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Free-Throw Block-Out Drill Builds Tougher Rebounders
By Keith Cooper, Head Mens Coach, Saint Martin's College, Lacey, Wash.
FREE-THROW REBOUNDING, along with inbounds plays and defense, have often been referred to as the "Special Teams" of basketball. As most good coaches are aware, it is often the little things that win games.
When it comes to offensive free-throw rebounding, the question to ask yourself is, "If you were to get two more put-backs per game, how many more games won would those four points translate to?"
To help convince players to "always be the aggressor in everything that they do," we run offensive free-throw stunts and crash the glass hard, trying to come up with those extra put-backs.
On defensive free throws, we really stress blocking out and never giving up an offensive put-back.
To practice both offensive and defensive free-throw rebounding, we created the following free-throw rebounding drill.
DIAGRAM 1: Free-Throw Rebounding Drill (Initial Set Up). Divide your squad into two equal teams. The coach stands next to the foul shooter and keeps track of the cumulative score. X's must call out their pinch. On the shot by the coach, all of the O's crash the boards, including the player set up on the shooter's position. The X's get 1 point for every defensive rebound and O's get 2 points for every offensive rebound.
Both teams take turns on offense and defense and each player must line up at the shooter's position at least once. After each player on both teams has shot, the team with the least amount of total points runs (as "punishment" for losing the drill).
This drill has turned out to be an excellent practice drill for us. It's an extremely physical and tough drill, which helps emphasize the importance of free-throw rebounding. It is also a very competitive and challenging contact drill that the players enjoy.
