Basketball Drills

This is the second part of some basketball shooting drills from the Xavier Men’s Basketball Newsletter.

If you are interested in seeing the archive of their newsletters, click this link:

Xavier Newsletter Archives

Here is a link to the first part of the shooting drills: Xavier Shooting Drills Part 1

 

 

 

 

32 Shooting

Shoot in partners. One partner completes the whole cycle and the other partner rebounds. They switch. There are five spots on the court–corners, wings, and top.

The shooter takes a jump shot, a shot fake–one dribble pull up, and a shot fake-one dribble–then a dribble move to beat a helper in for a layup from each spot. That means three shots starting from each spot. The shooter gets 2 points for each make for a total of 30 possible points. The last two possible points come from shooting 2 free throws at the end. Winners get a reward or losers run or do pushups.

X-Out Layups

It is essential to teach finishing at the basket as a part of your shooting work. I like this drill for it. Put one minute on the clock. Players start at the right elbow at each basket. Player dribbles in with right hand and finishes on right side. Catch the rebound, dribble out with left hand to left elbow, jump stop, pivot and face the basket in triple threat stance, Attack basket on left dribble and finish with left hand. Players keep track of makes in the one minute time. Work on different kinds of finishes, running layup, 2 foot power layup, reverse, and any other finishes that you teach.

Oak Hill Full Court Shooting

Great drill to work on dribbling, hustle, and shooting. The drill is fun for the players.

Split players into two teams. Each team starts on a lane line on the same end of the court facing the opposite basket. When drill starts, players dribble to opposite end using using outside hand away from where the defense would be. Shoot a pull up jump shot at the elbow of the opposite end. If the shot goes in, it is worth two points. If it misses, the player must get his own rebound and shoot layups until he makes it. The layup is worth 1 point.

When the ball goes in, player takes it out of the net and dribble back to the end he started on using outside hand and shoots the pull up shot at that end. Plus 2 for a make, if it misses, rebound and shoot layups until it goes in for Plus 1. Get the ball out of the net after the make and pass to the next player in line.

In a Row Free Throws

When players are shooting free throws, have them keep track of how many they make in a row. When they shoot in partners, they shoot until they miss and then switch. Have players record their streaks to track their progress.

This drill really helps concentration. I like to display the top ten longest streaks on a board in the gym. When we started doing this, we had some 10s and 12s. I had a player in the summer who went nuts for this. We would get done with summer workouts and 9:00 pm and he would still be there at 10:00 shooting his streaks. He ended up being the only one on the board with all 10 top streaks. Most importantly, it showed during the season.

Sutton Pivot Shooting

How you do the drill is determined by how you teach pivoting.Player start under the rim. A passer/coach starts at the volleyball line. Players pass to the coach and sprint towards their pass. As they do, the coach at the volleyball line passes the ball back and shouts a direction. Players must pivot in that direction and shoot. The drill makes players work on pivoting and shooting. Great drill.

These basketball shooting drills are from the Xavier Men’s Basketball Newsletter.

If you are interested in seeing the archive of their newsletters, click this link:

Xavier Newsletter Archives

Olympic Shooting

Vance Walberg drill. 3 players, 2 basketballs, 5:00 on the clock. The players simply shoot 2 man, 2 ball shooting for 5 minutes. Players keep track of their makes for 5 minutes. Reward the players with the highest scores. Also, record the scores over the course of the year and see how they improve. Run the drill for three point and mid range shots.

 

21 Shooting

Another variation of the 2 ball 3 player shooting drill. Players do 3 player 2 basketball (Olympic Shooting above) and keep track of their individual makes. Once one player makes 5, the drill stops. All three players shoot 2 free throws. Players add one point for each made free throw to their score. Shoot three rounds and the player with the most points wins. It’s called 21 shooting because if a player wins every round (5 + 5 + 5) and makes all 6 free throws, he or she ends up with 21 points.

Walberg Shooting

Break the players into teams of 3 to 5 per team. The less per team, the better. Each team gets 2 basketballs. The drill is timed for 5 minutes.There are 5 spots on the perimeter–the corner, wing, top of the key, opposite wing, and opposite corner. You can shoot 3s or midrange shots. Players start in the corner and shoot until the group makes 5.

Once the group makes five shots, they move onto the wing. When they make 5 at the wing, they move onto the top of the key, or to the free throw line if you are shooting midrange shots. They continue until they have made 5 shots as a group from each of the 5 spots. If time hasn’t expired yet (teh drill stops when the 5 minutes is up), they go to the top of the key and shoot until the 5 minute time limit is up.

This is when the drill gets fun. Teams start with a score of minus 25. Each make is worth 1 point. So, if they finish all five spots in the five minutes that were put on the clock, they will have a score of 0. Every shot they make at the top of the key (or to the free throw line if you are shooting midrange shots) is worth plus one. Once they make shots from the top of the key (or free throw line), they are now into positive numbers.

Reward the winners and set a team goal that everyone needs to break even. Once everyone is able to break even, increase the goal. When we started doing this drill, we had most groups between minus 10 and minus 5. By the end of the season, we were regularly getting groups that were between plus 10 and plus 15. The improvement was great.

If you only have one or two baskets, two teams can go at one hoop. Gets crazy, but it works!

KIng of the Hill Shooting

You need several baskets, but it is a great drill. We have 18 players and 6 baskets. Each basket has a number trhat corresponds to its rank. Basket #1 is the top basket and #6 is the bottom basket. Three players to a basket.

If you have more players, put 2 groups of 2 at the top basket.

Put 1 minute on the clock and give the players an area to shoot from (elbows, corners, wings, etc…) Players shoot fo the minute and rebound their own shots. Player with the most makes at each basket moves up one hoop. The player with the lowest score moves down one hoop (except for the last basket)

After everyone has moved 1 basket, we shoot again. You can shoot from the same spot or change it. The idea is to compete and be the player to end up on hoop #1 at the end to be the “King of the Hill.”

Mustang Shooting

Players start at 15 feet and shoot for five minutes. Every time they make 4 in a row, they can take a step back. Every time they miss 2 in a row, they take a step in. The objective of teh srill is to see how far back they can get in five minutes. After five minutes, playes switch. Simplel, but effective and can show a player her true range.

Make 2 Miss 2 Around the World

Do this drill in partners. There are five spots on the floor–corners, wing, and top. Players start in the corner. To advance to the next spot, they have to make 2 in a row. If they miss 2 in a row, they are out and their partner gets a turn. The idea is to get all the way around the arc without missing two in a row. It’s tough and competitive for the players.

These basketball finishing drills are from the Xavier Men’s Basketball Newsletter.

You can see the archives of the newsletter here:

Xavier Newsletter Archives

Scroll down the page to see the three basketball finishing drills.

 

 

 

 

2 vs. 1 Finishing Toughness

Screener hands the ball to the offense.

Defensive man starts next to the offensive man.

Once the ball is handed to the offensive player, the offensive player uses the screen to shakd the defender.

Offensive player looks to score on the help defender or to dish to #3 (probably a bounce pass on the baseline side of the defense. We fake the pass in front, but don’t throw the ball away in front of the defense

X1 can rotate to #3

Keys: Bounce pass is usually the best pass because X4 will probably close out with high hands.

Get tight off the screen. Work on both sides of the floor.

Big Finishing Toughness

The defender in the middle plays to block the shot or alter the shot.

Offensive player tries to make a strong intelligent move.

Don’t use a dribble unless absolutely necessary.

 

 

Move and Counter Move Toughness

Coach throws a high arcing pass to the offense.

Offense rips the ball while defense gets into the shirt of the offense.

Offense drives by the defense (the defense cannot move laterally.

Offense finishes over the help defender at the rim, use a counter move if needed.

Keys:

Be tough with the initial rep and with the finish

Use counter move on a big defender.

I found these toughness drills on the Xavier Men’s Basketball Newsletter Site.

If you are interested in seeing other issues of the newsletter, click here:

Xavier Newsletter

I hope that these drills give you some ideas that you can modify and adapt to fit your program.

 

 

 

 

Full Court Guard Toughness

1 guard attempts to advance the ball against 2 defenders

Either split the defenders or attack the slower of the two

Cannot use the shaded area of the floor

Make sure that players understand that this is an overload toughness drill. If players are double teamed in a game, look to pass the ball.

I like to make the drill competitive and use the following scoring system. Each individual in the group of three is competing by him or herself against the score of the other two individuals.

4 points if the offense draws a foul (We don’t want the defense to foul when trapping) or scores a basket

3 points if the offense beats the 10 second count and can keep the dribble alive (without a five count) for a total of 15 seconds without a turnover.

2 points if the offensive player crosses half court and has to pick up the dribble, but holds the ball without being stripped, tied up, or getting a five count.

1 point for the offense for a 10 second or 5 second turnover (we don’t want to lose the ball in live turnover

0- points for losing a live ball. If the defense scores that lost ball, each defender receives 2 points.

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Straight Line Toughness

The goal is to advance the ball up the floor. Offense gets 1 dribble. Defense needs to stop the ball from being advanced.

Players on offense must stay in their designated lane.

Offense must make game cuts to get open. Look to beat the defense deep using north and south dribbles.

Option: You can make a rule that the ball always has to go to to the middle player.

To make this competitive, time the offense to get to the opposite endline, or give the offense a point per pass. They stay on offense until the defense deflects a pass or creates any kind of turnover or violation including traveling.

 

3 on 2 Fullcourt Toughness

Offense gets two dribbles.

Defense traps and rotates.

When in a trap, don’t shift weight back.

Determine a scoring system that fits the purpose of the drill for your program. Put players in teams of 3 with one offensive player out for each possession,

If you are a trapping and pressing team, give the defense points for deflections and turnovers caused. If your purpose is to work on being strong and tough with the ball, use a scoring system similar to the one above for 2 on 1 offense.
Always fit the scoring system of your drills to reward playing the style you need to play to win and reward the fundamentals and techniques that you emphasize and teach.