The Drill: Basic Four Shooting

An assistant with the Seattle Storm and Lakeside, Chris Bown has made his mark with individual player development. His fourth column on drills is about the Basic Four Drill to help players develop their shooting skills.

Basic Four Shooting
Requirements: Five to 12 players, one basketball.

Player 1 starts on the baseline under the basket. The rest of the players start at straight away top of the key. Player 2 has the ball and the rest are behind her. Player 1 breaks to a position straight away from the basket and receives a pass from 2 above the block. Player 1 turns and shoots a shot off the backboard, rebounds the ball and passes back to 3. Player 1 goes to the end of the line. Once player 2 passes the ball she sprints to the baseline plants one foot on the baseline and pivots back to the ball and receives a pass above the block from 3, turns and shoots a shot off the backboard. The drill continues in this fashion until all players shoot.

Once player 2 shoots, she goes to the right wing area and all other players follow behind her. When player 1 makes her pass to the last person in line she goes down to the baseline plants her left foot on the baseline and breaks to the right mid-post area, receives a pass from 2 and executes a drop step for the shot off the board. She rebounds her shot and passes to 3. The drill continues in this fashion until all players shoot.

When player 2 shoots off her drop step, she takes the line to the left wing area. The shooters now will plant their right foot on the baseline and break out to the left mid-post area and execute a drop step move to the baseline. Once 1 passes to the last person in line she goes down to the baseline and plants either foot and breaks out to the free throw area straight away receives a pass and shoots a 15-foot jumper. The drill continues in this fashion until all players shoot.

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Note: These drills were given to me and a few other coaches by Charlie Sands, the head basketball coach at West Los Angeles College. These drill work best when you have 5-12 players.

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Chris Bown is an assistant coach with the WNBA’s Seattle Storm, in charge of individual player development, and with the Lakeside girls varsity basketball team. Chris also does individual training and can be reached at 206-794-9046 or . A graduate of the University of Washington, he has been the head coach for girls varsity basketball teams at Holy Names Academy, Seattle Academy and American Indian Heritage School. This is his second stint at Lakeside as an assistant to Sandy Schneider. Chris also has been a math and physical education instructor at St. Paul School and Seattle Academy.

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More Chris Bown Columns:

Mikan Plus
Defensive Combo
Half-Circle