Needham Basketball

Coaches Corner

Ball Handling Drills

  1. Finger Tip Drill - Ball above head, hold with fingertips; tip back and forth; raise and lower arms while tipping.
  2. Kings Drill - Circle ball around head, mid-section, and legs.
  3. Rhythm Drill - Legs shoulder width apart, dribble alternatively between left and right hands.
  4. Body Dribbles - Sitting position, dribble around body, raise legs, dribble under to other hand.
  5. Bounce Back Drill - In crouched position, ball held with both hands, bounce balll between legs, catch behind back with both hands.
  6. Clap Drill - Ball at chest, drop, touch chest, catch before ball hits floor.
  7. Vertical Hand Circles - Ball in right hand, flip up, pass left around ball, catch in left hand; flip ball up, pass right hand around ball, catch in right hand.
  8. Horizontal Hand Circles - Same as above but move hands in horizontal (side to side) as opposed to up and down.
  9. Hike Drill - Assume football center's position holding the ball, shoot the ball through legs, deflect with hands back to front; repeat.
  10. Crab Drill - In Crouch position, pass ball through legs left to right, right to left, remain in stationary position.

Group Drills

  1. Defensive Stance - Two lines, feet spread shoulder length, one hand held high, one low, alternate sliding side to side (no crossing of feet)!
  2. Bounce Pass - Two lines bounce pass back and forth, chest high.
  3. Lay Ups - Two lines, one line dribbles and shoots, the other rebounds and passes.
  4. Give and Go - Two lines at mid-court, two players move toward basket passing back and forth.
  5. The Snake - Coach leads single line, all players dribbling, eyes not on ball.
  6. The Eyes - Bounce ball with eyes closed, both hands.
  7. The Jump - Coach tosses ball in the air (straight up), player jumps to grab with two hands.
  8. Two on One - One defender vs. two offensive players; give and go, defensive practice, positioning between two offensive players.
  9. Shielding - Dribbling to basket, keeping the body between defender and ball.
  10. Boxing Out - Coach tosses ball off rim (hopefully) two players fight for the ball, emphasis on boxing out and body positioning.
  11. THE PICK! - One player during each game is designated to set THE PICK for a particular player; work the give and go.
  12. The Box Formation - Two players position at the foul line, two under the basket. Two at foul line set double pick for players under basket. Point guard passes ball or shoots.
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