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basketball
June 3, 2020

At-Home Basketball Drills for Young Players

The beauty of basketball is the simplicity of the game itself. All it takes to play is a person, a hoop, and a ball. That's it. So while many Americans are continuing to follow stay-at-home recommendations during the COVID-19 pandemic, that doesn't ...


March 2, 2020

Dribbling, shooting drills for players of all skill sets

by Kevin Sutton, contributing writer

Too many times we're faced with running drills in practice that alienate some of our players. As coaches, we become so focused on the nuances of a drill that we don’t take into account the ability of all team members to run it properly. [caption ...


Shooting from the high post
January 28, 2020

Breakdown drills for feeding the high post against zones

by John Lacitignola, contributing writer

Young players who don’t have much experience playing against zone defenses often overlook the high post as a viable option. If you can get your players to flash to the middle as your team swings the ball, good things invariably happen — a drive, ...


player shooting
January 16, 2020

‘Jab’ series builds footwork for perimeter scoring opportunities

by Mike Hyman, contributing writer

Coaches constantly search for more scoring opportunities from their offense’s perimeter players. Most scoring comes from set offensive patterns involving screens, quick ball movement to free up perimeter scorers, or penetration with kick outs. Anot...


Basketball team bench
January 1, 2020

Drills and plays to win in the game’s final seconds

by John Kimble

The final seconds of a tightly contested game show the character and preparedness of your team. Typically, chaos ensues and a player fires up a shot from a spot on the floor that has little chance at success. Many times, it almost seems like coaches ...


Steve Prohm
December 2, 2019

Steve Prohm’s defensive stance & closeout drills

by Winning Hoops

* Editor's note: Steve Prohm shared these drills with Winning Hoops in 2012, when he was the head coach of the Murray State men’s basketball team. Iowa State men's basketball coach Steve Prohm believes in coaching defense first and foremast for his...


DeAndre Bembry
October 14, 2019

Phil Martelli’s warmup drills to prep players for practice

by Phil Martelli, contributing writer

Our team starts every practice with a drill that serves as a great warmup routine. During warmup drills, time your players and give them a specific goal. Once your players meet the time and goal, have them move on to the next drill. [caption id="at...


basketball denial defense
August 12, 2019

4 half-court denial drills to clamp down on offenses

by Andy Landers, contributing writer

Denying the pass takes a tremendous amount of athleticism, focus and preparation on a defender’s part. Here are four half-court denial drills that prepare your players for game action. Cut the cutter This drill develops the proper techniques used i...


April 22, 2019

Grinnell’s 7 drills to improve 3-point shooting

by Andy Hamilton, contributing writer

[caption id="attachment_11842" align="alignleft" width="321"] Photo: Lorie Shaull, Flickr[/caption] When deploying the 3-point shot as a specific offensive tactic, a team realizes significant statistical gains that can lead to success on the scorebo...


tips
April 2, 2019

Reinforcing fundamental movements on offense

by Chris Wellman, North Idaho College, Coeur d’Alene, Idaho

A couple years ago, I decided to coach a young girls basketball team. I was happy to see that these kids were athletic, eager to learn, and understood the value of teamwork. [caption id="attachment_11775" align="alignright" width="341"] Photo: Nate ...