Basketball Post Play Drills

I don't hide the fact that I played the guard positions and that I am more knowledgeable in the area of guard play. But I've played with enough great players and coaches to have learned what it takes to be a good post player. I'm going to share with you some simple drills that you can use to get better while playing with your back to the basket. Remember that these drills are good for any position. I am a fan of Big 10 basketball and love watching Wisconsin run their offense. It is predicated on their guards being able to play on the blocks some. These drills are something that can be practiced until they are second nature to you.

Perfect Practice Makes Perfect

I stress this point in each of my articles because it is that important. Do these drills with intensity and at game speed. While practicing your form on your shot can be done carefully, the post moves I'll show you need to be practiced hard to become better at them.

The Old Stand By - The Mikan Drill

You want to start in front of the basket and I recommend starting around 3 feet from the front of the rim. Explode off of your left leg and shoot the ball off the glass. Rebound the ball, and immediately repeat the same thing on the other side. One of the keys here is to focus on really getting up off the ground. In a game you would explode toward the rim and this drill is no different. Something I like to recommend to all post players is to make sure that your off hand (non shooting hand) is going up with the ball and can act as a shield against the defense. Shoot 10-15 shots from each side. Shoot foul shots while resting. I tell people to do the drill until your neck hurts and you're seeing stars.

Post to Post

Some coaches refer to these as power moves, but I like to call them post to post because I'm constantly changing sides from one post to the other. Start on either side and establish position. This is done by really sitting down and getting low. If you are straight up you will have an impossible time getting passes consistently. Really sit down and get a good position. Either place the ball on the ground or spin it to yourself. Once you get the ball take a hard drop step toward the baseline. The key to the drop step is to get the defender on your hip. Once he's on your hip you've got him. But in these drills you won't have a defender, so you just want to make sure you practice full speed and concentrate. Once you've made the shot from one side immediately do the same thing on the opposite block. I would repeat this 5-10 times focusing on your position, explosion and making the shot. Shoot 5 foul shots and move on to the next portion which is taking a strong step toward the middle of the lane and being able to finish with either hand. This will give you a good strong base of 4 solid post moves from which to work with. In other articles I will cover other moves such as the show and go, jump hook and baseline fade-away.

Quick Jump Stop

Lastly, one of the most important shots for a post to make is a quick jump shot. This happens when a strong cut is made anywhere from 5-10 feet away from the basket. The wing player sees the post cutting and gets it to him. The Utah Jazz are famous for running a play that gets the post player and easy 5-10 foot jump shot in the key and I love watching it. But the key is having Karl Malone or Carlos Boozer able to hit the shot. Your team will let you know if they think you can hit it by how many times they pass you the ball. This is done very easily. I'll spin the ball and go to a spot and turn and shoot. I'll do it on both sides of the key until I'm comfortable with it. I want to repeat this until I'm exhausted. Focus on exploding off the ground and making the shot. Shoot foul shots and do it again.

Thanks for reading my article today. These are just some simple drills to help you get started. Once you get comfortable with these, then move on to the others. It is very important to have the milk before the meat. Don't work on a step back 15 foot shot while you can't even hit a lay up.