Of all the practice drills out
there, one of my all time favorites has to be the 3-3 1/2 court drill referred
to as "Sprint-Breakdown and Play". I was introduced to this
drill by Keith Boucher, an extremely successful Women's Basketball Coach at
Keene State College, while I served as his graduate assistant in the early
1990's. Of all the drills over my career as a head coach, this is one of
a handful of drills that I utilized on a consistent basis every year.
3-3 can be a tremendous
teaching tool for a coach and provides unlimited learning opportunities for
players. This particular drill can be used to stress virtually any aspect
of the game that you desire and all while in a competitive, fast paced
environment.
The basic pattern is to pick
two teams, I will base this on having 2 teams of 6 but any number can
play. I have often used captain schoolyard picks or if I wanted to have a
few certain players get more time together/or apart, myself or an assistant
could pick.
Once the two teams are
established the rules for that day are established. Each team will play
offense for 3 minutes and defense for 3 minutes. There is a 1 minute
break in between for a transition and rest period. A coach can use
different methods for selecting which team goes first. Shooting free
throws or giving the option to the team which didn't get first pick are two
options I like. Getting the players to think for themselves and
strategize is something I feel to be important in every practice session.
Would a group want the ball first and then have only 1 minute of rest to play
defense? The scenarios are great ways to get the players to think about
strategy and learn from the decisions they make. The goal of putting
players in situations where they have to think the game in practice should be
paramount in a coach's mind when preparing a practice plan. I believe
that when players are put in situations where they learn to think on their feet
in practice, it helps them develop the confidence to figure things out on the
court in games, by themselves.
Once offense and defense are
decided the coach will stand under the basket with the ball. Every
possession starts with the coach passing the ball to one of the 3 offensive
players in the wing/wing/top of key spots. The defensive players must
have all feet in the paint. On the pass the players must assume a proper
defensive position. For the sake of the drill, I do not stop play.
After the drill is over, I like to ask the players what they thought worked
well and what didn't. Inevitably the players figure out that not jumping
to the ball, closing out well and getting into the proper lane lines or
helpside position is the main cause for giving up baskets.
Once the ball is caught by the
offensive player he/she can shoot it immediately, drive or pass. The game
is on! A defensive team that doesn't anticipate where I might be passing
the ball, is slow and/or low on the close out or not jump to the pass will
typically struggle in this drill on the defensive end. From an offensive
standpoint I always give 2 points for a 3, 1 point for a 2 and 1 point for any
foul by the defense. A manager or an injured player keeps track of
turnovers and 1 point for each turnover is to be taken off at the end of the 3
minute possession.
For the Offensive Team, you can
also create additional scoring opportunities. You can give points for
offensive rebounds, a point for an assist, really anything that needs to be
emphasized can be scored.
For the Defensive Team I give 5
points for taking a charge, 1 point for a deflection, 2 points for a
steal. I don't give a point for a defensive rebound. Depending on
the day and if there were certain areas that need work, I like to award or take
away points at the end on the defense as well as the offense. Great block
outs, great seal in the paint, great post feed etc.. Not closing out, not
jumping to a pass, not communicating etc.. Any area you want can be
focused on. I try to keep it simple early in the season and as the season
goes on, add to the difficulty with more take away points on both the offensive
and defensive ends.
The coach calls the fouls and a
manager or injured player runs the clock and keeps score on the board. I
want to give the offense as many possessions as possible and make life as hard
as possible on the defense. The 6 players involved in the first
possession have to get off the court immediately following a change in
possession. The ball should be passed to the coach appropriately or a
take away point results for that team. Immediately upon receiving the
ball the coach throws it to the next offensive player at either wing or top
positions. This can sometimes lead to confusion on both offensive and
defensive ends if the teams are not being alert and communicating early and
often with each other. Keep an eye on those defensive players for trying
to cheat outside the paint, that is the only time I call them back and the
players learn quickly that getting into a low defensive stance, anticipating my
pass and being on their toes is the only way to stop that 3 pointer from going
up. Offensive teams learn that just shooting the 3 is only effective if
they are making them! Many teams lose because all they shoot are 3's,
making the defensive team's job easy. The lessons to be learned from this
simple drill are endless.
I like mixing up the "consequence" for the losing
team. Most times, I'd allow the winning team to determine the losing
team's fate. It's always interesting to see how the players would handle
that responsibility. Sometimes it was just 5 push-ups, other times it was a
ladder and other times it was something foolish or funny. The best teams
I ever coached would actually all run together, win or lose. It was those
few precious teams that were the most fun to coach. Getting to that level
of teamwork is truly special.
Enjoy the drill. I
certainly welcome any feedback on this drill should you choose to use it and am
always available for questions if you have them.
Mark Swasey
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