Possession Passing Drill

The Possession Passing Drill is a variation of the long-time favourite Piggy in the Middle. Most coaches at any level of sport would be very familiar with the Piggy in the Middle activity; the Possession Passing Drill looks to make the activity of passing a more sports specific action. This is achieved through a number of different variations.

The Possession Passing Drill looks to use the basketball court in a tactical simulation. Players are placed into positions specific to receiver spots on the basketball court.

In the Possession Passing Drill, there is always a numbers advantage for the offense. This allows the team in possession of the ball to utilise the overlap.

Initially, the players on offense cannot move except for one step in any direction. This will assist with just receiving a wayward pass.

The defenders however can move at any time.

The player with the ball must always be guarded. So upon receiving a pass the defenders must at least match-up on the ball handler.

The object of the Possession Passing Drill is for the offensive team to make a certain number of passes in a row. This number can be set by a coach and increased as the players become more familiar with the drill.

Points of Emphasis

• Encourage offensive players to start to incorporate pass fakes into the activity
• Once players start to use pass fakes competently, then ask players to try and make a read about pass faking and then passing to an already defended player

The next stage of the Possession Passing Drill is to increase the specificity by adding to the number of spots that offensive players can move to.

These spots of course can be changed depending on the offense a team is utilising.

The offensive players will not be allowed to move to any one of these spots on the floor once the drill has started.

Initially, players can move to any spot, But as players become more confident and competent then the players should be looking to implement the team’s offense. This type of scenario works best with senior players as it makes the drill more complicated and challenging.

In this next stage of Possession Passing Drill when players are using their team’s offense. A numbers advantage can still be given to the offensive team. This will have a number of benefits like providing some confidence for players to push a pass and look for not always the closest opportunity.

As players again progress in their ability to perform the drill an additional defender can be added to the drill. This will then see the Possession Passing Drill change into a 5 v 5 situation.

Another variation is to allow the offense to score after a certain number of passes. It is suggested however not to allow dribbling at any stage so players are forced to make the ball do more of the work.

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