High Energy Drills for Building Competitive Practices

Andy Toole has built the Robert Morris University program by preaching competition. His teams won the NEC regular season title in 2013 and ’14 and continue to challenge for conference honors. The big reason for the turnaround is Toole’s commitment to making practices competitive.

In this video, you will see Coach Toole go on the court to demonstrate 11 creative, intense, and highly competitive drills that lead to more productive practices.

Some of the drills you will see include the following:

• 4-on-3 Passing Drill: Offensive players learn to use ball fakes and learn how to look off the defense when making passes. Defenders learn to use active hands and force the offense to make mistakes.
• Harcum 2-on-1 Drill: This is a unique half-court transition drill that teaches quick outlet passes, sprinting in transition, and the idea that a player’s job is never done. This is the perfect drill for lower level teams where coaches have large numbers of players.
• Roanoke 1-on-1 Defensive Drill: This is an all-purpose drill that emphasizes many of the basic defensive fundamentals. Players must closeout, guard cutters, front post players, help and recover, control dribblers, and finish with rebounds.
• 4-on-2 Rebounding Drill: Players are forced into a disadvantage situation making them uncomfortable, but they must come up with the initial rebound in a possession.

Coach Toole puts it all together in a unique twist on the traditional shell drill. You’ll see situations where the defense is beaten and must help. Toole believes the help is an important part of the shell drill.

Coach Toole’s drills will help your team compete harder and transition from possession to possession much faster. Players and coaches will both enjoy the creativity and intensity of Coach Toole’s drills which simulate game-like conditions.