Basketball Workouts

This article was written by Basketball Strength and Conditioning Coach Alan Stein and published on his Stronger Team Blog

In case you missed these articles, here are a couple of other articles for your preseason planning:

Reducing ACL Issues
Preseason Conditioning Drills

Prepare for a Purposeful Pre-Season

Your pre-season training program lays the foundation and sets the tone, both physically and mentally, for your up-coming season. And while you can’t win a championship in the pre-season, you sure as hell can lose one.

While it is vital to train with true purpose all year long, it becomes even more critical during the 6 to 8 weeks leading up to your first official practice. Your pre-season workouts need to prepare players for the actual demands of the game! As obvious as that may sound, many pre-season training programs lack this essential quality.

There are 3 primary purposes for pre-season training:

Bullet proof the body against injury
Improve performance on the court
Have fun and build team chemistry

If any exercise, drill or concept you use this pre-season doesn’t meet at least one of these three… then it is consider ‘fluff’ or a major time waster. If you use your creativity and imagination… you can often meet all 3 criteria with the same drill!

In an analysis presented at the 2010 Boston Sports Medicine Performance Group conference, researches broke down a basketball game and observed the following:

Average player’s heart rate: 165-170 beats per minute during the action
High-intensity sprints occur every 20-30 seconds
100-plus high intensity sprints per game
40-50 maximal jumps per game
Change in movement every 2-3 seconds
30% of time is spent defensive sliding
15% of time is in high intensity

In addition, there are 6 primary movement patterns used in basketball:

Sprinting
Backpedaling
Defensive sliding
Jumping (and landing)
Pivoting
Lunging

As you can see, basketball is game of quick, explosive bursts of multi-directional movements and varying movement patterns interspersed with short bouts of rest.

In order for your pre-season workouts to be truly purposeful, efficient and effective… they need to prepare players for these very specific demands.

Train hard. Train smart. Get better.

Alan Stein
Hardwood Hustle Blog
http://www.About.me/AlanStein

This post on skill development is from Arkansas women’s Coach Mike Neighbors. He has a great newsletter that 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. It was written when he was an Assistant Coach.

Random Thoughts on Skill Development

• We try to be 5% better at 10 things rather than being THE BEST at one thing. choose wisely and focus. You will get what you tolerate.
• Spend 80% of our time on the most important 20%. Pete Carril “Be good at things you have to do a lot”
• Activity is often mistaken for productivity. An hour practicing something that doesn’t help meet objective is an hour wasted
• Drill for mastery. Fill time in a workout is a cardinal sin of coaching
• HARD WORK is the most over evaluated attribute in skill development. As coaches we tend to give too much credit to a hard worker who doesn’t produce and give too much scrutiny to players who make things look easy. Hard worker can be disguised as poor practice habits if you examine closely
• A talented player is often mistaken for a player with good practice habits.
• Have a 5 to 1 Practice to Play ratio
• 7 Laws of Learning all mention a “willing participant as a LAW” There are 100’s of different LAWS but this one is common to almost every one you find
• If you are a feeder program or have control of yours: don’t let players shoot on a 8 ft goal until they can shoot with proper form on a 7 foot goal, use the smallest ball available until hands are big enough to handle it, don’t keep score (at least traditional ways) until they can pass, dribble, AND shoot, cover up the three point line until half the league can shoot with proper form, make sure you and your players are visible.

1. Always Be CREDIBLE

“PLAN LIKE A GARDENER BUT WORK LIKE A CARPENTER”- PAPA NEIGHBORS

Research tells us that your player decides in the first two minutes of their very first workout if they trust you or if they think you are “like every other coach” that they have had. If you are “like every other coach they have had” then you are in for a long 4 years (or more).

Too many coaches expect players to be in awe of them because of prior success. Too many coaches expect to be respected because they have the title COACH. Too many coaches assume their players look up to them. Might have been the case in 1982, but not today.

They don’t care and quite frankly don’t want to hear about what you did with someone else. They care about themselves and that’s okay when it comes to skill development.

Your first workout with a player must always be a 1-on-1 workout
– this allows you to make it personal to their objective
– allows them to make mistakes without peer pressure
– players are more open to critique
– 100% of the attention is on them
– begins to demonstrate you care about them

Open the gym
– if you want them to get better you have to give them the opportunity
– there are courts all over your town but they want you to know they are working

Name things after players they know
– the players we coach have never heard of MIKAN of SIKMA, have never seen Jordan or Olajuwon live, but follow Dwight Howard and Chris Paul on twitter. Respect who they are watching. You can always give them history lessons after they have become a good player.

Speak in images
-Attack the pits, butt to gut, clip the hip, Hit/Peel, our numbering screen system

Work on their strengths
– Too many coaches think skill development is teaching skill the players are deficient in. That is only part of the formula, but staying good at what they are already good at is too. Research has shown our greatest capacity for improvement comes in areas we already possess a high level of skill in.

It’s a medical fact the brain slows in function as fatigue sets in
– plan your workouts to coincide with fatigue. Don’t introduce new ideas when fatigued.

Early in the process make out your workout and then cut it in half. Late in the pro-cess make out your workout then double it
– more attention to detail early, more attention on mastery late

Consistent language
– don’t call it the short corner one workout then the soft spot the next then off the block…

Defensive improvement is just as important as offensive
– and will certain players situations it may be a faster path to more playing time

Reality World
– don’t give unwarranted praise or unearned criticism. Shout praise, whisper criticism

Don’t confuse being in control with having their respect/trust
– vice versa is true as well…

2. Always Be CHALLENGING

“THERE IS NO FINISH LINE”— plaque I once saw on Phil Knight’s desk at Nike

The first encounter your player has with you on the court must be challenging. The entire atmosphere must be on a higher level than anything they have experienced prior. Your initial workout with each player must SCREAM to them that you have a plan for them. That it is NOT going to be the same old things they have been working on in the past. They must feel BIG TIME.
That does not mean simply being more physically demanding or yelling more/harder at them. The player has to sense that you are different and can take them to places no other coach ever has.

Create desirable difficulty
-You can do this with intensity of the work. You can do this by placing a time/score on the work. You can do this by using props or other distractors. You can do this with mainly by illustrating on a daily basis that you have a plan for them that is about them!!

Do things correctly twice for every time it’s done incorrectly
– The brain does not have the capability of separating sequence in which skills are performed. So if a player does something incorrectly, most coaches make them do it again… and again… and again… then when they get it correctly praise them and let them go to the front of the line. The brain actually remembers that it did something wrong 4 times but only correctly once even though they did it correctly the last time. So much for “end on a make”!!

So, when you have players in a line… if they do it incorrectly they go to front of the line. Do it correctly, they go the back of the line…
– a good practice habit to get the most of your time and the most of each player. Don’t you want your players who need the most work getting the most work?

As players succeed add complexity… as they struggle reduce it
-resist the urge to keep pushing and pushing and pushing and pushing

Players need to feel worked out after a work out
– your plan and your tactics have to leave them pushed when they are walking off the court. We all want to feel like our time is/was valuable. If your players don’t leave a workout tired but wanting more then your plan isn’t good enough.

Feedback must be Speedy
-One of our greatest tools as a skill developer is feedback. The words we choose and the tone with which we deliver them are important. But research has show that to be ultimately effective it must be almost immediate. BUY A FLIP CAMERA and use it!! If you wait two days to edit some video and then bring them into your office to show it to the player you have reduced your effectiveness.

Give feedback in solution sentences and pictures/images
– Don’t provide feedback with instructions that begin with “don’t”. It would have been better to say, provide feedback with instructions that give visualization to the solutions. So, don’t say… Don’t close out like that Moe… say instead. You need both hands high on the close out to take away the shot AND the quick post entry pass. Don’t say… Don’t stop moving your feet Tashia… say instead… keep your feet active then wall-up after she terminates her dribble.

Feedback during a game is different than feedback during skill development
– First I would say, we try to coach during games and teach during practice. But IF you are going to provide feedback during games it needs to be short and quick. In practice you can expand that explanation to teach.

3. Always Be CONFIDENT

“YOU CAN’T SELL WHAT ISN’T YOURS”- PAPA NEIGHBORS

You must ooze confidence when you are working on skill development. From your appearance to your words to your plan to your execution, you must be 100% convinced that what you doing for this player will help them. If you are 95% sure, you will get about 50% improvement. If you are 90% sure, you will get about 0% improvement. Your players will sense it in a heartbeat if you aren’t prepared the second you step between the lines of the court and for every % point you aren’t sure you will lose 10% of your effectiveness.

To be confident you must be convicted in your plan, your methods, and your execution. Like with simplicity, that is very hard to have. You can’t just pull out a workout from a file you did with a player two years ago or last week. You can’t come to a clinic like this and copy drill for drill something I say.

You have to make it YOURS to sell it.

(This “always” is very similar to Credible so the points could overlap)

Basketball Development requires two types of skills:
PRECISION SKILLS: these are skills of technique, form, and repetition Shooting, passing, catching, dribbling, etc, We want zero errors, we want no variation, we give lots of correction

DECISION SKILLS: reading, recognizing, reacting Shot selection, pass/shoot decisions, reading screens/defenses.  We expect errors and learn from them, we want as many variations as possible, we provide little correction but lots of coaching

If you try to teach these different skills in the same manner, you will fail. You will lose your confidence and in turn players will lose their confidence in you. If a player doesn’t trust the moves you are teaching them to score because they aren’t effective come game time, why do expect them to trust you when you tell them conditioning is an important part of the game.

Confidence takes weeks, months, years to develop and one second to lose.

What percentage of the game do you believe is “Mental”?
___ 70% or higher ___ 50-70% ____ 30-50% _____ 30% or lower

Regardless of which answer you choose, do you allot that much time in your skill development for mental things? If you don’t, I wouldn’t trust you either.

Failure is NOT a lack of skill
– Wayne Gretsky always said if he didn’t fall in practice every once in a while, then he wasn’t skating fast enough. The guy we nicknamed the GREATEST said that. Looking stupid at times is a must to develop a skill. As mentioned earlier it’s why we often introduce new things in 1-on-1 situations or at the very least in small groups. Celebrate them even!!

Curse of Knowledge
-This is a biggie. I could do 2 hours on this one point alone. Read the book MADE TO STICK by Chip and Dan Heath for more on this topic. The very, very short version goes like this… Some of the very best doers of all time are the absolute worst teachers of all time. Sure you can readily think of examples without me putting people on blast. The reason is the CURSE of KNOWLEDGE. Once you learn something you can’t un-learn it. And when you have this knowledge it’s challenging to teach it without frustration setting in and remembering what it was like to NOT know something.

Use the least invasive form of correction as possible
Another book every coach/teacher needs on their desk. Sorry to all the Bobby Knight emulators, but you can’t develop skill through fear and intimidation with the IY Generation. It’s a proven fact. You can still COACH that way with levels of success but you can’t develop skill.

4. Always Be CREATIVE

“GOOD ARTISTS BORROW. GREAT ARTISTS STEAL”– Pablo Picaso

Creative doesn’t mean you have to come up with new things on your own… it’s a bonus if you can and do… but using a drill that your players haven’t seen before is the same thing as making it up. You don’t have to tell them where it came from. Always give credit where credit is due among peers, but it’s okay to let your players believe you are a genius!!

Vary the drill not the skill
– if I could have one skill as a development coach it would be this. If you can continually find ways to work on the same skills in different ways you will be able to instill deep muscle memory on precision skills and long lasting instincts on decision skills. It can simply be changing the way you time or score a drill. Can be moving to a different spot on the court. Can be introducing obstacles or disrupters (chairs, blocking dummies, use a dribble limit)

GAMES
– we all like games. Make your drills into games. Beat the Pro. Hubies. Celtic Shooting. Games create a competitive environment for your workouts. They make a player want to “beat the drill” and as we will discuss (in CHARTING next) later, games will get them in the gym!

Bring on the Beats
– your players love music. They might like different music than you but that’s probably a good thing. Music during certain parts of our workouts enhance the atmosphere. We use it to determine start and stop times in some shooting drills. Anything where we are working on rhythm or repetition. It can be used as a reward too. As long as they are focused there are beats. If focus drops, music stops!! (hey I just wrote a rap)

The more people enjoy practice, the more they will do it
– as an adult what do you practice?

Shrink the space
– play drills in the paint when working with posts. Play games on one side of court with your perimeters. Play on shortened courts to exaggerate transition defense.

What is your favorite Rocky Movie?

– my bet is it was 3 or 4… why? Because in both of those had moments when Rocky was living high on life and had to go back to his roots to refocus. We wouldn’t have the “Eye of the Tiger” without Rocky getting too big for his own self so it’s not all bad. Point here is that when you hit a rut or your players are stumped, don’t be afraid to take it to the playground!!

Take them to watch someone they idolize
– if you are close enough to take them to see them in person do it. If you have to make a video of them do it. If you have to use YouTube clips do it. Modeling is one of the greatest tools we have at our disposal as skill developers. The days of me being able to demonstrate are long, long gone. Was great when I had it, but gotta know when to hang ‘em up.

Have you ever coached a set of siblings? Bet the youngest or next youngest was the best!?!

It’s a common phenomenon but the reason makes perfect sense. They have had great models to watch as they grew up. They learn from the triumphs and their defeats. They are pushed and they are coached every step of the way.

5. Always Be CHARTING

“YOU ARE WHAT YOU COUNT”

So you better be careful what you count.

I love going to high school practices and watching teams chart deflections in practice and then have the coach totally lose their mind on a kid who is out of position for a help rotation or gets beat on a back door cut. I mean YOU are emphasizing and rewarding an aggressive play, YOU can’t then yell at a kid for doing exactly what you are asking for!!

Once you determine what is important, CHART it every way possible. Charting over time is one way you can determine developmental success. Of course the best way is when the skills are beneficial when the stakes are the highest, but charting is a close second.

From charting you can see progress/regress. Patterns will develop. Highs, lows, and plateaus. Consistency and one-hit wonders will separate themselves. But if you aren’t charting it, all you are doing is giving them an opinion. May be good enough for some, but the best will be continually motivated when they have something measureable to examine and study.

Games!! As mentioned in the Always be Creative section. Games are addicting and fun. We chart all our games on Record Boards

The SKILL ZONE
-when you are charting, you must make sure everyone has equal opportunity if you are com paring players from separate workouts. You must also keep in mind the purpose of the drill when you are setting goals for success. The following chart might be helpful:

Skill Zone                               Heart Rate                                                  Success Rate
Comfort zone                           Player is working but not struggling            80-100%
Sweet Spot                             Player is struggling but achieving                50-80%
Survival Mode                         Player is struggling but surviving                  0-50%

Editor’s Note from Brian: This is designed to be used for individual skill workouts in the spring, summer, and fall, but I believe that you can adapt it to in season team practices to motivate your players to work harder on individual skill development during that portion of your practice.

I like to use this format for my Improvement Season skill development workouts for our basketball players. Players should consider the Spring, Summer, and Fall as their “improvement season” unless they are involved in other sports. I first saw Kevin Eastman use the term “improvement season” and really like that concept. I also believe that “Champions have no off-season,” and the term improvement season fits with that philosophy.

Our players have enjoyed this workout because of its competitive nature. I have learned that the majority of players would rather do a shorter workout that features intense basketball drills. The goal for the competitive basketball workout is a 45 minute workout at a highly intense pace and with correct technique.

Move from one game (drill) to the next. The only time you stop is to record your scores.

Rather than just doing basketball drills, each day’s competitive workout is a “20 game season.” The purpose is to make it as competitive as possible both during the workout and over the entire course of the improvement season.

I set a standard for each drill for 5 different levels of players. This is for a high school program, but you can obviously modify it for any level you coach. You could just use the level numbers or colors if there aren’t any names that fit for your level.

Level 1–Championship Level
Level 2–Varsity Rotation Player
Level 3–Varsity Team Member
Level 4–Junior Varsity
Level 5–Middle School

With 5 levels, we can have young and veteran players all doing the workout, with higher expectations for each of the basketball drills for better players. The young players can work at their own level and not be discouraged. You can also scale the intensity of the basketball drills you use in your workout to fit the age of the player you are working with.

The player and I work together to establish the level they will work at. They can move up to a higher level if they want to challenge themselves. I have also created college levels for graduates who are going to continue to play after leaving our program.

Here is an example of one of the drills that is on our list that can be used as a “game pace drill”. The player spins the ball out to simulate catching a pass and shooting a 15 foot shot. They rebound their own shot and spin the ball to another area for another 15 foot shot.

They have two minutes to complete the drill to ensure that they are working at a game pace.

Level 1–Championship Level Player must make 15 shots without missing 2 in a row at any point. If he misses 2 in a row the drill is over and the “game” goes down as a loss on today’s schedule of 20 drills. We call them 20 games.
Level 2–Varsity Rotation Player 12 makes without missing 2 in a row.
Level 3–Varsity Team Member 10
Level 4–Junior Varsity 8
Level 5–Middle School 6

You will need to create a similar scoring system for all of the drills that you will use in your competitive workout.

The player gets 1 chance at each drill. If he achieves the score for his level, he gets a win for that “game”. If he doesn’t achieve the score, he gets a loss. We do 20 drills each workout to complete a 20 game season. Then, after the 20th drill, the players get a chance at the postseason. In Indiana high school, you have to win 7 postseason games to win the state championship. All players compete at the Championship level in this phase of their workout. If you lose, just like the postseason tournament, your workout for the day is over.

The players can choose their own drills in the 7 postseason games. The way we incorporate free throws in this portion is by requiring players to “validate their win.” After they meet the standard to win a postseason game, they shoot one free throw. They make it, the win counts, they miss and the drill becomes a loss and the workout is over.

I have a list of drills for each category

1) Technique Shooting Drills
2) Dribbling and Driving Drills
3) Game Pace Shooting Drills (You can add any of your program’s intense basketball drills to this phase of the workout)
4) Toughness Shooting Drills

I also have created the scores for each drill that goes along with the five levels. You will want to create your own scores that are needed to win each level for each drill like the example I gave above.

I allow the players to choose the drill that they want to do for each game as long as it is from the category he is on.

1. Rim Flips (Form shooting at the basket to groove the shot)
I score this one by keeping track of consecutive makes or stepping back after a certain number of makes.
2. Consecutive Free Throws
(Championship and Varsity Regular make 3 in a row to win–one chance)
(Other 3 levels must make 2 in a row to win–one chance)
3. Technique Shooting Game
4. Free Throws (all Free Throw Games are the same as #2 above)
5. Dribbling and Driving Game
6. Free Throws (all Free Throw Games are the same as #2 above)
7. Different Dribbling and Driving Game
8. Free Throws (all Free Throw Games are the same as #2 above)
9. Game Pace Shooting Game
10. Free Throws (all Free Throw Games are the same as #2 above)
11. Different Game Pace Shooting Game
12. Free Throws (all Free Throw Games are the same as #2 above)
13. Third game pace shooting drill (may repeat one of the two previous game pace games only if you lost that game–cannot repeat one that you won)
14. Free Throws (all Free Throw Games are the same as #2 above)
15. Fourth game pace shooting drill (may repeat one of the three previous game pace games only if you lost that game–cannot repeat one that you won)
16. Free Throws (all Free Throw Games are the same as #2 above)
17. Toughness Shooting Game
18. Free Throws (all Free Throw Games are the same as #2 above)
19. Different Toughness Shooting Game (At this point in the workout, you want to give your players your most intense basketball drills that they can handle without becoming discouraged.
20. Free Throws (all Free Throw Games are the same as #2 above)

Postseason–player chooses the drill. Cannot choose a drill that they already won, but can choose one they lost. All players must compete at the championship level. One loss and the workout is over–just like the one and done postseason state tournament. If the player does win a drill, he must validate the win with a made free throw. If he misses the free throw, the drill is a loss and the workout is over.

Win 7 drills with 7 validations and you are a state champ for that day.

The workout is designed to work on these 6 ways to score (plus fatigued pressure free throws)

1) catch and shoot
2) catch, shot fake, one dribble pull up shot,
3) catch and shot fake, one dribble, a second dribble move to beat an imaginary help defender and shoot a runner in the lane
4) catch and shot fake, one dribble, a second dribble move to beat an imaginary help defender and finish with a finishing move at the basket
5) catch and shot fake, two dribbles and shoot a step back shot
6) catch and shot fake, two dribbles, step back to shoot a hop back shot, keep the dribble alive, make a dribble move to beat the imaginary defender coming at you and finish with a floater.

The workout can be modified for post players.

Here are some ideas for drills for each of the categories, but you should use the drills that you use in your program that your players are familiar with. Here is a link to the archives if you would like to look for a drill that was on a previous post: Coaching Toolbox Archives

Technique Shooting Drills

Rim Flips emphasis on proper shooting technique

Shooting a basketball with one hand helps to work on shooting the ball straight and concentrating on the backspin rotation of the ball. This drill is to work on technique, foot position, and body alignment and not to simulate anything close to game speed. Rim flips are solely for refining and maintaining technique and form. SLOW. SLOW. SLOW!! Stand an arms length directly in front of the rim. Set the ball for the normal shot and then take the balance hand away. The entire focus of the drill is on correct shooting fundamentals. The initial stage of the drill does not involve jumping. Think of it as a short free throw. After making 10 in a row without hitting the rim, the shooter moves back two steps. After moving back two steps, place the guide hand on the ball, but use the exact same technique as before with the shooting hand. Once you can make 10 in a row, move back another two steps and work to make another 10 in a row. Eventually, you will jump toward the basket and land six inches closer just like you were taking a shot in a game. Work on the landing in all three phases of the rim flips drill. For more information on foot positioning and landing, go to our correct shooting fundamentals page.

5 shots 5 spots Two different spots 5-10 feet, Two different spots 10-15 feet, One spot 15-20. If there is a rebounder, the shooter shoots and then jogs to the next spot. If there is no rebounder, the shooter can jog to get his/her rebound and proceed to the next spot. You receive one point for each shot made. All shots are taken inside the three point arc. The objective of the drill is to work on technique without pressure.

45 Spot up Shots Inside the Arc. This game works best if you have a rebounder. The purpose of the game is to get in a rhythm of catching and shooting with perfect shooting form. The shooter stays inside the 3 point arc and moves around the inside of the arc until s/he has taken 45 shots.

Two to One Shooting Game Pick a spot on the floor. The shooter is playing against an imaginary opponent. The shooter gets 1 point for every make and the opponent receives 2 points for each miss. If the shooter reaches 10 first, it is one win in the twenty game workout. If the imaginary opponent reaches 10 points first, it is a loss. This is not at game pace. The purpose of the technique shooting game in the competitive workout is to shoot rhythm shots.

The 50 point game involves 29 shots. The shots should be taken in the order that the spots are diagramed at the left. For variety, the numbers can be mirrored on the floor so that the right side is where the first shots are taken from. If there is a rebounder, the shooter shoots and then jogs to the next spot. If there is no rebounder, the shooter can jog to get his/her rebound and proceed to the next spot.

Dribbling and Driving Games

One minute half court dribbling one basketball involves using both hands, seeing the whole floor, spacing the whole floor, using a variety of dribble moves, and moving at game speed while doing all of those things.

One minute half court dribbling two basketballs has the same purpose and execution as with one basketball, but has the added pressure of dribbling two basketballs.

100 reps of push/pull crossover for time.

50 reps of 2 ball crossovers for time.

10 straight line drives for time.

Links to Game Pace Shooting Drills on The Coaching Toolbox

200 Point Game and 10 in 1 Shooting

4 Quarter Shooting, Sweep Shooting, 2 Ball Shooting are some drill used by the Washington Women’s program.

5 Competitive Shooting Drills 90 second shooting drill, 10 shots/5 spots, 21 point, 10 point, and 5 point

Toughness Shooting Drills

2 Minute Drill is one of my favorite basketball drills. It combines game pace shooting, pressure free throws, and several types of shots.

The 3 point license A drill to give your players a standard they must meet to be able to shoot 3 point shots in a game.

These 4 basketball skill development drills came from the Stephen Curry Skills Academy and are a part of Alan Stein’s 12 Volume Basketball Coaching Nuggets.

Here are two other links to previous posts of some workout drills from Stephen Curry:

5 Stephen Curry Workout Drills

Stephen Curry Basketball Shooting Drills

 

 

 

 

Separation 1 on 1 Drill

1 on 1 Live: Check the ball at half court. Player will have 3 to 4 dribbles to score.

Limited to one shot and you must stay within the cones.

Offense stays if they score.

 

 

Separation Progression Series

Two cones on each side of the basket.

Players will work on their last two steps, making sure they are long and low and that their finishes are in front of their body and underhand (pin and extend).

After every player finishes on each side, the coach will gradually move the cones back until we reach the NBA 3pt arc.
 

Power Dribble 1 on 1

Starting at midcourt, player 1 will take a power dribble stance with his toes pointing to the sideline.

Player 2 will provide intense defensive pressure with his forearm on the Player 1’s inside shoulder.

On “Go” Player 1 must create space and work his way to the bell at the top of the key without going outside the cones.

Once the bell is reached, it’s live 1 on 1 limited to one shot. If Player 1 goes outside the cones it’s a turnover.

Offensive player stays on if they score. Be aware of 5 second violation.

One Bounce Drill

3 Players on the baseline going at same time. Coach at top of key.

If coach calls your name, then pass him the ball.

Coach then tosses the ball to a random location.

Player must catch on the first bounce, square/have “perfect feet” and shoot. Go for two minutes. Count makes! Compete!

These 5 basketball skill development drills came from the Stephen Curry Skills Academy and are a part of Alan Stein’s 12 Volume Basketball Coaching Nuggets.

The entire Curry Academy volume has 82 pages of basketball skill development drills.

If you like these drills and think that other basketball coaches would be interested in seeing them, please consider clicking the Facebook like button or using the Twitter button (both are to the left of this text) to tweet the link to this page. Thank you!

 

 

 

 

 

Contact Drill

Players partner up and start on sideline.
1. Defenders put hands on Offense shoulders while Offense drives across the floor through the pressure.
2. Offense takes power dribble stance and faces baseline. Player 2 puts forearm on Player 1’s inside shoulder and gives contact. Player 1 then step-slides up the court.

3. Player 1 will be advancing the ball while Player 2 is trying to ride him out on his inside shoulder. It’s Player 1’s goal to cut into the path of Player 2 and veer behind him. Once there his goal is to stay on the inside position by keeping contact.

Contact is never an excuse to lose the ball!!

Straight Line Cat and Mouse

1 on 1. Offense and defense each have two basketballs.

The boundaries are marked by cones.

If the offense gets their shoulders past the defense they receive a point.

If the defense forces the offense to change directions, lose the basketball or go out of bounds they receive a point.

Play to seven, then change offense to defense.

React to Penetration

Slot Euro Pass: 1 minute on the clock. Player will attack off the dribble from the slot, pivot and pass to coach on opposite slot.

If Player delivers pass on target to coach, he will be rewarded with a shot on the weakside wing.

If the pass is not on target, coach will drop pass and let it roll away.

Hitting the shooter in his or her “shooting pocket” makes a huge difference in the shot going in. Even in the NBA when players have to reach up, down, or sideways to catch the ball, it throws off shot preparation.

You can run this drill from any area on the floor where your offense has penetration opportunities for passes to where your drive and space spots are.

Dribble Attack 1 on 1

Players will start on the baseline. One on offense with a basketball and the other on defense.

Player one must dribble around a chair which is outside the 3pt arc, player 2 must sprint around a corresponding chair at the same distance from baseline.

Then it’s live 1 on 1. You only get one shot. Offense stays if they score.

Jab Series 1 on 1

Player 1 starts under the rim. He must find a way to get open, if he does the coach will deliver a pass.

It’s then 1 on 1 with a limit of three dribbles and one shot. Offense stays if they score. If Player 1 fails to get open within a time limit of five seconds, then his possession is over.