Basketball Drills

This post was provided by Youth Basketball Development

The ability to stop on balance and under control is a critical skill for young players to master and while it may sound simple the skill must be taught.

There are two fundamental ways to stop.

1. The Stride Stop
2. The Jump Stop

The Jump Stop is executed by jumping and landing on both feet at the same time.

The stride stop occurs when one leg strikes the ground before the other thus mimicking the running motion.

Both methods of stopping allow players to play off two feet and be balanced and under control.

By playing off two feet players will be more balanced and under control. They will have a powerful base that will enable them to be more effective and finish through contact.

The video Coach Brent Larson discusses the Stride Stop. You will see game edits of the stride stop finish as well as a teaching progression to help instruct younger players. The video also includes three different finishes at the rim.

1. Outside hand
2. Inside hand
3. Pivot

For more great ideas about how to coach youth players take a look at Coach Larson’s book: Youth Basketball Coaching Guide: One Hour to Better Coaching for Parents

The YouTube video below has audio so please make sure that your speakers are turned on.

Contributed by Derek Sheridan, Head Boys Coach Delta High School (Delta, Ohio)

PURPOSE:

• To work on team offense & defense simultaneously.
• To shorten practice sessions the day before a game or days near a game where the players are still making contact with each other & running up & down the court.
• Breaks up the monotony of traditional “scouting” practices. Players like this drill.

RULES:

• One coach has the team who starts on offense. This team runs through the prescribed offense(s), set(s), &/or offensive action(s) 5 v. 0.  We usually executed 3 sets prior to transitioning to D’.
• On the coach’s cadence, the ball is outletted to the next offensive team’s PG on the SIDELINE & all 5 players (who just ran offense 5v0) sprint & touch the bankboard & then transition to the opposite end to defend the oppositions set/offense/action.
• A different coach has 5 players on the opposite side of the court who run the opposition’s offenses, sets, &/or actions that need to be broke down & repeated.
  • Typically, the defensive team defends the offense at full speed. Then the coach takes the court and breaks down the set/offense/action step-by-step, detailing the timing, ball movement, player movement, and desired outcome.  The defense will then defend he set/offense/action again in full speed, then rotate off the court.
• To make the drill flow & run as smoothly as possible, the JV coach takes his team to a side basket or Aux gym & teaches them the oppositions sets/offenses/actions prior to the beginning of practice or while the varsity team is performing their pre-practice warm ups routine/shooting. This way once the drill starts there is little to zero stoppage of movement.

ROTATION:

• Rotations are contingent on how many players/teams are involved in the practice session.
• Most teams practice varsity & JV combined. Unless the coach has a “scout team” available, he will need at least 10-15 players for this drill to flow smoothly.

Below is an example of the rotations from one of our practice session #57:

SETS TO DEFENSE ROTATION: (1st Team v. JV, 2nd Team v. JV, JV v. First Team)

1. 2-Guard / Circle / Frank v. BHS “X”
2. Pairs / X-Lo / JK v. BHS “Circle”
3. Spartan / Spartan:JK / Slap v. BHS “ Purdue”
4. “Go” / “Down” / “Green” v. BHS “Hi/Lo”
5. “Spartan” SLOB v. BHS “Center Screen”
6. “Spartan:Slap” SLOB v. BHS “Duke” BLOB
7. “54” SLOB v. BHS “Line” BLOB
8. “Tommy” SLOB v. BHS “24 Inbounds” BLOB
9. “Royal” BLOB v. BHS “20 Inbounds” BLOB

Contributed by Derek Sheridan, Head Boys Coach Delta High School (Delta, Ohio)

1. Assistant coach (with a ball) has PG, 2-G, & 4-Man on one side of the court & 3-Man, & 5-Man on the opposite side. All 5 players are FT line extended, opposite of the 5 players executing the 5-Man Weave.
2. Head coach has 5 players on the opposite baseline, ready to execute a full-court 5-Man Weave (down only).
3. On the head coach’s cadence his/her players sprint into a 5-Man Weave. All 5 players must cross the opposite FT line extended.
4. As the lay-up shot hits the bankboard, the assistant coach yells “Go,” and passes the ball to the PG who is with his group of 5. All 5 players sprint in transition offense & all 5 players who were in the weave must sprint back in transition defense & get a stop (they do not have to get the rebound from the lay-up shot).
5. If the defense earns a stop, they will immediately transition to the opposite end on offense & the opposing players sprint back in transition defense.

• The manager has on the left side of the scoreboard a number indicating how many passes the offensive players must make (unless they can score a lay-up from their transition offense).
• The right side of the scoreboard lists a number indicating the number (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) of the player who must score, or the number of the set they have to execute if they cannot score out of their transition offense. We mix up using numbers that indicate who can score or what set to execute.
• All out-of-bounds situations are played – using the teams BLOB/SLOB plays.
• All fouls are 1 & 1 Free throws.
• Each day the offense has the opportunity to score “Triple Points.” The coach will prescribe what action will lead to triple points.  Triple points could come from certain players scoring, scoring off a certain set, scoring off a certain action (backdoor, lob, flare cut, curl cut, skip pass, etc.)

6. If the players in the weave did not get a stop, then the drill is re-started and played out until a defensive stop is secured.
7. Each segment of the drill is ran down, back, and stop/realign into the drill. Teams alternate between weaving back to transition offense & starting on the sideline with the assistant coach.
8. First team to 21 points wins.
9. Scoring:

   Defense
   Stop = 1
   Stop & obtained the 1^st rebound = 2
   Charge =3
   Force a turnover =3

   Offense
   2 pt. FG = 1
   3 pt. FG = 2
   Offensive Rebound = 3
   Trip Points = 6 or 9 pts.

   

This skill development drill is provided by Dr. Dish Basketball.

The drill is coached by Jordan Petersen of Ellsworth HIgh School and Positionless Basketball.

You can and should modify any of the drills to make them fit your needs or to add variety to your skill development work.

Please make sure your sound is on to see the video.

This drill is hosted on You Tube, so you will need to be on a server that allows you to access You Tube to see the drill.

Click the play arrow so see the drill.

This video is with Coach Chris Holtmann demonstrating a closeout drill that he learned from Rick Majerus.

You can certainly change the drill to fit your needs and or change it so that several baskets are going at once to get all players involved in a shorter amount of time.

You will need to be on a network that allows you to access YouTube to view the video.

Click the play arrow to view the video.

There is narration with the video, so please make sure that your sound is on.

You can find out more about the Championship Productions video that this clip is from at this link: Drills to Build Your Man to Man Defense.

The video with Coach is available in both DVD and online format.

Click the play arrow to start the video.

This video is with Coach Joe Jones of Boston University.

The defender guards 3 different players in the 3 stages of the drill to rep several defensive skills in a short period of time.

You can certainly change the drill to fit your needs and or change it so that several baskets are going at once to get all players involved in a shorter amount of time.

You will need to be on a network that allows you to access You Tube to view the video.

Click the play arrow to view the video.

There is narration with the video, so please make sure that your sound is on.

You can find out more about the Championship Productions video that this clip is from at this link: Defense Drills: Individual & Team Concepts.

The video with Coach is available in both DVD and online format.

Click the play arrow to start the video.