Drills play
Drill: Closeout Shooting
- Court
- Half court
- Length
- 9 steps
About this play
Three players, one ball, two wings: shoot, chase your shot, pass to the next shooter, and sprint out to close out on him. Why it works: every rep is a two-way rep. The shooter gets a contested catch-and-shoot at game speed, the passer gets a live closeout with a real shooter in front of him, and the closeout is the hardest thing to teach in a vacuum. Setup: 1 and 2 at the right wing, 3 at the left wing, no cones, three or four minutes per pair of spots, then move the spots to the corners or the top. The closeout: sprint two thirds of the way, chop the steps the last two strides, hand up, baseline foot back, and do not fly by or block the shot. The shooter catches on balance with his feet ready to shoot; if the closeout arrives in time, he is allowed a shot fake and a single hard dribble to the side to clear it, and then he shoots. Tony Miller has the defender leave on the pass for younger players and on the catch for older ones. Mistakes: a closeout that runs past or fouls, a shooter who catches off balance, soft passes, and more than one dribble. Progressions: shot fake and one-dribble jumper, fake and drive for the layup, and anything goes against a live defender. Every level. I got this one from Coach's Clipboard's two-man and youth team shooting drills, Tony Miller's closeout shooting video with Dr. Dish, and Sherri Coale's warm-up version; give them a look for the pair rotation.
