This is one of my favorite [tag]basketball drills[/tag] that I use when [tag]coaching basketball defense[/tag]. It’s called Battle Drill. I use it mainly at the end of practices, but it could be implemented whenever. You use the whole court and players go in groups of three.
The [tag]basketball drill[/tag] goes as follows:
1. 3 players on the floor free throw line extended between the sideline and the key. They get into their defensive stance and begin to foot fire. On the coach’s whistle they either take a charge or dive for a loose [tag]basketball[/tag] (coach will determine, may mix it up). Players then pop back up and back pedal to the half court line.
2. At half court the players will defensive slide across the the width of the court. When they reach the opposite sideline, they will then zig-zag in a defensive slide between the sideline and the side of the key extended until they reach the baseline. On reaching the baseline they sprint to underneath the basket.
3. Under the basket I have 3 balls. Each player grabs a ball and then they explode jump as high as they can, touching the ball on the backboard if possible. When they land, they chin the ball. They repeat this 10 times.
4. Then they sprint to the next corner and then up the sideline to the end of the line. The next group of three starts when the first group is back pedaling to half court.
I usually run the circuit 3 times, but depending on the conditioning of your players, you can adjust as needed. It is called battle drill because we like our players to end up with “war wounds” (floor burns, bruises, etc) as a result of playing hard, aggressive defense. I hope it works for you. My players enjoy it.