Drills: Competitive Layups

Practice is a very important part of preparation.  As a coach it is important to expose your players to as many game like situations as possible in practice.  This way they know what to expect when they are in a game.  With a good practice plan, your players don't have to deal with the element of surprise.


Have you ever noticed that many times, when your team loses a close game, you always think back to the layups missed.  I often catch myself saying, "if only we made a couple of the layups we missed the result would have been different."


With this in mind, I believe in having competitive layups in your practice routine.  There are many to choose from and below is one that I like a lot because it is full court and allows us to cover multiple facets with one drill including passing, dribbling, conditioning and layups.  Enjoy.





With this drill we will have 2 lines at each baseline.  One line will be under the basket and the other line will be near the sideline.  In the diagram above you'll notice that 2 passes to 1 as he heads up the floor.  1 then dribbles up the floor while 2 tries to catch up and contest the shot.  Make sure you have players using both sides of the floor to make sure your team gets as many reps as possible.  After a few minutes, switch sides and cover the left hand.





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