Hard2Guard Skills – Pivoting, Protecting the Ball, and Passing

Below are two clips from a recent clinic with the u18s in Ghana. I apologize for the lack of volume in some parts. The keys are to protect the ball from the defense while remaining in a position to make a pass at all times. These are basic drills and skills featured in Hard2Guard: Skill Development for Perimeter Players. Read more

Developing Better Game Passers

For drills to be effective, they must transfer to better game performance. Many coaches spend a lot of practice time on drills like three-man weaves or two-line passing drills, yet continue to complain about their players’ passing skills. The problem is the constraints: the constraints of a three-man weave differ from the constraints of completing a pass in a game. Read more

How to Develop Better Passing Skills

Passing is a two-way street: the passer and the receiver. Most attention is paid to the passer, but oftentimes the receiver’s role is even more important or the cause of the mistake or turnover.

In Vol. 3, No. 41 of the Hard2Guard Player Development Newsletters, I write about two concepts that I picked up at the Basketball BC SuperConference.

First, former Wake Forest University Head Coach Dave Odom spoke about playing against pressure. He stressed cutting past the line of the defense to get open.

In the first diagram, the player cutting to the diagonal (O2) stops short of the line of the defense and on the pass, they converge at the same time and it is a free-for-all.

In the second diagram, the player cuts past the line of the defense to receive the pass.

In a different session, local high school coach Matt McKay spoke about developing a motion offense for a youth team and stressed getting to the level of the ball for a cut. Follow O3 as he cuts to the elbow to get to the level of the ball, then across the free throw line, and finally makes the L-cut to get open at the three-point line.

His other option would be to receive at the elbow if he is open, or cut backdoor if he is overplayed.

By Brian McCormick
Director of Coaching, Playmakers Basketball Development Leagues