Basketball Training: Skills, Speed, and Strength » basketball shooting tips

Corner to Wing Shooting Drill

Rich — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 16:06:48 +0000

Basketball skill development should be an integral part of your basketball practices. At our practice we spend at least 20 minutes a practice on shooting. To become good at shooting the basketball and maintain that ability takes repetition, and this repetition should come in ways that apply to your offense. You have all heard me mention before that basketball players need to take games shots, at game spots, at game speed. This is a key to component to all aspects of basketball skill development and training at Elite Basketball Training.

The Corner to Wing Shooting Drill allows coaches to work on getting shots from the wing out of a typical cut in a motion offense.

Purpose of the Drill:

The purpose of this drill is to work on shots coming off a cut from the wing to the corner.

Instructions

The player makes a pass to the coach and then takes a few steps down, jams to get open and comes around the top cone for a series of shots.
Shots include: off the catch, head fake one dribble pullup (both directions), rip back through for a one dribble pullup, run through with extended dribble into the lane for a jumper, finish at the rim, finish at the rim with a reverse, jump stop in the lane step across and finish (both directions), and a floater in the lane (both directions).
Repeat the drill on the opposite side of the court.

Points of Emphasis:

receiving the ball low and with your hands ready.
finishing low to high.
pushing past the defender on all dribble moves.

Motivation/Teaching Tips:

Make a set number of shots before moving onto the next shot type.

Rick Pitino Basketball Shooting Drill

Rich — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 15:20:32 +0000

At all of my Elite Basketball Training sessions players focus on shooting the basketball from various spots on the floor as well as off the catch and off the dribble. Shooting the basketball from game spots is essential to every basketball player’s shooting workout. So is the ability to shoot the basketball in a variety of ways. Basketball players need to be able to shoot the ball off the catch while working on different pivots whether it be stepping straight in, inside pivots, front pivots, or reverse pivots. They also need to incorporate all pivots into being able to shoot the ball off the dribble going in both directions and attacking the rim going in both directions. All the while, the player should be moving along at game speed while incorporating movement into the drill in order to replicate shooting in a game. This type of shooting workout will ultimately prepare the basketball player for all situations that may appear in a game.

The Pitino Shooting Drill is a great drill for all ages that incorporates all of the footwork and shots mentioned above as well as the movement required to make the drill challenging from a conditioning standpoint. The diagram and description below shows the basic framework of the drill, but it is up to you as a coach or player to determine which type of footwork you will be working on during a given segment of training. If done individually, this drill will prove to be a challenge from a fatigue standpoint that guarantees to get you ready to make the big shot in the fourth quarter of the game when you are tired. Enjoy the drill and for more information on any of the drills or the design of my Elite Basketball Training workouts feel free to comment below or contact me through my website.

Categories: Games/Fun, Offensive Moves, Shooting

Ages All Ages, Youth, Middle School, High School+

Purpose of the Drill:

To allow players to develop that ability to shoot off the catch, off the dribble, and finish at the rim while working on footwork and shooting at game speed.

Instructions

In this 7 spot drill, the player shoots a corner 3 running to opposite corner after their shot to take a 3 from opposite corner. Then they run back to original corner for a one dribble pull-up before heading to opposite corner to do the same. Finally, the player will return to original corner for a catch-rip- 1 dribblelayup.
This series will be completed at each of the seven cones.
This drill can be done individually or with multiple players (no more than 3)
With more than one player, keep score and go until you reach 42 points. Three pointers are worth 3, pullups are worth 2, layups are worth 1.
With one player, the coach should rebound. With more than one, the players can rebound and pass themselves.

Points of Emphasis:

Proper footwork should be emphasized.
Be low and have your hands ready to shoot.
Push the ball out on pull up jumpers or layups.
Use a change of direction dribble on pull up jumpers or layups for more advanced work.
With more than one player, good passes should be emphasized.
Work through fatigue and be sure to keep using your legs at the end. You will feel it!

Motivation/Teaching Tips:

You can turn this in to a competition if you have more than one player or group.
See who reaches 42 points first or with one player, try playing to 21.

Game Shots at Game Spots at Game Speed

Rich — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 13:31:04 +0000

The title of this post says it all. Too many times, basketball players go out and work on their jump shot and the work out does not consist of anything more than bouncing the ball a few times, firing up a shot from NBA range, getting the rebound, and repeating the process over and over again. This does not in any way produce a good jump shooter and will improve the players jump shot only slightly more than if they stayed on the couch and played NBA Live. Basketball players need to take game shots at game spots at game speed. They need to run themselves through drills that will get them shots off the catch or off the dribble. Doing so will create a basketball player that is more versatile than one that can only shoot the basketball off the catch. Players must also work on shooting at spots that they usually shoot from during the game. Do not go out and shoot the ball from NBA three point range if you are not even a three point shooter at the high school level. Shoot the basketball from a distance that allows you to keep good form because if you are straining yourself to shoot further from the basket that you actually can, you can ruin your jump shot by creating bad habits. Finally, these shots need to come at game speed. Shooting the basketball at half speed can produce more bad habits and it makes it difficult to shoot the basketball during the game when the pace is much quicker. Practicing this way will make for a much better jump shooter. The following video is a prime example of a drill that gets the basketball player game shots at game spots at game speed. The shooting drill is called Corner, Wing, Elbow Jumpers. During the drill, the basketball player will shoot jumpers from each corner, then each wing, then finally each elbow while touching the opposite sideline after each jump shot them stepping into the next jumper. It is recommended that the player complete this drill for a set number of made shots. For example the player will continue to run through the drill until they have made 10 jumpers. Doing so will force the player to shoot while they are tired consequently making the drill more game like.

10 Keys to a Shooting Workout

Rich — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 00:08:57 +0000

As I stated in my recent post The 6 Keys of Basketball Skill Development I was fortunate enough to attend Kevin Eastman and Brendan Suhr’s Coaching U event when they visited Kean University. Since Kevin Eastman is one of the most well known basketball skill trainers in the world, and this site is devoted to basketball training, I thought it best to relay more information from the clinic. The following is a list of Kevin Eastman’s 10 keys to a shooting workout:

Get shots in the following ways: off quick penetration (catch the ball and go) and shot fake pentration.
Get shots from the player’s operational areas. Know the shots that they get within their system by charting the shots they take at each area in the system.
Get finish at the rim shots. When you get to the rim, you have to have solutions (different types of finishing shots). If you only have one hand, you cut off 50% of your solutions.
Get game shots from game spots at game speed.
Demand perfect form on every shot (that’s one type of shot taken perfectly many times).
Contest the shots the player takes. There are three ways to contest the shot: simple contest (let them shoot with a hand in their face), foul contest (let them shoot then hit them in the arms), and anything goes (hit them anywhere after the release).
Chart shots as much as possible. This allows them to see their score and progress. Whether they shoot well or poorly, if they can see what they did, they will want to come back next time.
Never miss two in a row.
Develop shooting stamina. To do this, you will have to do a certain amount of your workout on the move.
Have hidden workouts. These are workouts that when the coach tells you to go home and rest, the player goes out and shoots some more.

The Curl Series

Rich — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 11:38:02 +0000

Learning how to come off screens and get an open shot is a very important part of the game of basketball. It requires the player to read not only where their defender is going but where the help defender is as well. In this video, the player is running through a series of drills that are designed to get her an open jump shot while curling off a screen. The type of curl she uses all depends on where the defense will be.

In the first drill, she is running a tight curl coming off shoulder to hip with the screener. She sees that her defender is trailing and that the screener’s defender is not “showing” to help out. In this video she actually pulls up for a short jumper. However, in a game, she would want to curl as tight as possible to her screener so that her defender cannot get through, catch in the paint, take one dribble and finish with a layup on the opposite side of the rim.

In the second drill, her defender is trailing again however, this time the screener’s defender is showing. She once again gets low, shoulder to hip, as she curls off the screener, but this time she catches and shoots a jumper at the elbow.

In the third drill, her defender is trailing, and the screener’s defender is once showing. This time, as she curls low around the screener, she runs through the catch takes one dribble for a pull-up jumper in the middle of the paint. In this situation, she must read the defense and continue past it with the dribble and be sure not to slow down on the catch.

Finally, in the fourth drill, her defender is trailing and there is help from the screener’s defender once again. This time as she comes low off the screen and sees the defender closing out on the shot, she rips the ball back through (in the direction the defender is coming from) and takes one dribble for a pull-up jumper. In this case, she is using the defender’s momentum against her in order to get an open shot.

In the final two drills where the dribble is added, she is using the dribble to create space for herself thereby making it easier to get her shot off.

The curl series can be used in a variety of ways at differents spot on the floor. These are highly effective drills that will help a player learn how to read the defense and get themself an open shot coming off screens on the catch and with a dribble.

Shooter’s Touch

Rich — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 01:15:55 +0000

Last week’s Elite Basketball Shooting Camp was moved outdoors for the first time ever and it worked out great! Somehow, the weather, which has not been on its best behavior lately, was fantastic. The sun was shining, for the most part, and the temperatures and the jump shooters were heating up.

This year’s Elite Basketball Shooting Camp had a wide variety of skill levels from a little second grader and his father who were just starting out, to experienced, soon-to-be high school varsity basketball players. For the beginners, it was a great time to learn the basics of jump shooting, and for the the more experienced players, they were able to pick up new drills that will help them improve their game. Either way, the basketball training made a difference in their game.

This video will give you an idea of a few of the many great jump shooting drills we did at the Elite Basketball Shooting Camp, and if you missed out on last week’s basketball camp, you can still sign up for this week and next week’s Elite Basketball Camp. Enjoy the basketball drills in the video and see you on the court!