Basketball Passing Drills

They created magic on the basketball court with their awe-inspiring gimmicks with the basketball. No mention of basketball can be complete without the 2 legendary basketball players Earvin 'Magic' Johnson and Michael Jordan. Wonder what the 'mantra' behind their extremely successful stint in the court was. I guess sheer determination and hell lot of practice and training. Talking of training, ever heard of basketball training without drills? I am sure not! So, here are a few of them!

Basic Basketball Passing Drills

Passing and Stepping
The players begin with a line at the center of the foul line and other line on the out-of-bounds line. The players start off when the ball is at the foul line. They face each other and then side step down the court. At the same time, they give each other a chest pass every couple of steps. The players have to make sure that the ball does not hit the ground.

Swap or Pass?
This is supposedly one of the best basketball passing drills. To do this drill, the players get into pairs. To kick start the drill, one of the players throws chest passes and the other one throws bounce passes. The coach can call out command like 'switch' to indicate that the passing technique has to be swapped. The player doing chest passing will do bounce passing and vice versa. The drill is very effective for improving timing, passing and catching.

Chasing Game
A couple of players stand on each side of the rectangle. One of them has the ball. On the whistle, both the players rush off down the court. The player who has the ball throws it down the court in front of the other player. That player then has to make a lay up in the other basket. If the player (who had the ball earlier) cannot catch it, or it goes far off in front of both of them, a second pass back to the player having the ball initially is made for another lay up or a shot.

The Court is Full
This is one of the most enjoyable and effective basketball passing drills for kids. In this drill, the coach pairs a group of children and asks them to form a single line or 2 lines at the most. Each group then stands on the baseline on opposite ends of the court. On the coach's whistle the players jog besides each other using the pass the coach has assigned, either chest or bounce. The kids have to stay across or slightly ahead of their partner. The coach has to focus on the children leading their teammates with the pass.

Weaving a Score
The players fall in a group of 5 at one end of the court. Each player passes and goes behind the player who is shooting the lay up and the player who passed the ball to the shooter at that instant sprints to cover the defensive basket. The ball is taken out of the basket by the player who is the closest to the rebound. He immediately passes it to the nearest offensive player for the initiation of 3 on 2 situation.

Circle to Pass
In this drill, the players make a circle in the center of the court which has a diameter of around 4 meters. One of the players is in the middle. The first player to start off the proceedings passes to the player in the center and then goes after his pass. The player in the center then passes the ball to the next player in the circle, clockwise. Consequently the player who was in the center becomes one of those forming the circle, replacing the player he passed the ball to. The ball cannot touch the ground.

If you want to learn more basketball passing drills, the best way is to learn from a coach or check out on the internet! At the end of the day a player can do these drills or umpteen more things. What is important for a basketball player is being constantly involved and on his toes, and lots and lots of practice!