Basketball skill drills

Matters most for: Centre, Power forward, Small forward

Setup: A hoop and a ball.

1. 1. Finish a right-hand layup off the left foot, rebound before it lands.
2. 2. Step across and finish left-handed off the right foot.
3. 3. Stay under the rim, continuous, no dribble.

Volume: 4 × 20 makes

Coaching point: Use the glass every time. Footwork, not hands, is what this trains.

Make it harder: Reverse Mikan, then add a contact pad on the finish.

Matters most for: Point guard, Shooting guard

Setup: A hoop, a ball, the paint.

1. 1. Attack from the wing, gather just inside the free-throw line.
2. 2. Rise off two feet and release high and soft over the front rim.
3. 3. Alternate both hands and both sides.

Volume: 4 × 10 each side

Coaching point: Release early and high. The floater exists to beat a shot-blocker, so shoot it before they're set.

Make it harder: Add a defender with a raised hand or a pad.

Matters most for: Small forward, Shooting guard, Point guard

Setup: Full court, a ball.

1. 1. Sprint the length, finish at full speed off one foot.
2. 2. Alternate the side you attack from and the hand you finish with.
3. 3. Jog back, then go again — this is conditioning as much as skill.

Volume: 10 lengths

Coaching point: Decide your finish before the last two steps. Deciding late is what gets it blocked.

Make it harder: Add a trailing defender so you have to finish through contact.

Setup: A hoop and a ball.

1. 1. Everything with the weaker hand: dribble in, gather, lay it in off the correct foot.
2. 2. Alternate near-side and reverse layups.
3. 3. If you make ten in a row, move a step further out.

Volume: 4 × 10 finishes

Coaching point: Off the OPPOSITE foot. Most weak-hand layups fail because the footwork was never learned, not the hand.

Make it harder: Finish through contact off a wall pad, or add a euro-step before the gather.

Setup: A hoop and a ball. Start 1m out.

1. 1. One hand, no guide hand, straight up and down.
2. 2. Hold the follow-through until the ball lands.
3. 3. Only step back once you've made five straight.

Volume: 5 spots × 10 makes

Coaching point: Elbow under the ball, wrist relaxed. Chase the feel, not the make.

Make it harder: Step back to the free-throw line, then the arc, keeping the same form.

Matters most for: Shooting guard, Small forward, Point guard

Setup: A hoop, a rebounder or passer, several balls.

1. 1. Sprint to a spot, catch with feet already set.
2. 2. Shoot in rhythm — the catch and the rise are one movement.
3. 3. Move to the next spot immediately.

Volume: 5 spots × 8 shots

Coaching point: Feet before hands. If you're setting your feet after the catch, you're late.

Make it harder: Add a closeout defender, then shoot off a relocation cut.

Setup: A hoop, a ball, the free-throw line.

1. 1. Same routine every time — dribbles, breath, shot.
2. 2. Shoot in sets of two, as you would in a game.
3. 3. Sprint the width of the court between sets so you're shooting tired.

Volume: 10 sets of 2

Coaching point: The routine is the skill. Under pressure you fall back on it or you fall apart.

Make it harder: Set a target — miss and the set restarts.

Matters most for: Shooting guard, Point guard, Small forward

Setup: A hoop, a ball, and two cones.

1. 1. Attack the first cone hard with two dribbles.
2. 2. Plant, rise straight up — not forward — and shoot with your feet under you.
3. 3. Alternate pulling up going right and going left.

Volume: 5 × 10, both directions

Coaching point: Stop before you shoot. The drifting pull-up misses long every time, and it is always the last dribble that causes it.

Make it harder: Add a step-back before rising, or shoot off one dribble instead of two.

Matters most for: Shooting guard, Small forward

Setup: A hoop, a ball, and a chair or cone as the screen.

1. 1. Start below the screen. Set your man up with two steps the wrong way, then sprint off the chair, shoulder brushing it.
2. 2. Show your hands early and land on a one-two into the shot.
3. 3. Alternate curling over the top and flaring away from it.

Volume: 5 × 8, both directions

Coaching point: Hands and feet ready BEFORE the catch. A shooter who arrives and then gets organised has already given the closeout time.

Make it harder: Add a self-toss off the backboard to catch, or shoot immediately off a hard cut with no setting step.

Setup: A hoop, a ball, and five marks around the arc.

1. 1. Shoot from each spot in turn: corner, wing, top, wing, corner.
2. 2. Make five at a spot before moving on — misses do not count.
3. 3. Chase your own rebound and get back behind the line each time.

Volume: Five makes at each of five spots

Coaching point: Same feet, same finish, every spot. Score it, so there is a number to beat next week.

Make it harder: Time yourself, or move a step back to the NBA line.

Matters most for: Point guard, Shooting guard

Setup: Two balls, any hard surface.

1. 1. Dribble both simultaneously, then alternating.
2. 2. Progress to high-low, then crossovers with both.
3. 3. Head up throughout — pick a point on the wall.

Volume: 6 × 45 seconds

Coaching point: Fingertips, not palms. Pound the ball hard — soft dribbles get stolen.

Make it harder: Move while doing it, then add a stationary defender's hands.

Matters most for: Point guard, Shooting guard, Small forward

Setup: 5 cones in a line, 2m apart, one ball.

1. 1. Attack each cone and execute one move: crossover, between-the-legs, behind-the-back.
2. 2. Change pace out of every move — slow into it, explode out.
3. 3. Finish the series with a layup or pull-up.

Volume: 6 runs per move

Coaching point: The move doesn't beat anyone; the change of pace does.

Make it harder: Add a live defender at the last cone.

Matters most for: Point guard

Setup: Half a court and a ball.

1. 1. Push the ball at three-quarter speed, then hesitate — a genuine pause, not a stutter — and explode past the cone.
2. 2. Alternate hesitation, in-and-out, and a snake dribble across the lane.
3. 3. Finish each rep with a pass or a finish, never a walk-off.

Volume: 6 × 30 seconds

Coaching point: The change is what beats the defender, not the top speed. If you are running at one pace you are just running.

Make it harder: Add a second ball, or make the move on a call so you are reacting rather than rehearsing.

Setup: Half court, a partner with a ball.

1. 1. Sprint at the shooter, chop your feet, hand high.
2. 2. Slide to contain the drive — no crossing the feet.
3. 3. Recover to help position and repeat.

Volume: 8 × 30 seconds

Coaching point: Short steps on the closeout. Arriving out of control is the same as not arriving.

Make it harder: Let the attacker choose shot or drive without telling you.

Matters most for: Centre, Power forward

Setup: A hoop, a ball, a partner.

1. 1. On the shot, find your man and make contact first.
2. 2. Hold the seal, then go and get the ball at its highest point.
3. 3. Land wide and chin it.

Volume: 5 × 8 reps

Coaching point: Contact then ball. Everyone who jumps first loses the rebound.

Make it harder: Two attackers, so you have to pick and seal the right one.

Matters most for: Centre, Power forward, Small forward

Setup: A hoop and a ball.

1. 1. Throw the ball off the backboard and catch it at the highest point you can reach.
2. 2. Land balanced, chin the ball, then go straight back up off two feet.
3. 3. Keep it continuous — the ball should not touch the floor.

Volume: 6 × 10 taps

Coaching point: Catch it high and land wide. Rebounds are lost by the player who lands narrow and gets pushed off balance.

Make it harder: Alternate the side of the board, or finish every set with a putback off the glass.

Matters most for: Point guard, Centre, Power forward

Setup: Two players, a ball, a hoop.

1. 1. Set the screen, hold it, then roll hard to the rim.
2. 2. Handler reads the defence: pull up, drive, or hit the roller.
3. 3. Run each read deliberately so all three are available.

Volume: 3 reads × 8 reps each

Coaching point: Come off the screen shoulder-to-shoulder. Space between you and the screener is where the defender gets through.

Make it harder: Add live defenders and let them choose the coverage.

Matters most for: Centre, Power forward

Setup: A hoop, a ball, and a wall or target to the side.

1. 1. Take the ball off the board, land, and pivot to face the sideline in one movement.
2. 2. Throw a two-handed overhead outlet to the target.
3. 3. Sprint three steps up the floor after the pass before resetting.

Volume: 5 × 8 outlets, alternating pivot foot

Coaching point: The turn is the speed. A big who rebounds and then looks has already lost the break.

Make it harder: Move the target further up the floor, or throw it off one foot as you land.

Matters most for: Point guard

Setup: A wall and a ball.

1. 1. Dribble hard towards the wall as if coming off a screen.
2. 2. From the low pocket beside your hip, whip a one-handed bounce pass into the wall.
3. 3. Take the return in stride and go again the other way.

Volume: 6 × 45 seconds

Coaching point: Out of the pocket, off the dribble, no gather. The pass a big man can use arrives before the help recovers.

Make it harder: Alternate hands every rep, or take the return with the opposite hand.

Matters most for: Centre, Power forward

Setup: A hoop and a ball. A chair or cone as a marker on the block.

1. 1. Start with your back to the basket on the block, ball held high and tight.
2. 2. Drop step baseline, one dribble, finish with a jump hook off the inside foot.
3. 3. Repeat over the other shoulder with the middle drop step.

Volume: 5 × 8 each shoulder

Coaching point: Ball above your shoulders the whole way. Bringing it down in the post is how guards strip you.

Make it harder: Add a defender's arm with a pad, or make the read off which way the chair is placed.