(Rental)-Sherri Coale: More of My Favorite Basketball Drills

One of the all-time greats in women’s college basketball, former Oklahoma head coach Sherri Coale goes on the court for this presentation of more of her favorite drills. You’ll see what makes a good drill as well as something she calls Small Games. Coach Coale has used these drills over her two decades-plus career that produced 10 Big 12 titles, 19 straight trips to the NCAA tournament, and back-to-back Final Four appearances in 2009 and 2010.

Philosophy and Goals of Drills

Coales first goes through the keys for great drills. It all starts with focusing on something you want your players to get better at. Another key for a great drill is that it should be as game-like as possible. Finally, the drill has to be competitive. That might mean keeping score against an opponent or maybe it means competing against a clock. Regardless, competitive drills increase the buy-in and effort from your players.

Small Games

Coach Coales introduces Small Games, which are breakdown drills that make up three-quarters of Coale’s drill time in practices. These games start at 1-on-1 and progress to 4-on-4 and meet her criteria for effective drills.

You will see daily 1-on-1 drills to develop reads on offense and defense. There are 2-on-2 drills where the offense looks to score and drive off the catch. The 3-on-3 and 4-on-4 drills build on skills learned in 1-on-1 and 2-on-2 drills. All the Small Games drills give players game-like situations to work on.

Additional Drills

The next set of drills are those that help a team play at their best. Fast Drill is one that works on making quick outlet passes and sprinting the floor to attack a defense in transition.

3-Cone Shooting works on shooting, conditioning, and has an element of competition built in. Players shoot a free throw and when they miss they must run around a cone that corresponds to the number of shots missed.

Point and Holler is great defensive drill that is typically run at the beginning of a practice. Four defensive players turn their backs to the offense. The offense runs movements without the ball. On command, the defense turns around and immediately points to the player they are guarding.

This is a fantastic presentation from one of the best coaches in the history of women’s college basketball. There is something in this video for any coach at any level.