Basketball Drills - 11-Man Drill (Full-Court) and 7-Man Drill (Half-Court)

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Contributed by Sherry Gels.

11-Man Drill

This is a good full-court drill that emphasizes 3-on-2 offense vs. defense, rebounding, outlet pass, transition and conditioning. Players like this drill.

You need a minimum of eleven players. In the diagram below, I have actually used 15 players. There is also a half-court version that can be used as a pre-game warm-up, which requires a minimum of seven players (see below).

Set-up:

Refer to the diagram. You start with a 3-on-2 situation with 1,2 and 3 on offense vs. 4 and 5. Two defensive players are waiting on the opposite end of the floor, and there are four lines, two along each sideline.

11-Man Drill

The drill:

1, 2 and 3 try to score against 4 and 5. When a shot is taken (even if it is made), the rebounder makes the quick outlet pass to either 6 or 7 who step inbounds from the sidelines for the outlet pass. Now the rebounder, 6 and 7 break down the floor where the other two defenders are waiting for them. After the shot, the 8 and 9 come in for the outlet pass.

Rules

Let's back up to the initial 3-on-2 with 1, 2 and 3 attacking 4 and 5. Here are some more rules.

1. Only one shot is allowed.

2. No matter who rebounds, whether offense or defense, that person outlets to the sidelines and is part of the next offense transitioning down court. If a defender makes a steal, that person is the new offensive person along with the two outlet players.

3. Of the 5 players involved in the initial 3-on-2, the four that do not get the rebound or steal, immediately yell "defense". The first two to yell it become the next two defenders and the other two go to the ends of the two lines on opposite sides.

4. From a defensive standpoint, this is a great drill for working on transition defense. The two defenders should be stacked. The top defender stops the ball and the second defender closes-out on the first person to receive a pass, as the top defender then immediately sprints back as low as the lowest offensive player (see Transition Defense - 3-on-2 defense).

See this clip with Coach Bob Knight:



7-Man Half Court Drill

Here is the half-court version that can be used if you only have seven players. You can also use this as a pre-game warm-up drill.

Set-up:

Again, the players will be going 3-on-2. You can either start this with three lines near half-court, or you can start on the baseline with just one player in the middle, and two lines on opposite sides - the diagram shows the later.

7-man drill

Defenders 4 and 5 are in a stacked position. 1 outlet passes to 3 (or 2). All three offensive players sprint or speed dribble to the half-court line, touch the line and then turn around and go 3-on-2 vs. the two defensive players.

The same rules apply as in the full-court drill above, except that the player who gets the rebound or steal, instead of making the outlet to the side, runs quickly out-of-bounds in the center under the basket (where 1 started initially) and then passes inbounds to either of the next two players in line (either 6 or 7).

Again, the four who did not get the rebound immediately yell "defense". The first two to yell it become the next two defenders on that end and the other two go to the ends of the two lines on opposite sides.