Better Basketball, home of the world's preeminent improvement videos, brings you 3 drills for basketball improvement...
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For coaches, a basketball practice drill with an emphasis on developing proper spacing and teaching players to read the floor, among other skills. |
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For high level players, an individual basketball drill with an emphasis on sweeping against the grain, pro lay-ups, and the pull-up jumper. |
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For kids, a youth basketball drill with an emphasis on basic shooting, dribbling and lay-ups, primarily meant to be a fun way to drill basic offensive skills. |
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Basketball Drills > Basketball Coaching Drills > Developing Proper Spacing
Most youth players know only one thing when they begin to play this game: “When I get the ball, I take it to the hole!”
The following team drill takes that natural habit and begins to build additional habits and skills that are good for both the team, and good for individual players. There are 8 levels to this basketball practice drill. Start with the first level, and progressively work to the next level as your team masters the previous stage.
The primary rationale for this coaching basketball drill is to teach offensive spacing, reading the floor, and similar skills. It ensures players not only dribble with their head up, but that they increase their visual awareness to include all four teammates. It could be used as a high energy, team oriented warm up drill and will help to build skills for any offensive system.
But the secondary skills involved are even more important - attacking from triple threat, accurate passing, catching in a balanced attack position, lay-ups, and shooting. These skills must be mastered by each individual player if the team is to succeed as a whole. And these skills can be learned on the Better Basketball DVDs, specifically Better 1 on 1 Offense. Click here to read about it.
The pictures to the right demonstrate the basic flow of these basketball practice drills. Now let's look at the details, starting from a very elementary basketball drills level
Level 1: Start with 2 players in each corner, 2 players on each wing, and one player at the top of the key. The first level of this basic basketball drill allows a lot of control by the coach, which may be needed while it’s being taught, especially to kids as a youth basketball drill. The coach throws the ball to any player. That player drives to the goal but before getting there, he passes to any of his teammates, as if his dribble penetration was stopped. After passing, he moves to any open spot. An “open spot” is anywhere along the 3-point arc as long as he's not closer than 10 or 12 feet to any teammate. The player who catches the pass immediately drives to the goal with the same rule: pass to any teammate before getting to the goal, then fill an open spot. And the cycle continues.
If the coach yells “shot” while a player has the ball, then that player continues his drive for a lay-up. If the coach yells “shot” while a pass is in the air, then the player who catches the ball must immediately shoot.
Level 2: Players are required to alternate which hand they drive with. If their first drive was with their right hand, then their next touch must be a drive with their left hand. While there are college and pro teams that could benefit from the skills in this drill, it could also be used by youth coaches looking for pee wee basketball drills for their practice.
Level 3 (a): The coach doesn’t yell shoot anymore. The coach tells the players that they will shoot a lay-up on the 3rd, 4th, 10th, or whatever pass. The player who shoots the lay-up rebounds his own shot and passes to any teammate to begin the drive-and-pitch sequence all over again.
Level 3 (b): The same as level 3a above, except after a certain number of passes, take the jump shot instead of the lay-up. The coach is no longer needed here to yell shoot, but this is as far as I would progress if you're looking for elementary basketball drills for your practice.
Level 4: Set a team goal: Do the drill continuously until all 5 players have taken __# of shots and __# of lay-ups.
Level 5: Set a time limit: Get as many shots and lay-ups as possible in __# of minutes with at least 3 passes each time. I would not progress higher than this level if you're looking for beginning basketball drills - pre-middle school. In other words, the levels beyond this should be reserved for junior high, high school, college, and pro teams.
Level 6: The coach stays in the lane and blocks the line of all drives. This is done to visually train the players: “when the drive is blocked, pass to an open teammate.” But when the coach steps aside and doesn’t block the line of the player’s drive, the player finishes the drive with a lay-up. Again, this basketball training drill makes the player recognize "the lane is open... score!"
If you're looking for middle school basketball drills for your practices, I would definitely work through this level. By the time players are in 7th grade, they should be ready for this step.
Level 7, Advanced: Thus far, we've had all 5 players on the perimeter. But if you're a high school coach in search of high school basketball drills then you must incorporate a post player, or even two post players. But be sure that all of your players keep proper spacing.
The question is how do players rotate in and out of the post. What do you do when you're in the post and a teammate drives? Those questions are answered on Better Basketball's soon to be released 7th video, Scoring Without the Ball. It's a truly groundbreaking DVD on what to do with all the time you spend on offense WITHOUT the ball! |
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Diagrams are to help you understand text to the left
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For this coaching basketball drill, the players start around the 3-point arc, spaced at least 10 feet apart. The coach throws the ball to any of the players, in this case the player on the right wing. |
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The player on the right wing immediately penetrates to the goal. As he is doing so, the player in the right corner decides to fill his vacuumed spot, moving up to the right wing. |
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The penetrator can pitch to any of the other four players on the court. In this case, he decides to pitch to the player in the opposite corner. By the way, this drill involves no contact, so it could be used as a basketball warm up drill at the beginning of practice. |
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The player in the left corner receives the pass and immediately penetrates. The previous penetrator has filled the open spot in the right wing, and the sequence starts again! |
Advanced Version, Level 7...
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The 7th level of this free basketball drill incorporates a player in the post, either high or low, in this case both. What should a player do when he's in the post and the ball is driven to the basket? Those are the types of questions that are answered in awesome detail on Better Basketball's soon to be released 7th video, the most advanced basketball improvement DVD ever created - Scoring Without the Ball. There's even a 25 minute section on what to do when your teammate penetrates, including a groundbreaking look at the circle movement. Look for it in May, 2006. |
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Bonus, Level 8: Let's say you have a player who is never looking across the grain when he penetrates; he's just not seeing the opposite side of the court. We'll call him Jimmy. In other words, if Jimmy drives right, he's either going to shoot or pass to a teammate on his right, but never see the wide open teammate on his left. Well, in level 8, the coach can yell a player's name, and the ball must be passed to that player. So when Jimmy drives, the coach yells a teammate's name on his left, and Jimmy is forced to pass back against the grain, or to the opposite side of the floor.
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Free Basketball Drills > Individual > Advanced > Developing The Sweep
SWEEP AWAY THE PRO:
If you're looking for basketball training drills to make your individual training more competitive, I recommend this version of Beat The Pro. The contest begins on the 3-point arc. The player spins himself a pass along the arc, moving in one one direction not towards the goal, but at an angle along the 3-point arc. Upon catching the pass, the player must sweep the floor with the ball and drive to the basket in the opposite direction. The key to this individual basketball drill, the key training point, is the sweep. You can learn all the details of the sweep and maximizing your quickness potential from our newest video, Better 1 on 1 Offense, which goes into great detail on the sweep, and dozens of other essential skills for developing your perimeter scoring repertoire.
Now back to this basketball practice drill... there is a two dribble limit before the player must shoot. For every miss, “The Pro” that you are competing against gets those points. For every make, you get the points. Game is to 21, although you can go higher than that. Here are the rules, shots, and respective points:
1. Lay-ups or dunks count as 1 point. Lay-ups are limited to 10 attempts per game. No two lay-ups or dunks can be the same. So you can only do a right handed lay-up, off the left foot, from the right side, one time. Other options are right hand on the left side, right hand off the right foot, reverse lay-ups with either hand, right and left handed dunks, two handed dunks, reverse dunks, two foot lay-ups, etc... My suggestion is to get the lay ups out of the way first.
2. Mid-range pull-up jumpshots count as 2 points. They must be no closer than 10 feet. They can include bank shots. You can penetrate to the lane but if you do, you must hop back outside the lane to shoot. Use your imagination as long as the shots are outside of 10 feet.
3. Three point shots count 3 points. But you can only attempt a 3 as a hop-back. In other words, catch, sweep one dribble inside the arc and hop back outside the arc for your 3-point shot. Remember, if you miss, The Pro gets 3 points added to his score. |
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These free fundamental basketball drills are brought to you by Better Basketball, and written by Rick Torbett, the lead instructor on the world famous Better Basketball videos. Click here to learn more about our improvement DVDs. |
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This is a fun workout for the high level player looking for advanced individual basketball drills. Think of yourself not playing against just "any pro" but a specific player - Chauncey Billups, Mike Bibby, Jermaine O'Neal, Sue Bird, whomever. The key is to focus on going aggressively and at full speed, so that your sweep, lay-ups, and jump shots get game-like work.
If you're looking for basic youth basketball drills, you could also adjust this workout by taking away the sweep and allowing the three point shot straight from triple threat, as most youth basketball players are not yet capable of the hop-back three. |
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Free Youth Basketball Drills > Individual > 50 Points Shooting Contest
50 Points Shooting Contest:
If you have a youngster and are looking for fun beginner basketball drills for him or her to do on a daily basis, this workout is a great place to start. Basic basketball drills and fundamental basketball drills like this one, that work on basic fundamentals like shooting and dribbling, keep the game fun for youngsters as they develop their skills.
The player will shoot 5 shots from 5 spots on the floor in an attempt to accumulate a perfect 50 points. The five spots are the two corners, the two wings, and the top of the key. The shots and their respective points are:
1. 3 point shot = 3 points
2. Shot fake, one dribble right, pull-up jumper = 2 points
3. Shot fake, one dribble left, pull-up jumper = 2 points
4. Shot fake, drive right for a lay-up = 1 point
5. Shot fake, drive left for a lay-up = 1 point
6. One Free Throw before moving to the next spot = 1 point |
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If you're looking for beginner basketball drills and games, this is a great place to start. It's fun, and will ensure the player is working on dribbling, lay-ups, shooting, and attacking from a pivot. Just be sure he's using proper technique, as taught on the Better Basketball Drill DVDs at www.betterbasketball.com |
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That’s a total of 10 points for each of the 5 spots. With no misses, you've got a perfect 50 points. This allows you to compete against yourself on a daily basis. Beating your personal record each day is your goal. Making your individual basketball drills competitive will increase your results, and make things more fun. |
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Editor's Letter: We hope you enjoyed the free basketball drills on this page. Whether you're a parent looking for youth basketball drills or a professional looking for competitive basketball training drills to add to your workout, you've come to the right place, Better Basketball. While the workouts on this page can certainly add to your regiment, the Better Basketball videos, available from this website, can take your game to a whole new level. There's nothing like the cutting-edge techniques and precise learning progression on our basketball drill videos, and it's why players in 86 countries turn to Better Basketball when they want to improve their game. Remember, it's not just about how hard you work, it's about putting in the right work with techniques that will allow you to maximize your natural abilities. You bring the heart and the sweat, Better Basketball will give you perfect technique, through our basketball drill videos. Click here to learn more about the Better Basketball DVDs.
We wish you the very best in your basketball career. Sincerely, The Better Basketball Staff |
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