Against man and zone defenses, a very common offensive move without the basketball is a V-cut that is used to either setup the man defender for a screen or to turn the zone defender's head. Several years ago, I was coaching a 5th grade basketball team and we were struggling with having our shooters come off screens and quickly shoot the jump shot before the defense would recover. We developed this basketball shooting drill to teach the players to come out of a V-cut ready to receive a pass in a coiled (or triple threat) position and quickly elevate, instead of receiving the pass, then coil, and finally elevate. The latter was too many movements that took too long and allowed the defense to recover before the shot was taken.
Objective:
The fundamental objective of this drill is to teach shooter's to come off a V-cut (or screen), receive a pass in a triple threat position (a coiled athletic position), pivot toward the basket, and shoot in one fluid motion with a defender closing out on them. This drill also incorporates outlet passing, speed dribbling, jump stops, and passing to where the shooter will be (not where they are at). It is a continuous motion drill where the players should be moving between positions between 3/4 and full speed except after taking the shot (the shooter to outlet is the rest movement).
Player Positioning:
This is a continuous motion drill that uses two basketballs and five players. The two players (O1 and O2) that have the basketball stand just outside the 3-point line around the free throw line extended. The shooter (O3) starts outside the 3-point line on the opposite side from the players with the basketballs around the top of the key extended. One player (O4) is under the basket and one player (O5) is in the outlet position.
If your team has eight players then add two coaches and break into two groups of five at two different baskets. If your team has twelve players, then break into two teams of six and have the extra player at the outlet position (behind O5).
Drill:
This drill has four simultaneous elements occurring at one time. Each element is practicing and developing a specific basketball skill. From a coaching perspective, run the drill four complete times (ie., everyone shoots four shots) and then mirror the drill to the other side and run through it four times. During each cycle, focus your attention on one location or element so that you can verify and correct that element. Do not follow a player all the way through the cycle because it is too easy to loose track of which players you watch during the specific element. After each complete cycle through the drill, change your attention to another element of the drill. This way, the players can get multiple repetitions and you can offer constructive praise or criticism on each element.
- V-cut to shooting: The wing player opposite the ball (O3) runs directly toward the basket. When they are within a step or two of the key, they plant their outside foot, pivot, and run to the area above the free throw line. Let the players pick the exact spot to receive the pass on the floor, but it should be somewhere between the elbows, at or above the free throw line, and not more than one or two steps behind the 3-point arc. When they receive the bounce pass in an athletic position from the opposite wing, they front pivot using there inside foot (foot closet to the hoop) to face the basket and shoot a jump shot. After shooting them move to the outlet position (O5).
- Rebounder to defensive close out: The player that starts under the basket (O4) will wait for the shooter (O3) to complete their V-cut pivot and start to move to receive the pass before closing out on the shooter above the free throw line. This player's objective is not to block the shot but create commotion within the shooter's peripheral vision by approaching the shooter and timing their jump to block the shot but keeping their hands below the top of their head. After closing out, they bypass the shooter and run out to near half court, V-cut and come back to the shooting position. The distance this player runs before V-cutting back to the shooting position will need to be adjusted by player age and speed so that they do not stop once they reach the initial shooters position but go directly into the next V-cut. The purpose of the out and back is to get this player an extra basketball movement before receiving the pass to shot, just like in a game when the team runs through several options in the motion offense before someone takes a shot.
- Outlet to speed dribble: The player at the 3-point arc near the baseline is the outlet player (O5) in this drill. They receive a good outlet from the rebounder (initially O4), turn up the court and dribble at full speed to half court, turn around, dribble back to the 3-point line, jump stop, and make the pass to the shooter coming off the V-cut. This is just like an outlet for a fast break where the fast break defense has covered the pass to the middle and the offensive outlet needs to speed dribble to start the fast break.
- Passer to rebounder: The passer (initially O1) should jump stop, anticipate the location of where the shooter is planning on taking the shot, and make a strong bounce pass to that location. After passing, they rebound the shot, front pivot toward the wing, and make a good outlet pass. If the shooter has not completed their V-cut, have the passer fake a pass or fake a shot before completing the pass. In a game, many times a fake pass or fake shot can change the location of the defense's focus toward the passer faking the shot or toward the backboard for a rebound. This can provide the extra split second that the player coming off the screen (V-cut) needs to pivot and shoot before the defense can refocus on the ball.
This is a continuous motion basketball shooting drill. Once the player receives the outlet pass (initial O5 position), they should be continously moving at 3/4 to full speed until the shoot the jump shot. In order for this to happen, the coach may need to adjust how far the outlet speed dribbles before turning around or the defender closing out on the shooter travels to make the initial V-cut before returning back to the 3-point line. Why? This provides a conditioning element to the drill as well as making the shooter a little tired before the shot.
Key Fundamentals:
- V-cut: A V-cut is used by a player to set up their defender for a screen. As the player moves toward the basket (initially like O3), they should plant their left foot and turn their upper body toward the passer while putting the right foot down. Their next step should be with the left foot crossing in front of their body toward to location on the floor they plan to receive the pass. If they plant the wrong foot then either they will back pivot which creates a gap between in front of the screen for the defender to slide through or they will front pivot into the screen causing a collision that will waste time and allow the defense to react. The V-cutter needs to plant their foot closest to the sideline, rotate their upper body while maintaining their balance, and then take an acceleration step with the plant foot toward the shooting location.
- Receiving the pass and shooting: This is the key element that created the drill. As player's age, the speed of the game gets quicker and the defense recovers faster. At the older levels, a player must receive a pass and immediately elevate to get the shot off before the defense reacts. To do this, a player must receive the pass in an athletic position with their knees bent at a 60 to 70 degree angle. From this position, the player front pivots to square up to the basket with their foot on the shooting arm side slightly in front of the other foot, and immediately move upward. If the player receives the pass standing up, there first movement is down to coil and then up to shoot. This takes too long.
- Bounce pass to the shooter: A good bounce pass takes practice and is distant dependent. A bounce pass should hit the floor 2/3rds of the way to the receiver and the pop-up to the receiver at waist height. Since we allow the shooter to shot in a bounded area (as oppose to a specific spot), this requires the passer to read the angle the shooter takes out of the V-cut and adjust the distance to where the ball bounces. In a game, a player coming off a screen will move to an open area, not an exact spot that may be covered.
- Rebounding and passing to the outlet: When a player rebounds the ball, they want to front pivot (keep their foot closest to the outlet sideline planted) and make the outlet pass. The reason for this is when you have boxed out for a rebound, the defender is behind you and the player wants to move away from the defense to get a clear outlet passing lane.
Advanced Options:
As players learn this drill, we introduce a couple of variations to keep their interest and focus.
- V-cut to shooting using a back pivot: Earlier it was recommended the player receive the pass and front pivot toward the basket before taking the shot. Another option is to have them receive the pass with their outside leg (leg closet to half court) in front and do a back pivot to square up to the basket and shoot. In a game, if a player receives a pass near an offensive screen, the player wants to back pivot to move their body directly behind the screen and then shoot over the screen. This will provide additional shooting space should the defender go under the screen. If the player front pivots then they will move directly into the screener’s defender or their defender when he re-emerges from coming under the screen.
- Back up dribble: When the outlet player speed dribbles to the half court line have the player take a few back up dribbles before turning around. In a game when a player is double teamed, an option is to take a couple back up dribbles and then drive around one of the double team defenders.
- Drive right or left: Another variation we use is instead of the shooter taking a jump shot, we have them fake the shot as the defender closes out and then drive right or left around them for a lay up or short jump shot.
- Attempt to block the shot: Toward the end of the season or just before playoffs start when the players have a good working knowledge of this drill, the team usually starts requesting with great enthusiasm to have the closeout defender be able to block the shot. If you choose to enable this then you need to allow the shooter to fake the shot first so the defender can go by or drive to the basket. Also, the coach should have a couple of extra balls in their hand because a blocked shot can go flying across the gym. If this happens, the coach can just pass the ball to the rebounder under the basket and allow the drill to keep going and not disrupt the drill's timing. I have required older teams with good speed and agility to have the rebounder touch the baseline before they can close out so that the shot blocker cannot move to close out until the shooter has completed the V-cut. This enhancement is a lot of fun for the players, just be careful not to allow it to throw off the timing of the drill.
Try this basketball shooting drill in your practice and leave me a comment on how it turned out.
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