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Shooting Drills for Guards
by Brian Schofield

Cut, Catch & Lay-up

Great scoring guards know how to create space and get open. Practice and work hard at establishing position by either performing a solid v cut or using the lane to get open. Once you've come up the lane and popped out the ball should be on its way to you. You should have taken a mini hop-step already to get in position to shoot the ball. Now instead of going right into a jump stop, take an immediate dribble and go in for the lay-up. The footwork on this is tricky. Some players travel because the hop-step throws off their timing a little bit. It takes practice. If you've hopped in the air and landed with both feet you should be in an excellent position to drive for the lay-up.

Cut, Catch, Dribble & Shoot

Come up the lane and pop out to the wing. Take the hop-step before the ball arrives and immediately take one hard dribble in either direction. After one or two hard dribbles, immediately go into your jump shot. The hop-step will set up everything if you've done it correctly. It prepares you to shoot quickly and tells the defender that you can shoot quickly. If he gets close to you simply drive past him and if he's worried about you driving past him then the shot off the dribble will work every time because he will be on his heels.

When I work on these drills, which I still do today, I do them in order starting from the jump shot. The jump shot sets up everything else. It is like a great fastball from a pitcher. Once a great pitcher shows his fastball and that he can throw it for a strike, the pitcher has the edge. Good scorers use the jump shot as a way to set up everything else.

Cut, Catch & Shoot

This drill should be done exactly as the drill above with one exception - there is no dribble. As you get the ball you immediately go up for the shot. This will probably feel a little uncomfortable for most players in the beginning but it's crucial for you to eventually be able to hit this shot. If you can't hit this shot your defender will constantly sag off you when you receive the ball and prevent you from making a break to the basket or getting a shot off the dribble.

Wing or Corner Jumpers

As young players get older a couple things happen. First, everyone gets bigger, stronger and faster. Secondly, as a result it gets tougher to get open and create a shot. Something I've learned over the years has made it very easy for me to be able to get off a shot quickly and effectively. Start with the ball at the top of the key. If you are a coach, I suggest starting this drill with two lines on both sides of the top of the key. A line of shooters should also be formed on the wing or the corner. When the pass is made from the top of the key to the wing player I want the wing players to take a mini hop right before the ball gets there. Immediately shoot the ball when it arrives. If you have to gather yourself before the shot goes up then you have a problem that needs fixing. Players ask me how they can practice this by themselves and I tell them to get a toss back. What a great invention. Some people talk about their car in high school when I talk about my toss back. If you aren't comfortable shooting off the hop yet, then practice by throwing the ball off a wall or the toss back and just getting your feet correct. Have each player shoot within their range from the two spots then switch out to different areas. After all, nobody only shoots from the wing or the baseline. Don't just stand there and shoot jump shots either as that doesn't help nearly as much as shooting off the hop.

Pass, Cut & Shoot

A little bit of a modification of the drill I just talked about is the pass, cut and shoot. A player that stands still is extremely easy to guard so I coach my guards to cut once they pass the ball. To practice this drill, have a player line up at the high post and start the ball on the wing. The line should be at the wing position. Once the ball is passed to the high post the player should cut to either the baseline or the top of the key. Once the cut is made, the passer throws the ball with the wing player taking the hop-step before the ball comes so he can get off a quick shot. The drill should be practiced with the ball coming from the high post and also from the low post as those are the most common areas of double teaming. When the high post receives the ball many times you'll see 2-3 defenders collapse on the ball and if you, as a shooter, can get to an open spot where the defense can't recover quickly, you'll get an uncontested shot. This drill isn't one to practice at a slow pace. The cuts need to have a point and has to be quick. Players that play hard are not easy to guard. That's worth repeating, players that play hard are not easy to guard.

Article provided by : HoopSkills.com, home of the 'Train Your Game' weekly ezine with 10,000+ subscribers. If you're ready to get on board and receive FREE basketball training & coaching tips on a regular basis visit www.hoopskills.com.

ATTACKING A SOLID ZONE DEFENSE

by Brian Schofield

When I was a younger player and the opposing team went into zone defense I only had one thought - launch it. Am I right? Often as young players we believe the best way to attack the zone is to beat it from the outside. I'm going to cover some simple strategies on scoring against a zone defense that are used on different levels of basketball throughout the world.

First, remember that at any time someone can get off a 3 point shot. Truly, if you want to come down and shoot up the first 3 pointer possible you can. But what is the point of offense. The point of offense is to get the best shot possible. On every offensive possession it should be the goal. Oftentimes, as simple as it seems, this is forgotten.

Second, let's realize what type of zone they are playing. Many teams employ different types of zone defense. You have the basic 2-3 zone, 1-3-1 zone, 1-2-2 zone, 3-2 zone and so forth. As a young point guard growing up I knew that a key part of my job was recognizing the defense so players could be in spots that the defense wasn't. Again, this may seem rather basic but the simple things are often forgotten.

Third, each zone has gaps. A gap is an area where the defenders don't cover. The reason most young coaches believe you shoot outside against a zone is because the area outside typically isn't covered very well. Again, we know that shot is available at any time. I'll show you how to get a wide open shot against the zone compared to a halfway covered shot. This is done by attacking gaps.

Let's focus on the 2-3 zone as it is the most common zone you will see. The gaps in the 2-3 are everywhere. Each gap causes defensive confusion. If I attack the 2-3 in the middle from the top I will be forcing 1-3 people to guard me. By going down the middle the chances are high that both men from the top will cover me as well as the middle of the zone defense taking a step toward me as well. This creates shots all over the court for my teammates. I can kick it to either wing. If the middle defender doesn't come up on me I can simply pull up and shoot a short jump shot. What is the key again? The key is to get the best shot possible.

If a wing player attacks from a side gap the same effect can be seen but from a different angle. A defender from the bottom will come up to stop the ball and a defender from the top will come up to stop the ball. Anytime I can create a situation where two or three defenders are guarding one player someone had better get an open shot. When the wing player drives I like to have my opposite side post player get in front or seal off his defender. He does this by getting in front of him and using his position to stop him from getting between himself and the basket.

By sealing his defender he has created an excellent scoring chance. One thing needs to take place. The wing player must get the middle defender to commit. When he commits to stop the ball the weak side post player should get an easy bounce pass for a lay up. If that player is unable to seal his defender then he will pick his man instead. When the wing player drives hard to the middle it creates either a shot or a kick out to the opposite wing for an open 3 pointer.

As you can see, like a 2-3, the gaps are everywhere and that's where the weak spots are in the zone. The weak spots in the 1-3-1 are the baseline and right under basket. I will often tell coaches that once a 1-3-1 or a 1-2-2 is recognized to bring up a second player to the top. This creates the first match-up problem. One defender can't guard two players. In any good defense the wings will bluff and recover until the other defenders get in their designated spots. That's why coaches will continually yell to move the ball against a zone. The defense is shifting so much that if you move the ball quick enough a gap will open up and an easy shot will follow. Nothing kills on offense more than standing still. Add to that, standing still with the ball.

I'm often asked why Jim Boeheim runs strictly zone defense when it seems zone is easier to score against. Boeheim does a couple things very well. He recruits athletic long wings to play defense. Recently he had a player named Hakim Warrick who is now a member of the Memphis Grizzlies. Warrick is long and athletic and can cover some ground. As a wing defender in a zone he could make up some space to make up for gaps in the zone. As Bill Self from Kansas says, the key to being a good coach is to get good players. Boeheim gets the right guys for his defense.

But for me I'll take a solid point guard, a good wing player and solid post and I will be able to get any shot against a zone that I want.

Article provided by HoopSkills.com, home of the 'Train Your Game' weekly ezine with 10,000+ subscribers. If you're ready to get on board and receive FREE basketball training & coaching tips on a regular basis visit www.hoopskills.com.