Basketball drills involve using repetitive activities to reinforce fundamentals such as dribbling, passing, shooting, defense and conditioning, and can involve one or more players. Many coaches use drills within practice to help players learn basketball skills well enough that during the game they can focus on more important elements like running offensive and defensive plays.
Dribbling Drill
The zig-zag drill is an effective way to teach players to switch directions while dribbling, thus simulating real-game dribbling situations. Players line up along the baseline of the basketball court as the coach sets out cones spaced diagonally from each other 10 to 12 feet apart and 15 to 20 feet wide to the other end of the court. When the coach blows the whistle, players take a ball and dribble with the right hand to the first cone, then switches hands and goes around the cone to the next one, in a zig-zag pattern. Players should focus on dribbling with their heads and eyes forward in order to see where they're going and practice for seeing defensive players during a game.
Passing Drill
Teaching the fundamentals of basketball means teaching kids the three basic basketball passes: bounce, chest and overhead, or baseball. For this passing drill, players line up standing 5 to 8 feet away from a wall, each one with a ball. Each player has two corresponding targets or bulls-eyes on the wall facing them. The coach calls out a certain pass, and players must execute that pass at the wall. For bounces and chest passes, players must hit the lower target, and for the overhand or baseball pass, players must hit the higher target.
Layup Drill
One of the easiest shooting drills to teach and have players do is the layup drill. This drill helps players not only warm up before games but learn the fundamental way to shoot a layup. The team is divided into two lines which form just outside the three-point line on either side of the basket. The first player in line on the right takes a ball, dribbles and runs toward the goal and shoots a layup. The first player in the left line runs toward the goal and rebounds the ball, then passes to the next person in the right-hand line. This continues until all players have shot the ball, then players repeat the drill, this time shooting from the left side.
Defensive Drill
An easy way to incorporate defensive training into a practice is to turn the zig-zag drill into a dribbling and defensive drill. Split the team in two, with a dribbling line and defensive line. The defensive player faces the dribbler and gets in a standard defensive stance. As the dribbler zigs and zags down the court, the defensive player shuffles his feet, staying in the defensive stance and reacting to the dribbler's movements. The defensive player should keep the hand closest to the ball down and the other hand up.
Conditioning Drill
The ladder drill uses the lines on a basketball court to help players run through a common conditioning drill. Players begin at the baseline and run to the closest free throw line, touch it, then return to the baseline. Players touch the baseline, then turn around and sprint to the half court line, touch it and return again to the original baseline. This is repeated for the far free throw line and the far baseline. Players then sprint the length of the court, returning to the starting point to finish.
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