The Drill: Half-Circle

An assistant with the Seattle Storm and Lakeside, Chris Bown has made his mark with individual player development. His column on drills debuts with one for shooting.

Half-Circle Drill
Requirements: One Player, One Coach, One Ball, One Basket

The player starts on the left block facing the baseline. The coach has the ball and is standing under the basket. On command, the player turns and slowly runs a half-circle to the other block. The coach will pass the ball to the player upon her reaching the block. Once the player reaches the block and sees the ball in flight, she plants her left foot pointed toward the goal and steps down (lowering her center of gravity, i.e. hips) and into the pass, ensuring that she gets her right hip around and square to the goal. She then takes the baby jumper. Once the player lands, she turns around and runs a half-circle toward the left block. This time she is planting her right foot and stepping down and ensuring that her left hip is around and she is square to the basket.

The player makes a prescribed number of shots, then switches the drill. This could be a number or shots or a number of shots in a row.

Alternatives:
1: Use this drill at the elbows for the 15-foot jump shot.
2: Use this drill for the 15-foot elbow jumper with a 15-foot corner jumper.

The next phase of this drill for alternatives is to have the player shoot the jumper, but then the player backs straight up, receives the pass and dribbles into the elbow.

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Note: I didn’t invent any of the drills that I am writing about. Some have been taken from Herb Livsey, Mark Grabow, Charlie Sands and various other coaches that I have had the pleasure of being able to watch work. I have changed some of the drills to suit my players or myself as a coach.

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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.