Slide, Full-Court Layup & Chest Passes

Start your practice with lots of up-and-back movements including defensive slides, full-court layups using both hands and zipping accurate chest passes while sliding up the floor.

WHY USE IT
Let your players know how important the fundamentals are to your program by emphasizing them at the beginning of every practice.

SET UP
All players begin in a line starting in a corner facing toward the court. Players need to give themselves enough space so they aren’t tripping over each other.

HOW TO PLAY
The drill begins with defensive slides. Players slide to the T, then to half-court, diagonal to the other T and finish in the opposite corner. They then sprint across the baseline and do the same thing back [diagram 1].

Once everyone gets back, the first three players grab a basketball and do full-court, right-handed layups to the opposite end, then back to the original hoop. Once they make the second layup, the shooter passes to the next player in line without a ball. Miss the layup, then sprint back to the baseline and do it again. Do the same for left-hand layups [diagram 2].

Now make two lines separated by the width of the lane lines. Make chest passes back and forth while sliding to the opposite end. After everyone makes the chest passes, return with bounce passes [diagram 3].

TECHNIQUE
Make a bad pass in the third segment and those players must start over. You are drilling perfection of fundamentals so be sure to have consequences for mistakes.

1. Start in a defensive slide position with hands wide, legs bent and backside low — use a slide where the feet don’t cross

2. Dribble hard in both directions as this is not a half-speed drill — have players imagine a defender is trailing them

3. Go hard at the hoop, make the layup and make a good pass to the next person in line without a ball

4. Use slides where the feet don’t cross again but use crisp chest passes back and forth

5. Return with bounce passes — the passes need to lead the partner who continues sliding down the floor and shouldn’t have to wait for the ball