If you are looking for a drill to help develop both footwork and soft hands, this is a great drill. This basketball footwork and agility drill has a mixture of soccer (or European football) in it by forcing the player to use their feet to control the basketball.
At the same time, though, the player will have to catch and toss the tennis ball back and forth to the coach or partner. This is an excellent basketball drill for post players.
Basketball Drill Overview
Drill Name: Foot Ups Forwards and Backwards Tennis Ball Basketball Drill
Equipment Needed: 1 Basketball, 1-2 tennis balls, and 1 partner.
Similar Basketball Drills and Resources
- Foot Ups Footwork Basketball Drill
- Foot Ups Side to Side Footwork Basketball Drill
- Figure 8 Footwork Basketball Drill
Goals of the Drill
- Work on developing footwork and hand-eye coordination.
Coaching Points
- Stay light on your feet and do your best not to let your heels touch the ground.
- React as quickly as you can to the partner’s calls to change direction and footwork.
- Passer needs to throw passes that will challenge the player to reach out to get the ball.
Basketball Drill Instructions
- The player will start with the basketball at their feet and the passer facing them 5-6 feet away.
- The passer can call out which foot and whether the player should go forward or backward.
- If the passer calls out, ‘right foot forward,’ the player will hop on their left foot and slightly roll the basketball forward with their right foot.
- Simultaneously, though, the passer will be tossing tennis balls to the player that the player must catch and toss back.
- At any time, the passer can change the foot and the direction that the player is going.
- Continue the drill for 30-60 seconds or a certain number of catches.
