Animal Drill – Offense

This offensive basketball drill starts with hustle, ends with attacking a retreating defense… and even sprinkles in some math problem-solving

WHY USE THIS BASKETBALL DRILL
Many basketball transition drills feature a set offensive and defensive team. In this case, the players determine which side gets the opportunity to score based on initial hustle.

SET UP
Station yourself at one end of the court with a ball. Position three players near mid-court on one side of the floor and three players near mid-court on the other side.

HOW TO PLAY
Start the drill by rolling the ball toward mid-court [1]. On your call (see Technique, below) selected players rush after it and the team who’s player grabs the ball first is on offense [2]. The athletes play 2-on-2 (or 1-on-1 or 3-on-3 depending on the initial call) in the full-court setting until someone scores [3].

TECHNIQUE
As you release the ball, yell out a famous player’s name or a math problem. For example, if you call out, “Michael Jordan!” then the players are thinking of 23 (his number) and it signifies the second and third players are participating in this drill.

Or, you may say, “39 divided by 3” to come up with “13” to signal the first and third players take the floor. This added wrinkle forces players to think quickly on their feet.