Drills play
Drill: Partner Passing Series
- Court
- Half court
- Length
- 6 steps
About this play
The three passes every player needs, thrown in pairs before practice: the chest pass, the bounce pass, and the two-hand overhead, ten each, then the one-hand push pass with each hand, then mixed calls where one partner throws chest and the other bounce. Why it works: passing is the skill coaches assume and never teach, and ten clean reps of each pass to a partner who shows a target is how the step, the snap, and the catch become automatic. Setup: pairs facing each other across the lane, one ball per pair, twelve to fifteen feet apart, backed up past twenty feet for the overhead; the drawing shows two pairs with the ball in one of them. Runs several minutes at the start of practice, ten reps per pass type. Common mistakes: lob passes, no step into the pass, the receiver's hands down, and a catch made standing straight up instead of in triple threat. Progression: a pass fake before every pass, then a passive defender between the partners. Youth first, every level as a warmup. I picked this up from Coach's Clipboard's partner drills and the Jr. NBA's stationary partner passing video; give them a look for the behind-the-back and two-ball versions.
