Hoop Drills: The Coach's Guide

Basketball: You don't just play the game. You have to master it. If you want to hit the court hard and play like Michael Jordan, flying toward the net with 3 seconds left on the clock, you have to master the fundamentals.

Practice improves all performance. Learning the game inside out, and not just jump balls and free throws, is a start. This book is about understanding offense, defense, the strength of the triple threat position and the power of the pivot. For any player, hitting three pointers on the playground again and again isn't the same as performing in the heat of a game, with a three hundred pound guard in your face, giving you no room to breathe, not to mention jump.

Hoop Drills includes more than 60 drills, contributed by some of the best in the field, to help players improve all aspects of their game. Coaches from all levels (high school, university and professional ball) have brought their experience and insight to these pages. The result is a terrific selection of fully illustrated drills that will take every player to the rim, and more.

Contents include:

• early drills and warm-ups
  dribbling and shooting
• offensive drills for larger players
  overall offensive drills
• defensive drills
• transition drills
• playground games and fun drills

There are over 200 full-color photographs and illustrations to reinforce the coaching.

Contributors include Red Auerbach, John Wooden and Pete Carril.

Vincent M. Mallozzi has been writing about sports for The New York Times since he graduated from university. He has contributed to Reader's Digest, Sport, Time Out, New York, Hardball and Source magazines. He is the author of Basketball: The Legends of the Game (Firefly, 1998) and lives in Aberdeen, New Jersey.