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Archives by Tag 'Shooting Drills'

5 Quick-Fire Shooting Drills to Maximize Reps in Practice

By adam.warner - Last updated: Wednesday, December 12, 2012

In this week’s player development feature, pick up five efficient shooting drills designed to pay major dividends for your basketball team. Follow along with De La Salle (CA) head coach Frank Allocco as he walks through each drill before players go through live simulations. These drills focus on using proper fundamentals, getting maximum reps in a short period of time, and instilling confidence in each one of your players.

Form Shooting

Consider This: It’s difficult for elite teams to put a player on the floor that can’t shoot. Every player must be a scorer and learn how to shoot the basketball. If you want to get quicker, shoot the ball better. If you can shoot, defenders must be able to extend out on you and now you have the edge.

How it Works: This is a drill that Coach Allocco does with his team every day. For form shooting, start with one-handed shots about five feet from the hoop. Stress perfection. Players should get their feet parallel and get air between the ball and their palm. Get yourself in a good stance and position and have your shoulders, knees, and toes lined up.

Tips and Variations: Take about four or five shots. The goal is to develop great form and technique. Extend that elbow and finish nice and high. Then move back a step and continue all the way to the three-point line. Form shooting stresses the importance of bending your knees when shooting. Remember that power comes from the legs and the extension of the elbow. This is also a great range finder.

Box Shooting

Teams can get just about every possible type of shot out of this drill. First, let’s work on the inside pivot. Get two lines under the hoop. The first player up will come up the lane, make a good pivot, start to lower his/her shoulder, turn the left foot in, catch the ball, and pull the leg right up into the shot around the free throw line. The pulling of the leg helps with momentum. You can also break up your team on opposite ends and do this competitively and keep score. The players take it a lot more seriously when there’s a consequence.

Lift Fakes and Dribble-Ins/Outs

Lift Fakes: Keep the same set-up as our previous drill. Now after catching the ball, players will make a lift fake before shooting the ball.

Dribble-Ins: Now, players will catch the ball, lift fake, turn their body sideways, make one dribble, and shoot.

Dribble-Outs: Finally, on dribble-outs, the passer must run an inside course or else players will collide. Shooters will get the ball, make an inside pivot, lift fake, step out, then turn and get momentum into the shot. Remember, pass and follow inside.

The previous clips can be seen on Championship Productions’ DVD “Frank Allocco: Developing the Complete High School Player.” To check out more videos focusing on team shooting, click here.

Filed in Basketball Newsletter • Tags: BasketballCoach Newsletter, De La Salle Basketball, Frank Allocco, Issue #51, Player Development, Shooting, Shooting Drills

Offensive Lacrosse: 2 Efficient Mid-Range Shooting Drills to Boost Production

By adam.warner - Last updated: Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Looking to improve your offensive production? Implement these efficient mid-range shooting drills to your lacrosse practices this season. Follow along as Haverford School assistant coach Mark Pittrone runs through each rep with his team at full speed. Great for midfielders and attackers alike, the following drills ensure players get a ton of reps in a short time while improving overall shooting accuracy.

Island Curl

Lacrosse teams often run shooting drills from the top down, but it’s also important to work on drills from the bottom up, especially for attackmen. In this drill, players will dodge up from the end line to about “7 and 7” or “5 and 5”, what we call the “island.” From here, players will roll back, curl off a cone, and get away a mid-range shot on the run or curling to the goal.

We will put a few cones on the island where the players need to get to. The next player in line should get moving as soon as the previous player starts his roll back to the goal. You can also add a second shot to this, for instance a curl shot right after shooting the first one.

Reinforces: Dodging from X, inside shooting, mid-range shooting, and coming from behind the goal to out front and delivering a nice accurate curl shot (with a second shot, which helps attackers be alert and think a little bit).

Figure 8 Drill

This is a versatile drill that’s helpful on seven-yard shots. It involves a lot of stickwork skills and is a great conditioner too. Also, it requires constant movement as players must catch a pass while running and then shoot it while running. Players will curl around cone and catch it right after the curl for a quick shot.

You can run this drill with as many players as you’d like to. For this example, we will proceed with four players: Two feeders and two shooters. When the players start to get tired, we will have them switch up.

You can also mix things up by going for long-range shots, mid-range shots, and tight space shots. You can even put feeders behind the goal so the players can step down and shoot it. Look to add some fakes to the shot before shooting, tight shots with both hands, and then shots using outside and inside hands. Clearly, this is a very versatile drill.

The previous clips can be seen on Championship Productions’ DVD ”Efficient Shooting Drills for Lacrosse Practice” with John Nostrant. Check out more shooting videos by visiting our lacrosse library.

Filed in Lacrosse Newsletter • Tags: Drills, Haverford Boys Lacrosse, Inside the Crease, John Nostrant, Offensive Drills, Offensive Lacrosse, Shooting Drills

All Access Northwestern Lacrosse: Training Workouts and Feeding Drills

By adam.warner - Last updated: Tuesday, October 9, 2012

In this week’s edition of All Access, we take you back to Evanston, Illinois for a behind-the-scenes look at a Northwestern University women’s lacrosse practice.

Follow along as the Wildcats begin with a high-intensity training session in the gym that includes rapid-fire agility moves and boxing. The practice finishes up on the lacrosse field as head coach Kelly Amonte Hiller leads her squad through multi-purpose drills focusing on feeds from behind the net.

The Wildcats secured their seventh national championship in the last eight years back on May 27 with a comeback victory over Syracuse.

Boxing Workouts

We begin with a typical Northwestern team training session as the squad gets warmed up with indoor agility and conditioning drills. Players jog indoors while alternating moves like cariocas, skips, air punches, and floor touches. The team eventually moves into a round of boxing training using gloves and punchbags.

Feeding from Behind the Net

Next, the team moves indoors for feeding, cutting, and shooting drills. These effective drills incorporate every position on the field and replicate typical game scenarios.

The Set-Up: Two feeders will be positioned behind the cage, two defenders will set up on the crease, and two lines of offensive players will be positioned up top.

The Action: Feeders will scoop up a ball and come around a side of the cage where they will be met by a defender. The feeder should look to pass to the opposite-side offensive player cutting in for a catch and shoot opportunity. Work on making in-and-out movements, leaving room for the stick, curling away from defenders, and making an accurate feed.

Tips: Shooters must time their cuts and this takes great practice. Remember to have patience until your teammates are ready to make the feed. Also, when you catch the pass, leave yourself a good angle to put the shot away.

Meanwhile, defenders should wait for the feeders to move before going out and pressuring them. Don’t get there too early.25

The previous clips can be seen on Championship Productions’ DVD “All Access Northwestern Lacrosse Practice.” To check out the latest All Access videos, click here. Recent videos feature the Stanford and Syracuse lacrosse programs.

Filed in Lacrosse Newsletter • Tags: Agility Training, Drills, Inside the Crease, Issue #49, Kelly Amonte Hiller, Northwestern Women's Lacrosse, Passing Drills, Shooting Drills

All Access Jim Calhoun: Shooting and Fast Break Drills

By adam.warner - Last updated: Wednesday, October 3, 2012

In the latest edition of All Access, we take you back to Storrs, Connecticut for an inside glimpse at a UConn men’s basketball practice. Follow along as former head coach Jim Calhoun leads his squad through a variety of team shooting and fast break drills.

The legendary basketball coach announced his retirement on September 13 after 40 seasons. Calhoun has racked up 873 wins and three national titles during his illustrious career. In 2005, he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Two-Shot Fouls

The team starts off by shooting 10 two-shot fouls against a partner and the winners move on. Players shoot two one-handed shots in the middle of lane, two one-handed shots at foul line, and then two foul shots with both hands. Coach Calhoun reminds players to get under the ball and use their legs. Players keep track of their makes. One-handers don’t count, but regular foul shots do.

2-on-1 Throw Outs

For this full court fast break drill, offensive players will attack wide (in a 2-on-1 format) down the court while the big guy in the middle is trying to block shots and break up the play.

The team starts with three lines at the baseline. The bigs in the middle line start with the ball and throw it out in front. Meanwhile, the big man sprints down court and looks to stop the 2-on-1 break. One of the two offensive players will pick up the ball, pass ahead to his wing teammate, and look to finish. The bigs should look to defend and block shots.

3-on-2, 2-on-1

This next drill starts with a coach shooting and missing. The defense then gets the rebound and sprints down court the opposite direction. Meanwhile, a team of two defenders is already set up and waiting for the offense. The simulation plays out from here. After the play ends, the two defenders now head down court and go up against one defender in 2-on-1 situation.

2-on-2

This final 2-on-2 drill focuses on boxing out and crashing the boards in a half-court setting. The coach begins by passing to one offensive player. This player will immediately shoot it. Next, defenders box out and look to get the rebound. The offensive players work on crashing the boards looking for the offensive rebound. Once you box out, you need to sprint to the ball and beat your man.

The previous clips can be seen on Championship Productions’ DVD “All Access Practice with Jim Calhoun.” To check out the latest videos in our All-Access catalog, click here.

Filed in Basketball Newsletter • Tags: Basketball Coach Newsletter, Fast Break Drills, Issue #46, Jim Calhoun, Shooting Drills, UConn Men's Basketball

3 Quick-Fire Shooting Drills Reinforcing Offensive Fundamentals

By adam.warner - Last updated: Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Use these three effective drills to help your team make strides when it comes to offensive fundamentals. Eight-time national championship coach Jim Berkman frequently implements the drills with Salisbury to replace ball drills and replicate offensive schemes. It’s also a great way to get in numerous reps, whether shooting, passing, or moving with the ball.

Step Off – Pass – Pass – Righty

The first drill in the group focuses on offensive concepts when you are stepping opposite of a teammate dodging, looking for two quick passes to the backside, and then delivering an accurate shot on net.

At the same time, you can tweak the drill to implement movements that are familiar with your zone or man-to-man offense. The goal here is to practice those schemes, movements, and fundamentals, and get a ton of shots in. According to Coach Berkman, the more you practice getting the ball to the backside and moving it quickly, the better these repetitions get in games.

Coaching Points: This is also a terrific passing drill. Remember to pass the ball to the ear, make two quick feeds, and deliver a quality shot on cage.

Step Off – Pass – Pass – Skip – Righty

Next, we’re adding a cross-crease pass to the repetition. In other words, you’re looking to go wing to wing on the skip pass. Make sure that players get all the way to the outside on their cuts.

Coaching Points: Make your drills more than one-dimensional. Look to find new ways to do things that reinforce your offensive shooting drills and passing. There’s no substitute for an abundance of shooting.

Dodge – X – Crease – Righty

Finally, start things up top with a dodge. From here, the pass will go behind the net to a cutting X. Next, there’s a quick pass out in front to a crease teammate before this player shoots on net. This drill is ideal for working on inside shooting, cuts, and plays.

Coaching Points: Get the ball high to low and look to spin the ball faster than the defense can rotate.

Know of any more effective offensive drills that reinforce offensive fundamentals? What specific drill works best with your team? Share with fellow coaches below or e-mail us at info@championshipproductions.com.

The previous drills can all be seen on Championship Productions’ DVD “Shooting Drills to Reinforce Offensive Concepts” featuring Jim Berkman. To check out more videos focusing on offensive concepts, click here.