Drills

Some of our favourite training activities, designed on these key principles:

• Give players a high degree of freedom / decision making; avoid being too prescriptive

• Ideally no lines, so that all players are engaged at all time

• "Repetition without repetition": no repetition of exactly the same movements over and over, but repetition is OK if at least some conditions change (eg, different starting point) 

Dribbling survivor

One ball per "dribbler", plus a few "stealers" (these could be coaches). Dribblers to dribble around and escape from stealers trying to steal their ball. If a ball gets knocked out or the dribbler steps out of bounds, the ball is lost - stays on the floor (and off the court); the dribbler now becomes a stealer. Stealers that manage to steal a ball become dribblers. Continue until only one survivor is left dribbling.

Optional constraints:

• only dribble with  weak hand

• only crossovers

Shoot or drive

1v1 on separate baskets. Defense starts under the basket and passes to offense at least a few metres away (distance can vary). Offense catches and has to make a decision between two options: shoot immediately, or drive for a layup (ideally after a fake).

Bump & shoot

One ball per player. Players to dribble around and bump each other. Every five bumps you get an attempt to a layup. Keep dribbling and bumping other players, shooting a layup every five bumps, until final whistle. Player with most made layups wins.

Optional constraints:

• only use weak hand, for either dribbling, or layup, or both

• only use specific layups (eg, power layup)

Variations:

• collect hi fives instead of bumps

• attempt mid range (or 3 point) shots instead of layups

Most passes

Two teams, one ball. Each team to complete the most passes, keeping count. At every turnover, counter resets to zero. No passbacks allowed, ie, a player that's just received a pass can't pass back to the passer (if this happens, it's a turnover). Any violation such as out of bounds, travel, double dribbling, fouls etc cause a turnover.  

2v1

Groups of 3 players, one ball and one basket per group. Play 2 on offense vs 1 on defense. Offense wins if they score, defense wins if they get a stop (eg, steal, block, force turnover, get rebound). Many constraints can be added, such as:

• Max number of seconds available on offense

• Only shoot a certain type of shot (layups, midrange, 3pt)

• Only shoot after completing a dribble handoff

Transition

Three players on offense, starting at the baseline: two as wings, and one in the middle as point guard with the ball. They move up the court to face two players on defense at the opposite elbows. After a basket or a stop, the two players previously on defense go on offense against the previous point guard (now the lone defender). The previous two wing players stay at the elbows to play defense in the next iteration. 

Speed game

Two teams, one ball per team: the "layup" team starts under a basket, and the "dribble" team at a corner. Both start at the same time, one by one. 

The layup player must dribble to the other basket and score a layup; if they miss, they keep attempting until they score. After they score, they dribble back to the starting basket and again attempt layups until they score. When they score, they hand the ball over to the next player in the team. 

The dribble player must dribble one full lap around the court until they get back to the starting point and hand over the ball to the next player.

The winner is the first team where all players finish their task (either making two layups or dribbling a full lap around the court).

Killer

Instructions

A great game to practice shooting under pressure - eliminated players should stand at the baseline and support/cheer loudly!

Steph Curry challenge

Players, with a ball each, must make the most 3pt shots in a specified amount of time (eg, 2 minutes).