Basketball Drills

Today’s post is 5 shooting drills that can be used in individual workouts or team practices. Some of the drills require two players, or at least a shooter and a rebounder.

Players can use these drills when working on their own without a coach. Most phones have stopwatches for players to use to time themselves.

Players can compete against each other, against a personal best, or against a team standard.

Below the drills, I have posted links to some other shooting drills that are posted here on the Coaching Toolbox.

90 Second Shooting Drill

• 7 Spots (baselines, wings, elbows, and free throw line).
• Partner rebounds for the shooter
• Shooter must make 2 shots in a row from one spot before moving on to the next spot. If the shooter finishes the 7 spots before the 90 seconds runs out, start heading back along the spots.
• Count the number of shots the shooter hits in 90 seconds.
• Can shoot 2 or 3 point shots.

10 Shots/5 Spots

• The drill is time for two minutes and 30 seconds
• 5 spots (baseline, wings, and FT Line
• Shoot 10 shots at each spot, then move to the next spot
• Partner rebounds for the shooter
• Record total number of shots made in the two minutes and 30 seconds
• Rebounder is important, should take 30 seconds per spot

5 Point

• Player has 5 points to begin the drill
• 3 ways to do the drill.
  1) Alternate shots between baseline and wing on the right side of the floor
  2) Alternate shots elbow to elbow
  3) Alternate shots between the baseline and wing on the left side of the floor
• Subtract one point on a made basket, add one point on a miss
• If the shooter reaches 0 points, he or she wins.
• If the score reaches 10 points, the shooter loses.

21 Point

• Start with 21 points
• Shoot all 3 point shots
• Made basket-subtract 3 points
• Missed shot–add 1 point
• If the shooter gets to 0 points he or she wins
• If the shooter reaches 30 points, he loses

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10 Point

• Shooter’s score starts at 0
• The shooter loses if she falls below 0
• Shooter must make a 3 point shot to start the drill. Do not subtract 3 points for misses until aftter the first 3 is made.
• Then, alternate shooting 2 and 3 point shots
• Subtract 3 points if shooter misses a 3 point shot (except for the first 3 point shot needed to start the game)
• Subtract 2 points if the shooter misses a 2 pointer
• Need to reach 10 points to win the game.

I hope this video gets you thinking about ways to add variety to your form shooting drills.

I am a big believer in doing 5 to 10 minutes of form shooting drills prior to every practice, every skill development workout, and every game night.

I also like to have a simple scoring system to both hold players’ concentration and measure progress.

I have posted some links to some other skill development drills below the video. Some of the drills are team drills and others are individual workout drills.

This is a YouTube video, so please make sure that you are on a server that allows youtube access. This drill came from basketballhq.com

Press the play arrow to see the video. I realize that the shooter travels on some of the three point shots, but I like the drill and especially the idea of shooting jump shots in close to the basket to develop shooting touch.

The video is among the basketball training videos for all levels of coaches, players, and parents that is offered by BasketballHQ. You can access their entire library with a pro membership. They offer a free 7 day trial for the membership. If you are interested, you can see more at this link: Basketball HQ

This is a 4 minute video of Coach Gregg Marshall going through a series that they use to work on their wings players skills.

This is a YouTube video, so you will need to have permission to view YouTube videos.

Make sure your sound is on as you watch.

If you are interested in learning more about the entire DVD that this sample came from, click this link Wichita State Skill Development Workout: Guards.

The video is 4 minutes and 24 seconds. Click the play arrow to see the video.

Make sure your sound is on.

Here is one of our basketball drills that will really help your half court defense.

Getting to three point shooters is important to a solid half court defense.

A drill for working on taking away 3 point shots. My belief is that three point percentage allowed is not a valid measurement of how well you defend 3s and that the best way to defend 3 point shots is to reduce the number of 3 point shots that you allow your opponent to take.

Here is a link to an article to support that belief: Defending the 3 point shot.

This diagrammed drill is based on getting to the shooting and taking away the open three.

It demands great communication, rotation, anticipation, closing out, being there on the catch, vision, blocking out and rebounding with two hands.

If three defenders can successfully defend four players in this drill then your game time defense will shut down any opponent’s three point shooting.

This drill was posted by Coach Randy Brown in FastModel Sports Basketball Plays and Drills Library The site has thousands of drills and plays that have been submitted by basketball coaches from around the world.

You can also find out more about their Play Diagramming software by clicking this link: FastDraw

Starting Position for the drill

Four offensive players and three defenders

Option–change starting positions for offensive or defensive players before starting drill

Here is another idea for a move to teach players to use to finish at the basket.

I believe that it is important for players to develop moves to finish at the basket against a good or a large (or both) defender they have practiced and are confident in. The more confidence a player has in his or her ability and moves to finish at the basket, the more they can be the aggressor rather than being dictated to by the defense.

In my opinion, players don’t need a lot of moves. They need a go to move and a counter. I also believe that the moves should be individualized for each player and not moves that everyone on the team uses.

Make sure your speakers are on to see and hear the youtube videos These are youtube videos, so please make sure that you are on a server that allows youtube access.

Press the play arrow to see the YouTube video.

Even if you don’t like the Crawford move, I hope you will find what works for your players and develop a system to teach then and implement them in you scoring drills in practice and in summer workouts.

Here is another link to another finishing move:

Euro Step

In my opinion, the Euro Step is a good finishing move in both transition and in the half court.

The Euro step is a good way for a player to avoid picking up a charging foul and also to get a clean look at a layup against a good defender.