When you’re coaching basketball, regardless of the level, you can use these shooting drills with your team to liven up your practices and workouts.
99 Shooting Drill
This is a great drill that helps your players get a lot of shots up in a competitive setting. This drill needs a rebounder or shooting machine to perform.
The player moves around the arc shooting from different spots (you can vary these and where you want the shots to be from).
For each make, the player earns 3 points. The player does not lose any points for 1 miss, but they lose 3 points for 2 misses in a row. The object is to see how quickly your player can get to a score of 99.
You can obviously change the score based upon your players’ skill level, but make sure it’s a multiple of 3.
3-6-9-12-15 Drill
This is a fantastic drill that works on game shots at game speeds, along with a lot of conditioning. The basic gist of the drill is that your player will shoot a series of three shots, then run to a certain point on the court based upon how many shots they missed in that series (as a conditioning aspect), then return to shoot that same series of shots again.
In all, it equates to 45 shots and becomes a great conditioning drill while you’re players are still getting up shots.
Reactionary Shooting
This is a great drill from the folks over at Dr. Dish. In an ideal world, every pass your players catch in a game is right in their shooting pocket, but that’s not realistic.
This drill allows your players to work on moving your body to the ball instead of reaching for it.
Ideally, this drill is performed with a shooting machine, but it can be used with a coach making the passes and giving a verbal cue for the players to turn around.
EMU Shooting
This is a drill that focuses on good passing, catching, rebounding, and shooting. It keeps your players engaged and they really enjoy trying to beat the clock.
The object is to score 35 points before 1:30. The video below does a great job of explaining how the drill works, so we won’t waste your time trying to explain. 🙂
Brad Stevens Shooting Drill
This is one of my absolute favorite basketball shooting drills because it encompasses several different game-like shooting movements into one drill.
Number of people needed: 2. This drill needs at least one shooter and a rebounder/passer. If you have a shooting machine like the Dr. Dish, your players can perform this drill on their own.
Performing the drill:
The drill starts with a player in the corner with their hands & feet ready to shoot. They will take their first shot off of a catch-and-shoot in the corner.
The next shot is a 1-dribble pull-up from the corner. This can be executed off of a shot-fake or off of a catch & quick dribble pull-up.
After the player takes their 1-dribble pull-up, they will v-cut and execute a curl cut for a shot.
After executing the curl cut for a shot, the player will perform a v-cut to the elbow and execute a flair cut for a shot.
The last shot of the drill, the player will sprint and touch the half-court line, and then receive a pass at the three-point line and take a shot in transition.
In this drill, players execute five different shots:
- Shot in the corner
- 1-dribble pull-up
- Curl to the wing
- Flair to the wing
- 3-pointer in transition
Drill Variations
You can add several variations to this drill. Some of those variations could be:
- Have the players take multiple shots from each spot & cut
- Have the player do the same thing starting from the other corner immediately after the 3-pointer in transition
- Have the player repeat the drill a certain amount of times before their partner goes
You need to ensure that your players are going hard through this drill and executing their cuts and footwork properly. Don’t let your players develop poor habits within the drill (i.e. not squaring up on a curl cut, or not sprinting on the shot in transition). These drills should be executed at game-speed so that they prepare your players for game action.
Partner Shooting Drill
This is a great drill to get a lot of shooting reps in a short amount of time.
How to perform:
Players alternate shooting and getting their own rebound from anywhere on the court. As the other player is getting the rebound, the shooter should be moving around and spotting up for their next shot.
This drill should get a lot of shooting reps in. Variations could be:
- Shot fake
- 1 dribble pull-up
- Shot fake, 1 dribble to the rim
- Shot fake, 1 dribble step-back
- All curl cuts
- All flair cuts
You can also perform this drill as 3 man, 2 ball shooting drill. 3 man, 2 ball can be performed just like your partner shooting drill, but you add a 3rd man and 2nd ball.
There are several variations you can run in this drill. You can also make it a contest and say the first group to 10 wins.
Read The D Shooting
This is a team shooting drill that will help your offensive players read the defense when they are coming off of ball screens.
How to perform:
You can run this drill from either side of the floor. Players will execute ‘v’ cuts and then make these cuts:
- Curl cut for a layup
- Straight cut for a shot
- Backdoor cut for a layup on either side of the rime
- Flair to the wing for a shot
Point of emphasis: Your players should communicate every cut they’re making so the passer knows where to throw the ball.
Doubles Shooting Drill
This is shooting drill is a good one to use as a competition.
Performing this drill:
In this drill, there are five spots that players choose from. They can be anywhere from 10-footers to 3-point shots, depending on the skill level. The rules are:
- If a player makes two in a row from a spot, they move on to the next one
- If they miss two in a row, they move back a spot
- The object is to see how quickly the shooter can make it all the way around the court
Elbow Shooting Drill
This shooting drill can be used at the end of practice as a competition.
Performing this drill:
In this drill, you have one team of players on one elbow, and the other team of players on the other elbow.
Players shoot the ball from the elbow, throw it to the next person in line, and then run to the other end of the court, touch the baseline, and run and get back in line.
This is a shooting and conditioning drill. You can either have a time limit, or say the first team to a set number of baskets wins.
Ball Screen Shooting Drill
This is a drill that many variations can be added to, and can be used for 1 player or an entire team.
Performing this drill:
A player uses the chair as the screen, and works on shooting off of the dribble/screen. They can attack the basket off the screen, pull up for a shot, reject the screen, and more. You can put the chair anywhere on the floor that you use ball screens within your offenses.
Close Out Jumpers Shooting Drill
This works on shooting with a defender closing out. On the defensive side of things, it can also be used to work on closeouts.
Performing this drill:
This drill can be run from any spot on the floor in which you want your players to work on contested jumpers.
You start with a line under the basket with the basketballs, and a line where you want your players to shoot from.
The players under the basket pass the ball to the player in line & then close out. The player catches the ball and shoots it while his shot is being contested.
Oftentimes, we get wrapped up in shooting drills without any defense, which isn’t very gamelike.
Screen Away Shooting Drill
This drill works on shooting off of a screen away from the ball.
Performing this drill:
This starts with a line at the top of the key and a line on each wing. The ball starts at the top of the key.
The player at the top of the key will throw the ball to a wing, and then screen away for the opposite wing.
The opposite wing will use the screen and come off of the screen with their hands ready. They will receive a pass and shoot the ball.
This drill helps to work on basic motion cuts and shooting off of a screen.
The players can curl, straight cut, flair, or backdoor off of the screens.
Fast Break Jumpers
This is a great drill to work on shooting with your team. It helps your players work on shots in transition.
Performing this drill:
This drill starts with a line under the basket with the basketballs, and a line out on the wing. The player under the basket will throw the ball off of the backboard and retrieve the rebound. They will then outlet the basketball to the player on the wing.
The player on the wing will get the basketball and attack the elbow on the other end of the floor. The player that got the rebound will sprint & stay wide down the floor. They will then receive a pass for a jump shot on the other end.
After the shot, the players can come back on the other side of the floor doing the same thing. You can have the players shoot jump shots, one-dribble pull-ups, layups, and more.
Five In a Row Shooting Drill
This is a drill for your players to work on grooving their shot and to use as a competition.
Performing this drill:
Have your players start out 6 feet in front of the basket. Once they make five in a row from that spot, have them take a giant step backward and repeat that process.
Give them a certain allotment of time and see how far back they can get.
10 in 1 Competition Shooting Drill
This is another competition shooting drill to use with your players that encompasses shooting, conditioning, and pressure.
Performing this drill:
There is a designated shooter and rebounder. Put 1 minute on the clock, and the shooter has that amount of time to make 10 three-pointers (or closer depending on age and skill level).
After each shot, the shooter must run and touch half-court before shooting their next one. The goal is to get 10 makes in 1 minute.
This helps to work on shooting the basketball while fatigued.
Form Shooting
This is a drill that should be performed everyday. It helps players have proper form on their shots. We like to have our guys do this as soon as they get into the gym to get their shots right for the day.
Performing this drill:
The player holds the ball in their palm, then they bring the ball up, then finish their shot with a follow through. We call this “Ready, Aim, Fire.”
