Guest Contributor Michelle Libby and an Excellent Basketball Drill

Today we are really excited to have Wethersfield HS (Connecticut, USA) Head Coach and friend of Teachers In Sport, Michelle Libby, sharing with us a drill to use in your basketball training sessions. We thank her for contributing to ‘Notes from the Sportsfield’.

Olympic Shooting

“One of my favorite drills as a player was called ‘Olympic Shooting’.  Coincidently, it is also one of my favorite drills as a head coach.  From a players’ perspective, the aim of the drill is to reach a goal in a certain time frame.  Making drills competitive is important as it helps keep the athletes focused, instead of just ‘going through the motions’.  From a coaches perspective it works on several key fundamental skills, such as passing, cutting, lay-ups, and shooting.  It is a full court drill that also involves an element of fitness training.”

Organisation

• Have players form three lines spread evenly on one baseline.
• Player in the middle line has one basketball.
• Second player in each of the outside lines has a basketball.
• At the opposite end line, two players, each with a basketball, stand just wide of where the lane intersects with the baseline.

Activity

The drill begins with the side that has three lines starting a three-man weave.

Wait a second. What’s a ‘3 Man Weave’ I hear you ask? It’s a good drill in itself – and here’s the explaination.

• Start at one end of the court.
• Set up 3 lines of players, numbered 1-3 from left to right (make sure they’re even) and step on the court.
• The middle person (2) has the ball.
• He/she throws the ball to the player on the right (3).
• After throwing they (2) run behind the player that received the ball (3).
• The person who has the ball (3), throws it to the person on their left (1).
• When they catch it, the person who threw it (3), runs behind that person.
• The person who has the ball, throws it to the person who had the ball first (2), then they go to the goal and make a lay-up, jump shot (or dunk 🙂 )

Or for the visual learners – a video:

Continuing on…

1. Once the weave reaches the opposite three point line, the player with the ball takes it in for a lay-up.
2. The two remaining players each spread towards the sidelines where they receive a pass from the players on the baseline and take a jump shot.
3. The player who took the lay-up rebounds the ball and goes back the other way in a three man weave with the two passers.
4. The players who took the jump shots rebound their basketballs and now become the passers on the baseline.
5. The drill is continuous at this point, with layups counting as 1, jump shots as 2, and three pointers as 3.  It can be timed, with a goal set.  For senior high school level players I set a goal of 100 in five minutes.

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