Today's Quote: "Footwork is one of the primary prerequisites to becoming a great player" - Mike Krzyzewski
Today's Theme... a new Footwork Drill
This footwork drill features 2 close-outs, 2 back-peddles, and 2 lateral slides. See the diagram.
Place five cones (red) as shown. Players line-up along the baseline. Each player will complete all six of the footwork moves and end up back on the baseline. Make sure all players are going at game speed, no loafing!
O1 starts by (#1) closing-out on the first cone, and then (#2) back-peddling to the cone-2, then (#3) sliding sideways to cone-3. The second player can start once O1 slides by. O1 (#4) closes-out on cone-4, then (#5) slides laterally to cone-5, and finally (#6) back-peddles to the baseline.
Close-out
Back-peddle
Slide
Close-out
Slide
Back-peddle
Pointers - Stay low, even when back-pedaling and sliding. When retreating, drop the outside foot backward and push off with the front foot. When sliding, don't cross your feet and don't hop. The key is "step and slide" (don't "slide and step"). Step with the foot on the side in the direction you want to move, and slide the opposite foot over. Make good close-outs (see Defensive Close-Outs and Drills).
Have each player do 2 or 3 laps. You could do this (just one lap) as a pregame warm-up drill (without the cones).
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