Marvin Menzies (1)

Basketball Practice Drills to Improve Your Team How players practice carries over into their game performances and former New Mexico State and UNLV head coach Marvin Menzies knows it. It’s why he developed a series of basketball practice drills aimed at improving his players’ skills. Menzies led New Mexico State to three regular season and five WAC tournament championships as well as five NCAA tournament berths. In this video, he demonstrates practice drills for individual skill development that fits into his team’s strategic framework. Pre-Practice Fundamentals A series of shooting drills begins practice. Players learn to become confident in their shots. They begin with simple form shooting and progress to making five shots in a row while working on their form. Posts and guards work with assistant coaches on individual moves and then get into game-like shots. The idea is to focus on rhythm and technique. In-Practice Shooting Drills When practice begins, shooting becomes a point of emphasis. Two main shooting drills are done on a daily basis. 3-Game Shooting: The drill simulates a guard beating his defender off of the bounce and then reading the second defender. The guard can then pull up for a jumper, shoot a floater, shoot a runner, or pass into the post. 3’s, 2’s, and 1’s: Players shoot from seven different spots on the floor and get three points for a made 3-pointer, two points for a pull-up jumper, and one point for a layup. Defense and Rebounding Drills Successful teams must be able to play defense and rebound. Coach Menzies offers up basketball practice drills to build a tough defensive and rebounding mentality. He uses the Shadow Drill to teach defensive stance. Players learn to execute proper slides from a proper stance. An emphasis is placed on pushing off the leg opposite the direction the offensive player is moving, keeping the butt down, staring at the midsection, and keeping the hands out. The 3-on-3 Closeout Drill helps players get in the proper position to defend their man as well as the other players in the right defensive position. Circle Blockout has five defensive players working around in a circle focused on the five offensive rebounders. On the shot, the five defenders communicate to make sure each offensive player is boxed out. Coach Menzies’ 74-minute video presents some quality practice drills that can benefit any team at any level.  Rent this basketball practice drills DVD today.