Craig Neal: 15 Skill Development Drills

No matter what level you coach, player development is vital to your program’s success. Former Toronto assistant coach and scout Craig Neal spent most of his time with the Raptors in charge of player development. In this video, Coach Neal shows you 15 practice drills that work on every facet of the game. You will see drills for ball handling, shooting, passing, working from the perimeter, posting up, and much more.

Ball Handling & Passing

Coach Neal presents six different drills that develop the passing and dribbling skills of any player at any level. You will see a drill using two tennis balls and two basketballs that works on a player’s floor vision and hand coordination. Lobo Ball Handling tightens up a player’s dribbling as well as their change of direction. Often overlooked are passing drills like Lobo Passing. Players must focus on completing every repetition with precision.

Scoring

The name of the game is scoring and Coach Neal has a number of drills to help your players become better scorers. Coach Neal has a certain philosophy of footwork and shows it to you in a catch and pivot drill that helps players create the space needed to score consistently.

Coach Neal works dribble moves in the open floor with Dribble Cones. Players combine multiple moves to get an open jumper from the perimeter, a mid-range pull-up, or a finish at the rim.

Shooting is a skill that must be developed and Coach Neal does so with three drills that force players to compete with their teammates or against a clock. The results are more accurate shooters with increased range. The drills include:

• Cone Shooting: helps players refine their body control and have the ability to catch the ball quickly and shoot a jump shot while on the move
• Two Minute Shooting: works on developing mid-range and 3-point jump shots while forcing players to move and work on their catch-and-shoot technique
• Beat the Pro: players take seven shots and must avoid missing three to win this competition-style drill

Post Play

Coach Neal helps players develop a strong pivot foot so post players can improve their primary and counter moves. These include the jump hook, jump shot, spin move, and more. Neal also works on the inside pivot move to help posts score around the rim.

Pick & Roll

Coach Neal teaches the pick and roll to help both perimeter and post players understand how to put all of their skills together. The Outlet Drill is one that simulates getting the ball out quickly, running the floor, and using the skills taught to get an easy scoring opportunity.

All the drills included in Coach Neal’s video are high-level drills used by players at the college and professional levels. They can be used at any level to help improve basic basketball skills.