Special thanks to Doug in North Carolina for sending this one in. If you’ve every struggled with [tag]basketball player shooting[/tag] [tag]drills[/tag], you MUST try this out!
From Doug…
Here is a simple one that I use that has made a huge difference. I am the head [tag]basketball[/tag] [tag]coach[/tag] here in Greensboro, NC. We are a grade 1 – 12 private school for kids with Learning disabilities and ADD and ADHD. I have about 45 high school students and we manage to have almost 20 on the Varsity basketball team. We play other small schools and large school’s junior varsity programs.
Anyway, we were running a traditional lay-up [tag]warmup drill[/tag], 2 lines, 1 [tag]shooter[/tag], 1 [tag]rebounder[/tag], pass the ball back to the [tag]shooting[/tag] line etc.
This was fine for working on the fundamentals of shooting layups but I could not get the intensity I was after. Here is the cure. Take 3 large road cones to represent defensive players and set them up in any configuration you want on the ball side of the lay up. Now we take the pads that protect our volleyball poles(they are about 6′ tall) and“ set them on the cones so they stand straight up.
You now have 3 6 foot padded cylinder defenders that your shooters have to maneuver around. Bang, instant intensity. I set up at the top of the key. The shooters start with the ball, pass to me and go to the basket between or around the cones. I pass early, middle or late and make the shooter adjust. After a few rounds of lay ups (from both sides) I will let them shoot pull-up jumpers. By the way if the [tag]rebound[/tag] touches one of the padded cones both my rebounder and my shooter run a line drill before they get back in line.
Having these defenders increases intensity, teaches cutting and concentration, and takes a mundane drill and makes it fun and competitive.
At the end of the [tag]drill[/tag] I will even through some alley oops to finish off. Hope this helps!