Perimeter Spacing Principles with Dribble Penetration

The video is a combination of two drills from 180 Shooter and Developing Basketball Intelligence: String Shooting Drill and Spurs Shooting Drill. More importantly, the drills teach basic spacing principles in relation to dribble penetration by a teammate. This was the final progression of these drills, and we moved quickly to the final progression because the players wanted to cheat: They moved on the pass rather than waiting to see the direction of the player's drive.

The drill isn't perfect for me, as I would not want a player to pass and stand, but it fits this team's offensive set and system, and it shows the basics of movement without the ball. My teams tend to play a four-out, so the next progression would be to add the pass and cut from the first player, and then do almost the same thing, with movement depending slightly on where the passer cuts after cutting toward the basket.

As a reference, the String Shooting Drill involves the player one pass away who follows the dribble toward the baseline and spaces away from the dribble if the dribble is toward him. The Spurs Shooting Drill involves the player on the weak side who drifts to the baseball on a baseline drive from the other wing. These are basic spacing principles in drill form to teach the basic movements and practice shooting from these cuts.

After showing the spacing, we played 3v3 Wildcat Rules, where the pass must be received outside the three-point line.

By Brian McCormick, M.S.S., PESCoach/Clinician, Brian McCormick Basketball Author, Cross Over: The New Model of Youth Basketball Development; Director of Coaching, Playmakers Basketball Development League