Basketball Skill Drills - The Foundation to Greatness

The only way to get good as a basketball player is to practice and play lots of basketball.

But skill drills (working on your shooting form, dribbling, passing, rebounding, etc.) are probably the most important part of your off-season training program.

Doing basketball drills is an essential part of improving your game.

Period.

It's not enough to just go out and play pick-up ball in the off-season and summer time. You have to do drills. It's the only way to develop proper technique, and create the repetition that is necessary for that technique to become a habit, and be ingrained as part of your game.

Some important drills to do are:

• Shooting drills
• Quick release shooting drills
• Dribbling and ball handling drills
• Rebounding drills
• Defensive drills
• Footspeed & quickness drills

Let's cover some great drills you can do on your own to really improve your game.

Offense

One of the key aspects of doing drills and working out is to do so at a high level of intensity. Going out and shooting lazily, or practicing your dribbling for a minute or two will help, but not much. When you go out and practice on your own, really work hard, use your time wisely, and make it worth your while.

I always emphasize "game speed" and "game intensity" practice. Work out as if you are in a game, going at game speeds and game intensity. This is really the best way to improve, and is the best use of yuur time.

Here are some great shooting drills:

- Pick 5 spots on the floor, and shoot 15 jumpers from each spot (you have to hit at least 12 our of 15 jumpers from a spot before you can move onto the next one). This is a good drill, but becomes a great drill when you really get off the ground (get some height on your jump), and emphasize a quick release of the shot.

- The Mikan Drill. You probably all know this one. Even if you aren't an inside player, this is a great way to get warmed up before you practice your outside shooting. Shoot baby hook shots from each side of the basket. Turn this into a great drill by keeping the ball at chest level (never bringing it down to you waist), and really exploding off the ground when you go into the hook shot motion.

- Quick release shot practice. Getting your jumper off fast is a key to be a successful offensive player. In a game, there is no time to be slow or take your time. Go out onto the court and ake a few shots with your normal shooting motion. Then, focus on shooting the ball quickly, but with the same, good shooting form you usually use (don't sacrifice form for speed). Notice how, just by focusing on it, and making a conscious effort to do so, you can speed up your shot and have a much quicker release. Pick 5 spots on the floor, and shoot 15 quick release jumpers from each spot (you have to hit 12 out of 15 before moving to the next spot on the floor).

Defense

It's a little tough to do defensive drills on your own (they are usually done mostly in team practices). So here are the keys to making defensive drills work for you:

- When you do work on defensive drills in team practice, really work hard. Don't think of them as punishment, or just try to get by. Look at them as an opportunity to really improve your quickness, reaction time, and overall basketball ability. Take advantage of that time...because no one else is, and you'll gain a major advantage (which hopefully will translate into more playing time).

- Practice footspeed and quickness drills on your own. While you may not look at these as classic or pure "defensive drills", they will translate into you being a better defender. A lot of being a good defensive player is your footspeed and quickness, so do lots of these types of drills on your own, improve these areas of your game (and overall athletic ability), and you will become a better defensive player.

- Lastly, defense is in large part about aggressiveness and tenacity. In otherwords: if you are passive and don't really care about stopping your man, you probably won't. So, the next time you're in a team practice, or even playing one-on-one against someone, turn up the intensity. Turn up the fire. Make a point to not allow your opponent to score. Make a point to take away their strenght and make them go to their 2nd or 3rd or 4th choice of what they want to do. Play defense like the game and your playing time depend on it, and you'll be surprised at how much better you can play. You already have it in you...just focus and make a point of making it happen...and it will.

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