Phil Martelli: My Favorite Drills for Basketball Practice

with Phil Martelli,
2025 NABC Hillyard Golden Anniversary Award;
2025 Joe Lapchick Character Award;
University of Michigan Associate Head Coach from 2019 to 2024;
2025 NABC Hillyard Golden Anniversary Award;
2020-21 National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Guardians of the Game Award for Leadership;
St. Joseph's University Head Coach from 1995 through 2019;
2016, CollegeInsider.com Gene Bartow Award;
2004 NABC, Chevrolet, AP & Naismith National Coach of the Year;
2004 Henry Iba Award, 2004 Jim Phelan Award, 2004 Adolph Rupp Cup;
4x A-10 Coach of the Year;
2005 USA Basketball Under 21 World Championship Team Head Coach

Every good practice works on the fundamental skills of basketball. Repetition of these fundamentals is key to creating championship teams. Good coaches also understand the importance of keeping things fresh and engaging for their players.. In this video, veteran coach Phil Martelli unveils his favorite drills that will surely add variety and competition to your practices! You'll get:

• Individual drills
• Team drills
• Offensive drills
• Defensive drills
• Transition drills
• Shooting drills
• Free throw drills and more!

Practice Planning, Philosophy, and Warm-Up

Coach Martelli poses thought-provoking questions that will get even the most seasoned coaches thinking about why they do what they do and the importance of practice planning. Martelli dives into his philosophy on drill design and practice organization and the importance of following through on your practice plans.

Next, Coach Martelli discusses how having several warm-up drills that can be alternated daily or weekly keeps practices fresh and players engaged while working on fundamentals. Working on dribbling, passing, and shooting during the first minutes of practice is critical. Martelli discusses multiple drills that can be run seamlessly from either side to get quality reps within four minutes. Full court layup drills and passing drills are diagrammed in this segment.

Practice Drills

1-on-1 skills are often overlooked during regular season practices, but Coach Martelli always saves room for 1-on-1 drills in his practice plans. Each drill discussed can last anywhere from 4-6 minutes and works on three things: competition, conditioning, and skill work. The Slap & Go drill will get players conditioned while driving competition as they work in small groups.

Every practice should include transition, both offensive and defensive. Martelli diagrams several familiar drills with a couple additions that will add a new twist to tried-and-true transition drills. Every drill can be modified to include large amounts of players, perfect for minimizing the number of players standing around.

Coach Martelli shares three drills with multiple variations for 5-on-5 competition. He then moves on to a defensive segment of practice. Again, Martelli stresses that coaches ask themselves why they do what they do. This is shown in detail with his explanation of the Shell drill. Coach Martelli describes how he used the Shell drill to prepare for opponents during his time at St. Joseph's University and how any coach can adapt this philosophy to fit their team.

To wrap things up, you'll see three free throw shooting drills and three team shooting drills. All work not only the skill in question, but players' concentration in order to prepare them for the most crucial moments of games. The Win the Game free throw drill prepares players mentally to handle tough free throws when the game is on the line.

This video from Coach Martelli will give you what you need to help you refresh your practices and keep your players engaged and learning throughout the season!

81 minutes. 2021.