Basketball Drills - Rebounding Box-Out Drills
By Dr. James Gels, From the Coach’s Clipboard Basketball Playbook"Helping coaches coach better..."
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Here are several rebounding box-out drills. Also see the War Drill and 2-on-2 Rebounding Drills. See Rebounding to learn more about boxing-out technique.
3-Man Rebounding, PowerUp Drill
This drill stresses boxing out and rebounding, as well as low post offensive power moves. This is a good drill for post players. Have three players under the basket. The coach or a manager shoots the ball up. All three players work for position and go for the rebound. The player who gets the rebound powers the ball back to the hoop while the other two are on defense and try to stop him.No dribbling is permitted except for a one-bounce dribble adjust. The offensive player should be thinking three-point play, the basket and a foul. This drill not only stresses rebounding fundamentals and aggressiveness, but also power offensive moves, as well as "in the paint" defense and shot blocking.
Option:
Allow the two defenders to "bump" the offensive player's body (not the arms or shooting hand) when going up for the shot. This makes it difficult to score, but helps teach your post players how to finish even when there is contact on the shot.
Box-Out the Shooter Drill
Here's a good rebounding, box-out drill, as well as a shooting drill.Setup:
Make two lines - the shooting line on the wing, and the defense, box-out line at the free-throw line.
Drill:
The wing player has the ball. The first player in the defense line defends the wing player. The wing shoots (defense should allow the shot). As soon as the shot is released, the defender turns and checks the shooter and gets the rebound (even if the shot is made). The shooter tries to get the rebound (but no second shots are allowed as this is mainly a box-out drill).
Technique:
If your man is away from the basket on the perimeter, do NOT use the standard boxing-out techniques employed right under the basket - the offensive player will often get around you, or you may get a foul. Instead, find your man and "check" him by making contact with him with your forearm. If he tries to get around you, "arc" him outside, and then aggressively pursue the ball.
If your man is stronger and pushes or forces you inside the paint, then use the standard block-out technique used in the war zone. If your man releases away from the basket to half-court as a "safety", go to the closest elbow and rebound from there. Often the 3-point shot results in a long rebound to either elbow.
If the offensive player gets the rebound, the defender has to do five push-ups.
As an added feature, stress the importance of good passing. The rebounder makes a good pass back out to the next player in the shooting line. If it's a bad, lazy pass, the passer does five push-ups.
2-on-2 Box-Out with Spin and Swim Moves
Coach Grey Giovanine demonstrates the "spin move" and the "swim move" fromOpen Practice: Rebounding and Mental Toughness Drills DVD:
UCLA Drill
The UCLA Womens team uses this drill, which is good for conditioning and includes a close-out, box-out and rebound, a full-court dribble, and a jump-shot.Setup:
There is a line on one baseline, and another along the right sideline (diagram 1). An assistant coach is positioned on the opposite end, right wing.
Drill:
X1 (blue) starts under the basket and sprints out (closes-out) on O1 at the right wing. X1 then sprints over to O2, boxes-out and rebounds O1's shot. O1 does not shoot until X1 has a chance to get over to O2. After securing the rebound, X1 then speed dribbles up the court (diagram 2), passes to the coach (C) on the right sideline, sprints to the point, receives a return pass from the coach, and shoots the pull-up jump-shot at the free-throw line area.
Diagram 3 shows the rotation. X1 goes to the right sideline line, the first shooter O1 goes to the left wing (to be boxed-out). O2 (who was boxed-out) goes to the baseline line. O4 is the next shooter, and O3 moves under the basket and is the next rebounder.
Box-Out Circle Drill
This drill has players work on their boxing out technique.Setup:
Have 10 (or 12) players get into position around the free throw circle. You can use any number of players as long as they have room to maneuver. Players pair up with a partner. Have guards go against guards, post players against post players. Five defensive players spread around the circle, and their offensive partners are outside the circle. They should be facing each other.
The Drill:
The coach puts the ball in the center of the circle, gets out of the way, and blows the whistle. The offensive players try to get inside and get the ball. The defenders should immediately pivot, put their backsides into the offensive players and keep them outside away from the ball. They should continue boxing out for a count of 5. Then switch offense and defense.
Make sure defenders are using correct boxing out technique (see Rebounding Tips, Techniques and Fundamentals), and do not hold the offensive players. You can keep score and the losers run. Any holding fouls, give a point to the offensive team. This puts pressure on each player to do his part in keeping his man out.
