Competitive Practice Drills for Skill Development

with Chris Holtmann,
DePaul University Head Coach;
Ohio State University Head Men's Coach from 2017 to 2024;
2018 Big Ten Coach of the Year;
2018 Jim Phelan National Coach of the Year;
Butler University Head Coach from 2014 to 2017;
2017 Big East Coach of the Year;
2017 John McLendon National Coach of the Year;
former Gardner-Webb Head Coach;
2013 Big South Coach of the Year;
1994 NAIA All-American (Taylor University)

Chris Holtmann has built a reputation as a collegiate coach known for his fundamentally sound, hard-nosed teams – filled with skilled, mentally tough players up and down the roster. In this jam-packed video the 2018 Big Ten Coach of the Year serves up a loaded buffet of his favorite skill-development drills that you can use every day in your practices to improve on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball.Best of all, these practical, proven skill development drills also provide a high-level of physical conditioning into them – making this an efficient dual-purpose workout, as well as adding an element of mental toughness into your players.

Key Offensive Skills, Game-Like Situations

Holtmann discusses the importance of building a consistent, winning basketball culture through daily work in practice with a focus on key offensive fundamentals – specifically, passing and shooting drills – all done with high-intensity and under game-like conditions.

The game-like conditions on the passing drills, in particular, stress the importance of taking care of the basketball while under duress. 

Defense, Rebounding Work

In the defensive emphasis segment, Holtmann focuses on showing off his favorite defensive drills and rebounding drills. All of these proven drills can be adapted into a basketball coach’s practice plan, regardless of the defensive system your team utilizes. The defensive drills highlighted in this section of the video include: a variety of closeout drills, a jumping-to-the-ball drill, “Wall-Ups,” the “Tunnel-Drives Drill, and a hard-nosed ball-screen gauntlet, as well as an “NBA Rebounding Drill” to round out the practice segment.

With an emphasis on the defensive end, the drills shown by Holtmann are his favorite drills that he uses to build his defense year-in and year-out. In addition, these drills are all competitive and feature built-in conditioning work, which helps build mentally and physically tough players.

This is a great video for coaches of all levels of competition. It’s perfect as a must-see “Fundamentals 101” lesson for every coaching staff. For the more-advanced programs, though, this video can serve as a back-to-basics refresher course on critical fundamentals – allowing for players to re-focus and course-correct those teams who get off track from their primary focus!

53 minutes. 2022.