Basketball Drills

Smother Defensive Drill

I received this drill from Creighton Burns

This 5 on 5 defensive drill allows you to work on defending the following actions

1) High Pick and Roll
2) Side Pick and Roll
3) Step up Pick and Roll
4) Dribble Handoff

The purpose of this post is to give you a system for practicing defending on ball screen and hand off movements in the manner that fits your defensive system by having the second unit run this pattern. It is not to tell you how to defend them

As with everything I post, my main objective is that you will find a way to adapt this drill to fit the needs of your team, or to create a similar drill that is even better for you.

In my opinion, it is a very good way to be able to work on defending ball screens 5 on 5 to be able to get help positioning and rotations down.

Diagrams created with FastDraw

The drill is a 5 on 5 drill with an emphasis on defense.

The offense starts out with the point guard with the ball in the middle of the floor

#5 can start at either elbow.

#2 and #3 are in the corners.

#4 starts in the short corner

5 sets a middle pick and roll for 1

 

 

 

 

4 cuts to the deep elbow opposite 1 and receives a pass from 1.

5 relocates to the block.

 

 
 

3 cuts to the free throw line extended and receives a pass from 4.

 

 

 
 

 

4 sets a side pick and roll for 3.

3 dribbles to the middle and passes to 4 as he rolls.

 

 

 

4 skips the ball back to 1.

 

 

 

1 reverses the ball to 2 who has cut to the free throw line extended.

4 returns to the top.

After 1 passed the ball he cuts to the corner opposite the ball.

 

5 sprints out to a step up ball screen for 2.

2 drives baseline off the screen.

 

 

 

2 passes the ball back to 4 at the ball side deep elbow.

 

 

 
 

 

4 dribbles back at 2 for the dribble hand off.

 

 

 

I found these 2 drills in the Fast Model basketball library.

They are drills that can be used in 2 or 3 player skill development workouts, or in a team practice setting.

If you like these drills, please consider sharing them on Twitter or Facebook through the share buttons on the left side of the page.

Also, click here for a link to all of the basketball drills on The Coaching Toolbox.

This drill was contributed by Taylor Jannsen.

He is the owner and founder of PMax Basketball Training centrally based out of Milwaukee.

The purpose of this drill is to teach players how to beat rotational help with a variety of finishes.

Beat the Helper

On the offensive player’s first move, the defense loops around a cone and simulates a help defender.

Player 1 pushes the dribble out in front and must touch the paint before attempting a shot.

Make the drill competitive by scoring it as a one on one game. You can either play straight scoring or allow the offense to stay until the defense gets a stop.
 

6 Scoring Moves Drill

John Leonzo, student assistant for the men’s basketball team at Cedarville University, contributed this drill

This drill allows for a lot of repetitions on moves for finishing around the basket, one on one moves, and jump shots.

This can also be used by small groups or individuals as a part of their improvement season workouts.

Passers are represented by dots. If there are no passers available, players can simulate a pass by spinning the ball to themselves.

Players sprint to the 3 point arc, and then execute the following series of moves:

1. Rip and go lay-up
2. Change of direction and lay-up
3. Rip and go jump-shot
4. Change of direction jump-shot
5. 1 dribble step-back jumper
6. 3 pointer

This series of moves is to be executed twice at each wing, once going to the open side and another time going to the middle.

To make it competitive, time one player through all 6 moves from one spot with a 2 second penalty for each missed shot.

This post is a combination of two articles written by Brian Anglim

Synergistic Offensive and Defensive Philosophies

Earlier this week I was reading some clinic notes from Mike Dunlap and I came across an idea that I liked -“does your defense compliment your offense?” I liked this concept and immediately tweeted it (I am trying to be more active on twitter) and further asked the questions “Does your offense compliment your defense”. A coach on twitter (@CoachDWarriors) asked if I would expand on this thought and give some examples. Twitter is great for quick thoughts, but not for big answers so I figured I would blog on the topic. Basketball can not be broken up into two sides of the ball like you can in football, the demands you make on one side of the court effect the execution on the other. We also coaches want to develop our offense and defense to work synergistically. Different combined offensive and defensive systems revolve around three factors – depth, talent, and coaching philosophy.

Depth

If I have a team with a lot of depth, I want my defense and offense to maximize pressure on our opponent so conditioning becomes a factor. For example, VCU has an up tempo offensive and defensive system. Their defense leads the NCAA in turnovers forced with their full court “Swarm” pressure. This defensive system is married with an attacking/up tempo offensive attack. With constant offensive and defensive pressure they wear down an opponent physically and mentally and utilize that depth.

Teams that don’t have great depth cannot play a high energy type of offense and defense. I have heard Dick Bennett (and now his son is emulating his father to some extent) talk about how he ran the Blocker-Mover offense to slow down the tempo a keep their players fresh. With this thought in mind, they play a Pack Line Defense which does to extend beyond the 3 point line, thus conserves the energy of their players.

Coaching Philosophy

Certain coaches are offensive coaches while others are defensive coaches. With this in mind, they will focus their time and energy on one side of the court at the expense of the other. This translates that I might teach a simple offense so that I can focus on my defense or visa versa.

An example of this is Gary William’s Maryland teams, he ran a simplistic offense known as the flex so that he could have the time to perfect his half court man, half court zone, full and ¾ court pressure systems. He was known as a pressure defense coach and he really emphasized the flex as an offense because he believed it got the ball inside that lead to his team getting to the line. Thus he was able to set up on full court pressure defenses. An example of an offensive team would be Notre Dame, I have been watching All Access Notre Dame Practice with Mike Brey and the vast majority of their practice time is spent on their motion and teaching offensive concepts. With this in mind, they run very simple man and zone defenses without much attention to detail. This offensive focused team philosophy works to the skills of the coach and his players.

Personnel

By personnel I mean the type of players that make up a team. Some teams might be smaller in size with a collection of guards, thus they cannot expect to rebound the ball as well as some teams. Their defense might be tilted toward forcing turnovers and their offense might look to take advantage of the driving and shooting ability of these guards. An example of this might be the 4 guard teams that Villanova teams of several years ago. Bigger teams, might look to have a more controlled offense that looks to minimize their bigs touching the ball in high turnover positions so that they can focus on their rebounding advantage, while their defense would looks to challenge shots and own the boards.

Shot selection – A philosophical examination

Before we can plan for the upcoming season, we need to define a vision on how we want our program to perform. We cannot develop a strong plan for the future without having a clear understanding of what that future might look like. A great exercise in defining a vision is to answer the question what are the top five shots you are trying to find within your offense? I think one of the most important and difficult jobs as a coach is to define what is a good shot to our players, the exercise helps us define that for yourself and your players.

Theses top shots are determined by you as a coach through the lens of your coaching beliefs, filtered through the talents of your players. I brainstormed some different types of to helpful spark some inspiration in defining your offensive goals.

• A transition layup – this is key for up tempo teams and particularly pressing teams, that layup lets teams flow easily into their pressing positions. Louisville lives on theses.
• Offensive rebound layup – if you don’t shoot it well, getting multiple attempts is huge. It has been a staple of Bob Huggins.
• Uncontested “3”
• Uncontested jump shot
• Post move in the paint
• Transition paint touch – something you would see with teams that run secondary breaks.
• A late shot clock uncontested shot – for teams that look to burn clock, like the UVA men’s program.
• Corner three – the most efficient field goal attempt in the NBA.
• Free throw – can be achieved by many ways. Team’s like Indiana and Duke take tremendous pride in making for free throw’s than their opponents take
• Transition “3” – for the up tempo team a great shot as I think it is an easily reboundable shot
• Penetrating shot inside of 5 feet which is a cornerstone of the dribble drive offense.
• Backdoor cut – key for teams playing in a league of pressure defense and a must for balance for the classic three point shooting team. Speciality of Princeton teams.
• A good shot for your star player – a good shot for your star might be better than a long 2 for an average player

This question can be posed on the defensive end as well. What are you willing to give up on the defensive end? A uncontested long “2”, a challenge “3”, a driving layup at the rim contested by your bigs? What are the type of shots you don’t want to give up? Offensive rebounds, transition buckets, or the NBA favorite – the corner three? By defining your goals on the offensive and defensive end, you can develop a plan to make your vision a reality. One final thought, don’t keep this vision to yourself. Let your players know your formula for success.

Today’s post is another great competitive basketball drill from Coach Mike Neighbors Washington basketball coaching newsletter. He sends it out each week. If you are interested in being added to his list, please email me and I will pass it along to him.

Here are his thoughts on what makes a TEAM Drill Competitive:

1) YOU DO!! Or another coach who has passion for the drill to keep it energized.

2) CHART IT… Must have a time/score with a winner/loser to keep most competitive players engaged.

3) ENVIORNMENT of COMPETITIVENESS if not consistent in all areas of your program… NONE of these drills will make an impact

 

10 Up Basketball Shooting Drill

Diagrams created with FastDraw

This has become our day before the game shoot around “contest” drill.

Passing line with three balls in the key. Shooters coming off the baseline.

In this diagram players 1-5 are the passing line. Players 1, 2, and 3 have basketballs. 6 is the first shooter up and 7-9 are waiting in line.

This drill can be done with any number of players/coaches. We always jump in to loosen things up from time to time.

The overall goal of this game is to have the FEWEST points possible. So like GOLF, low score wins.

First shooter attempts a 2 or 3 point shot. If shot is made that puts 2/3 points “UP”. The next shooter attempts a 2/3. If made that total is added to the number of points “UP”. So if shooter one made a 3 there are 3 points “UP”. Now, if shooter two makes a 2, there would be 5 points “UP”. If missed shooter two would take the 3 points that we “UP” and we’d begin a new string.

We stay at spot 1 until someone accumulates 10 points and is eliminated.

Once you have UP points you have them for the remainder of the drill. It is similar to H-O-R-S-E. Once you accumulate 10 or more points, you are out of the drill and can shoot free throws or work on other skills.

This diagram illustrates the 5 shooting spots for the drill with black circles. Each spot is on the arc because the players have a choice of shooting a 2 or 3 point shot.

After one shooter gets 10 UP and is eliminated, we move to spot #2. All shooters points carry over.

We repeat this until we are left with only one shooter with less than 10 points!!

You’ll be shocked at how few times your “best” shooter will win this drill.

It puts you in pressure situations. It forces you to understand score. And most importantly focus on making shots.

I have been eliminated in this drill many times after having ZERO total points through 5 or 6 spots only to miss at the end of one long string and go from ZERO to OUT!!!!

One year we took an old weight belt and had a manager dress it up to look like a World Championship Wrestling belt for the reigning 10UP Champ to wear out to the floor on COMPETITION
DAY.

While this drill is light and fun, you can keep it competitive. We made this drill optional for a while but noticed our best shooters sometimes were afraid to jump in at the risk of not winning.

You WILL find your pressure shooters here!!!!

These basketball drills were designed with FastModel. You can find out more about the software and also see several other plays and drills that were contributed by coaches from various levels, locations, and backgrounds at FastModel Drills and Plays Library

Here are 3 shooting and scoring drills that I hope will fit into what you are allowed to do with your players during this spring improvement season. I posted a competitive workout system last week as an idea to use with your players to add some variety to what you do with your skill development.

If you did not see the article last week, here is the link: Competitive Basketball Workout

 

 

 

 

 

5-Spot Range Shooting

In the competitive workout system, this is in the technique drill category.

6 shots at each spot. Make 60% of 30 shots in order to move spots back. Continue moving spots back to determine range.

 
 

“On the Clock Attacks”

These next two drills were contributed by Tim Springer he Girls Varsity Basketball Coach at Castle Hills First Baptist School in San Antonio, Texas

 

Players drive to rim and hit change of direction at 3 point line then finish with layup or jump shot.

Group must make 10 at each cone within 4 minutes.

Repeat drill 3 times with different moves at 3 point arc.

You can adjust time required, number of reps, and specific moves to fit skill level and needs of your players.

 

Player gives misdirection to defense and sprints to either chair.

Grabs ball from chair and pivots into triple move and attacks defender.

Play 1 on 1 with limit of 2 or 3 dribbles.

Player remains on offense until the defense gets a stop without fouling.

Adjust rules to your program.

Champions Shooting

As a high school coach at Park Tudor in Indianapolis, Ed Schilling used this drill both during the season and during summer workouts. Ed is currently an assistant for Steve Alford at UCLA.

Put 15 minutes on the clock.

You can adjust the distance and type of shots (catch and shoot, shot fake 1 dribble, floaters) to suit your needs.

2 basketballs per 3 player group.

3 is rebounder, 2 is passer, 1 is shooter for 1 minute.

Each minute sound horn and players rotate from shooter to rebounder, rebounder to passer, passer to shooter.

Can compete for makes as a group, or as an individual, compete against your personal bests.

Drill works best for long term development if player calls out score for manager or coach to record after each round. Keep record and post progress of each player.