Steve Dagostino's Development Sessions for Building Competitive Players

with Steve Dagostino;
Skill Development Specialist;
Dags Basketball Training Founder & Owner;
U18 USA National Team Court Coach;
played for College of Saint Rose (2x All American) and professionally in Europe

All coaches want their teams to improve and see better results; individual skill development is a key ingredient in taking the next step in your program’s advancement! In this video you benefit by seeing skill development specialist Steve Dagostino share some of his best skill sessions that will improve players’ overall skill level, while also advancing in their understanding of situations, improving their decision-making and learning to perform optimally while under pressure.

Warmup and Ball Handling 

Coach Dagostino begins his presentation with observations and insights he has gained through years of training and working with coaches at every level. Two things he has learned is that competition and resiliency are traits that can be learned and developed. In his training sessions he tries to instill those things into all he does.

Coach Dagostino shows unique warmup ball handling drills that work on game-like movements while teaching players how to control pace and change height while handling the ball. A progression of moves is shown while moving down the length of the floor that will translate into muscle memory when making dribble moves against defenders.

One of the best ways to develop a solid handle is to go against a defender. In the next segment, Coach Dagostino shows how to play against pressure. Dagostino discusses three ways that a ball handler can stop against pressure and change directions. After showing the moves, players work against a live defender as it quickly turns into a 1-on-1 competitive drill. Other layers can be added by putting an extra player in the corner to simulate a drive and kick. After the kick, the defender pops out to receive the pass and the offensive player has to quickly turn to defend.

Finishing Drill and Shooting Drills

Once a player gains an offensive advantage, how should they finish at the rim? In this competitive 1-on-1 drill called Race to the Rim, players learn to attack the defense with or without an advantage and learn how to effectively finish at the rim. Different scenarios are shown progressively throughout the drill. Each one will teach the offensive player how to finish against different defensive adjustments at game speed. Next, a shooting series is shown that will get players moving and getting up game-like shots. Each drill within the series is timed and scored and can be done with two teams competing against one another. Four segments are taught and each one is moved to after a certain number of makes. After each drill players must do the Rapid-Fire drill which will get players shooting against pressure. Each player must make a certain number before moving on to the next person. The Situational shooting drill is a great drill that will get players used to moving on the court into realistic scenarios. Players get three shots, where the last shot they get to choose from a DHO, drift, flash, or backdoor against a defender.

1 on 1 Drills

To wrap up the training session, Coach Dagostino shares two effective 1-on-1 drills to ramp up the competition while working on the ever important, under taught skill of 1-on-1 play. The Unscripted 1-on-1 is a terrific training mechanism as it gets players making their own reads and decisions through a highly competitive drill. Once a certain number of shots are made the drill turns into a full-court 1-on-1 drill ending once a player reaches seven points. 

Coach Dagostino has put together an extremely useful set of training drills to finely tune your players' individual skills and turn your players into better performers in the seasons ahead!

47 minutes. 2022.