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!