Pirate Basketball Shooting Drill Series (Videos Included)

In June, we released the 3 main parts of our Pirate Basketball Shooting Drills series, in which Pro Skills Basketball Denver Director Ross Schraeder teaches and demonstrates layups in part 1, “runners” in part 2, and reverse layups in part 3.

The drill is called the “Pirate” Basketball Shooting Series because it teaches all one-handed basketball shooting.

Get it?

One-handed … like a pirate!

Still no?!?

Haha well, regardless, we wanted to give it a unique name that the kids will remember while working on an important aspect of the game.

Ideally, it is meant to work on weak-handed development, but, in fact, the work is fantastic for both strong-hand and weak-hand development.

Continue reading “BASKETBALL SHOOTING DRILL SERIES” →

Basketball Lay-up Drill (Video)

The focus for this week’s basketball Drill is layups.

This is a great drill for players to work on finishing around the rim. Players can do it by themselves or it can be done with a group or team.

Step #1: The drill begins with two lines on each of the spots where the sideline and baselines connect.

Step #2: Each line then spins the ball to themselves at the elbow and jump stops.

Step #3: Next, the players do whatever pivot is instructed. For more on this, you can see our forward pivot and reverse pivot drills here.

Step #4: After that, the players then take 1-2 dribbles and finish with whatever layup is instructed. Players can finish with outside hand, inside hand,  reverse layup, floater, etc.

Check out the first 50 seconds of this video for a demonstration. After that, it then moves onto a passing drill.

For more drills, please check out our YouTube youth basketball drills playlist here!

Footwork Pivot Basketball Drill Pt. 2

In our first basketball Drill of the Month, I explained how to do the “footwork-pivot-line” drill but mainly focused on the simple forward pivot.

In part 2, we’ll focus on the more complicated reverse pivot, which surprisingly many players struggle to do … even in high school!

To recap, the drill is set up in the below steps:

#1 Players line up on the baseline and free throw lane line facing the elbow.

#2 Players dribble up the elbow with their outside hand and jump stop to triple threat at the elbow.

#3 Before the drill, the coach tells the players which kind of pivot they should do – left foot forward, left foot reverse, right foot forward, or right foot reverse – and players do that pivot at the elbow.

#4 Again before the drill, the coach tells the players which kind of pass they should do – 2-hand bounce, 2-hand chest, 1-hand side chest, or 1-hand side bounce – and players make that pass after the pivot.

In the video in part 1, you can see that the players were instructed to do a forward pivot, which is how I think this drill should always start.

Then, in the above part 2, you can see the players moved to the reverse pivot, which is much harder for players to do, especially when you layer in different passing instructions.

If you watch the video, you will see some common mistakes made by players, including:

#1 Not dribbling with their outside hand.

#2 Going too quickly with their jump stop and pivot, which sometimes causes a travel.

#3 Pivoting with the wrong foot.

#4 Throwing a bad pass or the incorrect pass.

Overall, most of these mistakes are caused by players trying to go too fast, so instructing them to slow down and THINK as they do the drill is recommended.

In our next Drill of the Month, I’ll focus on how to make this drill into a competition, which really keeps the players engaged and having fun!

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Footwork Pivot Basketball Drill

This month’s youth basketball drill is the “footwork-line-pivot” drill. I got this drill from Coach Don Showalter of USA Basketball, and I first implemented it at the USA Basketball Youth Charlotte Boys Regional Camp that I directed back in August.

At that basketball camp, we did it very effectively with 100 kids in lines of 5-6 spread out along the sideline so it clearly works with large groups, or as seen in the video above from a basketball clinic I did with our PSB club team players in September, you can also do the drill using the free throw lines and elbows if you have a smaller group.

In this case, we had about 50-60 kids, and we used all 6 baskets and used both lane lines at each basket, so 12 lines total.

How to do the “Footwork-Line-Pivot” Drill:

#1 Players line up on the baseline and free throw lane line facing the elbow.

#2 Players dribble up the elbow with their outside hand and jump stop to triple threat at the elbow.

#3 Before the drill, the coach tells the players which kind of pivot they should do – left foot forward, left foot reverse, right foot forward, or right foot reverse – and players do that pivot at the elbow.

#4 Again before the drill, the coach tells the players which kind of pass they should do – 2-hand bounce, 2-hand chest, 1-hand side chest, or 1-hand side bounce – and players make that pass after the pivot.

Those are the basics of the drill, which sounds simple but for youth basketball players, the drill can get tricky because they have to focus on doing multiple things and following multiple instructions.

For example, dribble with outside hand, jump stop, triple threat, correct pivot, correct pass, etc.

Why this Basketball Drill is so Beneficial:

#1 It keeps players moving. Not a lot of standing around!

#2 Players work on dribbling, jump stops, triple threat, pivoting, passing, and following instructions.

#3 Doing multiple things at once or very quickly one right after the other.

When I first started doing this drill not all that long ago, I was amazed at how many players, especially older kids, struggled to pivot with either foot, specifically on reverse pivots!

There are also some good ways to make this drill even harder if you have a more advanced group or make a game out of it if you want to add in some competition simply by adding in a 2nd ball. But more video and explanation of this in an upcoming drill of the month.

Stay tuned!

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Click on the button below, enter your email address and zip code. We’ll send you the PDF of this guide for free.