Shooting Drills from Billy Donovan and David Adkins

Its the doldrums of summer, AAU tournaments wrapped up, high school not yet ready, football getting ready. What better to keep your players sharp for the upcoming season than shooting drills. Here are a couple that I found that should be both a good workout and good to improve shooting.

Billy Donovan - Beat Your Favorite Pro:

I've never run this drill before but it really looks like a fun drill. One of those drills that are great for a couple of players (like a coach and a player, or alum and a player) that go on and on until the janitor at the school says "I wanna go home, lights going out now".

1. Start by shooting one foul shot. If you make it you get one point. If you miss the pro gets three.

2. All remaining shots will be game speed jumpshots. Work on different moves and shots. Each time you make a jumper you get one point. Each time you miss, the pro gets two points. Game is played to 11 points.

3. This is a great drill and a super way to
end a workout. Go hard! Get better!

Coach Donovan also adds the point that you can make it a full-court drill as well, for extra conditioning...

Offense to Defense Individual Drill:

Got this drill from some notes from a 5-star clinic where David Adkins was speaking. Coach Adkins has coached at Montrose Christian and DeMatha, both national prep powerhouses. In the words of Coach Adkins:

We use another drill that we call the Nate James Drill. In this drill, the player works on his conditioning and absorbing contact to finish plays around the basket. The player starts the drill with a power lay up and backpedals to simulate transitioning to defense. A chair is placed at the 3 point line. When the player sees the chair in his peripheral vision he curls around it, attacking the opposite elbow where he will receive a pass for a jump shot. Regardless of making or missing the shot, the player gets his rebound and finishes with a lay up without dribbling and then proceeds to backpedal continuing the drill. A coach with a blocking pad can be used providing resistance as the player finishes each power lay up. The drill ends when a certain number of shots are taken or when a certain number of shots are made.

In this drill, the player must focus on making shots after a simulated transition element. The player must also focus on finishing lay ups with contact, despite fatigue. The chair can be moved anywhere on the 3 point line to vary the location of the shot or moved back to increase the distance of the shot taken. Various dribble moves can be implemented into this drill as well, including:
1) catch and explode into dribble jumper,
2) shot fake/shot,
3) shot fake/one dribble pull up, and
4) being creative with other one dribble or two dribble moves.

For more great offseason individual skill work, take a look at Billy Donovan's DVD on Individual Skill Development within your Offense. Coach Donovan is the head coach for the 2-time National Championship winning University of Florida. Don't forget to check out the X's and O's Basketball Forum to talk hoops with other coaches.