The Complete Book of Offensive Basketball Drills

GAME-CHANGING DRILLS FROM AROUND THE WORLDBy GIORGIO GANDOLFI

The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

Copyright © 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-07-163586-8

Contents

Chapter One

Premises and Suggestions

The Complete Book of Offensive Basketball Drills: Game-Changing Drills from around the World is totally devoted to offensive drills. A generally held opinion is that defense is more important than offense. “Defense wins the games and the championships.” This opinion seems to be true at all levels, from high school to the NBA to the Euroleague, the European championship for clubs. However, in this book, we would like to give you an array of offensive drills, which we consider to be of equal importance in winning games and championships. In this chapter, we will evaluate different aspects of drills and give some simple suggestions for choosing the drills that can help your players and, consequently, your team, to improve. If you think it’s simple to choose a drill for a certain practice or to improve your players’ skill, read the following before you decide.

Why Do You Choose a Drill?

* Is it only to impress your players with your knowledge?

Wrong: They need drills that suit their skills, ones that will be effective in helping them improve individually and as a team.

* Is it because a drill was used by a famous and winning coach?

Fine: But are you sure that the level of the competition, as well as the size, the physical condition, the skills of your players, and your philosophy on offense, are suitable for that drill?

* Do you choose a certain drill just to break the boredom of a practice?

Fine: But, more important, the drill must be useful and have a specific purpose or purposes.

The Art of Choosing Drills

You are starting to plan your practice. You decide to run drills that cover certain fundamentals and some game situations. That’s great. But are you sure that you have evaluated the many different technical aspects tied to a drill? Choosing drills for a practice is not a simple task. On the contrary, we will show you that there is more than one detail to consider when you decide to adopt a certain drill. Consider the following:

Plan a Drill

Do not run a drill if you do not have time to evaluate it. Instead, consider exactly why, when, and how you want to run a certain drill and how it fits your daily, weekly, and monthly schedule.

Mix Fundamentals and Conditioning

Basketball is a demanding sport. Try to create a drill with the proper mix of fundamentals and conditioning. This allows the players to execute the fundamentals as well at the end of the game as they do early on.

Remember, a well-conditioned team can beat a more skilled but less-conditioned opponent.

Incorporate Competition

Competition is the heart of basketball. Try to incorporate competition in a drill whenever possible. In a drill the player can compete:

* Against the clock, when the coach must check how many shots or repetitions of a movement a player makes for a determined period of time.

* Against a teammate, both in a game-situation drill, or in a contest between two players or one team against another.

Run Drills at Game Speed

First of all, a player must master the movement—either a pass, a dribble, a shot, or other individual or collective fundamental. Then, after he is comfortable with that fundamental, he must run that drill at game speed and under game conditions, such as with a defender or in a clock situation.

Avoid Drills with Few Repetitions

Do not adopt a drill when too many players must stand and wait to make repetitions. If this happens, they will make fewer repetitions, which is detrimental to their improvement and generates a lack of intensity.

Increase Grade of Difficulty

Do not immediately run a drill with a high grade of difficulty, but instead start gradually. Then, when the players have mastered the proper routine and technique, run drills tougher than game situations, without forgetting the level of your competition, as well as the skills of your players.

Avoid Back-to-Back Demanding Drills

Do not run demanding drills one after the other. This may be effective when the players are at the peak of their physical condition, but, normally, after a very demanding and vigorous drill, it’s better to run a less-strenuous one.

Monitor Time

Each drill must be efficient, and that efficiency is also determined by the length of the drill. Remember that time is precious for every coach, but, above all, for every player, at every level, so do not waste it. This doesn’t mean that a coach should not run a 10-minute drill, but do not overabuse these lengthy drills. It is better to have six 5-minute drills than three or four 10-minute drills because:

* First, you avoid the boredom of a drill with the same repetitions for too long.

* Second, you can cover more varied fundamentals, with an higher intensity.

Is That All?

The following details are as important as the preceding aspects of a drill. You and your assistant coaches should follow these guidelines when running a drill.

Explain the Drill

Before running a drill, spend a few minutes to explain its purpose, what you expect from the drill, the proper execution, and the time required. This is a key to gaining the best results.

Avoid Interruptions

There should be no long interruptions between one drill and the next.

Avoid stopping a drill several times to explain it, because the players will lose their concentration and intensity.

Limit Corrections

You and your assistant coaches should not make too many corrections during a drill. Let the players know, in a few words, the corrections needed for a wrong move or fundamental, but don’t give them too many things to think about.

If you overburden them with too many corrections, they may not be able to execute the drill properly or assimilate the correction. If you need to explain a correction in more detail, or if a player repeats the same mistake, take him aside to show him how to avoid the mistake, without stopping the flow of the drill.

Take Care of the Details

Basketball is a game of details: a missed shot or a wrong pass can be determined by an inch.

For example, if you run a shooting drill, concentrate on this fundamental, but don’t forget to correct and take care of passing, as well as moving without the ball, since these fundamentals are equally important.

Encourage Enjoyment

Don’t forget that basketball is a game, whether you coach a high school, college, or pro team, and that the players must also enjoy their practice. Add one or two drills that can be fun.

Even if a particular drill doesn’t totally stick to your philosophy, it could help to break a demanding practice and release the pressure for a while.

Let’s Talk About You

It’s time to take a step back. Let’s talk about you. Once the preceding aspects or suggestions become a part of your philosophy of choosing and running a drill, you need to evaluate your personal skills for gaining the best results from the drills that you have adopted and running a satisfactory and effective practice.

Practice Patience

Even if the world was created in seven days, you cannot pretend to create a player or an offense in two practices. Be patient: ask your players first to crawl, then to walk, run, and, finally, sprint at full speed.

Normally, the experienced, winning coach will tell you that to see improvement, you need to wait one or two months, using constant repetitions. So don’t expect that one drill can solve your problem in a day, like a magic trick. Be patient.

Be Flexible

If you see that a drill is not working—the players are tired, they do not run the drill in the proper way, you need to stop the drill too many times to correct the players, or for any other reason—be flexible. Reduce the length, stop to run, or change that particular drill.

Do not run the drill at any cost, like a Marine sergeant, because it will not have the effect that you had in mind.

At the End …

Some of you may have become impatient after reading this first chapter. We talked of premises, suggestions, details, but now you are starving. You “smell” only the flavors of the “big meal.” It means tens of drills to taste and try, so now you want to see the “menu” immediately and start to order. Fine, but always remember the previous notes and suggestions to avoid “indigestion.” Do not “eat” too many drills; choose the “courses” carefully.

Too many “courses,” that is, drills that are not suitable to your philosophy, can be detrimental to you and your team.

Now, finally, let’s start.

Chapter Two

Basic Footwork and Cuts Drills

Footwork is the foundation for a skilled basketball player, involving moves that he will use tens of times during a game. Cuts without the ball are one of the most important phases of the offensive game, because during a game a player spends more than three-quarters of his playing time on offense without the ball.

In this chapter, we will show some basic footwork and cuts drills. Don’t underestimate these two fundamentals of the game, because many times they separate the good players from the great ones.

FOOTWORK DRILLS

TWO-LINE CHAIR DRILL

Aim

The aim of the two-line chair drill is to teach to the players how to master the five basic types of footwork without the ball.

Equipment

* 16 chairs (or less)

Personnel

* The entire team

* Two coaches

How to Run the Drill

Five feet away from the right and left sidelines, form a line of eight chairs, each at the same distance from the other. Two groups of players are set outside the baselines, one opposite the other, while two coaches stand in the middle of the court, with one following and correcting one group of players and the other in charge of the second group.

At the command of the coaches, the first player of each group starts to run, at the beginning at a slow pace, and then, when the player masters the footwork, at a higher speed. When the player reaches the first chair, he executes one of the following footwork moves, based on what the coach asked before the beginning of the drill, as shown in Figure 2.1:

* One-count stop

* Two-count stop

* Change of pace

* Change of pace and direction

* Spin

The player then repeats the same movement when he reaches the other chairs, ending the drill when he gets to the opposite baseline. The second player of each group starts the drill when the teammate in front of him reaches the mid-court line. Each player repeats the drill on the other line of chairs.

Details to Teach and Underline

It is important to note the words “teach” and “underline” in the heading of this paragraph. That is because a coach must first teach, but then he must also underline the details of a certain move or fundamental every time it is not executed properly.

The following are the common points to teach and, if necessary, to underline on all four moves:

* Bend the knees on all the footwork moves in order to have good balance and to move more quickly.

* Tell the player to go lower than the height of the chair.

Follow these guidelines for each single move:

One-Count Stop

Tell to the players not to jump, but, instead, to bend their knees. If the player jumps, he will lose a split second in air, while the “must” for each basketball fundamental is to make as few moves as possible, and in the quickest way.

Players must land on the floor with the heels first, and then with the forefeet for “braking” the forward movement.

Players must not lean forward so they don’t lose balance, and their eyes must be positioned straight ahead, not to the floor, because it is the head’s position that dictates the player’s balance.

The arms and the hands must be flexed and at the chest level, ready to receive the ball.

Two-Count Stop

Guidelines are the same as for the one-count stop, with the only difference being that the player lands on the floor first with one, and then with the other foot.

Change of Pace

Correct a common mistake made by many players: Tell them to make a couple of quiet and normal steps before changing the pace at the last second, when they are near each chair, not short and choppy ones. When they face a defender, moving like this is like a phone call to tell him: “Hey, I am now going to make a change of pace!”

On a change of pace, the player must make a straight and forward step and go down on one leg, bringing the weight of the body on the forefoot of the forward leg, at the same time, taking a big, aggressive stride forward with the other leg, but without losing balance. To help his body move forward quickly, he must also help the move by quickly swinging his arms forward.

After the chance of pace, tell the players to keep the same pace for a couple of steps, in order not to give the defender time to recover in a game situation.

Change of Pace and Direction

Again, ensure that players make no choppy and short steps before the change of pace and direction.

While changing direction, the player must make a straight, forward step, not a lateral one. He must also rotate the pivot foot in the new direction, an important detail that helps the whole body go forward, not laterally, in order to cut with a crisp angle in the next direction. The toes of the forward foot must be pointed straight, not laterally. If the player makes a lateral step and then a change of direction, he will be forced to make a longer stride to go in the new direction. It means covering a longer distance, giving the defender the chance to recover.

Tell to the players to pass very near to the chair when they change direction. In this way, they will not give the defender the chance to recover in a game situation.

The player, while passing near the chair, should also have his arm opposite the forward leg, bent at a 45-degree angle. The bent arm will protect the ball when the player beats the defender by dribbling in a game.

Spin

The player must again, as in the change of pace and direction, point his forward foot straight, and not laterally.

Tell the players to start to spin, putting the forward leg “into” the chair and not away. In this way they will be able to “block out” the defender in a game.

The player should pivot on the forefoot of the forward foot, and, at the same time, bend his legs at chair level.

The non-pivot foot must be pointed toward the new direction: If it is pointed laterally, the body will go laterally.

The head should turn to the new direction before the spin, to see all the court and reverse back again if the defender recovers.

While spinning, the player should swing his arm hard and pivot his leg in order to move his body more quickly in the new direction.

The player must stay low for the movement and not rise up on his legs at the middle of the spin. This will decrease the speed of the spin.

FIRST-STEP BASIC DRILL

We would like to put particular emphasis on the first-step drills, because many times a coach does not work on this small but extremely important move that is basic for moving without the ball as well as with the ball.

Aim

The first-step basic drill teaches how to take a strong, aggressive first step to beat the defender. Players need to master this move until it becomes automatic, because it is absolutely basic for a basketball player.

Equipment

* 5 balls

Personnel

* The entire team

* A coach

How to Run the Drill

Divide the team in two groups. One group is lined up off the court, along and behind the baseline, and the other one is at the free-throw-line extension. Each player in this latter group has a ball, which he holds with one hand at chest level. The players are paired. The coach stands behind the line of players at the baseline. The players at the baseline are positioned in the basic basketball position, with their knees flexed, their feet parallel, and their hands at chest level.

At the coach’s command, the group with the balls drops them to the floor, and the other group of players at the baseline must catch the balls before they bounce twice on the floor, as shown in Figure 2.2. Then, the players exchange their positions.

The drill is repeated for a certain numbers of times. First, the players make the first step with the right foot for a certain numbers of times, and then with the left foot.

Details to Teach and Underline

* The most common mistake the players make is to step back with the same foot, before they step forward. This is a waste of time and moves.

* The players must “drop forward” with their body, at the same time, taking a strong, aggressive step, with head up and arms swinging forward, like runners at the start of a 100-meter race.

* The coach must stand behind the group of players at the baseline and correct them when they make the “extra” step back before the first-step.

FIRST-STEP AND DRIBBLE DRILL

Aim

The aim is the same as in the preceding drill, but with the ball.

Equipment

* 5 chairs

* 5 balls

Personnel

* The entire team

* A coach

How to Run the Drill

The players are divided in five lines. They stand out of the court, along and behind the baseline, with a chair in front of each line and one ball on each chair. At the order of the coach, the first player in each line makes a hard and aggressive first-step, sprints, turns around the chair, makes a one-count stop fronting the basket, picks up the ball from the chair, and makes a strong, aggressive first dribble, going over the chair with the first dribble, as shown in Figure 2.3.

After a couple of dribbles, the player then quickly brings back the ball to the chair, and the second player in the line starts the drill. First, the players make the first dribble with the right hand for a certain numbers of times, and then with the left hand.

(Continues…)

Excerpted from The Complete Book of Offensive Basketball Drillsby GIORGIO GANDOLFI Copyright © 2010 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.. Excerpted by permission of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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