I have kids from 4th to 7th grade and dealing with the non-stop pressure that many AAU teams employ for that age group has been a challenge. This looks like something that can really help us.

The key to this drill is having the kids going at game speed and to keep the dribblers eyes up to see the open lane or open player. It's something we do everyday.

that practice is really effective!!! do you also have a drill for a break through a 2-1-2 defence post???

Hi Clyde,

Take a look at this link: http://www.breakthroughbasketball.com/qa/q1515.html

great drill shows great improvement

Actually, I could use your help.
I am a first time coach helping 9-10''s boys...5 of the 8 kids on my team haven''t played before so we''re working on fundamentals often (which makes it tough to keep the 3 skilled players focused) - many of our opponents are playing a trap defense and forcing the inexperienced kids to turn the ball over.

What offensive plays/drills can I use to get them comfortable against a trap so they don''t force the ball as often?

Any help is appreciated!
-dave

just a quick comment - there is no backcourt defense in my league, but as soon as we cross midcourt they run their two guards at our PG for the force....

Use plenty of ball handling and passing drills to get them comfortable with the ball in their hands. You can find pass and ball handling drills on our drills page: http://www.breakthroughbasketball.com/drills/basketballdrills.html

My advice would also be to practice those situations. Create some situations that trap the offender. Also, teach them how to break the trap by splitting the middle or faking a step in one direction, to step around the side of one of the defenders. If the offensive player wants to pass it to the right, fake left, keep the pivot foot grounded, and step with the other foot to the right side of the defender.

You can also use this great drill where you overload the number of players on defense to make the offense work harder: http://www.breakthroughbasketball.com/drills/full-court-press-breaker-drill.html

great drill...i''m coaching a 7/8 grade girls team and we are having trouble with the trap and just with the defense pickin us up full court. We recently scrimmaged with 9/10th grade girls and all our turnovers were from the trap. So this drill will definetely help us out a lot.

Dribbling forward, when the ball is within 3 feet of the on-rushing defender, it is wiser to make the quick left or right change of direction. As always the defender's reaction is short by 2 or 3 steps and with enough space to dribble the ball up-court.

Great drill! I have guards who try to dribble through the trap and it's not possible. Turnover results. Much needed drill. Thanks

I think it a really good drill

I have a couple of players who repeatedly get called for traveling. They travel as they begin their move to the basket. They just don''''t get the ball to the floor soon enough. Any ideas of how I can work this problem out of their game?

How old are these players?

These are 12 year old girls.

The only thing you can do is give them time and drill their moves to the basket over and over. Refs usually won't make that call unless its real obvious. Time will also fix the issue. If they get called for the travel consistently and their coach emphasizes the importance of keeping turnovers to a minimum, they will figure it out.

I have one player that has/had a similar problem. We do lots of chair drills where they pick up the ball, make a pivot, and then make a move to the basket. I usually don't make a big deal about it but this player was getting pretty bad at lifting up and dragging his pivot foot. I started stepping on his pivot foot (to stop him from dragging it) each time he picked up the ball. After about 5 reps he stopped traveling and could do it on his own.

What are chair drills? Please explain. I'd love to work them for my 8-9yr old girls AAU team. Thanks. Love your site glad I found it today!

Hi Cathy,

Here are a few:

http://www.breakthroughbasketball.com/drills/XJumpShot.html

http://www.breakthroughbasketball.com/drills/CompetitiveOneonOne.html

I like to use chairs as teaching tools. For footwork and shooting drills we have the shooter pick the ball off of the chair, a rebounder pass it to a person by the chair who sets it on the chair. I do this because it's hard to have accurate passes when you're working with kids. If you want to work on footwork and shooting, use the chairs. If you want to work on passing, do that in another drill.

In dribbling drills, they also force the player to change direction like they would when they are dribbling around a person.

I used to never use them, now I can't coach without them because I like them so much.

Thanks so much. I actually found some after asking where to look. I will start using them! Love this website!
Do you offer any courses near Indy I could take?

Thanks, this drill will really help me in pressure based games.