Decision-making — deciding whether or not to shoot — is a part of shooting, and shooting drills should incorporate these decisions. Many coaches and trainers have added defense to shooting drills in recent years, but the drills posted online often are more contested shooting drills than drills involving decision-making: There is still a designated shooter. Many of these drills appear to focus more on shooting quicker or shooting against a defender in close proximity than on making the decision as to whether the player should shoot or turn down the shot for a better option (pass, drive).
Ultimately, players need to learn the space they need to feel comfortable shooting, but when players shoot regardless, they may not learn to read or feel the requisite distance because they shoot either way in the drill. Similarly, players need to read rule contextual cues (speed of a closeout), not fake cues like flashing lights or yelling “shoot” or “drive”. Decision-making is context specific.
Here is a series of drills, based on Fake Fundamentals, Volume 4 and Evolution of 180 Shooter: A 21st Century Guide, showing a progression from simple to complex in terms of decision-making and the drive/pass/shot decision in shooting drills.
Partner Shooting
Partner Shooting is a basic warmup drill, and one I like to introduce to teach players to warm up in pairs, shooting off the catch, as opposed to individually. I ask players to keep moving when transitioning from defense to offense rather than standing still and shooting from the same spot repeatedly.
As a two-player drill, Partner Shooting does not include the passing option. However, players read the closeout and decide to shoot or drive, so it is a simple drill to use as a starting point. The drill also changes from constant to variable practice because each shot differs, as players shoot off the catch and off the dribble, from different locations, and different angles.
4v1 Spanish Shooting
4v1 Spanish Shooting eliminates dribbling, reducing the decision-making to a pass/shot decision. With a big offensive advantage (4v1), players should shoot only open shots, so this works as a beginner shooting drill. We also add some movement (block to elbow) to shoot from different spots and add some motion to the shots.
4v2 Serbia Shooting
4v2 Serbia Shooting eliminates dribbling, reducing the decision-making to a pass/shot decision. With a big offensive advantage (4v2), players should shoot only open shots. The offense stays stationary (within reason) because of the big numerical advantage and desire with older players to shoot three-pointers. Shooter and final passer rotate to defense, and defense rotates to offense.
4v3 Serbia Shooting
4v3 Serbia Shooting eliminates dribbling, reducing the decision-making to a pass/shot decision. With a small offensive advantage (4v3), players should shoot open shots. We often play competitive 4v4 with one defender sitting out with make it/take it rules and live play on a missed shot and offensive rebound.
3-Player String Shooting
Three-player drill incorporating movement and decision-making. On the catch, players have option to shoot, drive and kick, or pass; the pass directly after the catch is used less frequently because of the spacing. On a pass out, players close out, so players begin to read the defense when making the drive/pass/shot decision. We take away the shooting option after the dribble because we use it as a shooting drill: Every drive is a drive and kick.
5-Player String Shooting
5-Player String Shooting is 3v2, but restricted to catch-and-shoot attempts (because it is a shooting drill). On the catch, players can drive, pass, or shoot; when they drive, they drive to touch the paint (thee-second area) and kick. Defense closes out and contests shots. Shooter and final passer rotate to defense.
3v3 Wildcat Rules
3v3 game with an emphasis on penetrate and kick and shooting. Players can receive a pass only outside the three-point line (initial rules). They can shoot from wherever they want. Players can drive, pass, or shoot on the catch.
Summary
There are many drills a coach can use to progress and regress based on players' needs. These incorporate different levels of decision-making into shooting drills rather than practicing shooting only in isolated or individual drills devoid of the game context.
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