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 mean hoop heads can’t continue working on their game.

That’s where basketball coach Doug Biega enters the scene. He recently spoke with Pittsburgh Sports Now to talk about the at-home drills he and his son do to stay sharp on the court.

The first drill Biega mentions is called the chair drill. He opined that too often shooters become upper-body dependent, leaving their lower body not engaged. To avoid this, he sets up a chair — roughly around the block or low post — and has his player seated before receiving the pass. Once receiving the pass, the shooter stands up and shoots in one motion, engaging the lower body in the process.

He went on to say that setting a benchmark number to reach over a certain period can add a level of competition to the drill, although the emphasis is on the form.

The second drill also utilizes a chair but involves dribbling and finishing layups with both hands. Starting underneath the hoop with the chair set up around the elbow or wing of the court, the player dribbles to the outer side of the chair before returning through the lane and finishing with a right-handed layup. The player then corals his or her own rebound and dribbles to the inner side of the chair and around it before finishing with a left-handed layup.

Again, setting a benchmark within a timeframe or adding another player can bring an element of competition.

While the drills can help a player stay game-ready amid the quarantine, Biega also stressed the importance of taking time away from the game.

He told Pittsburgh Sports Now that he and his son didn’t pick up a basketball in the early onset of the stay-at-home recommendations, instead opting for strength training and conditioning. They went on regular four- or five-mile runs together and worked on body-weight exercises.

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The time away from the game proved beneficial for Biega’s son. Prior to the outbreak of the coronavirus, his son had a hitch in his swing. No matter how much time he spent on trying to correct the hitch, it didn’t go away. But after resuming basketball activities after a little time away from the game, the hitch — and the accompanying mental block — was gone.

To read the full story and watch Biega’s video of at-home basketball drills from Pittsburgh Sports Now, click here.