Wednesday, March 22, 2023

Basketball: Competitive Development Drills

Always look for stuff to steal and share. 

"Every day is player development day." Development works along a continuum. If we send a player to high school who is ready to contribute as a freshman, multiple things must happen:

1) The player needs opportunity to compete for minutes and role. That doesn't always happen.

2) The development arc must continue. Players need both a growth mindset and coaching to further that development.

3) Number 1 and 2 must coalesce with Anson Dorrance's "competitive cauldron" into "continual ascension."

What are some actions I believe do that? 

  •  5 versus 7 advantage-disadvantage full court press break, no dribbling. This teaches passing and cutting against pressure. It is competitive and is "hard practice to make games easier." Downside is you need more players. 
  • "Ten seconds to glory." The coach passes to the player at the top and offense gets ten seconds to score. Floppy action +/- postup or even a quick cross screen. 
  • Rollouts. I got this from an Indiana HS coach while on vacation in the islands somewhere. Teaches closeouts and team defense. Add constraints like offense needs a pass, a paint touch, or a screen before a shot.  
  • O-D-O. Three possession games (offense, defense, offense) that start with an ATO, BOB, or SLOB. Can play 5-on-5 or 4-on-4. It's competitive, has offense, defense, conversion, and works on special situations. I've had officials congratulate us about our execution on special situations. We call the drill, "specials." And the players love it because it's a form of scrimmage. 
  • "Laterals" defense and offense flip the ball to each other while moving left or right. Offense decides when and how to attack.

A variation is using a float dribble to initiate the attack. 
  • Box drills with defense. Offensive player at the elbow, back to the basket with defender behind. Offense backspin flips to herself to start action. Can start with front or back pivot into basket attack, shot, one dribble shot, whatever. "Footwork game" and "shoulders game" teaching. 
  • 1 vs 1 vs 1. We're not Michigan State. Girls don't get shoulder pads and helmets. Toughness offensive rebounding drill

Lagniappe. From Coach Hacks. 


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