Playing Basketball: Small Forward Training Drills

[Music Playing] The catch and shoot is a shooting technique that is most commonly used at the professional levels of basketball. Catch and shoot allows you to shoot your shot one second quicker than you normally would if you go to a set position and then try to release the ball. This is a great technique for smaller players to use in order to get the ball off quicker against taller opponents. Again, you will notice the points on the bottom of your screen that helps us to track our goal of making ten shots for each shooting drill. When shooting the catch and shoot, you want to catch the ball with your feet in the air on the pass. All that you have to do at that point is jump stop and jump shot on the catch. You are using your body to spring straight up for the shot. Shot fakes and into the lane for a jump shot. An alternative shot to a three point weapon has to be a jump shot into the lane. All of these is a three point shooting workout, we are showing you how to be a more effective player. [Music Playing] What Mike is doing is he is passing to himself, making a jump stop and a triple threat then coming back to a catch and shoot, put a shot fake and going to a jump shot of the lane. We are just trying to develop game habits while we work our way out to the perimeter. [Music Playing] Once you get the rhythm of this drill, it is very easy to do. Incorporate a jump stop and pivot in to our practice setting before we actually go through the move. Everything we practice is a game situation. [Music Playing] Shot fake into the lane for the jump shot. Now, we have him pass to himself using a reverse spin on the ball so that he can shot fake out of a catch and shoot because we are trying to emphasize that catch and shoot whenever we can. Next, what we are doing is we are adding a degree of difficulty to the drill. You can do this with a Coach passing to a player or players as a team drill passing to each other. As we pass the ball, we are using a catch and shoot and then the players are having to decide which way they need to go depending on where the defender is charging at them, if it is on the right side or the left side. It is a faking drill but it also provides game situation. [Music Playing] You can incorporate this drill in only three minutes a day into your practice time and have great results in a game situation. For small forward, it is vitally important in out of balance play situations that you know and understand and internalize what every player position must do in an out of balance situation. Where does the five go? Where does the four go? Where does the shooting guard go? The more roles that you know the more valuable you will be to your Coach and he will put you in multiple positions. You are the ball player that is in the middle of all the size of the basketball players from point guard to center. So he might be one to stick you on the post and she might be willing to stick you at the point position if you know what the roles are for each player on your team.