30 Competitive Game-Like Skill Development Drills - DVD & eBook

Dear Basketball Coach,
In this DVD you get over 30 competitive skill development drills that you can use in your team practice, off season workouts, camps, and clinics.
We believe that COMPETITIVE and GAME-LIKE drills are essential for player development. And they are essential drills that have really help us develop players.
The keywords are "gamelike" and "competitive". Many of the drills are 1on1 in nature, breaking down common situations that happen in a game.

What You'll Get in this DVD & eBook Package

The DVD includes:
Chapter 1 - Introduction

• 5 Essential Components of Player Development
• How to Use the Drills
• Who Should Use the Drills

Chapter 2 - Competitive Ballhandling Drills
This chapter includes 12 multi-purpose drills that have an emphasis on ballhandling. The drills will improve ball security, reduce turnovers, develop toughness, improve conditioning, and improve a player's ability to handle the ball under pressure. The drills are very game-like in nature, fun, competitive, and effective.
Chapter 3 - Competitive Finishing Drills
This chapter includes 12 drills with an emphasis on finishing near the basket. The drills will help players finish a higher percentage of lay ups, finish off the dribble, finish through contact, and become better scorers. The drills also serve other purposes and help players improve ballhandling, agility, ball screens, toughness, and conditioning.
Chapter 4 - Competitive Post & Perimeter Drills
This chapter includes 7 multi-purpose drills that have an emphasis on footwork, post moves, and perimeter moves. The drills will help improve footwork, ability to score in the post, and score from the perimeter. The drills also serve other purposes and will help players improve shooting, ballhandling, agility and conditioning.
Chapter 5 - Closing Thoughts

• Building Your Practice Plans
• Summary
• Next Steps

Approx running time is 110 minutes.
46 Page Supplemental eBook
For your convenience, we have written step-by-step instructions and diagrammed all the drills included in the DVD. You can access the PDF eBook from your computer's DVD-ROM drive.

How the Drills Will Help You and Your Team

The drills will help you...

• Cut down on MISSED Lay Ups
• Reduce Turnovers
• Handle intense pressure during games
• Improve Ballhandling
• Finish in the lane
• Improve agility, quickness and endurance
• Improve confidence
• Develop better post players and inside scoring
• Improve perimeter moves and footwork
• Score more points and win more games

Why You Should Utilize Small-Sided Competitive Game-like Drills

There are FIVE main reasons why this type of drill is so important...
Reason #1 - Players can't hide in the drills
One thing you'll notice as you're watching this DVD is that players can't hide in the drills. They're forced to adapt and get better. In 5on5, 4on4, or even 3on3, it's easy for a player to hide. They can simply avoid the ball and avoid scenarios they're not comfortable with.
If you require all your players to run these drills, everyone will improve. There's no way to hide. When you put players in challenging drills, they are forced to get out of their comfort zone and will improve very quickly!
Reason #2 - You should "train the way you play"
Most coaches and skill development trainers agree that you should "train the way you play." This is one of the things we like most about the drills -- they're simulating what actually happens in a game versus something like dribbling through cones or shooting in lay up lines with no pressure. As you watch the drills, you'll notice they are very game-like and as a result they develop skills that translate extremely well into 5on5 games.
Reason #3 - The drills are fun!
Players really enjoy these drills. And as a result they work hard, show enthusiasm, they look forward to practice, and the entire team just has a better overall attitude for improvement.
Reason #4 - Multi-purpose drills that are efficient
These drills are very efficient. Almost all of the drills serve multiple purposes and allow you to get more done in less time. You'll even see some drills that allow you to work on ball handling, defense, conditioning, agility, and finishing lay ups all at the same time.
Reason #5 - Players get more touches
Finally, these drills give players more touches on the ball. In traditional 5on5, 4on4, and 3on3 games... players only get to touch the ball so many times. We believe from an offensive skill stand point, you want players to have a ball in their hands as often as possible. By utilizing these small-sided competitive drills, players get more reps, more touches, and as a result they get better faster.
We have found that the traditional drills will only take you so far. Once you reach a certain point you need to add competitive game-like drills that propel your players to the next level.
We personally run at least one of these drills in every single one of our practices and have found that they have helped us take the next level and dramatically speed up the development of our players.

Disclaimer -- These are Not for Complete Beginners

The drills on the DVD are versatile and effective drills for ALL levels -- youth, middle school, high school, and college. However, they are NOT for complete beginners.
For example, if you have players that struggle dribbling with their left hand in a zig zag type of drill or have players that can't make layups in standard lay up lines, you'll first want to get them capable of finishing in a non-competitive drill. Once players can handle those things, then you can add the competitive aspects and you'll find that these are going to translate extremely well into your games.

Watch This Preview and Sample Video from the DVD

How Much Does it Cost?

The price for the 110 minute DVD and 46 page eBook is $39.

60 Day Money Back Guarantee

Just like any reputable bookstore or retail business, we have a 100% money back guarantee too.
If for any reason, your purchase is not what you expected, just send us a message and we'll give you a full refund. No questions asked.

Basketball Basics for New Players and Coaches -- Learn the Basic Rules, Concepts, Court Layout, and Player Positions

The rules of basketball, thankfully, are fairly straightforward. However, for the younger players, some rules can be easily forgotten. The three-second rule addressing how long an offensive player can be in the key before clearing out is a good example.

Once you have taught the rules of the game to your team, there is a simple way to make sure that they don't forget them. Have them tell you the rules. Spend a few minutes during each practice quizzing them. Make it fun. Additionally, you can teach and reinforce the rules of the game during drills.

Before you can teach the rules to your team, you must know them yourself...

Hold up… don’t you post articles on zones and presses all the time?

Yep!
Don’t get me wrong, I love writing and talking about all different types of zone defense. I especially love breaking them down into simple guides that coaches can use to help their team.
But these guides must be used age-appropriately and I don’t recommend them for any coach before the high school level.
I haven’t done a great job of making this clear in the past and I will strive to do so much more diligently in the future.

1. “The real issue isn’t zone defense, it’s that coaches need to teach better zone offense.”

The first thing that coaches must understand about zone offense is that although not all shots taken out of a zone offense are three-pointers, zone offense relies on the defense respecting the three-point shot.
This is because if your team can’t shoot the basketball from the outside (and most youth teams can’t), then the defense won’t extend out to respect the shot which will open up gaps in the zone.
Instead, all 5 defenders will stand back in the key and wait for you to miss the outside, uncontested shot.
This would be a decent argument at a higher level, but definitely not at the youth basketball level.
The coaches that preach that ‘the issue is zone offense, not zone defense’, will often give you the following two pieces of advice…
a. “Your team needs to learn how to move the basketball better!”

Ball movement doesn’t achieve much.

Most youth teams have no problem passing the basketball against a compact 2-3 zone. In fact, it’s often too easy!
If the offensive player is at the three-point line to space the court, there’s often no defender anywhere near them. All the defenders are still inside the key or a step or two out of it. But they’re definitely not pressuring the basketball.
Why should they? The defense knows they’ll miss the shot.
The defense doesn’t particularly care how quickly or how well you move the basketball around the perimeter either. You can swing it from side to side 5 times and the only thing that’s going to move on the defense is their heads while they watch.
They’re going to stand back in the paint and wait until you shoot it so that they can get the rebound.
And there’s no chance your fantastic ball movement is going to penetrate the zone since all 5 defenders are inside the key and can basically touch hands if they all put their arms out.
b. Try screening the zone. That always works!”

Screening the zone doesn’t help much.

I’ve heard numerous people advise youth coaches that they should start screening the zone and I still can’t see how it would benefit the offense.
Maybe screening one of the top players to get an open shot on the wing would work, but the offense is definitely not going to get a layup out of it.
Down-screening one of their players and cutting outside isn’t going to achieve anything at all. The defense isn’t going to follow them and create a gap in the defense. They’re staying inside the key.
The offensive team isn’t having any trouble getting open anyway.
Once again, screening the zone relies on the offense being able to hit outside shots so that the defense is forced to chase and contest the outside shot.

2. “Playing a zone defense allows a team of less talent to not get dominated by 50 points.”

I talked about this previously in the article so I’ll make this quick…
This is the only decent argument in favor of playing a zone defense.
If your team is losing by such a wide margin every game, it won’t be long before the parents and players are sick of it and move along to another team.
And, unfortunately, it’s often the best players that go first.
If you are losing by a wide margin every game, you’d be far better off finding a new league or competition to participate in than you simply conceding to playing zone defense every game.

3. “Zone defense is just another tool. Young athletes need to learn all defensive schemes”

The problem with this argument is made obvious by this simple quote from the great Don Meyer.

“When you add, you must subtract” – Don Meyer

By teaching an extra defense to your players, you’re stealing time away from skill development or opportunities to work on other aspects of their game.
Do you really think implementing a zone defense is the best use of the limited time that you have with your players at practice each week?
Coaches already have barely any time at practice with their players.

4. “I don’t have enough time to teach man-to-man defense”

When teams don’t have any practice time, they often resort to using a zone defense.
I get it. It’s far easier to get a player to stand in one position close to the basket than it is to get them to stay between their player and the basket for an entire possession.
But if you don’t have time to teach them man-to-man defense now, when will they have time to learn it?
It’s imperative that we let players experience man-to-man defense as early as possible.
To me, this is a prime example of putting winning at a young age over future development.
It’s not difficult to instruct your players to stand next to one of the offensive players and stay between them and the basket.
Sure, they’ll get lost a couple of times and your team will give up a few easy baskets, but they’ll gradually gain more experience and improve their defense.
Once they’re getting a grasp of defending their own player, start introducing them to help defense.
Teaching your players these little concepts can all be done during games and in the huddles you have before and after games.

5. “I have a bad player and need to hide them in the zone”

I have a feeling a lot of coaches will cringe when reading this argument… I know I did when I first heard it.
How is hiding a poor defender in a zone going to help them with their man-to-man defense in the future?
This is a clear-cut case of a coach putting winning before development.
Allow the poor defender to gain more experience defending. That’s the only way they’re going to improve.
In fact, they’re probably a poor defender because their previous coach only ran a zone and didn’t focus on their future development too.

6. “A good zone defense still teaches man-to-man principles. Players still close out, players still have to help, etc”.

I discussed this topic earlier in the article but let’s quickly go over it again so that my thoughts on the topic are clear.
Zone defense does teach some man-to-man principles, that’s correct.
But, obviously, a man-to-man defense teaches those man-to-man principles a lot better than a zone defense does.
So while the zone defense isn’t all bad, there’s a far better alternative.
To me, this argument is used as an excuse to play zone defense when the coach wants to win.

7. “Teach your team to shoot the basketball better and then we wouldn’t be able to play a zone.”

What a terrible argument this is.
Let’s remember that many of the players either using or competing against the zone defense will be in their first couple of years playing basketball competitively.
How long does it take to become a consistent outside shooter? A few years at the very, very minimum.
How long does it take to implement a zone defense that stands in the key and barely moves? 1 – 2 minutes.
Let’s also not forget that, depending on age, many players physically can’t shoot the basketball consistently yet no matter how much practice they put in!

8. “My players probably won’t play high school or college basketball anyway, so it doesn’t matter.”

We’ve all heard those coaches that believe they can predict a players’ future at 8 years old.
“They’ll never be good enough. They’re too short” or “See that kid, he’s going to be a superstar in 10 years.”
How a coach can come to such confident conclusions when players still so young is beyond me.
Basketball is littered with stories of late-blooming players who went on to have amazing professional carers.
Michael Jordan failed to make his high school varsity team as a sophomore and is now known as the best basketball player who ever lived.
Hakeem Olajuwon didn’t pick up a basketball until he was 15 years old and is now regarded as one of the greatest centers to ever play the game.
Tim Duncan made the transition from swimming to basketball in high school and is now arguably the greatest power forward of all time.
And there are plenty more similar stories.
No coach can predict which players are going to fall in love with the sport and work their tails off to improve. No coach can predict a player having a massive growth spurt in their later physical development.
Don’t rule any player out!

9. “By learning how to play zone defense, the players learn ways to exploit it when they play against it in the future.”

As we’ve talked about many times in this article, zone defense in youth basketball isn’t played the way a real zone defense should be played.
Defenders don’t close out, defenders all shadow towards the basketball because they know a skip pass won’t beat them, defenders don’t leave the key, etc.
There’s not much any player will learn about a good zone defense when it’s run in youth basketball.
And this fact alone does not justify taking time away from other things the players could be working on instead.

10. “We run the system that best suits our players.”

Another classic case of a coach putting winning above development at an age when winning should never be the number one priority.
If your players can’t play man-to-man defense at their current level, what chance are they going to have playing it at the next level?
Because remember, as players develop and reach higher levels of competition, they will play far more man-to-man defense.
We need to give all players the opportunity to experience man-to-man defense so that they’re prepared when they get to the next level.

10 Arguments Used by Coaches in Favor of Zone Defenses (and why they’re wrong)

I’ve heard every argument in the book from coaches in favor of running zones. Some of them are legitimate, others I find to be ignorant nonsense.
Here I’m going to share my thoughts on some of the arguments coaches use that are in favor of using zone defense.

Zone Defense is Terrible for Youth Basketball 2

1. Zone defense creates poor defensive habits

Before all the pro-zone coaches jump at me with lines similar to:
“A good zone defense still teaches man-to-man principles!”
I’m not saying that there’s nothing a player who runs a zone will learn from a zone that will assist their man-to-man defense. They still need to close out, still need to communicate, still need to play help defense, etc.
Please know that I understand that.
But there are many poor defensive habits that will also come with running a zone that players will also develop.
And let me be clear… these really are habits.
Ask any coach that receives the unenviable task of trying to convert a life-long zone player into a man-to-man defender. Some of these habits are really, really hard to break.
Tyler, whose basketball knowledge I respect a great deal, came up with this list of 15 poor defensive habits that a zone defense promotes…
1. Lazy on-ball defense
2. Standing and watching off ball
3. Poor closeout technique
4. Little accountability
5. Lack of communication
6. Minimal defensive movement
7. Fewer opportunities to guard different positions and areas of the floor
8. Fewer opportunities to practice communication in defensive transition
9. Fewer opportunities to practice decision-making in defensive transition
10. Reduced accountability on box outs
11. Fewer decisions while playing help defense
12. Decreased defense-rotation repetitions
13. Fewer opportunities to learn what constitutes acceptable defensive risk-taking
14. Minimal opportunities to defend a screen
15. Fewer opportunities for bigger players to guard the ball.

2. A zone defense hinders the offensive team’s development, too

Quick note: If winning is your number one priority, this point will be incredibly hard for you to comprehend.
By running a zone defense in youth basketball, you’re also doing a large disservice to the offensive team, too.
But is that something you should have to worry about? After all, your task is to stop the other team from scoring, not help them. Right?
Coaches have to understand that we’re all in this together for the development of the players.
Do you really want an 8-year-old team chucking long-distance shots at the ring because they can’t get any closer so that you can win an 8-year-old basketball game?
Because, unfortunately, that’s the only thing a zone defense allows them to do.
Please don’t think I’m saying that you should sit back and allow the other team to score… because I’m not at all.
But I do think that we need to give the offensive team a chance to make smart basketball plays and experience different offensive opportunities that a zone defense doesn’t allow.
They won’t get to practice moving the basketball while being pressured, their cuts are useless because the paint is flooded with 5 defenders, setting screens to get open is pointless because the defense is leaving them open and waiting for them to shoot anyway, and there’s plenty of other lost opportunities for offensive development.
Again, similar to the point on defensive habits, I understand that the players will still learn and grow against a zone… but they won’t learn half as much that will prepare them for the future as they would if they were playing against a man-to-man defense.

3. Zone defense doesn’t prepare players for the next level.

One of the most important tasks of a youth basketball coach is to prepare their players for the next level of basketball.
Here’s a super important fact that has been echoed by many great coaches…
A player that is taught man-to-man defense when they’re young will have a much easier transition to playing zone defense than a player who plays zone defense exclusively at a young age will have transitioning to a man-to-man defense when they’re older.
So this comes down to a case of ‘do you want your players to be better prepared for the future or do you want them to win now?’
Another thing you’ll notice is that as the competition gets better and the players more skilled, the less zone defense you will see implemented.
This is because zone defense works great against young teams with no skill but struggles against players with a lot of basketball experience.
So to give your players the best chance of success at the next level, it’s imperative that they’re competent playing man-to-man defense.

4. Zone defense doesn’t make basketball fun

This is probably the most disappointing reason of all…
By playing a zone defense, you rob the players of all the fun that basketball should be providing them.
Barely anyone is able to make a basket, both teams are throwing turnover after turnover, and every player is forced to throw up long-distance shots that have no hope of going in!
Does this sound like a fun game of basketball to you?
Because to me, it sounds horrible.
We need to give all players a chance to fall in love with the game of basketball like we all did when we were young.

Reasons Why Zone Defense is Terrible for Youth Basketball

All coaches must remember that our focus should be on the futures of the athletes we coach.
I assure you that in a few years no one will care that you won the under 10’s championship by implementing a zone defense and forcing the opponents to shoot from outside. No one.
The first three reasons I talk about are the same that Tyler describes in his article here. I’ve added a fourth reason, but completely agree with the first three and wanted to share my thoughts on them also.
Here are the 4 main reasons why zone defense is terrible for youth basketball.

To stay competitive

Whether they want to or not, some coaches do feel forced to use a zone defense just to stay competitive with the other teams in their league.
This reason I can understand and it’s a decent argument in favor of playing zone defense.
I think we call all agree that no youth basketball team should ever lose by any number close to 50 points.
Using a zone defense can turn a would-be blowout game that’s embarrassing for the players, into a closer and more respectable game.
But if you are forced to resort to this zone strategy just to stay competitive, one thing is very clear…
Your team is playing against the wrong competition.
You shouldn’t have to use a zone to be competitive. If your team does, you need to find a new league, improve the players on the team, or figure something else out to solve the issue.
Playing a zone defense isn’t the best long-term answer to your troubles.

To feel like they’re impacting the game

I’ll openly admit that I had this exact feeling when I first started coaching.
When your team runs a zone, you look like a much smarter coach simply because it takes advantage of the offensive team’s major weaknesses.
Players look organized on the court, the zone is effective, the opposition struggles to score, etc.
It’s incredibly easy to get caught up in appearing like you’re a good coach when all you’re really doing is putting every player in the limited area that the opposition can shoot from and instructing them to stand there.
If you run a man-to-man defense, the defense doesn’t look as organized, it’s much harder to play help defense, and the opposition will score easy baskets while your team gains more experience.
All coaches want to look like they’re having an impact on the game, but it’s important that we all keep in mind what’s best for your team’s long-term development.

Why Zone Defense is Effective in Youth Basketball

If there’s one point I’m not going to argue in this article, it’s this:
Zone defense is incredibly effective at a youth basketball level.
That is a 100% indisputable fact. Coaches use zone defense because it flat out works against young teams and players.
Here are the 2 main reasons why…

1. Players are forced to shoot from outside

How a 2-3 zone will usually set up in youth basketball.

We all know that most of the points scored in youth basketball come from layups and shots taken from close to the ring.
By implementing a zone defense, the defensive team packs the paint and takes away the driving lanes to the hoop.
What’s option does this leave the offensive team with? The outside shot.
Therefore, since the offensive team can’t get to the basket and take a good shot, you’ll see a bunch of young players chucking up long-distance shots and praying they’ll go in.
As I’m sure you can imagine, not many of these shot attempts are successful.
Most of these youth athletes are simply not physically developed enough to make outside shots consistently. They lack the strength required to shoot the basketball properly.
But since that’s the only open shot they can get, they take them anyway.

Zone Defense is Terrible for Youth Basketball

A coach sent me an email last week that said this (summarized):“Hi. This week we’re playing against a team that runs a tight 2-3 zone all game. They have much taller players than we do and they barely ever leave the key on defense. What should we do?”
Do you want to know what my reply was?
“Pray that your team makes outside shots.”
Obviously, that wasn’t my whole reply, but it was the overall thought of the email I sent back in response.
I wrote a post on how to beat a 2-3 zone defense not too long ago, but admittedly, a lot of the strategies require that the defense is stepping out and respecting the outside shot (I’ll talk about this a lot throughout the article).
If the defense plays close to the ring at all times and doesn’t challenge the shot (like most youth teams do), these strategies become incredibly hard to implement.
So I decided to create this post that shares with you why zone defense is effective in youth basketball, why coaches use it, how it’s hurting the game, and also to answer any arguments that coaches in favor of zone defense have.
I’ll mostly be referring to the 2-3 zone defense for this article since that is by far the most popular zone to play at a youth basketball level.

Individual Drills

One of the great things about the sport of basketball is that you only need a hoop and a ball to play. This holds true for practice as well. As a matter of fact, you can work on your dribbling skills with just a ball and a place to dribble. 

Dribbling Drills 

Weak hand: Most players can dribble okay with their strong hand, but the great ball handlers can dribble with either hand. Try dribbling using only your weak hand. It won't be easy at first, but keep at it. Your weak hand will become stronger and soon you will be able to use it in a game. You can do this by just dribbling around and only using your weak hand. 

Around the legs: Keep the ball low and dribble quickly around your legs and feet while standing still. You can even do a figure eight around both legs. Be sure to switch hands as you move to each side. 

Cone drill: Set up cones (anything you can dribble around will work) in a line. Dribble between the cones switching hands with a strong cross-over dibble at each cone. Try dribbling fast on one pass and then keep the ball low on the next. 

Speed drill: Work on dribbling at full speed. Dribble as fast as you can in one direction. Try to keep your head up and not look at the ball. Use your right hand in one direction and then your left on the way back. Time yourself to see if you are improving. 

Shooting Drills 

Moving on out: Start around 5 feet from the basket. Take shots until you make 4 in a row (you can change this to 3 or 5 depending on your skill level). Once you have made 4 in a row, take a step back. Keep doing this until you reach the free throw line. Now do the same drill from an angle on each side of the basket. Make shots by banking the ball. 

Four Points: Play this game to 4 points from different areas on the court. Pick a spot, but start out fairly close to the basket. For each shot you swish you get 1 point. For each you miss you lose 1 point. For shots made that aren't swishes, you get no points. If it's too hard or easy, you can change the point systems slightly (only subtract 1/2 point for each miss) or change where you are shooting from. Try this from different areas on the court and see how far away you can play and still win. 

Free Throws: See how many you can make out of 20 shots. Keep trying this and see how you improve over time. Work on your follow through and concentration. 

Shoot and rebound: Shoot the ball from one side of the basket. Then grab the rebound and shoot from the other. Repeat this over until you've made 20 shots. See how fast you can do this. Practice grabbing the rebound with authority