There are basketball coaches at every level that are in desperate need of drills to use in practice and warm-ups before the game start. Not to worry, here are six basketball drills to teach children or players of all ages on the basketball court to improve their individual play and make the team overall better
1. Full Court dribbling with lay-up component. This drill involves two lines of players lining up on opposite ends of the court and dribbling the full distance of the court to the hoop and shooting a lay-up. This drill is for beginning or intermediate players. This drill practices dribbling skills as well as lay-up shooting. Have players switch hands in dribbling the ball after the go from one end of the court to the other. Before you do this drill, make sure that the players know the proper form or have practiced shooting lay-ups.
2. Foul Shooting line-up: This drill involves all the players lining up around the key of the foul line, in similar fashion as players would line-up for a foul shot in a game. Have the player at the foul line take two shots. Then the players rotate to their left as the player to the left of the foul shooter then goes to the line to take 2 foul shots. After a player makes a free throw, have the rest of the players clap their hands. Continue the drill until each player has taken 2 free throws. To make the drill more advanced, you can have the players box each other out and fight for the rebound, just like they would in a game off of a missed free throw. This drill will also emphasize rebounding skills and who to box out during free throw shots in a basketball game.
3. Zone defensive drill: This drill is for any type of zone defense, particularly the 3-2 zone defense in which three defenders are down low and two defenders are at the top of the key. Have one player who is not part of the 5 players playing the zone defense dribbling the basketball through the zone defense and in each direction he does, have the players in that zone guard him and play defense. This drill is good for beginners and intermediate players in trying to teach how a zone defense is played. It will teach players discipline in staying within a zone and guarding the ball handler and opposing player in their zone.
4. 2 on 1 fast break drill: This fun drill practices the fast break situation in a game. Two players are on offense and 1 player is on defense. Have one of the two offensive players start with the ball at half court and then have them dribble with the other offensive player a few feet away streaking toward the basket. Have the defensive player try and stop the fast break. The goal of the drill is for the offensive player to either score the ball himself, or have him pass the ball to the other offensive player on the fast break and for that player to score. In both cases, the result of the play should be a lay-up shot.
5. Around the arc: This drill can be also used for a game as well. Have all of the player take ten or twenty shots from around the arc under timed conditions of about 2 minutes. You can also position defenders around the arc and have the shooter take the shot with a hand in his face.
6. TAPS: This game and fun drill will get all your players excited. This game is a 2 vs. 2 in which the two players from each team take turns shooting free throws. When the players miss, the other two players’ objective is to try and tap the ball into the hoop in mid air before the ball hits the ground. If two successful tap-ins on missed free throws are completed, then the other two players change sides and then shoot free throws. Once any given team gets to 21 made free throws, and then both players on that team need to make in 2 three point shots from the top of the key at the three point arc. The first team is making both free throws after they have scored 21 points off of free throws wins the game.
7. Full Court Trap: This drill involves teaching players how to trap the opposing ball handler. It also teaches player how to play full court defense and pressure the opposing team to create turnovers. In this drill, have three people play offense and 5 people play defense. Try and have the players on offense inbound the ball and then establish a full court trap with the defensive players.
8. Inbounds plays: These inbounds plays always come in handy no matter if you are trying to find the open man to inbound the ball on full court press or to find the open man to take the last second shot to win the game. The coach will need to draw up the inbounds play for the players to run and the players need to practice the play until the run it to perfection.
9. Post up play: The goal of this play is to practice having the guards throw a post pass to the center or forward in the low post. This may sound easy but when the opposing team is playing defense, it is hard to do. By practicing a correct post pass, you can put your post player in perfect position to catch the ball and then make a move in the post against his defender going to the basket.
10. Suicide Drills: This drill involves player conditioning. Have players start on one side of the court and have them run back and forth between the half court line and the inbounds line by the basket. Have the players touch the line on both sides as they run back and forth. This will improve the players’ speed, quickness and agility to make them faster and quicker in games.
