Basketball Drills You Can Do On Your Own

The basketball season has started and you’re feeling that competitive spirit. You want to get in some solo practice, but don’t have a team or a hoop nearby. Don’t worry! In this blog post, we will talk about Basketball drills you can do on your own. All of these drills are easy to set up. So it doesn’t matter where you live or how much time you have available to practice.

Benefits of Solo Training in Basketball

Solo basketball drills are a great way to get in the physical and mental fitness you need for competition. They’re also perfect starting points if you’ve just started playing. Because you can focus on one thing at a time and build your skills up slowly over time.

If that’s not enough motivation, here’s some more: solo practice is cheaper than joining an actual team or hiring a coach, plus it requires very little space so even city dwellers will have no excuse!

Also, getting better at basketball by yourself means there’ll never be anyone around who can tell you what to do. This gives total control of your training experience back into your hands. You know exactly how hard you want to work today and what kind of progress/success you want to achieve.

Solo basketball drills are great for building all sorts of skills. But four main types will help you become a better player overall: shooting, footwork/agility, ball-handling, and free throws.

Why Practising on Your Own is Also Important

Practicing basketball drills on your own is crucial to becoming a better player. Not only does solo basketball practice help you work on your skills. But it also helps build confidence and increase athleticism. To perform at your best during games or tournaments, you need to be able to do the things that made those plays successful in practice!

In this blog post, we’ll go over some drills that can easily be done by yourself. It’s important not just do these types of practices once a week either; they should become part of your regular basketball training. You can do them every day, or at least multiple times a week to improve your game! Let’s dive right into the first drill!

Ball-Handling Routine

The first of these basketball drills are a simple ball-handling routine. Start with a layup, and move on to some basic dribbling moves from there. A good idea is also to mix in some crossovers or behind-the-back movements too.

Which will help you develop more advanced moves in the future. Don’t forget to practice both hands! Further variations of this routine can be done by adding a dribble move before each layup, or even multiple ball-handling moves in between.

Shooting Routine

The second basketball drill is a shooting routine. Start with your feet set up at their regular position, and aim for high percentage shots from there. From mid-range, practice pulling off different types of jumpers such as a step-back jumper or pull-ups.

The last part of this solo basketball drill should be some free throws – don’t neglect them because they are an important aspect of any player’s game! Work out these shots from around 15ft based upon how much space you have available based upon if anyone else may be watching what you’re doing or not.

To further improve your shooting, focus specifically on;

• Free Throws – practice free throws by yourself until you’re making at least 80% of them! You should have already learned about proper form in basketball, but it’s important to practice those movements again and again so they become second nature.

This will work on your mental focus as well as hand-eye coordination which can be hard when shooting by yourself. Maintaining proper form is also important here; don’t forget about those elbows and wrists!

• Corner/Wing Shots – aim for the corners and wings of the court to practice shooting from different angles. You should also take a few steps back after each shot so that you’re working on your range too (make sure there’s nothing behind where you’ll be aiming).

If indoors, make sure not to shoot towards other rooms; if outdoors, consider using something like an outdoor basketball net or even just some spare cones set up in two rows about three meters apart. For both these drills, don’t forget to use proper form!

It’s very important to keep your elbow locked throughout the movement, as well as keeping your wrist firm when releasing the ball. These are common mistakes that will reduce accuracy significantly!

Footwork/Agility Routine

For the third drill in this list of solo basketball drills, we recommend a footwork/agility routine. The first things to focus on are your crossover or behind-the-back dribbles because they will help you shake off defenders if nobody else is passing to you during games. Once that’s mastered, try doing some crossovers while running forward too – layups only count as 50% here though! When it comes to agility training itself many different types of exercises can be done which involve jumping rope (jump rope), speed ladders (speed ladder), and even running up hills.

Some variations for footwork/agility drills, which you can do on your own and is great for practicing footwork movements are;

• Side Shuffle – run sideways as fast as possible, trying not to cross over your feet (this will make it harder).

• Lateral Jumps – jump side-to-side quickly while staying low to the ground like you’re playing defense. Make sure that your knees are always bent when jumping! This helps develop explosive movement in different directions without losing any speed.

• Back Pedal – run back as fast as you can, and then switch to running forward quickly too! This will work on your acceleration/deceleration abilities which are crucial for any sport. It also requires a lot of balance so make sure that if the ground is slippery or uneven, use a mat instead.

Using Screens

This next one will help you learn how to use screens when playing pick and roll against defenders. Try setting two cones up on either side about ten paces apart from each other (if possible). One cone represents the defender while the other represents where you want your teammate to be.

Try using the screen to create separation from your defender, and either hit your teammate on a shot or drive past them for an easy layup!

Dribble Hand-Offs

The next basketball drill you can do is dribble hand-offs with another player (or yourself). If possible, get someone else involved – it’s more fun that way anyway. Face each other about ten feet apart.

One of you will pass the ball off to their partner who will then use that momentum into making one dribble move forward before passing back again. Keep repeating this sequence until both players are satisfied with what they have accomplished!

You can also go through a whole variety of different dribble moves in this drill. Make sure to practice both hands too, and see how far you can push the envelope with your creativity!

Ball Control

The sixth basketball drill you can do focuses mostly on ball control, but also requires a bit of coordination as well. For this solo workout, lay down two cones about five feet apart from each other. From there dribble between them in any way possible without allowing your ball to touch the ground – it’s more than just bouncing the ball off the floor every time!

Try keeping your head up while doing so too because that will help with passing later on during team practice or games where you’re playing at full speed.

Our Recommendation

Now that we have covered some solo basketball drills you can do on your own, it’s time for us to talk about another important aspect: what should be included in each drill. All these drills are very easy to set up; Their viability depends solely upon the type of movement involved during them.

For example, when doing a shooting routine (such as one from mid-range), make sure you’re using proper form while keeping yourself balanced to maximize consistency and accuracy throughout all reps. The same goes for any other types of solo basketball drills you try out.

Conclusion

We hope you found the basketball solo drills we’ve shared to be helpful. If so, please share them with your friends and teammates. Many more basic basketball drills could not fit in this blog post but if any come to mind for you, please let us know below!