With player demonstrations, two-time Hall of Fame basketball coach Doug Schakel, skill development coach for the NJCAA Div. II National Champions, shows you 17 Drills for Better Skills. These basketball drills show ways to improve ball handling, passing, and shooting for players.
The Five Chair Drill in the second half of the video may be my favorite. It shows players using different change of direction dribble moves that end with a shot at the basket. The Five Chair Drill has players attacking the basket from every angle on the floor. The Five Chair Drill can be used for youth basketball players all the way up to college-level. I should mention that we go at game speed on all these drills.
Of course, the players can’t maintain that level of energy output for extended periods of time. So, when their breathing becomes labored, we have them “rest” by shooting free throws until their breathing returns to normal; then it is back to the drills.
The three players featured in the drill all came from small high schools and two of them were post players with limited perimeter skill sets. I told the post players that we were going to change them from post players into basketball players. And, as you will see, that is exactly what happened. I don’t like labels like “post players.” I would rather have “basketball players” who might happen to play a post position. To me, the term “post player” implies a player with limited skills. We want all of our players to possess an advanced skill set. Skills are acquired; the same way a personal learns how to play a musical instrument.
And our favorite saying is “Skills Are Not Built In A Day; But They Are Built Daily!”
By: Coach Doug Schakel
