Youth-Athlete's Sport Blog

This is a shooting drill, like the rebounding box-out drill, where the players are trained to follow their shot for the rebound.  When a player shoots it is common for the shot to either go too far and hit the back of the rim or come up short and hit the front of the rim.  When the shot is too short, the rebound comes back in the direction of the shooter.  If the shooter follows their shot, they can be in position to recover the rebound.  The baseline shooting drill re-enforces the "follow your shot" behavior.

Objective:
This drill emphasizes three fundamental skills in basketball: 1) following your shot, 2) pass to where your teammate will be, not where they are, and 3) outlet pass to start a fastbreak.  This drill also incorporates good speed dribbling and jump stops.  It is a continuous motion drill where the players are moving between positions between 3/4 and full speed except after taking the shot (the shooter to outlet is the rest movement). 

Basketball is a game of transitions where the players are in continuous motion. In football, between plays and when the team transitions from offense to defense there is a break in the game allowing the players to catch their breath.  In basketball, there is no stoppage of play during the offense to defense transition.  Players must be conditioned for this behavior.  Fast break drills help develop player condition, likewise incorporating continuous motion into the shooting drills help develop the player's conditioning as well as the mind set that once the rebound is secured the team is hustling to play offense.

Player Positioning:
This is a continuous motion drill that uses two basketballs and five players.  Three players (O1, O2 and O3) start at the baseline opposite the shooting position ready to move in the outlet position.  One player (O4) has a basketball on the opposite side from the shooter at half court.  The fifth player (O5) is at the half court line on the shooting side preparing to run to the sideline to receive the pass and shoot.

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 in the line at the baseline opposite the shooter (behind O3).

Drill:
This drill has three simultaneous elements occurring at one time.  Like the V-Cut shooting drill, 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 offer corrective feedback as necessary. 

The elements of the drill are:

1. Running to the sideline and shooting:  The player (initially O5) runs from the half court line toward the baseline to receive a good bounce pass from the player who jump stops near the upper portion of the key's circle.  In preparation to receive the pass, the shooter pivots on his inside foot (foot closest to the basket) toward the basket.  He catches the ball in an athletic triple threat position and elevates for the shot.  Unlike the V-Cut shooting drill, where we had a defender closing out of the shooter, this drill does not incorporate this element, but the shooter should still receive the pass in a good shooting position and immediately elevate.  The shooters first motion should not be to bend their knees down first and then elevate as this takes too much time and allow the defense to adjust to the new ball location.
2. Speed dribbling to the top of the key and passing:  The player with the ball at half court (initially O4), speed dribbles to the top of the key, jump stops, and makes a good bounce pass to where the shooter will be.  Learning your teammates ability and anticipating their actions is an important element in developing basketball teamwork.  The passer needs to know his teammate, read where they are on the floor and the speed at which they are moving, and anticipate their shooting location. After making a good bounce pass, they run back to the half court line in preparation to become the shooter.
3. Positioning for the outlet pass to fast break transition:  The player at the front of the outlet line (initially O1) moves from the baseline toward the outlet position after they know that the rebounder will secure the basketball.  They do not have to wait for the rebounder to have the ball, just that they know their teammate will get the rebound.  As they move into the outlet position near the free throw line extended, they should be slide stepping sideways with their chest facing the rebounder in preparation for the pass.  After receiving the pass, they turn up court and speed dribble toward half court as if they just received an outlet pass and are transitioning into a fast break.   Coach's note: it takes a little while for a player to judge when their teammate is in position to secure the rebound.  At the beginning of the season or with younger teams, we will place a coach next to this position to provide guidance on when they should start to move into the outlet position.  The importance of developing this skill is that it can provide the outlet player one or two extra steps over the transition defense and can be the difference between getting or not getting a fastbreak lay up at the other end of the court.
4. Follow the shot, rebound the basketball, and make a good outlet pass:  After shooting, the player quickly follows his shot, secures the rebound, and makes a good outlet pass to their teammate moving into the outlet position.  A good outlet pass is one or two steps in front of the outlet receiver.  This enables the outlet to start moving toward your offensive basket as they receive the pass.  After making the pass, they move into the rest position at the back of the line opposite the shooting position.

Key fundamentals:

1. Follow the shot:  When a player lands after shooting, their first act is not to be a spectator watching the ball in flight hoping it will go swish through the net, but to determine the most direct path to the rim that will give him the good angle to rebound the basketball.  In the final minutes of a game, player's legs can get tired which can reduce the elevation in their jump shot.  Since a big component of shooting distance is comes from the legs, as the legs get tired their shots distance gets decreases.  Because of this, many late game shots will be short, hit the front of the rim, and bounce directly back toward the shooter.  By having players practice following their shots they will be able to secure many of these late game rebounds.
2. Receiving the pass and shooting:  All players when receiving a pass should be in the triple threat position with their knees bent and ready to do one of the following:  1) shoot, 2) pass, or 3) drive.  To shoot 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 squares up to the basket with their foot on the shooting arm side slightly in front of the other foot, and immediately jumps upward.  If the player receives the pass standing up, there first movement is down to coil and then up to shoot.  This down first, up second motion takes too long and will lead to blocked shots as the defense recovers.
3. 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's waist.  This drill allows the shooter to shoot in the general area of the sideline / baseline corner (as oppose to a specific spot).  The passer is required to read the speed and direction that the shooter travels down the sideline and adjust the distance and location to where the ball bounces.  In a game situation, a passer needs to read his teammates movement and anticipate the location where the shooter will go for their open shot.

Advanced Options:

1. Drive right or left:  Another variation we use is instead of the shooter taking a jump shot from the corner, we have them fake the shot and drive baseline or back toward the middle of the key for a lay up or short jump shot.
2. 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.

Try this basketball shooting drill in your practice and leave me a comment on how it turned out.

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