"I have worked with Don Kelbick since I entered the
NBA. His unique and innovative approach to basketball skills training
has had a significant impact on my career." - Raja Bell, Retired NBA Shooting Guard
"Don Kelbick's training is creative and very effective. As a basketball skills trainer, he is one of the best." - Irving Rowland, Player Development Assistant Coach, Phoenix Suns
A few other pros that have been trained by Don Kelbick include:
Rasual Butler
Raja Bell
Joe Johnson
JJ Barea
Omri Casspi
Bruce Bowen
Carlos Arroyo
Guillermo Diaz
Tim Hardaway
Stefanie Yderstrom
Rob Hite
Anthony King
About Coach Don Kelbick
Some of Don Kelbick's credentials include:
Has provided individual training for more than 14 different NBA
players, 50 European and professional players, and hundreds of college
basketball players.
Over 35 years of basketball coaching experience at the high school, Division I college, and professional levels.
Served 14 years as a head coach and 10 years as Division I
assistant including stops at Hofstra University, Marist College, Keene
State College, and Florida International University.
Developed dozens of basketball DVDs and books.
In addition to coaching, has scouted for NBA teams, including
the Knicks and the Hawks, and served as general manager in the USBL.
Traveled to over 20 different countries training players and teaching basketball.
Conducted over 1000 basketball clinics and camps training players of all age levels.
Don Kelbick is a long time contributor to Breakthrough Basketball
developing dozens of articles, products, and providing ongoing
consultation for the site. He also runs the Attack and Counter Skill
Development Camps which are offered nationwide.
App Requirements
The app requires Internet access (Wi-Fi and cellular connections are supported).
The app will run on any smartphone, tablet, or computer with a connection to the Internet.
This includes mobiles devices like the iTouch, iPad, android devices, windows phones, and more.
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.
The workouts are designed for players in college, high school, and middle school (ages 12 and up).
There are 4 levels to choose from.
The workouts are designed for all positions – point guards, shooting guards, and post players.
All the workouts can be done by yourself or with a partner.
Take The Workouts With You
You can view the basketball workouts on any smartphone, tablet, or computer with internet access.
This allows you to take your smartphone or tablet to the gym and view the workouts and videos right on the court...
The app shows you exactly what to do – taking you through each day, each drill, and each step.
It’s almost like having an NBA skill coach in the gym with you (almost).
You simply open the app, choose your workout, and it leads you through the workout step-by-step.
You can also track your progress, shooting percentage, and more...
What You Get with Attack & Counter Workouts
Component #1 - All Around Skills Workouts (80 Days)
This is the primary workout for players. It includes 4 levels of
logical and progressive workouts based on “programmed learning”.
Each “level” includes 20-day workouts, telling you exactly what to do
on each day. This makes for a grand total of 80 days of progressive
basketball workouts (if you workout every single day).
You can choose how often you workout each week (ex: once a week, 3
times a week, daily). The harder you work, the better you’ll get.
The “All Around Skill Workouts” will improve your ballhandling,
shooting, finishing, footwork, 1on1 moves, and more. And they apply to
all positions -- guard, perimeter, and post players.
These are specialty workouts with an added emphasis on shooting –
giving you more shooting reps and higher intensity. The workouts will
also improve ballhandling, footwork, and conditioning.
The shooting workouts are in no particular order. There are 8 shooting intensive workouts.
Component #3 - Post Play Workouts (60 Days)
This is a workout designed specifically for post players. Most
players should use the "general skills workout", which is the primary
Attack & Counter workout. It will help players in all positions
(including the post) and develop well-rounded players.
However, if you are looking for a workout that is specific for post
players, then you should follow this workout. It focuses on specific
aspects of post play with your back to the basket. There are 4 levels
and each level includes 15 day workouts.
This feature allows you to build your own custom workouts using the
drills included in the program. You can customize the workouts based on
your preferences and needs.
You choose your favorite drills and/or building blocks, save your workout, and access it any time.
Component #5 - Over 250 Skill Building Drills (With Video Demonstrations) and 300 Variations
You get over 250 skill building drills in the app. By tapping the
“Drills” button at the bottom of the app, you can search, sort, and
preview drills to find what you are looking for.
The app includes advanced filtering capabilities so you can sort by
category (shooting, ballhandling, etc), difficulty level, and by name.
Each drill includes instructions, points of emphasis, and video demonstration.
"Coaches who can outline plays on a blackboard are a dime a dozen.
The ones who win get inside their players and motivate." -- Vince
Lombardi
One of the biggest challenges that basketball coaches of all levels face
is the challenge of keeping your players focused, motivated to play,
and playing as hard as they can. The following are 10 tried and true
tips to keep your team motivated.
1. Set a precedent on the first day of practice. Establishing
your expectations from the very beginning is the best way to not only
establish your role within the team but to also let your players know
what kind of coach you're going to be.
For example: As your first practice starts and players are milling
about blow your whistle and call them to the center of the gym. If they
don't sprint to you, they get to run right then and there. After
they've run, blow the whistle again. This time all your players will
enthusiastically sprint to you. And more importantly, you'll have their
full attention for the rest of the year.
2. Show your players that they matter. Probably the most
effective method for getting your players to work hard for you, and for
themselves, is to let them know that you care about them.
Show
interest in their lives outside of basketball. Get to know your players
as individuals. Spend time talking to them one on one. It doesn't
have to be for hours; a couple minutes will do the trick. The point is
to let them know that they're important to you on and off the basketball
court.
3. Model motivation in all of your actions. Have fun, remain
positive, and let your players know what is expected of them
immediately. Your players will pick up on everything that you say and
do and they will respond accordingly. Verbalize your philosophy so your
players know what to expect and to what to strive for.
For example: If you tell your players that the best rebounders will be
starters, then players will all strive to be good rebounders. You've
told them through your words and actions that rebounding is important to
you.
It's all about what you emphasize! If you're constantly talking about
rebounding, you're players will pick up on that and become good
rebounders.
4. Offer verbal rewards. Rewards grab attention - players and
people love compliments. Whether you're running beginner basketball
drills or drills that require more skill, give praise for improvement
and for working hard.
Occasionally, for significant effort, praise players in front of the
team. Public praise is often well received and players will work hard
to earn such praise. Remember that if negative feedback is required to
sandwich it between positive feedback. For example: "You did a great
job hustling down the court, next time wait for a better shot. Keep up
the great hustle and the good shots will be there for you."
5. Offer occasional non-verbal rewards. Players can be motivated
to achieve goals by occasionally offering tangible rewards like a
Gatorade or by utilizing a tactic of the great Morgan Wooten. Wooten
offered "Permissions" to his players.
Permissions were rewards granted to players based on outstanding efforts
or reaching set goals. The permissions are earned throughout the
practice and then totaled up at the end. Each permission resulted in
one less lap, suicide, or other conditioning drill.
You can also add laps to players for not meeting expectations. For
example you can set up a basketball rebounding drill and players that
get 5 or more rebounds pick up a permission and those that get less than
4 pick up a lap.
6. Coach the success of the team. When it comes down to it, it
is more fun to win together than it is to win alone and basketball is a
team sport. Your players are more likely to give greater effort if they
know the team is counting on them. By reminding players, through your
actions and words that they are a team, they'll be motivated to work
together to succeed.
Often this can be accomplished by verbally praising players that are
working well together or by offering a non verbal reward for practices
where they work together particularly well. Also, by knowing your
players strengths and weaknesses you'll be able to keep an eye out for
potential conflicts and enforce a team attitude.
7. Add competition to your drills. A great way to spice things up and keep players working hard is to add competition to your drills.
As an example, you could establish teams for a shooting drill and reward
the team or individual player that makes the most shots successfully.
With a little imagination, you can come up with ways to make almost
all your drills competitive.
Just remember that comparisons between teammates can make some players
feel badly about themselves and can spur rivalries between teammates.
In short, it can squash a player's motivation. If you need to compare
teammates, do so only to model a desired behavior or skill. For
example, "Watch how Joe follows through with his free throw shot, try
that next time you're at the line and see how it feels."
8. Teach visualization. Visualization is a valuable coaching
tool and it is the one skill that all athletes can take away from their
sport, no matter what level they perform at, and use the skill to attain
success the rest of their lives.
Teach your players to visualize reaching their goals. Visualization
teaches focus. It teaches planning, executing, and succeeding.
Incorporate a few minutes of visualization in each practice by asking
the team to visualize a play that they're having difficulty perfecting, a
shot that they need to work on, or executing the drill of their choice.
Teach them to utilize all their senses in the visualization so that they
can hear the ball bouncing, see the ball bouncing, and feel their gym
shoes squeak on the floor.
9. Don't punish, discipline with the intent to teach. Punishment
for poor or inappropriate behavior only serves to fragment the teams
focus and hinder their motivation. Instead, discipline with the intent
to teach your players how to conduct themselves appropriately.
Rather than yell or punish players that aren't living up to their
potential, ask them, "Is that the best you can do? Are you trying your
hardest?" Often simply by acknowledging to you or to themselves that
they're not trying their hardest, players will try harder, particularly
if they know that you notice.
Additionally, discipline with consistency. For example, if it is
unacceptable to be late to practice then all who are late to practice
receive the exact same consequences no matter what.
10. Set the right type of goals for your team and for your players.
Players and teams need goals so that they know what to focus on and
they know what to strive for. But the key is the "type" of goals you
choose...
I'm a firm believer that you should NOT set goals for the prestigious
statistics, like scoring the most points and even winning games. Players
already want those things without setting goals. Not to mention, it
gives them the wrong idea.
However, if you set goals for other critical aspects of the game you will see huge success!
You can set goals for a low number of turnovers, team shooting percentage, your opponents shooting percentage, team rebounds (not individual), defensive stats,
and possessions per game. You always want more possessions that the
other team and that comes from rebounding and taking care of the
basketball.
You could even have conditioning goals like 100 push-ups or run a mile
in less than 5 minutes. Just be careful about the message you send your
players when setting goals. When used properly, goals are a powerful
motivator.
Don't forget to reward players for achieving their goals.
If you'd like a ready built system to motivate your players with goals and statistics, try out the Value Point System. It's one of the most effective ways to motivate players and keep them working hard all year round.
Know that what motivates some players will not motivate others. It is
important to get to know your players as individuals and to know how
they will respond individually and as a team to motivational tactics.
In the end, if you're involved, excited, and willing to take the time to
keep practices interesting, then your team will respond.
For more motivation tips, check out the Ultimate Guide to Player Motivation.
What do you think? Let us know by leaving your comments, suggestions, and questions...
Adding a competitive flavor to a basketball drill can make it much more
effective because kids will generally work harder and get more focused
to master the drill.
Without the competitive aspect, players will quickly get bored and
simply go through the motions. We all know you need to be focused and
work on the little things to get better.
Use your imagination when adding competition. The possibilities are endless...
If the drill requires shooting, you can keep track of made baskets and award the winner.
You can add special rules like: 2 points for charges, 1 point for ball deflections, and 2 points for steals.
You can award "permissions" every time you notice a kid really
doing a good job with the drill. Award the 3 kids with the most
"permissions" at the end of practice.
You can award teams that don't drop a single pass during the entire drill.
These are just a few examples but I'm sure you can come up with more.
Tip #2 - Developing good habits.
It's common for coaches to make the mistake of showing a drill and then
walking away trying to get ready for the next drill. Or coaches just
aren't watching close enough to notice some bad habits forming.
You need to watch your players very closely and make sure they do the little things.
For example, when running a shooting drill,
make sure each player has their knees bent when they catch the ball,
pivots correctly, squares their feet to the basket, holds their follow
through, and so on.
For a defensive drill you need to make sure they always see man and ball, keep their hands out, keep a wide base, and so on.
Your players will no doubt slide if you don't watch them closely and correct their slippage at all times.
You run drills to develop good basketball habits. And it's impossible to develop good habits unless you watch closely.
Tip #3 -Write down your "points of emphasis".
To avoid forgetting important points, you should have a cheat sheet for
everyone single drill that you run. I personally have a "points of
emphasis" section on every practice plan.
These are the things you want to watch closely during the drill to make sure your players are performing this aspect properly.
For example, on a rebounding drill you might put something like:
Keep elbows out after grabbing the ball.
Always grab the ball with two hands.
Use your feet to get under the ball and then go get it.
Block out.
Anticipate the rebound and get good position. It's all about positioning.
If you don't write down the important points, it's just too easy to forget them.
Tip #4 - Break things up.
Split drills up through out practice to break up the monotony. Players generally lose focus after working on the same thing.
The more variety the better.
For example, you could do 10 minutes of defensive drills and then change
things up to a competitive shooting drill that they enjoy.
Tip #5 - Don't overlook the simple drills.
Often times the simple drills that have been around forever are the best ones.
Don't forget those drills or overlook them just because they are simple. They are often the most effective.
If you'd like 70 of our favorite basketball drills, be sure check out our free basketball drills 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.
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.
Oddly enough, I've found that very few basketball coaches use this
extremely effective tactic. In fact, I didn't use this tactic for many
years myself, until I had one of those "LIGHT BULB" moments.
Here's how it works...
I actually had the "light bulb" moment a year or so after listening to
Bo Ryan, one of the best college coaches in basketball. So, ultimately,
I have to give him credit for the concept. His idea was right on, but
it just didn't hit home with me for several years.
In order to cut down on those bad passes and turnovers, you need to get your players on the same page, right?
Do you ever have players cut to the basket just when the ball is passed to them? And the ball flies out of bounds?
If you're like most coaches, you probably just grit your teeth and think
to yourself, "Oh well, that's just one of those things, and there's not
much you can do about it!"
Well, now you can do something about it...
You simply establish some team rules and drill the following concepts in ALL your practices:
Rule 1 - If you want the ball, give a hand target. If you are going to change direction, drop the hand target and give a new target.
Rule 2 - No hand target, no pass!!
It's as simple as that. This is a subtle way to establish non-verbal cues with your basketball team.
If you drill these rules long enough, you'll find that players make more accurate passes and reduce turnovers.
To take thing a step further, I also suggest emphasizing a couple of other related passing concepts:
Your hand targets should be away from the body.
Always pass away from the defense.
Use pass fakes, and make them believable!
Always catch the ball with two hands.
Every time you catch the ball in the front court, chin the ball and get in triple threat position.
1. Do overload drills to build speed and strength. Using 2-ball passing drills such as Machine Gun Passing, Middle Man Passing, Pass & Switch, and Partner Passing
with 2 balls where each partner passes simultaneously will build speed
and accuracy. Using drills that force players to use one hand to pass,
(such as Pound Passing)
especially with their weak hand, will build strength and confidence.
(It is important to explain to your players that the one-hand passing
drills are DRILLS to build specific skills, not techniques to use in
games.)
2. Teach spacing. This is the most overlooked and possibly the
most important aspect of offensive play. Teach your players what is the
optimum distance they can effectively pass.
3. Teach players to shorten the pass. As an aspect of spacing, taking a dribble toward a receiver will, in certain instances, improve spacing.
4. Make the easy pass. There is no need for great passes when
ordinary passes will do. Pass to an open teammate, in an area he can
catch it, away from the defense. If you cannot do that, don't throw the
pass.
5. Emphasize the catch. While we would all like every pass to be
perfect, we all know that will not be the case. The receiver must go
where he needs to go to catch the ball. This may seem unrelated, but, to
draw a parallel, baseball players know that a great defensive 1st
baseman makes great infielders. He covers up for bad throws and can make
a shortstop a star. By emphasizing the catch, passers will become more
confident and receivers more aggressive.
6. Scrimmage without dribbles. Nothing will teach players more
about spacing, passing angles, getting open, and making effective passes
than not allowing them to dribble. Be prepared for some initial
frustration.
Remember, your players will take on your values. If you do not value
passing in your practices, they will not value passing in their games.
Basketball is a team game. By definition, that means all players are
involved with the process of playing the game and should function as
one. One of the primary skills created to accomplish this is passing.
Yet, passing remains one of the most under-taught, under-emphasized, and
under drilled skill in the game!!
Players assume the values that the coach places on each aspect of the
game. When teaching passing it is important that the coach teach not
only the skill, but the mentality as well. Too many players think of
passing as something to do when they don't have a shot as opposed to an
unselfish act that is designed to include other players.
When teaching younger players, be aware of their physical and mental
limitations. Young players usually lack the strength necessary to make
the plays that they believe can be successful (like the ones they see on
television) and they are still developing their sense of space and
time. In addition, their recognition skills can only be honed by
experience. Passes that look open to them often are not because they do
not have the experience to know how long it takes to get from point A to
point B and bad passes are often a result of slow recognition. In
either case, negative reinforcement of the attempted pass often results
in a reluctance to make the next pass. The long term effect could be a
player who does not understand the value of passing and takes no joy in
it.
TYPES OF PASSES
There are essentially two types of passes:
Air Pass - The pass travels between players without hitting the floor.
Bounce Passes - The pass is thrown to the floor so that it bounces to the intended receiver
- Baseball Pass
- Dribble Pass
- Behind-the-Back Pass
- Pick and Roll Pass
TEACHING POINTS
When teaching passing, points of emphasis should be:
A good pass is a pass a teammate can catch
When passing, step toward your receiver.
When catching, step toward the pass
Like shooting, the ball should have a backspin to it. This is accomplished by following through on every pass.
Basic Passes
CHEST PASS
The chest pass is named so because the pass originates from the chest.
It is thrown by gripping the ball on the sides with the thumbs directly
behind the ball. When the pass is thrown, the fingers are rotated behind
the ball and the thumbs are turned down. The resulting follow through
has the back of the hands facing one another with the thumbs straight
down. The ball should have a nice backspin.
When throwing a chest pass, the players should strive to throw it to the
receiver's chest level. Passes that go low to high or high to low are
difficult to catch.
BOUNCE PASS
The bounce pass is thrown with the same motion however it is aimed at
the floor. It should be thrown far enough out that the ball bounces
waist high to the receiver. Some say try to throw it 3/4 of the way to
the receiver, and that may be a good reference point to start, but each
player has to experiment how far to throw it so it bounces to the
receiver properly. Putting a proper and consistent backspin on the pass
will make the distance easier to judge.
OVERHEAD PASS
The overhead pass is often used as an outlet pass. Bring the ball
directly above your forehead with both hands on the side of the ball and
follow through. Aim for the teammate's chin. Some coaches advise not
bring the ball behind your head, because it can get stolen and it takes a
split-second longer to throw the pass.
WRAP AROUND PASS
Step around the defense with your non-pivot foot. Pass the ball with
one hand (outside hand). It can be
used as an air or a bounce pass. You will often see the wrap-around, air
pass on the perimeter and the wrap-around, bounce pass to make an entry
into the post.
Advanced Passes
BASEBALL PASS
A baseball pass is a one-handed pass that uses the same motion as a baseball throw. This is often used to make long passes.
Be careful with young kids. You don't want them throw their arms out.
DRIBBLE PASS
The dribble pass is used to quickly pass the ball with one hand off of
the dribble. This can be an air or bounce pass. You'll see Steve Nash
do this all of the time.
BEHIND-THE-BACK PASS
A behind-the-back pass is when you wrap the ball around your back to
throw the ball. It is used to avoid the defender when making a pass
across the front of you would be risky. It can also be used to throw
the ball to a player trailing on the fast break.
I would not recommend to use this pass during a game until heavily practiced.
