This one is a little more complex, but a great read and react drill that really can be used for all ages. We call it the Caterpillar Slide and it's an awesome defensive/conditioning drill. The high school kids in our Pre-Season IDP always start groaning when they see us start to set it up.
Players are partnered up (by quickness preferably) and form two lines side by side. Cones about 2.5 feet apart are set in a line. Have at least two more cones than the number of groups. The first player in each line stands next to the first cone and gets into their defensive stance. When the coach shouts "Go", both players defensive slide as fast as they can away from the cone. When coach yells "Stop" both players sprint to the next cone and the next two people in line take their spot at the first cone. The drill continues until eventually the whole group is in the drill.
After finishing at the last cone (after coach yells "Stop"), players go back to the start of the line, switch sides and wait for everyone else to finish (the break is very necessary). Once everyone has completed the drill we run it another time to focus on sliding the opposite direction.
The first time we run it our coaches pause at each cone to allow some recovery time. The second time through we go quicker to really accentuate the conditioning benefits. Make sure to vary the time between "Go" and "Stop" commands so players don't anticipate and they also get the read/react benefits as well. Let us know if you have any questions in the comments section below.
Get an inside look at what's happening on and off the court at Home Court as well drills and insights from our coaches.
Showing posts with label skill development. Show all posts
Showing posts with label skill development. Show all posts
Friday, November 6, 2009
Home Court Defensive Slide Drill
Here is the Home Court Defensive Slide Drill we talked about at last week's Coaches Clinic. This is a great warm up drill as well as an opportunity for you as a coach to watch defensive technique. Are players staying balanced and in their stance? Are they taking short aggressive strides or slow long ones? Who is competiting the hardest?
Players are lined up from shortest in the front to tallest in the back. Either put your fastest player in front or someone you are trying to challenge to increase speed/effort. Players are in their defensive stance and on the coach's command make three hard slides out in a particular direction and then back to the middle. The goal is to try and beat the player in front of you.
This is definitely a short burst drill though. Use it as a warm up to get the competitive juices flowing in practice and get the kids thinking defense. It's also a great reaction drill for younger players.
In the video we have a group of high school boys and girls from our pre-season IDP but the drill is effective for all ages. We used as the first of three different defensive conditioning drills we used to break up scrimmages (those drills will be posted as well).
I hope this is helpful. Leave questions in the comment section below and we'll be happy to answer them.
Players are lined up from shortest in the front to tallest in the back. Either put your fastest player in front or someone you are trying to challenge to increase speed/effort. Players are in their defensive stance and on the coach's command make three hard slides out in a particular direction and then back to the middle. The goal is to try and beat the player in front of you.
This is definitely a short burst drill though. Use it as a warm up to get the competitive juices flowing in practice and get the kids thinking defense. It's also a great reaction drill for younger players.
In the video we have a group of high school boys and girls from our pre-season IDP but the drill is effective for all ages. We used as the first of three different defensive conditioning drills we used to break up scrimmages (those drills will be posted as well).
I hope this is helpful. Leave questions in the comment section below and we'll be happy to answer them.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
5 Second Rule - What's with the Counting?
Those who have had their kids attend our programs know that we do things a little differently at Home Court. One thing that sometimes leads to confusion is the "5 Second Rule" we use during scrimmages.
As you can see from the video from the video whenever a new player gets possession of the ball, one of the referees (Home Court Coach) begins counting. You may have noticed that the coach never got to 5. If a player holds the ball for longer than 5 seconds then it results in a turnover for their team. This is a rule that is unique to Home Court and won't be something your child will experience in regular league play.
So why do we do it?
Well we only use it in our younger player programs and our reasons have everything to do with skill development. Limiting the time a player can have the ball encourages making decisions at a faster pace. Players are forced to keep their head up as they dribble and anticipate the movement of their teammates. It also encourages ball movement and player movement as the offense needs to move the ball quickly. It does make the game a little tougher at the younger ages, but as the players get into the habit of sharing the ball and making good decisions, we stop counting and eventually the kids start playing like this.
As you can see from the video from the video whenever a new player gets possession of the ball, one of the referees (Home Court Coach) begins counting. You may have noticed that the coach never got to 5. If a player holds the ball for longer than 5 seconds then it results in a turnover for their team. This is a rule that is unique to Home Court and won't be something your child will experience in regular league play.
So why do we do it?
Well we only use it in our younger player programs and our reasons have everything to do with skill development. Limiting the time a player can have the ball encourages making decisions at a faster pace. Players are forced to keep their head up as they dribble and anticipate the movement of their teammates. It also encourages ball movement and player movement as the offense needs to move the ball quickly. It does make the game a little tougher at the younger ages, but as the players get into the habit of sharing the ball and making good decisions, we stop counting and eventually the kids start playing like this.
Let us know if you have any other questions regarding any of our programs.
Coach Pat
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