‘Follow’ Forces Focus, Accuracy

The ball moves quickly around the perimeter and focus is critical as 4 basketballs and 8 players are used in this drill to sharpen long-distance shooting.

WHY USE IT
Stand-alone shooting rarely — if ever — occurs in a real game. The ‘Follow’ Drill teaches players to focus with action happening around them, catching and shooting off a pass and following their shots. 

SET UP
You need four basketballs and eight players to have this drill run smoothly (feel free to adjust based on your numbers). The balls are with the players on the baseline, who are in two lines of two.  

HOW TO PLAY
The first player in each baseline line passes to the wing on their side of the court, so 1 passes to 4 and 2 passes to 3. The wing now passes toward the top, so 4 passes to 5 and 3 passes to 6. Each time a pass is made, the player follows the pass to relocate to that new spot [diagram 1].

5 and 6 now take the long-distance shots. The drill quickly continues with 8 passing to 1 and 1 to 4, as 7 passes to 2 and 2 to 3 on the opposite side [diagram 2].

5 and 6 follow their shots, grab the balls and run with them to the opposite side from where they started. 4 and 3 shoot. 5 and 6 keep the drill moving with passes to the wings [diagram 3].

TECHNIQUE
When a player misses a long shot, there typically is a long rebound, which slows down the pace of this drill. Tell players how important it is to be accurate.

1. Make a pass and follow it — drive this point home — while the actions look confusing on the surface, it’s a simple drill at heart with players passing, following and eventually shooting (then following their shots)

2. The action is the same on the opposite side of the floor with players passing and following to relocate to the next spot

3. The players near the top of the key take the shots and hustle after their own rebounds

4. The drill keeps moving as the shots are taken with the next passes going from the baseline to the wing and to the next shooter

5. Accurate shooting is critical so shooters don’t have far to go when tracking down rebounds — the drill gets out of whack when players are chasing the ball all over the floor