The "Run Out Series" Drills

I have not shared drills for a while, so I figured I would throw one out there for you!

The "Run Out Series" is something I came up with my season at Bagley HS when practicing with 6 players and 1 basket. I needed something where we could get a lot of "game shots" (which I think are important) in a little bit of space. The best time to beat a defender is on the closeout and I wanted to also have a drill to work on that. So I came up with Run Outs and the Run Out Series

The drill is very simple and probably nothing new. One player starts at the elbow ready to shoot, the rest start in a line under the basket (or two lines if you have 4+ guys). The first guy in line has a ball (and the second if more than three in a line). The player with the ball passes it to the shooter and SPRINTS OUT WITH HIGH HANDS PAST THE SHOOTER AS HE SHOOTS. The runner then sets up to be the next shooter. The shooter gets the ball and passes it to the next guy in line. If there are only two he passes it to the new shooter and runs out at him.

This simulates a defender running out at you when you are trying to shoot, as happens a lot in a game. This shooting drill teaches you to focus on the rim and not let the defender distract you from shooting. I think it really helps our guys develop that shooting touch with a guy in your face.

Some of the points of emphasis are: Play low to high - knees bent ready to shoot on the catch, watch the rim not the defender, proper shooting form, good passes, and bring the ball into your shot pocket.


Then after you do that for a while (5 minutes or so) and want to change, you can have your offensive player shot fake and drive. Instruct your runners to run to the same side of the shooter every time so they don't collide. The shooter shot fakes (ball up, butt down), cross steps, and explodes to the basket for a layup or pull up jumper, your choice.

After you do that for a few minutes, have your player work on the straight blow by. Work on the recognition that the defender is straight up and out of position, and teach them to simply put the ball on the floor and drive the poor closeout.

After executing that, have your players work on the jab fake and shot. Tell them after blowing by, or against good close out defenders, they are going to play the drive. So we use the jab fake to freeze them and allow us to shoot. Instruct your guys to jab at them, get back to balanced and shoot. The runners should play dummy D and freeze on the jab fake leaving enough room for a shot.


What you have to remind your guys is that this is NOT a defensive drill. You are not working on defense here, you are simply working to get your teammates better. You have to run hard and work hard, but at the same time don't translate this to defense! I know some defensive coaches may not run this drill for that very reason, but I don't see it being a huge carry over.


Well, I hope that this is a drill someone finds useful, it's worked very well for me. You can have 6 kids at a basket (2 groups, 1 each side) and get a lot of game like shots in during a short span with this one.