Basketball Workouts

Basketball Workouts Guards 2

By Brian Williams on March 11, 2013

These are four more guard basketball workout drills are from a back issue of the Xavier Men’s basketball newsletter.

If you would like to see the archives and/or sign up for their newsletter, you can here:

Xavier Newsletter

Here is a link to the previous four drills:

Basketball Workouts Guards

At the end of this post, I have listed some more skill development drills.

Guard Attack Drill

Diagrams created with FastDraw

Great attacking drill.

RULES:

Guard starts on the wing with the ball and drives hard to the hoop.
The defender in the post can attack after the guard has taken one dribble.
Guard must go by the defender and score.

Guard NBA Sprint Drill

Outstanding shooting drill that stresses cutting hard.

RULES:

Guard runs from corner to corner around the 3 point line getting as many shots up as he can in one minute.

The guard must SPRINT from sport to spot.
He may not leave the previous spot until the rebounder has the ball.
Player should get in the neighborhood of 20 shots
Can also do with pull ups off of a shot fake. The guard must cover HUGE ground with step after shot fake. Work In straight lines!

Guard Iso Drill

The defensive player is guarding Player 1 very tight, fouling and reaching. Player 1 must be ball tough and sweep through several times.

After 4 or 5 seconds, Player 1 sweeps through strong and tight to the defender on a straight line to the basket. The defender is stationary.

Player 1 must get past the defender and execute a one dribble pull up — covering as much ground as possible with one bounce.

Guard Cage Drill

The guard must stay within the edge of the boundries while trying to get past the defender (See Highlighted Area). The goal is to get to halfcourt.

RULES:

The defender cannot foul – but they should be very aggressive.
The guard cannot turn his back or spin dribble.
The guard can go between his legs, cross in front or hop-back to create room.

Basketball Workouts Guards

By Brian Williams on March 4, 2013

These four guard basketball workout drills are from a back issue of the Xavier Men’s basketball newsletter. If you would like to see the archives and/or sign up for their newsletter, you can here: Xavier Newsletter

The first drill is a toughness and finishing drill.

Drill #2 is a drill for guards to work on scoring in the post.

The third drill is a competitive shooting drill that works on the skill of penetrating and kicking for a shot.

The final drill works on speed dribble while being chased from behind.

At the end of the post, I have linked to some other skill development workout drills.

30 Second War Drill

Diagrams created with FastDraw

In addition to working on ball handling, this is a great short conditioning drill.

RULES:
-Guard has the ball on the wing.
-The defender is guarding tightly. (Reaching and light fouling are allowed)
-Guard must keep his dribble and face the post for 30 seconds – no spins or back to the basket is allowed.
-It is a good idea to use a hop back to create space when needed.
-After 30 seconds, a coach blows the whistle and the guard can then drive, attempting to score

Guard Scoring in Post

This drill stresses the ability to score quickly out of the post, in addition to being a good defensive drill.

RULES:
-Player 1 spins the ball out of the post to himself. He must catch, turn and shoot before the defender can get there to block the shot.
-The defender cannot move or challenge the shot until the ball hits the floor on the toss.

-With the sound of the ball hitting the floor, the defender can then attempt to guard and block the shot.

-The guard must be very quick to turn around and shoot.

Guard Penetration

Great drill to stress the drive and kick.

RULES:
-3 players start on the perimeter.
-There must be two drive and kicks before a shot.
-Alternate shooters each time.
-First player to 5 makes wins.

Guard Court Sprint

This is a great guard drill that stresses quickness.

RULES:
-Guard begins on the baseline.
-Defender is 3 feet to his side and 3 feet behind.
-On the whistle, the guard attempts to sprint while dribbling the length of the floor, while the defender tries to catch up and cut him off.
-The guard must try to prevent this by riding off of the defender as he is dribbling at maximum speed.
-The guard must keep the ball tight to his body while going full speed.

Basketball Drills Guard Out of Season Workout

By Brian Williams on November 22, 2012

This drill is from Phil Beckner. Phil has been an assistant for D-1 Men’s Programs Weber State, Nebraska, and Boise State. He also spent time as an assistant coach in the G League.

Coach Beckner had this to say about the drill:

This is a great guard/wing attack drill that allows the player to work on catching and bouncing on the move.

This drill is best with multiple players goin at once alternating lines.

Each rep begins with the player whose turn it is passing to the coach across half and receiving the ball in full stride to attack the hoop.

These drills should be done on both the right and left sides.

Also, have the players change up their finishes.

Rep 1: After receiving the ball back from the coach the player attacks the chair located on the three-point line with one dribble.

The player beats the chair with an in-n-out dribble and uses 1 or 2 dribbles to finish at the basket.

Rep 2: On the catch back from the coach the player attacks the chair with one dribble then crosses over in front of the chair to a 1 or 2 dribble finish on the other side of the basket.

Rep 3: After catching from the coach the player attacks the chair to a crossover, then with 1 dribble in between crosses over at the second chair to finish on the same side of the hoop.

Rep 4: On the catch from the coach the player attacks the first chair and crosses over, then after 1 dribble uses an in-n-out dribble to get around the second chair for a finish on the opposite side of the basket.

Basketball Drills Guard Workout

By Brian Williams on April 27, 2012

Found this guard workout in an old Xavier Newsletter.

This is a great guard workout we used during our spring period of individual instruction. It is very similar to the Musketeer Post Drill. As a team, we stress running the floor at all times. This is a drill that encourages that idea with our guards. It has a great conditioning aspect to it and has proved to be one of our most effective quick guard workouts.

Player passes to coach, comes off of an imaginary down screen, catches, shoots, rebounds, and repeats for 5 shots.

Coach is the dribbler down the court. Player sprints full court to the opposite basket, cuts out to the second shooting area and repeats the 5 shot process.

Player advance to the 3rd and 4th shooting areas, repeating the 5 shot process.

After the 5th shot at the 4th spot, player releases and sprints the floor. Coach throws a home run pass for a lay-up.

Basketball Drills the License

By Brian Williams on March 14, 2012

This drill is from an old Weber State Mens Basketball Coaching Newsletter.

It was put together by then Weber State Assistant Coach Phil Beckner. Since then, Coach Beckner has held assistant coaching positions in the D League, with Nebraska, and now at Boise State.

Coach Beckner is currently on the staff at Boise State.

The License is an out of season shooting workout we use to challenge our guys and get them extra shots.

The players must score a 35 or better 5 times in order to get The License. Each shot made is one point.

Only players with The License are allowed to shoot three’s during the season.

You can adapt it to fit the level that you coach and the skill levels of your players.

These standards are for a Division I men’s program where 2013 unanimous choice NBA Rookie of the Year Damian Lillard played.

I would start anywhere from 28 to 30 for high schools and modify your standards as you see how your team stacks up.

Round 1 Spot Ups: Player will start at spot 1 and move around the arc and back to shoot a total of 10 shots.

*Player is allowed to start the drill by making his first shot.

Only from spot 1 and only on this first set of 10 shots.

Round 2: Cut-Into 3s:

Player will start under the basket and make a cut into spot 1 to shoot.

Player then cuts back under the basket end then to spot 2.

This is repeated for aU 5 spots, then the player will repeat the cuts starting at spot 5.10 shots total.

Round 3: Transition Wing 3s:

Player will start at 1/2 Court and make a cut into the wing.

Coach is in the middle to pass.

The player will shoot 5 shots in a row from the right side, then shoot 5 shots in a row from the left side.

10 shots total.

Round 4: Trail 3’s:

Player will start at halt court and shoot a trail 3 at the top of the key. Coach will pass from the side. Player shoots 5 from the right and 5 from the left. 10 Shots total.

Round 5: Spot Ups

Same as Round 1 but the player does NOT start on make from spot. 10 Shots total.