ensure that they don’t cheat.
The player with the ball starts the fast break and the wings break to
the goal. The ball handler makes a pass
to one of his wings while keeping his eyes on the coach.
An option to this drill is to have the coach move off center
of the goal; the player looks at his receiver for a moment then looks off while
making the pass to the receiver.
Last year, I had players look right where they were going to
pass. Needless to say, the opponents had
a lot of easy steals. So, I started
using this drill and the passing improved tremendously.
Objective is to improve the passing game and at the same
time teach the players that are moving without the ball how to drive the gaps
(i.e., openings in the defense) and get in the line of vision of the ball
handler.
Coach Mark, Youth League Coach
Here’s a drill that players actually like. It forces them to hustle in order to be the offensive player going one-on-one against his teammate. It creates individual competition and their teammates shouting words of encouragement.
Form two lines at the baseline opposite of the free throw lanes. The first two players in each line will be active. The coach rolls the ball to the free throw line. The players are instructed not to break to the ball until it crosses the free throw line.
At first you can try to match up your players, the guards go against guards and post men against post men. Then switch it up! Line up a post man against a guard. Unless your post man is extremely fast, you will find that he will take a defensive position. In these cases, I cheat little. I will roll the ball more on his side of the free throw lane in order to offset the speedy guard.
A variation of this drill is where the coach yells ‘GO’ to release the players. This will prevent anyone taking off a little before the ball actually crosses the free throw line. Sometimes you yell ‘GO’ early. Sometimes late!
The one-on-one continues until someone scores or the coach blows his whistle.
Objective is to enhance conditioning while hustling for a loose ball; to practice picking up loose balls; to improve the footwork skills in making a move to the basket.
Source: 101
Offensive Basketball Drills, George Karl, Terry Stotts
and Price Johnson.
Form two lines at the free throw line extended. The first two players in each line will be active. The first player gets in a defensive position. One coach will shoot the ball. The defensive player must keep an eye on the shooter to know when to block out to get the rebound.
When you first start this drill, it is a good idea to tell the offensive player to hold his/her position until the defensive player has established a good blocking position. Then the offensive player can try to fight off the block. Once the team is use to this drill, then you run the drill as if it’s game time. In other words, as soon as the coach has taken the shot, the offensive player can make a move to the goal.
Teach the players proper rebounding technique. The defensive player should have one eye on the ball at all times and one on his/her coverage area if in a zone defense or man if in a man-to-man defense. Once the shot is taken, he/she should look for his/her man, turn and put a butt on him/her. Then the defensive player should look for the ball to anticipate the rebound. You should try to set up a triangle perimeter for defensive rebounding.
It is also important to know where the rebound will be based on the shot taken. If it’s a long shot, the rebound will bounce long. Vice versa for a short shot. If the shot is taken from the free throw line extended, then the ball will bounce to the opposite side from where the shot was taken either to the base line or out around the paint area. This will occur the majority of the time. If the shot is taken from the side/base line, the majority of time the ball will bounce to the other side on the base line. It’s a huge advantage, if your players understand where the best postions are for rebounding certain type of shots.