I have found that in competition mode, the players are always pushing it and trying to win.  When practicing 5 on 5 concepts, a team will receive points for boxing out, talking on defense, running a play correctly and at game speed, and so on.  Once the basketball drill is over, the punishment begins.

Usually, the winning team will run too, as support for the losers. One-on-one drills are immediately stopped and reinforced with running if they are slacking.  Also, when they are running sprints, I will randomly throw a basketball to a player in transition and have him make a lay-up while tired.

Some days, I will come to practice with a card that has anywhere from 50-100 boxes on it.  Each number stands for 1 sprint.  They are aware of the number on the card.  For each hustle or successful play etc, one sprint is marked off.  Sometimes, depending on the degree of the hustle, 2 sprints will be marked off.  Also any sprints that they run during practice is marked off as well. At the end of basketball practice the remaining sprints are run.

If in a rare case there are like 30 left, they would run segments of 3-2-1’s and suicides to account for multiple sprints.  The players love this because they never know what to expect during practice.

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This basketball drill is to help get the players used to moving without the basketball to the open spot in the paint.

Set up a defense using a zone you can use players or cones.

You will have 2 offensive players on both sides of the paint (2 and 3 positions) and a point guard.

A player (cutter) will start under the goal and flash to the open spots (one side of the paint (first), then to the free throw line (second), and then to the other side of the paint (third).

At each open spot the offensive players will make a pass to the cutter and the cutter will pass the ball back, rotate out and then the next cutter will go.

Once the players get used to this part of the drill you start letting them take the jump shots from the positions.

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We split all the players up into teams of 5 so there are usually 4 teams of 5 and then do different races. For each race the team that wins gets 4 points, the team that came second gets 3 points and so on. At the end the team that wins doesn’t have to do any running and whereas the team that came second runs 1 suicide, the team that came third 2 suicides and the team that came last 3 suicides.

Here are a few examples of the kinds of races we do during basketball practice:

Two ball dribble
Backwards two ball dribble
Pretzel run
Backwards pretzel walk
Through the legs dribble
Backwards through the legs dribble
Bounce one basketball in one hand and roll another ball along the floor with the other hand
The above drill backwards
Dribbling around cones
Straight sprint
Backwards sprint

Each player on each team must complete this basketball drill full court and back before the team has finished. This drill is very easy to adapt and change!

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A lot of players will tell you what works for them and then find a comfort zone. Prior to basketball practice have each player tell you something they don’t want to do on the court, or they fear they’re not good at on the court. You will be amazed how many players have the same concerns or weaknesses that they can’t seem to correct!

Once you know what they are, you can set aside 10 minutes of every practice to let them work on moves that help them overcome their weak spots. And, when setting up practices, as coach, you can put them in situations where they WILL overcome that weakness because they are practicing it.

This builds up coach/player rapport because it is not the coach telling the player what the problem is. It’s the basketball player learning to identify and analyze her game, and getting the support she needs to improve.

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Run a lay up line with a trailing rebounder, the rebounded ball is outlet passed down the baseline and then passed to front of lay up line.  At the same time a shooter is positioned on the opposite baseline from the outlet receivers.  The lay up man and rebounder remain under the basket after first outlet pass, fighting for rebound position (attempting to box out).  The stationary shooter is instructed to shoot after the first outlet pass, and that rebound (the second rebound) is outlet passed down the baseline and then passed cross court to the next shooter.  Both balls are now reset.

The rotation for the drill is:
After the stationary shot, the shooter goes to outlet receiver line.
After second rebound, lay up man goes to shooter line, rebounder goes to outlet line.
After the outlet receiver makes their pass they get into rebound line or lay up line (players asked to alternate lines each time through).
A minimum of five players is needed (one shooter, one rebounder, one lay up man and two outlet receivers).

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Pass & Shoot Drill
2 players
1 basketball,
Chair at top of key to simulate defender
One player rebounds and one player shoots, making sure to step into the ball and use proper technique.

- Same Drill but start from the 3 point line, two jab steps and
then jump shot; ball fake, jab step and then jump shot
- Same Drill, ball fake up, dribble around chair and shoot
- Same Drill, ball fake right, dribble left around chair and shoot
- Same Drill, ball fake left, dribble right around chair and shoot

Timed Shooting Drill
What works well for me is the “Timed speed dribble and shooting drill”.  I time my players while dribbling right handed and left handed through suicides.  I challenge them to beat their times each day for 3 straight days.  The players that do receive some Gatorade or coaches award that we may designate such as most improved practice player for the week, which gets them a free lunch at the local subway shop.  Builds competitiveness!

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This drill stresses and teaches them to:
1. Initiate contact.
2. Protect the basketball.
3. Absorb the contact with their off shoulder.
4. Concentrate on the lay-up.
5. Minimize the number of dribbles down the court.

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Each game is the first to two points; “make it, take it”, winning team plays on. Teams rotate as much as possible, so that everyone gets to pair up with everyone else.

Winner of the last game starts with the basketball. The next two players waiting referee for the current game. The rules are basically the same as normal, except that players can shoot immediately after grabbing a defensive rebound, without having to take the ball out to the half-way line or three-point line.

At first, this style of play seems terribly unfair. A team only needs two baskets to win a game, and both points can come by simply grabbing a defensive rebound and then sticking it straight back up for an easy lay up. But players quickly learn the following points:
# The importance of rebounds (getting a good rebounding position and following your own shot)
# Shot selection (only take shots that you have a high chance of making and/or when you have a rebounder in place)

This style of basketball play also rewards good defense and punishes weak defense. Most games are over very quickly, allowing a quick rotation. Because only two baskets are required to win, upsets happen all of the time, but if a particular pair wins ten games in a row then they retire and split up to form new teams.

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• Both players start on the end line, one with the basketball and one without a ball.
• Player with the ball dribbles to the free throw line, turns and makes a chest pass to the other player on the baseline, then closes out.
• The baseline player is going one on one full court.
• The defensive player’s job is to turn the offensive player as many times as he can and to try to prevent them from scoring.
• The offensive player’s job is to get to the other end as quickly as possible and score.

Loser of this basketball drill does some kind of punishment. (push-ups, sprints, etc..)

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There are 4-6 players with 3 basketballs assigned to a basket. Each player has a partner. At the whistle each one of the partners who has a ball takes a shot, then immediately follows their shot and gets their own rebound. They then pivot to find their partner through the traffic caused by all the other players doing the same thing. They pass the basketball to their partner and he takes a shot.

The person who passed the ball finds a spot on the court where he wants to shoot from and goes there. When the next shooter rebounds his shot he must pivot to find his partner and so on. They can do this for 10 shots each or for as long as you want. With everyone shooting at the same basket and all running around  the same area it creates the kind of traffic you might see in a basketball game.

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