Lady Raiders' Practice Drills: Daily Practice Passing Plan, Full-Court Passing Secrets & 15 Game-Like Passing Drills!

with Krista Gerlich,
Texas Tech University Head Women's Coach;
2019 Sun Belt Coach of the Year;
2019 Sun Belt Regular Season Champions;
2x Texas Association of Basketball Coaches Coach of the Year;
3x Lone Star Conference Regular Season Champions;
2x Lone Star Conference Coach of the Year;
played collegiately for Texas Tech;
2003 Texas Tech Hall of Fame inductee

Stressing fundamentals and maintaining a daily goal for improving both team and individual skills are the key components toward building a solid program – and a team that’s ready for sustained success. Coaches who emphasize these ‘little things’ every day often find that the fortunes of their basketball program turn around very quickly.

Texas Tech’s Krista Gerlich is a prime example of a coach who took over a struggling program and turned it into a consistently tough opponent for foes to face every night. Since taking over the Lady Raiders program in 2020, and placing a heavy emphasis on solid passing, finishing and great on-the-court communication, Coach Gerlich has molded a team and program that continues to impress and improve by doubling their win total from year one to year three!  

In this on-the-court instructional video, Gerlich showcases the passing drills and coaching points-of-emphasis that have helped her build a formidable roster of complete basketball players who compete on every play!

Passing Basics 

From Day 1 as head coach, Coach Gerlich has emphasized the importance of being a solid passing team. With a goal of leading her conference in assist-to-turnover ratio, passing is at the top of the list when it comes to achieving this feat.Gerlich explains that when it comes to improving passing, simple and effective drills are what help players. In a drill she calls the ‘0-1-2 Dribble Drill’ players will learn to pass and catch on the move while valuing their dribble.

In the ‘Big-X Drill,’ Gerlich shows how players can expand their skill level, while improving on-the-court communication and increasing pace-of-play tempo by calling for the ball in the open court and passing ahead to a teammate for a finishing move with a coach providing contact as a make-shift defender. 

These basic passing drills are also great warmups for your players and keep them focused on all the little things that make up a great pass to a teammate.  

Transition Passing

In this next segment, Coach Gerlich showcases a variety of different full-court transition drills that improve individual and team passing skills while moving at a game-like tempo up and down the court.

With passing being the most important element of transition basketball, coaches will love to pick and choose from the variety of passing drills and coaching points that Coach Gerlich offers up in this section of the video.

In a drill she calls ‘Perfect Figure-8 Drill,’ Gerlich puts her collective players' passing, catching and dribbling abilities to the test – as players must focus on using as few dribbles as possible and are only allowed to make 3 passes total to score while going full-court, from end to end. This is a perfection drill and will hold your players accountable for making strong passes to each other.

Next, Coach Gerlich highlights the ‘3-Lines 2-Balls Drill,’ which features an expanded version of 3-player passing by incorporating a second basketball and having your players focus on their dribbling skills in the open court. In this drill, players must communicate in order not to throw the ball at each other at the wrong time.  

One of Gerlich’s favorite drills is a drill she calls ‘Cyclone Layups’.  In this drill, players must follow their pass as they sprint downcourt off a rebound and then come back the other way after completing the sprint. This is also a great conditioning drill where players must communicate and push the pace during transition all while finishing at game-like speed.

Passing and Decision Making 

Decision-making is half the battle when it comes to passing and being a solid, team player. Coach Gerlich uses this segment of her video to showcase plenty of drills for decision making and passing. 

In the ‘2-On-2 Decision-Making Drill,’ Gerlich features players working on beating their defender into the paint, while reading the help-side defender while deciding to finish at the rim or kick the ball out to a teammate for an open shot. 

In Coach Gerlich’s ‘3-On-3 Sandy Drill,’ players are shown flying around the court looking to get to the rim quickly while in a 3-on-2 advantage situation before a third defender enters into play. 

These drills are all excellent for putting your players into competitive, decision-making situations that are done at a fast, game-like speed.  

Passing is a lost art. Players who can deliver quick passes, catch passes while on the run, and make instant decisions on the teammate who has the best possible shot are qualities that separate average players from great players. 

In this instructional video, Coach Gerlich has put together an absolute treasure trove of passing drills that will help you improve your players passing and catching abilities, while teaching them the best techniques needed to finish with solid finishes at the rim!

Customer Review: 5 Out of 5 Stars. ‘This is an amazing coaching video filled with passing drills that emphasize all the little things needed to deliver solid passes on a consistent basis!’

72 minutes. 2023.