40 in 4 Layup and Conditioning Drill

contributed by
Todd Warnick, Men's Basketball Head Coach, Malaspina University

Benefits: Conditioning is a primary benefit. The best part is that the drill is fun and the players will be willing work hard. Skills emphasized include rebounding, ball handling and passing while moving quickly, layups, jump shots and three point shooting. There is no internal competition. The entire team must work together against the clock, so the drill is good for fostering teamwork and positive motivation through peer pressure.

Pitfalls: Players will soon discover that inaccurate passes and careless shooting will be detrimental to their success as score is kept. If the players fail to meet the coach's objective (target number of points within a specified time), then the team may be required to do the drill again or do a conditioning drill that is less interesting.

Required: You will need five basketballs and at least seven players. You will also need a stop watch or wall clock as the drill is timed.

To start, place three players at mid-court. The middle player has a basketball. Position the remaining players at the sideline where it intersects with the free throw line extended. Balance the number of players in each line as evenly as you can.

The three players in the middle of the court start the drill. They do a half court 3 man weave and make a layup. The key for teaching players the 3 man weave is to tell them to cut behind and around the player they throw the ball to. In a half court setting, there should only be two passes.

To explain the diagram (2), B1 passed to B3 and then cut behind and around B3. B3 passes to B2 who should shoot the layup. Make the players go full speed. If they are making more than two passes, they are going too slow. B1 and B3 should follow through to the opposite side of the floor.

Another challenge is to require the players to go all the way to the sideline when they cut behind the player they passed to. Its more distance to cover and will challenge the older players.

After making the layup, B2 retrieves the basketball.

Meanwhile, B1 and B3 receive passes from the first player they are facing at the side line, in this case, B4 and B6.

In diagram 4, B2 begins a new 3 man weave with the players that just in-bounded the ball, B4 and B6. Now, some coaches don't like the three man weave, but that doesn't mean you can't do this drill. Just change the pass pattern to middle-side-middle.

While B2, B4 and B6 are running their 3 man break to the upper basket, B1 and B3 are shooting outside shots. The coach can decide if the outside shot will be a 3 or a mid-range jumper. B1 and B3 must get their own rebounds.

B1 and B3 pass their basketballs to the players waiting at the sideline and then they can go to the end of the line they passed to.

At the other end of the court, B2, B4 and B6 are finishing their 3 man attack. This time, B6 will have the lay up. That means B6 must retrieve his shot and start a new 3 man attack at the lower basket with B8 and B10. Before B8 and B10 can go, though, they must first pass their basketballs to B4 and B2 who each take their outside shot. After B2 and B4 shoot, they each must retrieve their basketball and pass it back to B9 and B10.

To score this drill, count -1 point for a missed layup, 0 for a made layup, 1 point for a jumper and 2 points for a 3 point shot. The goal is to make 40 points in 4 minutes, hence the name of the drill. If your team isn't ready to reach a number like that yet, change the scoring to 1 point for a layup, 2 points for a jumper and 3 points for a trey, like in a real game. Since this is a team score, keep tabs on how high your team can score over the course of the season. That way the team can compete against itself for added motivation.