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Basketball Defense & Agility Drill: Diamond Drill


Drill Purpose (All Ages)

This agility drill will help improve your players' quickness and speed. It's great because it involves the basic movements of basketball with sliding, running, and back pedaling.


Instructions

  1. Players will start underneath the hoop.

  2. On the whistle, the first player will sprint to half-court.

    DiamondDrill1 (9K)
  1. Once the player gets to half court, the player will slide diagonally where a cone or some sort of marker should be sitting. Make sure that the players are using a proper defensive slide: butt low, head up, hands out, chest out, good balance, and don't bring the feet together when sliding.

  2. Once the player gets to the cone, (s)he will perform a defensive drop step and slide to his left to where he started.

    DiamondDrill1 (9K)
  1. When underneath the hoop, the player will turn and backpedal as fast as possible to half court.

    DiamondDrill1 (9K)
  1. Once at half court, the player will slide to his left as quickly as possible to a cone that should be located on the opposite sideline.

  2. Once the player reaches the sideline, (s)he does a defensive drop step and slides as quickly possible towards the hoop.

  3. Repeat the drill as necessary if you want to condition your players.

    DiamondDrill1 (9K)

Points of Emphasis

Continually tell your players...

  • Keep their butts down when sliding.
  • When sliding, keep their arms out.
  • When back pedaling, the player should slightly lean forward.
  • Work! Work! Work! The players can not lolly gag through this drill otherwise it will not benefit them as much as it should.

Motivation / Teaching Tips

Tip #1 - Player should always be facing half court when performing the defensive slide.

Tip #2 - If you want to keep it competitive, you can get out a stop watch and time every kid. You could also do relays. Split into two groups. Once the first player gets done, the second starts and so forth.

Tip #3 - If you need to get through this drill quickly, you can start each player after the player in front reaches the three point line.


More Basketball Defense Drills

Basketball Defense Drills Page

eBook with 67 Basketball Defense Drills



Do you have any suggestions or questions for this drill? Let us know by leaving your comments...



Comments
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Reggie Quinn says:
5/1/2007 at 8:19:10 PM

This sounds like a great dril. I will implement this in my practice right away.

George P says:
5/1/2007 at 8:54:15 PM

I like this drill its seems like it could be very useful!

silas says:
5/2/2007 at 9:35:03 PM

i sorta did this but we did belmonts its sorta similar but more work

Joe Karbowniczek says:
5/4/2007 at 11:27:31 AM

I have done this drill for a couple of weeks with my students now and it really motivates them to make it a race against time!
Thanks!

akbar azad says:
5/5/2007 at 10:32:20 AM

I like this drill

Ariel Rabe says:
5/7/2007 at 4:53:32 AM

This will really be helpful to the kids in more ways than the footwork alone. Thanks a lot.

Kim Welsh says:
5/7/2007 at 4:52:17 PM

The drill worked well with an AAU team I am coaching. As a matter of fact I used most of the drills on the site. It was a nice change of pace from the routine speed and footwork drills we do each workout.

saeed says:
5/16/2007 at 11:33:06 AM

all thanks, hoping for more enjoying drills

Kim B says:
7/15/2007 at 8:57:30 AM

This drill is too static. I use four baskets in 4 half court situations and 3 players per basket. This means more players are doing the drill at the same time... More effective use of the gym and practice time

Coach Brian says:
3/6/2010 at 10:50:12 AM

I like this drill. To make it fun for my 3rd/4th graders, they had to hold a cup of water in each hand as they performed this drill to help them understand balance and positioning. The kids and parents thought I was nuts but they spilled less water as the kids understood good posture and how to move their feet. I'm going to try this with my 6th graders!

Coach Brian says:
3/6/2010 at 10:51:04 AM

I like this drill. To make it fun for my 3rd/4th graders, they had to hold a cup of water in each hand as they performed this drill to help them understand balance and positioning. The kids and parents thought I was nuts but they spilled less water as the kids understood good posture and how to move their feet. I''m going to try this with my 6th graders!

Coach Brian says:
3/6/2010 at 10:51:17 AM

I like this drill. To make it fun for my 3rd/4th graders, they had to hold a cup of water in each hand as they performed this drill to help them understand balance and positioning. The kids and parents thought I was nuts but they spilled less water as the kids understood good posture and how to move their feet. I''m going to try this with my 6th graders!

Coach Carter says:
7/18/2011 at 3:15:43 AM

I will try this one at our next practice. Eventhough I work with high school girls, getting back to the basics is always good. Sometmies they get caught up in bad habits and as coaches we have to make sure that we break those as soon as possible or we will pay for it in the long run. I will post again to let you know how it turns out.

Coach Carter says:
7/18/2011 at 3:15:55 AM

I will try this one at our next practice. Eventhough I work with high school girls, getting back to the basics is always good. Sometmies they get caught up in bad habits and as coaches we have to make sure that we break those as soon as possible or we will pay for it in the long run. I will post again to let you know how it turns out.

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