Basketball Drills - Pick (Screen) Drills

It is important that your players know how to set correct screens. The
first drill is a pass and "screen away" drill that helps stress all the
ingredients of setting good screens, and teaches the pick and roll move.
The second drill is a screen set for the ball-handler, with execution of
the pick and roll move. For the important basics of setting screens, see
"Setting Screens".
Drill #1. Pass and Screen-Away.
Create three lines out along the 3-point arc
corresponding to a point guard, and both wing
positions (see diagram). Have an assistant or
manager be the token defender on the left
wing. The point guard starts by passing to the
right wing. He/she then "screens away" for the
left wing, setting the pick on the defender. The
wing player cuts around the screen and gets
the pass from the right wing, and takes it to the
hoop. The screener should "roll" off the pick
after cutter comes around.
See "Setting Screens" for correct screening
techniques, and the pick and roll technique.
Have the players rotate right wing, to point, to
left wing.
Also use the simple screening drills on that
page to teach how to read the defense and
how to use all of the options that can occur
when setting and using screens.

Make sure that the screeners make contact, get wide and strong and
stationary with arms in, and make sure they have the correct angle on
the screen. Make sure the player cutting around the screen waits for the
screen to develop, and "rubs off" the screen correctly. Make sure the
pivot on the roll move is toward the cutter, not away... a player should
not turn his back to his teammate.
Make sure as always that players hustle, and the passes are sharp.
Once you feel that your team is making good screens, "go live". Break
up into groups of three, and put a defender on each offensive player.

Tell the defenders to allow the first pass to the right wing, but then play
tough "D". You can now also teach your defense how to fight through,
and slide behind a screen, and how to call a "switch" on defense. You
can also start with a pass to the left wing, and screen right, or let the
point guard go either way.
Look at the diagrams below for common screening errors.

Drill #2. On-Ball Front Screen with Pick and Roll.

O1 and O2 have defenders on them. O2 sets a front screen for O1

(Diagram A). O1 dribbles around the screen, "brushing off" the
screener. If the defense does not switch, O1 takes it in for the lay-up
(Diagram B), and O2 will roll as the trailer for the rebound.
Now see Diagram C for the next option. If the defenders switch the
screen, O2 (after screening and pinning the defender) should "roll" to
the hoop, and expect the bounce pass from O1.

Dribble Drive Motion Offense Breakdown Drills

Use these twenty-one breakdown drills to teach the dribble-drive motion
offense. But first a few definitions (see Diagram A)...

"Slot" - where the top guards attack with the dribble, along the lane lines.

"Rack zone" - dribble-penetration in the slot, at the hoop for the layup.

"Drop zone" - dribble-penetration in the slot, stopping short at the freethrow line.
Numbering - O1 and O5 are on top, O2 and O3 (good outside shooters)
are in the right and left corners respectively, and O4 is the post player.

Dribble-Drive Motion Drill #1, Pass to the Corner

Diagram B. Use both sides. O1 and O5 attack the slots on each side of
the lane and dribble into the rack zone (below the free-throw line), and
pass to the corner. O2 and O3 take the corner shots. This drill
reinforces a key read... if the dribbler penetrates below the free-throw
line (rack area), the corners stay put.
Rotation: dribbler goes to corner line, shooter rebounds and goes to the
top line.

Dribble-Drive Motion Drill #2, Pitch from the drop zone

Diagram C. Use both sides. O1 and O5 attack the slots on each side of
the lane and pick up the dribble in the drop zone (above the free-throw
line). When the penetrator stops in the drop zone, this is a key for the
corner player to rotate, or "loop up", and receive the pitch from the
dribbler. O2 and O3 take the wing shots.
Rotation: dribbler goes to corner line, shooter goes to the top line.

Dribble-Drive Motion Drill #3, Dribble-penetration from the wing

Diagrams D and E. Use both sides. O1 and O5 attack the slots on each
side of the lane and pick up the dribble in the drop zone (above the freethrow line). The corner players O2 and O3 rotate up once again and
receive the pitch. The passers go to the corners. Now O2 and O3
dribble-penetrate the top seam, reverse pivot in the lane and kick out to
O1 and O5 in the corners for the corner shot.
Rotation: O1 and O5 rotate to the corner lines, and O2 and O3 move to
the top lines.

Dribble-Drive Motion Drill #4, Base-line drive and kick-back to the corner

Diagrams F and G. Use both sides. O1 and O5 attack the slots on each
side of the lane and pick up the dribble in the drop zone (above the freethrow line). O3 and O2 just come up part way and get the pass, and
then dribble-drive the base-line, reverse pivot inside and pass back to
the corner to O5 and O1. O5 and O1 shoot the corner shots.
Rotation: O1 and O5 rotate to the corner lines, and O2 and O3 move to
the top lines.

Dribble-Drive Motion Drill #5, blur-screen shooting

Diagram H. The ball can start on either side with O1 or O5. Pass
opposite and set the "blur" or "brush" screen.. just a delay or standing
still type screen, not a hard screen. The dribbler just dribbles right off
the screener's rear. O5 dribbles around the blur screen and shoots.
Rotation: You can do this drill with just the O1 and O5 lines (don't need
the corners).

Dribble-Drive Motion Drill #6, Wing penetration into top seam

Diagrams I and J. Use 3 lines (O1, O2 and O3). O1 dribbles to drop

zone and pitches to O2. O2 dribbles into top seam and pitches to O3
who has rotated up. O3 shoots. Players should all rebound the shot.
Rotation: O1 moves to right corner line. O2 moves to left corner line. O3
moves to top line. After running this to the right side, switch sides and
run it to the left side also.

Dribble-Drive Motion Drill #7, Ball-reversal

Diagrams K and L. Use 4 lines (O1, O5, O2, and O3). O1 dribbles into
the rack zone (below the free-throw line) and kicks to O2 in corner. O1
cuts to opposite corner. O5 rotates over after O1 drives and O3 rotates
up top. The ball is reversed around the outside from O2 to O5 to O3 to
O1. O1 shoots the corner shot. All players rebound and finish the drill.
Rotation: O1 and O5 moves to the corner lines. O2 and O3 moves to
the top lines.

Dribble-Drive Motion Drill #8, Wing back-cut

Diagram M. Use both sides. O1 and O5 dribble into drop zones. O2 and
O3 start to loop up, but suddenly stop and back-cut for pass and lay-up.
O2 and O3 have to "sell the loop" and cut high enough before they
back-cut.
Rotation: O1 and O5 moves to the corner lines. O2 and O3 moves to
the top lines.

Dribble-Drive Motion Drill #9, Wing back-cut and kick to opposite corner

Diagram N. Use 3 lines... O1, O2 and O3. Similar to drill #8 above with
dribble-penetration from O1, and an O3 back-cut and pass to O3. Here,
O3 dribbles in and instead of the lay-up, kicks to opposite corner O2 for
the shot. Make sure players finish the drill and rebound.
Rotation: O1 goes to the O3 line, O3 goes to the O2 line, and O2 moves
to the top line. After a while, switch sides of the court.

Basketball Drill - Drive and Kick Drill

In an ideal situation, your half court offensive sets would produce easy
basket after easy basket, while you sit back on the bench and enjoy the
glory. But as all experienced coaches know, things often don't go
according to plan. Your offense can break down. Your opponent can
make adjustments. And unless your players have the ability to create
and improvise in the half court, you'll have a hard time getting high
percentage shots.
One of my favorite drills for helping players create opportunities and
make smart decisions on the fly is the Drive and Kick series. The whole
idea of this drill is learning what to do, on and off the ball, when a player
beats his man but can't get all the way to the hoop.

Drive and Kick Series

The simplest iteration of this drill is setup as follows: three offensive

players, a defensive player, and an assistant coach. The player starting
with the ball will line up free throw line extended on the right side of the
court.
The second and third offensive players will be on the left side, one just
outside of the free throw lane extended, and the other doing his best
Bruce Bowen impression, spotting up in the corner.

The defensive players will start a couple feet away from the two wing
players, ignoring the spot up shooter. The assistant coach will start the
drill by closing out on his man, who will then dribble by him to the left,
where the second defender will hedge in, cutting off his penetration and
forcing the pass up to his man, who he will then sprint to close out as
well, forcing left.
This player will take two dribbles left, before making the pass to the
shooter in the corner, who will pull the shot in rhythm.
Once your players have the hang of this, you can show them the
baseline drift. I've found it easiest at this point to add in cones at the free
throw line extended and the baseline, to teach players the ideal places
on the court to spot up. Here we'll also replace the assistant coach with
another defender, as we get ready to go live with this drill.

For the baseline drift, we'll have two players line up on the 45 degree
angles on the arc, and one at the top of the key. The player initiating the
drill this time will drive baseline before making the pass to the player on
the opposite side, who will drift down to the corner to receive the pass.
The player at the top of the key will slide down to the 45, and receive a
pass from the man in the corner and take the shot. Work on this series a
few times per week with your team and you're see some dramatic

differences in your spacing, ball movement, an offensive execution.

Basketball Drills - Perimeter (Guard) Breakdown

Shooting Drills
Guard Shooting Drill #1 - Dribble-Baseline:

In diagram A, the first drill is a simple dribble down to the baseline and
shoot the mid-range jump shot. Each player gets his/her rebound and
goes to the opposite line.

Guard Shooting Drill #2 - Dribble-Baseline, Back-Dribble Out:

In diagram B, each player will dribble down to the baseline, then backdribble out, cross-over dribble and dribble into the seam and shoot the
jump-shot. This drill is important because sometimes, in a game,
players will dribble down to the baseline, stop the dribble, get trapped
and lose the ball. This dribble teaches them to back-dribble out of the
baseline and then still find the open shot in the seam.

Guard Shooting Drill #3 - In the Seam:

In diagram C, it's a simple dribble move into the seam with the pull-up
jump shot. For right-handed players in the right line, this will be a
crossover step.

Guard Shooting Drill #4 - Corner, In the Seam:

In diagram D, we start with all players in the corner (use both sides).
Again, it's triple-threat position, a shot fake or jab-step, and a dribble
into the seam between the corner and wing for a mid-range jump shot
(like in diagram B).

Guard Shooting Drill #5 - Wing, V-Cut, Lay-up:

In diagram E, we again use both sides, and pass from the point to the
wing. The wing makes a V-cut, catches the pass in triple-threat position,
makes a shot-fake and dribble-drives for a lay-up.

Guard Shooting Drill #6 - Wing, V-Cut, Jump Shot:

In diagram F, use both sides, and pass from the point to the wing. The
wing makes a V-cut, catches the pass in triple-threat position, makes a
shot-fake and then a one or two-dribble adjust into either the seam or
toward the baseline for the mid-range jump-shot.

Guard Shooting Drill #7 - Drive, Kick out to Corner:

Diagram H. We like our point guards to dribble-penetrate, and pass out

to the corner if defended inside. Here, the point dribble-penetrates,
passes out to the corner, for the quick shot from the corner.

Guard Shooting Drill #8 - Weave Screen Shooting:

Diagram I. This drill helps us execute our weave-screen plays and gets
shooters ready to shoot the "3" coming off the screen and hand-off. Use
both sides. You can start with the ball at the top (point), as seen in
diagram I. Or, you can have the ball-handler lines start at the half-court
line, and then the ball-handler dribbles to the top and then over toward
the wing for the hand-off. Shoot several 3-point shots, and then shoot
several one-dribble pull-up jump-shots. Next, you can do several fake
dribble hand-offs with the ball-handler keeping the ball and quickly
"turning the corner" and dribble-driving to the hoop. Finally, finish the
weave-screen series with the receiver back-cutting for the pass and layup (drill #9 below - diagram J).

Guard Shooting Drill #9 - Dribble at, Back-cut:

Diagram J. This drill enforces our rule, "if someone is dribbling at you,
back-cut" (except in a called weave-screen play). The point dribbles
toward the wing. The wing moves out higher, holds a fist up (a signal for
a back-cut), and then back-cuts quickly, all the way to the hoop. The
point guard should make the pass early. It's important that whenever a
player back-cuts, the back-cut must go all the way to the hoop. In a
game, if the cutter stops short and the point guard makes the pass, it's a
turnover.

Basketball Drill - Press-Break Passing Drill

This drill teaches players facing full-court pressure and a trap, not to
panic, to locate a receiver and make a good, crisp pass. Often the first
pass after the in-bounds pass is the crucial pass in breaking the press,
and is also the one often intercepted by the defense. This drill practices
the in-bounds pass reception and the first pass up the court, either to
the center on the ball-side sideline. And we can also use it to learn how
to deal with the trap itself (see below).
Use three lines for the offensive players (yellow). Use three defenders
(assistants). Have two set the trap, after allowing the in-bounds pass.
Have the third defender play the gap between the two offensive
receivers and try to intercept the pass. You could use a manager or
coach to make the in-bounds pass.
The offensive O1 player receives the in-bounds
pass. We teach our inbounds receiver to get into
"triple-threat position" when receiving the pass,
rather than just putting the head down and starting
to dribble. We like to square up and face the trap,
bent over in a basketball position, with the ball on
hip away from the trap. We never want our
trapped player to either stand straight up, or to
hunch over and turn his/her back to the trap as in
both cases, the defenders can simply close-in and
tighten the trap. Instead, get into triple-threat, see
the floor and your open teammate and make the
pass. Or, aggressively attack an outside leg of
one of the defenders. Sometimes, you can split
the trap if the defenders are not "knee-to-knee"...
here we teach our players to bend over, get low
and strong like a football player going through the
line with one low power dribble forward.
In this drill, we immediately try to locate the open
receiver and make the correct pass, with "zip".
The passer should use an "air" pass if possible
(as the bounce-pass is easier to intercept), and
may need to use a head, shoulder or pass fake to
free up a receiver.
See also: Attacking the Full-Court Press.