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Archives by Tag 'Practice Planning'

All-Access Kansas Basketball Practice: Shooting and Passing Drills

By adam.warner - Last updated: Wednesday, July 27, 2011

In this week’s edition of All-Access, we take you to Lawrence, Kansas for an exclusive look inside a Kansas men’s basketball practice. Head coach Bill Self leads his squad through a variety of passing and shooting drills during one of the first practices of the 2009-10 campaign.

With the passing drills, players run through the Seminole Drill, a typical warm-up conducted at the onset of each basketball practice. As for the shooting drills, players go through 5-Minute Shooting and 5-Spot Shooting before breaking up into a positional breakdown of drills.

Seminole Drill

With four lines established, players will pass to the right and then run a banana back towards the ball. They’ll immediately catch the ball back and then pass to the next guy in line. Notice how each player yells the man’s name that they’re passing to and also calls the person’s name they they’re receiving the pass from. The drill starts relatively simple with two basketballs and eventually moves up to four balls simultaneously. It’s key that players are always ready and focused.

Five Minute Shooting

Simple, yet effective, this drill has players shooting 14-15 footers continuously. The drill is timed for five minutes and is conducted as a competition. Players will break up into three groups and then simply step and shoot, one after another until the buzzer sounds. Players will follow their own shot and then pass back to the next guy in line. At the end, each group will tally their shot totals and compare to their teammates.

Offensive Breakdown

Next, players split up by position, with post players working on jump hooks, ball screens, flash high shots, 2-on-1 High/Low, 1-on-1 Live, and 2-on-2 Live. Meanwhile, guards work on ball screens, 1-on-1 live, and 3-on-3 live drills.

One featured drill is called “Get Open 2 Side and Throw Over.” It’s a 2-on-2 drill set out on the wing. One coach will get in the post and another at the top of the key with the ball. One offensive player sets a screen for the other, while the other comes off the ball and immediately throws over the top of the defense for a lob pass in the paint. Switch the offense and defense when done with one rep. Then when all players have gone through, switch to the other side of the court.

Next, guards work on dribbles off the screen and pull-up jumpers. It all starts out with a pivot and then dribble drive to the elbow. Players must drive hard each time and remember to “drive behind the hedge.” Stay down with the ball every time.

5-Spot Shooting

With this drill, five players shoot at once from five different spots around the arc. As Coach Self constantly reminds his players, you can’t shoot unless you have good shot preparation. Players must get their own rebound before passing to the next player in line. Eventually, players rotate one spot to the right and then continue like before. Always run through the ball and step & shoot.

The above clips can be seen on Championship Productions’ DVD “All-Access Kansas Basketball Practice with Bill Self.” To check out our entire All-Access collection, click here.

Filed in Basketball • Tags: All Access Basketball Practice, Basketball Coach Newsletter, Practice Drills Bill Self, Practice Planning

All-Access UConn Women’s Basketball: Fast Break Drills

By adam.warner - Last updated: Wednesday, July 13, 2011

In the latest edition of All-Access, we take you back to Storrs, Connecticut for a behind-the-scenes look inside a University of Connecticut women’s basketball practice. Watch as head coach Geno Auriemma leads his players through a number of team drills and details specific strategies, general tips and advice for players.

The all-access session concentrates on fast break drills, including the 2-Man Fast Break, 3-Man Drill, and Drag & Step Out Drill. Make sure you pick up some new ideas from Auriemma and his national championship program and look for ways to incorporate the drills and concepts with your own team.

Four Corners

Players get into four lines and will have three balls going at once. Players will pass the ball to the next player in the opposite line, run to the ball, catch the ball again, and then pass back again (a shorter pass). Players will move to the line that they passed to. Players should work on catching passes from a number of distances, moving without the ball, keeping their heads up, and maintaining constant communication throughout.

Two-Man Fast Break

One player pushes the ball up the floor (full-court) with the other player moving along the wing. Then around the three-point line, the ball handler will dish a bounce pass to the wing player in stride for a layup. Get a coach to be a scarecrow defender at the far three-point line. Players should then switch sides once they go through one. Then, switch to the left side and run the drill from here. Meanwhile, the player who passes should also follow the pass and block out under the basket.

Three-Line Drill

Run with a half-court three-man weave. The last player to pass should block out the remaining player and work hard under the basket in an effort to get the rebound.

Three-Man Drill

Three players will sprint out on the break to just beyond half-court before turning around the other way. The middle player should make a pass to both wing players before turning around. Next, the middle player has options the other way. For instance, he/she can jump stop and dish or take it strong to the rim on their own.

Drag and Step Out

This drill involves two players. The first player will in-bound the ball to a wing player. The wing player will then take the ball to the middle of the court and push it up the floor and to the opposite wing area. Next, that same player will dribble and hesitate a bit while the other player sets a ball screen. The player with the ball then dribbles around the screen a bit and hits the screener down the backside for a layup. Meanwhile, the player with the ball can also choose to hit the jumper or cut hard to the rim for a layup. The options are certainly there to change things up a bit.

The clips above can be found on Championship Productions’ DVD “All-Access Basketball Practice with Geno Auriemma.” Check out our entire All-Access collection, which includes exclusive sessions with Kentucky, Michigan State, Duke, Kansas, West Virginia, plus many more.

Filed in Basketball • Tags: All Access Basketball Practice, Basketball Coach Newsletter, Practice Drills, Practice Planning, Team Drills

All-Access Pass: Behind the Scenes with Tom Izzo and Michigan State Men’s Basketball

By adam.warner - Last updated: Wednesday, April 20, 2011

In this week’s edition of All-Access, we take you to East Lansing, Michigan for an exclusive look inside a Michigan State men’s basketball practice. Watch as head coach Tom Izzo – who led the Spartans to a 2000 National Championship and six final fours — walks through a variety of team drills for you and details specific roles, player instruction, overall strategies and general team tips.

First, Izzo leads his team through a standard warm-up that Michigan State uses nearly every day and incorporates many different facets of the game. Next, the coaching legend provides explicit instruction to his players as they work their way through their “Daily Dozen” practice drills. With this behind-the-scenes look, see what kind of ideas, drills and coaching tactics you can pick up on and implement with your team. Most drills can be used across all levels of basketball and are easily adaptable.

Warm-Up

In this particular warm-up session, Coach Izzo has guards working at one end and forwards/centers at the other. First, the guards start with pound dribbles. After practicing in-place, players will go from the baseline to half court as one repetition and even work their way up to using two balls at the same time. Additional warm-up work for the guards includes baseball passes, plus drills focusing on hop-steps, pivoting and passing.

Meanwhile for the big men, players will explode to the rim for quick monster rebounds before passing to an outlet. Then, the drill graduates to tip-rebounding, which is essentially trying to tap rebounds into the basket while in the air and never returning to the floor. Finally, a dummy will be put in the paint so that players have to work their way around contact while looking to finish the play.

Daily Dozen

In the “Daily Dozen”, players start out with right and left-handed layups. Note that even at the college level, the fundamentals of basketball are still used on a daily basis. Reverse layups are incorporated next before it’s time for hanging layups, where players try to avoid the charge and finish the short-range basket in the lane. And finally, the team breaks out into a 3-man break drill. The drill starts with a rebound on one end of the floor and finishes on the opposite end with all participants making a layup or jumper. Consider using this drill to add some variety to your own daily warm-ups.

The following clips can be seen in their entirety on Championship Productions’ DVD “All-Access Basketball Practice” with Tom Izzo. Check out our extensive All-Access catalog by clicking here.

Filed in Basketball • Tags: All Access Basketball Practice, Michigan State Basketball, Practice Planning, Tom Izzo

All-Access Practice: Behind the Scenes with Pat Summitt and Tennessee Women’s Basketball

By adam.warner - Last updated: Wednesday, March 23, 2011

In this week’s edition of All-Access, we take you to Knoxville, Tennessee for a behind-the-scenes look at a University of Tennessee women’s basketball practice. Watch as head coach Pat Summitt – an eight-time NCAA national champion – walks through a variety of team drills for you and details specific roles, player movements, overall strategies and general tips.

First, Summitt leads the team through “toss back” shooting drills before implementing various defensive warm-up drills. Be sure to pick up some new ideas from Summitt and her national championship program and see how incorporating them can benefit your own squad. But as Coach Summitt likes to say: “There’s no substitute for working hard and playing together as a team.”

Toss Back Shooting

The drill commences when a player makes a pass to a coach or teammate in the paint from the corner and behind the 3-point line. The player that passed the ball will then cut toward the elbow and receive a quick pass back before taking a jumper and following through on the shot. Remember, players should get their feet set early and hips low at all times.

Teams can easily change the toss back drills to focus on different areas around the court depending on which types of players are involved (i.e. guards, forwards, centers). You can change up the drill to incorporate no dribbling, hand off toss backs, passes to the baseline, pump fakes, drives to the hoop, pull-up jumpers after a dribble, and even getting coaches involved by acting as a defender and getting a hand up in the face of the shooters. Remember, keep the drills fast-paced and always moving briskly.

Defensive Warm-up

The Tennessee women’s basketball team prefers to feature a lot of variety in their drills, particularly at the defensive end. First, players begin a defensive warm-up with a 3-on-3 drill above the 3-point arc. The players on offense will dribble to one side of the arc and then dish off to a teammate before replacing one another. The only movement offensively happens above the arc. Meanwhile, the defenders must communicate and work together effectively, switching on screens and keeping up with the offensive players’ movements.

On the other end of the practice floor, players work on a 1-on-1 drill in the low post. The drill pits together one offensive and one defensive player at a time. The ball will then move around the perimeter, and as it does, the offensive player in the paint looks to move and adjust her positioning based on where the ball is located on the floor. All the while, the defensive player must react and establish her own positioning down low to prevent easy entry passes and layups. The offensive player is always working to get open as the defender is denying and using frequent pivots to force a poor entry pass.

Another effective defensive warm-up is the “caught dead” drill. Here, an offensive player dribbles hard in one direction before picking up her dribble abruptly. Now, the defender must play tight defense and swarm their counterpart, hopefully forcing a turnover in the process.

A final defensive warm-up finds players working on their deny defense and moving their feet as an offensive player works some backdoor cuts. The goal is to maintain proper form and footwork while denying any passes down the backside for an easy layup.

The previous drills can be seen in Championship Productions’ exclusive DVD “All-Access Basketball Practice” with Pat Summitt. Check out our entire All-Access catalog by clicking here.