Teaching Your Players How to Move Without the Ball

When coaching basketball, you must stress the aspect of effectively moving without the ball.  This is the backbone to any successful offense.

I mean think about it.  Only one person can have the ball at a time.  What are the other four players on the court going to do?

This is one of the least understood basketball fundamentals.  Most of our young players have no clue how this relates to shooting and scoring. 

Your main goal when coaching basketball is to create the “perfect player”.  In regards to this topic, the “perfect player” should be able to read the defense and dart to the open spot.

As a coach, you need to make sure your players are in position to make split-second moves.  They can’t be standing straight up with their hands on their hips.  Basketball positioning is the foundation of your entire game.  This isn’t a light matter.

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Footwork

When you think of basketball, you think of a game with lots of quick moves, cuts, and pivots. To properly perform any of these moves, you must start of by teaching your players good foot positioning.

You need to show your players the proper stance.  Basically, keeping your feet a shoulder's width apart. The non-pivot foot should be slightly out in front of the other, with the toes of the pivot foot on the same plane with the heels of the front foot.

Tell your players to keep both feet on the floor, with their body weight distributed over the full length of each foot. A common mistake is to put all body weight only on the balls of the feet. This tires the calf muscles and will also slow your players down when they begin to make their move.

Show your players how to get their muscles “loaded”.  This is done by having them keep their knees flexed and getting in a crouched position. 

When your players stand straight-legged they lose this quickness, because their leg muscles are stretched out.

Only when they first contract and then stretch out again will your players be able to move with the deadly combination of speed and power.

Quick Starts

Your players need to stay alert and ready to react and move at the snap of a finger.   Teach your players to stay low and to keep their initial steps short and fast.  The key is how fast you move your feet, not the distance you cover.

Quick Stops

Just as getting a quick start is important in basketball, it is equally important to be able to stop on a dime while maintaining the "fundamental basketball position".

If your players are off balance when they stop, they have to waste take time to regroup. That one second is all it takes for the defensive man to regain any advantage your player had over him.

There are many good ways of stopping on the court. It only takes a little practice to learn them properly. After a few practice sessions, they will become an instinctive part of your players' basketball repertoire.

Pivoting

When teaching your players how to properly pivot, follow these simple rules:  

1. Keep their "fundamental basketball position." That is with knees flexed and feet a shoulder's width apart.
2. Pivots should be made on the balls of their feet; therefore, lift up the heel of the pivot foot.
3. When they make a full (360 degree) pivot, a half, or even a quarter-turn pivot. Just remind them to keep their body low and feet spread wide.
4. Pivots are made, both offensively and defensively, two ways:

·        A front turn is made when your chest moves around the pivot foot. This is a good way to square up to the basket for a shot.

·        A rear turn is made by leading with your rear end.

5. Your players should practice pivots on both their right and left foot. This prepares them for game situations.

Change of Pace

The change of pace movement is a good offensive weapon and your players should use it throughout the game.

It’s a three part move used to lose your defensive man. It is executed by running, then slowing down your pace, straightening up your body slightly to give the defense the impression you are going to stop.

Usually, this gets his defensive man to relax.  By quickly accelerating, your player will get his man off balance and he won’t be able to react in time.

To properly perform all these moves, it requires lots of practice.  Make sure to incorporate movement and footwork drills into your practices.  If you don’t practice it, they won’t learn it.  It’s as simple as that.

Click Here to get access to hand-selected movement and footwork drills. 

So, there you have it.  The basics to moving without the ball.  Using the guidelines and resources presented you will be an expert at coaching basketball players how to move without the ball and have a leg up on the competition.

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