Tara VanDerveer: 30 Practice Drills for Building Champions

with Tara VanDerveer,
Stanford University Head Women's Coach from 1985 to 2024;
1,216 wins (when retiring, was #1 all-time men's/women's coach in wins, #1 All-time in wins);
2021 NCAA National Champions;
3x NCAA Championship Coach (1990, 1992, 2021);
5x National Coach of the Year;
11x Pac-10/12 Coach of the Year;
13x Final Four;
2x NCAA National Championship Runner-up;
1996 US Women's Olympic Team Head Coach (Gold Medal);
distinguished member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame (2011);
John R. Wooden Legends of Coaching Award (2014);
Women's Basketball Hall of Fame (2002);
Women's Sports Foundation International Women's Sports Hall of Fame (1998);
WBCA's Carol Eckman Award (2018);
Ohio State Head Coach from 1980 to 1985;
4x Big Ten Regular Season Champions;
played college basketball at Albany and Indiana

The Stanford women have been a dominating force in the NCAA since the mid 1980's under legendary head coach Tara VanDerveer. In this video, you will see why the Cardinal have had so much success.

From warm-ups to shell drills, Coach VanDerveer demonstrates over 25 of her favorite practice drills. Whether you are looking for a passing, shooting, ball handling, rebounding, offensive, or defensive drills, it's all here.

To prepare her team for practice, Coach Vanderveer takes her players through a ball handling routine. In China Passing, you will see how to communicate and pass quickly while effectively catching on the run and executing your next pass. You will be amazed at the number of game shots you can get up in the Viking Shooting drill, which incorporates shot fakes and coming off of screens to perfect footwork.

Coach Vanderveer explains how they teach defense in a detailed shell drill. Within her shell drill, you will learn how to limit your opponents offensive possessions, contesting shots on every offensive player through proper closeout technique, and how to "get skinny" in order to get through off-ball screens. As she puts it, this drill is her player's least favorite because it is the hardest and most demanding drill she puts them through.

Coach Vanderveer takes you through several drills that the USA Women's Olympic team used to be successful in recent Olympic games. In USA Lay-Ups, she teaches you how to incorporate passing, cutting, and sprinting to your spot off of different actions.

Team offensive concepts are covered, as well. See how Coach Vanderveer teaches her players the actions, scoring options, and transition play within the Stanford offensive system. You will see how Vanderveer teaches their triangle offense in a 5-on-0 and 5-on-5 setting. By teaching such drills as Blue Shooting and Drag Shooting, her players are ready for any scoring option on the floor within their offensive system. Coach Vanderveer also shows how to incorporate the Princeton backdoor cut into your offensive strategy.

Each drill is designed to improve the team's strategy and skill set. With each drill, Vanderveer describes and demonstrates how the drill is run and how they incorporate it into their offensive system.

Challenge your team mentally and physically while building your players individual skills and team concepts with this unique look into one of America's top basketball programs.

128 minutes. 2013.