From  Marwan…
To improve passing:
Form a circle of players (about 15 feet diameter) and introduce one basketball.  Each player must call out another player’s name, ensure that he has his attention, then pass the ball to that player.  Next, introduce a second ball to the circle.  Then, a third ball, then fourth ball etc. to the circle.

This basketball drill is fun and it teaches good crisp passing, receiving and learning to obtain eye contact before passing a ball.  It is a great way for new players to learn their teammates names as well.

From Kym…
I am a real novice at coaching but here goes with my tip.  I am coaching for my first year with a group of under 14 girls and I found it hard to get and keep their attention so I decided to bring music to each session.

I do a drill with dribbling and passing and make sure it is timed with the music.  When the music stops they have to stop and pass.  Sort of like musical dribbling!  I now have put it in an obstacle course with girls dribbling around obstacles and then when the music stops they have to pass to another player.

If the pass doesn’t make it strong to the other girl I play a song I like instead of a song they like!  Sounds lame but works really well and they concentrate.

Technorati Tags: basketball drills, coaching basketball, basketball passing drills, basketball, basketball drill

From Brian…
Passing and catching basketball drill.

I put all the boys in  circle arms length apart at the center of court.  Everyone takes 5 steps back to widen the circle.  I coach from the middle of the circle.  One boy has a basketball and bounce or chest passes to the next boy until we complete the circle.  We are concentrating on making eye contact with the next player, stepping to the player making a sharp pass.  The receiver has to step to the pass, secure the ball, use his pivot foot and pass to the next boy.

I will time the boys to see how long it takes to complete the circle.  I will introduce a second ball half way around the circle and possible a third ball to the circle.  This keeps the boys attention and helps with speed and passing fundamentals.

After 5 times around the circle I will have the basketball coaches play passive defense on the inside of the circle to help the boys make good passing decisions.

Technorati Tags: youth basketball coaching resource, basketball passing drill, basketball drill, basketball, basketball coach

From Gregory…
I call this basketball passing drill “SPIDERWEB“.  It consists of four players around the perimeter with the rest of the team in line behind them evenly.

Player 1 is extended out a little from the left block(facing the basket), Player 2 is extended out a little from the right block(facing the basket), Player 3 is free throw extended on the left(facing the basket) and Player 4 is free throw extended to the right(facing the basket).

Drill:  Player 2 starts with the basketball.  He passes it to Player 1(crisp chest pass), Player 1 receives the ball and passes it back to Player 2 .  Player 2 is moving around the perimeter, outside of the paint (low and shuffling without crossing feet).  Player 2 then delivers a crisp chest pass to Player 3 who makes a crisp chest pass back to Player 2.  Player 2 , still staying low and shuffling without crossing feet, makes a crisp chest pass to Player 4.  Player 4 then makes a crisp chest pass to the next Player 2 in line who delivers a bounce pass to the original Player 2 cutting to the basket.

Focus:  You will be focusing on the crisp chest passes.  Also you will be focusing on the original Player 2’s footwork around the perimeter, his crisp passes while staying low and shuffling without crossing the feet, and the finish layup.
Note:  After Player 2 passes the ball to Player 4 he hesitates a little and gets his timing right to receive the pass from the next Player 2 in line for the layup.

*You can run this drill from both sides with Player 1 starting with the ball and finishing with a left handed layup.  You also can use bounce passes around the perimeter.  Count the misses to add to the end of basketball practice sprints.

Technorati Tags: basketball coaching drills, basketball drill, basketball passing drill, basketball

From Mark…
This sounds great!  One of the best basketball drills that I have put into our practices is to use a medicine ball in our basketball passing drills.

I just use the same old drills but use a 5 or 8 lb medicine ball.  Improves hand strength and catching ability as well as help put a little more zip on the ball.  Also toss it up in the air to simulate a rebound. It really helped to make some of the guys stronger on the boards.

From Mike…
We have a fun 30 sec basketball drill.

Defense plays a 3 - 2 zone We have 3 on 5 and 30 sec to score. They must throw screens for the man with the basketball.  On the 3rd screen a 4th player joins the offense and on the 5th screen the 5th joins. They have only 30 sec to score 2 points for an offensive basket - keep the ball and 1 point for a stop and they switch to offense.  We play up to 10.

Technorati Tags: fun basketball drills, basketball drills, basketball passing drills, basketball drill, basketball

From Lee…
The Marines at Camp Pendleton, here in north San Diego, have a tradition of practicing a basketball drill in which they have two squads of five men pass the ball and run their offense, but no dribbling is allowed!

I took that drill and adjusted it for our 4th-graders, and ran a scrimmage, with a three-on-three full-court scrimmage for 8 minutes (two groups), and then a 5-on-5 scrimmage for 8 minutes…the boys loved it so much they begged for a second 5-on-5 scrimmage for 8 min. and I reffed the “game” just as usual, plus no dribbling.

The boys understood the message of team play and passing.

From Judy…
Here is a variation of hustle/aggression basketball drills that we use with under 15 year old boys to encourage aggressive play and hustle.

4 lines at baseline; basketball coach in the middle rolls ball towards middle of court then blows whistle. The first player from each inside line race to get ball, after they take off towards ball, first player from each outside line sprints up sideline towards opposing basket.

Player retrieving the basketball must immediately pass to sprinting player on his side of court.  The other sprinter, and player not getting initial ball are defenders and must stop the layup. Sprinter must either layup ball or pass back to trailer who stops and pops.

All 4 players clear out after shot and rebound, then next group  goes.

Technorati Tags: youth basketball drills, basketball drill, basketball drills, basketball coach, basketball

From Kevin…
I don’t have a name for this basketball drill, but the intent is to teach the very young players passing skills and how to move and get open. It’s keep-a-way in a box.

I just use a box because very young players need some reference point or they will run all over the gym.Three players on the corners of a box with 15′ sides play keep-a-way from one player in the middle. There is always one open corner.

The players cannot pass across the box, but only to an adjacent corner. If a corner adjacent to the basketball is empty then the player diagonal must move to fill the empty spot. The passer must make a decision to pass left or right, faking out the person in the middle. After every pass, someone must move. If the person in the middle gets the ball, whoever they took it from moves to the middle.

This is intended to be a fast moving game with many touches on the ball teaching movement, getting open, and passing skills. After the players get the game down then the “box” can be removed and they can play on half of the court.

I’m now coaching very young players and need basketball drills focused on teaching basic ball skills.

Technorati Tags: youth basketball practice drills, basketball passing drills, basketball drill, basketball, basketball drills

From Jimmy…
In middle school basketball, it has been my experience that one of the keys to success is fast break lay-ups. We play an aggressive man defense and get a lot of fast break opportunities. I used to be frustrated that we would miss as many as 60% of those opportunities.

My high school basketball coach gave me a drill that I like. You start with two lines at both ends of the court on the baseline, no closer than 5 feet apart. The basketball drill can start at either end. The first two in line start the drill by sprinting down the court passing the ball to each other. I do not let them dribble, they must pass all the way down. Once they get to the goal the player on the right must make a right-hand lay-up. The first two in the next lines take the rebound and go the other way.

At the start of the season I give them 2 minutes to make 20 lay-ups. First we do right hand lay-ups only then left only.  I adjust the amount of lay-ups throughout the season.

Almost instantly the percentage of missed fast break points went up. It is one of my favorite basketball drills.

Technorati Tags: youth basketball offenses, basketball, basketball coach, basketball drill, basketball drills

From Bob…
Dribble and Passing warm up basketball drill.

Start with half the players on the outside of the circle with a ball.
The other half are inside the circle.  Players work for 30 to 60 seconds then rest.

Players on the outside will throw a chest pass, player on the inside checks to the player on the outside asks for the ball,receives the ball and then plays the ball back with the prescribe pass.  The player then finds another player on the outside and executes the pass.

Players must solve the time and space dilemma and are able to perform basketball passing drills under pressure.  I will work this for chest, bounce, skip, and over takes.

Next I move to dribbling.  I keep the circle.  I put 6 on the outside and 4 on the inside.  The players on the inside have a ball. In addition, I put 4 cones or discs in the middle of the circle  forming a box, or what I like to call a window.

Players are then given a type of dribble to perform with a type of crossover move.  Right, Left, front cross, behind the back, between the legs.  Players in the middle start dribble through the square with speed and look to find  an open player on the outside of the circle.  They execute the dribble move, get their head up, find a player open, pass then the ball.  The player on the outside receive the ball, the player who threw them the ball comes at them and the player receiving executes a cross over move to beat the player, dribbles as directed in one part of the square and out the other side and locates another player and executes the same.

A very continuous drill.  I can then add on the following.

Give and go passing.
I can arrange player at the top of the  keys in the gym and the play can play the ball to them cut to the basket and execute a pass and hit the shot, gets his rebound plays the player, and the player continues through the “window” and finds a player to execute a give and go.  The combinations are limitless. The kids like it, we are working skills at speed with pressure, with a number of players in the same area which causes the kids to make good decisions with the basketball.

Great for fitness and handling pressure.

Technorati Tags: free basketball dribbling, basketball drill, basketball passing drills, basketball

From Mike…
I call this basketball drill Circle Passing

Have the players MAKE A CIRCLE AT half-court.  They can’t pass the basketball to the person next to them, only to every other person. Add balls as they go. If they miss the pass they can’t leave from their spot because the person who is passing the ball to them is stuck holding the ball.  Another ball is coming.  12 players should be able to work in 5-6 basketballs.

Once they get good have players walk the circle while passing.  They love this basketball passing drill!

From Hal…
I coach third and fourth grade boys and girls. This is generally their first contact with basketball and all they want to do is dribble down the court.  To get them looking down court I make them pass to half court. At least three passes, absolutely no dribble.  It has really helped their passing concept.

Technorati Tags: basketball passing drills, basketball drill, basketball, basketball passing drill

From John…
No dribbling half-court basketball scrimmage for young, inexperienced youth players.
 
The best way that I have seen to get young youth players to get the idea to pass the ball to other players on their team instead of dribbling into corners and getting trapped is to scrimmage half-court without allowing dribbling. 

In one of the first scrimmages for my youth basketball team I will let them scrimmage half-court 4v4 without restrictions for 10 minutes and inevitably what will happen is that one player will dribble continuously without passing and the other players on the team will stand and watch.  Once the rules are changed to a 4v4 half-court scrimmage without dribbling, the other players realize that they must move without the ball in order to advance the ball and score.  I’ve run this type of scrimmage for 10 minutes and then gone back to the scrimmage without the “no dribbling” restriction and the results are immediate.  Players move more, pass better and find other players for open baskets.

Technorati Tags: basketball drills, youth basketball passing drills, basketball scrimmage, basketball