The Practice Drills Format I'm Using More And More

Over the last 20 years, I’ve changed how I structure practices.

We still do individual skill work. We still work on shooting, finishing, footwork, ball handling, and 1-on-1 offense.

But I’ve shifted a lot more of practice toward what you might call opposed or game-like drills.

Basically that means you add defense to almost every drill.

Which creates more:

• 1v1, 2v2, 3v3, 4v4, and 5v5

• Advantage/disadvantage drills like 2v1, 3v2, 4v3, and 5v4

• Small-sided games with specific offensive or defensive constraints

• Live decision-making against real defenders

When I first started coaching, practice might have been close to 50/50 between unopposed skill work and game-like drills.

Now, many of our practices are closer to 80% game-like. Some practices are 100% game-like.

Why I Made The Change

The biggest reason is simple…

Players need more reps applying their skills against defense and within a team environment.

There is more individual skill training available today than ever before. A lot of players are getting extra reps with shooting, ball handling, and finishing outside of team practice.

That’s a good thing.

But there’s still a major gap.

Players have a lot of opportunities to improve their individual skills. They can go home and work on their handles. They can get shots up. They can work with a trainer. They can improve their 1-on-1 moves.

But they don’t always get as many opportunities to learn how those skills fit into the bigger picture… the team context.

Connecting Individual Skills To The Big Picture - Not Enough Unstructured Play

Another reason for the shift is that kids simply don’t play as much unstructured basketball on their own anymore.

A lot of basketball is now organized, scheduled, and adult-led.

So when I have 8, 10, or 12 players in the gym, I want to use that environment for what they probably aren’t getting enough of elsewhere:

Learning how to play against defense with teammates.

That means using more drills where players have to read, react, communicate, and solve problems.

For example:

• 1v1 teaches players how to attack, contain, finish, and compete.

• 2v2 adds passing, spacing, cutting, screening, help defense, and two-player reads.

• 3v3 teaches drive-and-kick, rotations, and off-ball decisions.

• 4v4 connects spacing, ball movement, help defense, and recovery habits.

• 5v5 brings everything together in a real game environment.

• Advantage drills like 3v2 and 4v3 teach players how to exploit advantages quickly.

• Disadvantage drills like 2v3 and 3v4 teach poise, spacing, toughness, and how to overcome pressure.

These progressions and variations help players connect the dots.

They start to understand that the move they worked on individually is not separate from the team concept.

It is part of it.

The goal is to help players see how their individual skills fit into the big picture of how we want to play.

Where Skill Work Still Fits

I’m not saying unopposed skill work is bad.

There is still a place for it.

Sometimes players need clean reps to improve:

• Shooting mechanics

• Footwork

• Passing technique

• Finishing angles

• Ball handling rhythm

• Specific moves or counters

But once players understand the basic movement, I want to get them into a live situation as quickly as possible.

Because the game is not played against the air.

The game is played against defenders who are trying to speed you up, take things away, and force mistakes.

That’s why opposed drills have become such a big part of how I teach.

How This Connects To Mike Hilmer’s Relentless Pressure System

This is one reason I really like Coach Mike Hilmer’s approach with his Relentless Pressure System.

His practices are built around the big picture of how he wants his team to play.

It’s not just random drills.

His breakdown drills teach players how to build from smaller situations into full team execution. He uses clear progressions from 1v1 to 5v5 so players can learn the individual pieces, then connect those pieces to the full system.

Inside the Relentless Pressure System, Coach Hilmer shows how to teach players to:

• Pressure the ball

• Trap from different angles

• Rotate and recover

• Sprint into and out of traps

• Handle pressure offensively

• Attack in transition

• Make decisions in 1v1, 2v2, 3v3, 4v4, and 5v5 situations

• Connect individual defensive habits to the full team pressure system

And the results were incredible:

• Winning percentage improved from 56% to 96%

• 235-9 record after implementing the system

• 7 straight trips to the state championship game

• 3 state titles

• National Coach of the Year Finalist

• Scoring increased from 53.3 PPG to 70.5 PPG the very next season

• Scoring eventually climbed to 86.8 PPG

• Opponents were still held around 42 PPG, so the offense improved without sacrificing defense

Coach Hilmer’s product includes:

• 20+ breakdown drills

• 3 unique press variations

• Pressing and trapping off both makes and misses

• 10+ secondary break options

• Half-court sets vs. man defense

• Half-court sets vs. zone defense

• General shooting drills

• 2 live scrimmages with coaching points

• Whiteboard breakdowns of the press and major principles

• A complete look at how to install the system, teach the rotations, and build the habits

That’s what I like about it.

The drills are not isolated from the system.

They are connected to the way his team plays.

To me, that’s the power of great practice design.

You’re not just teaching drills.

You’re teaching players how to play.

And if you want to see how Coach Hilmer teaches pressure, decision-making, transition offense, and system-based breakdown drills, his Relentless Pressure System is worth studying.

Right now, you can get 30% off and see the full breakdown of how he built it.