Basketball Drills for Coaches

Players, check out the basketball drills for players section.

Coaches, need some new basketball drills to get to the next level?

Want to learn what it take to run drills the "right way" -- so you can become a better coach or player?

If so, you're in the right place.

We have a variety of drills and coaching tactics that will help you improve your basketball game.


Running Basketball Drills the Right Way

The first thing to realize is that the great coaches and players focus on the little things.

Too many coaches make the mistake of starting the drill and just running through the motions.

To get better, each drill needs to have a purpose and you really need to watch closely to perform each aspect correctly.

For example, when running a defensive sliding drill, you need too make sure each player continually maintains a wide base, keeps their hands out, maintains good balance, keeps their butt down, and so on. It's the little things that make you a better player.

You CAN'T let them slip!!

Practicing drills is when players get better. In fact, the most important aspect of running your practices and getting better as a player, is how you run those drills.

In order to get better, you need to practice over and over to develop good habits and muscle memory. If you don't practice the RIGHT way, you're just developing bad habits and training yourself to play the wrong way.

So I urge you to take the time to learn the detailed fundamentals of basketball. And then run the drills to train your body to perform those fundamentals without even thinking about it.


Making it Fun

One of the best ways to stay motivated and get better is to keep things fun.

This can be done by adding competitive twists to the drills or simply incorporating fun youth drills.

I've found that most players, especially younger ones, really enjoy fast paced drills that really keep things moving.

You can do a variety of things to keep them moving. You can set up stations, so a group of players work at a station for a few minutes, then you blow the whistle and they run to the next station.

You can also run multifacet drills that have players running, shooting, passing and doing a variety of things.

The trick is to have enough coaches or helpers watching each area, making sure each player is using proper form.

After players run around for a bit, take a few minutes to demonstrate the correct method and slow them down to perform the drill correctly. Then you can crank things up again and start them off. Just keep it mixed up and your players will maintain better focus and listen to you.


30 Competitive Game-Like Drills For Your Players

In addition to fun drills and fundamental drills, you should also incorporate drills where players can use their skills in game-like situtations against defenders. The article The Missing Link To Player Development explains this skill development philosophy in more detail.

If you would like to see more of these competitive skill drills, check our our highly-rated resource 30 Competitive Game-Like Skill Development Drills.