Basketball Drill - Footwork Drill

By Dr. James Gels, from the Coach’s Clipboard Basketball Playbook, @ http://www.coachesclipboard.net

Every player must learn proper footwork to become a good player. He/she must learn how to execute the jump-stop, forward and reverse pivot, and make certain cuts without the ball, such as the V-cut. He/she must learn the "triple-threat" position. Here is a drill that has the players execute all of these moves plus take a shot, follow the shot for the rebound, and make a good pass.

Refer to the diagram. The players form two lines, one for the passers and one for the movers- shooters.

Start the drill with the player in the line on the right wing cutting sharply toward the corner, where he makes a jump-stop (JS), and then does a reverse pivot (RP), and then cuts to the block. There he makes a V-cut (VC) back out to the elbow or free- throw line extended area. There he does a forward pivot (FP) and receives the pass in triple threat position (TT). Finally, he takes the shot, follows his rebound, gets the rebound and passes to the next person in the passing line who does not have a ball. He follows his pass to the rear of the passing line. The passer goes to the rear of the shooting line.

footwork drill

Pointers:
Make sure the jump-stop and pivots are executed correctly. Stress the footwork in this drill.

Jump-stop

Hop and land on both feet simultaneously.

Reverse pivot

After the jump-stop, pivot on the inside (left) foot toward the open floor.

V-cut

Plant the inside (right) foot and push off it hard extending your left leg the opposite direction to make the sharp cut to the free-throw line extended area.

Forward pivot

At the end of the V-cut, make a sharp forward pivot by pivoting on the baseline (right) foot, and face the passer and receive the pass in triple threat position.

At first, go through the drill slowly with the players, instructing and executing each move for them. Have the players go slow-motion at first, then speed it up once they start becoming proficient. Running this drill for 5-10 minutes each practice will rapidly improve these basic footwork skills.

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