I’ve written about the skill of rebounding and how determination and desire can overcome some lack of athletic skills. Former NBA players like Paul Silas, Nate Thurmond and Dennis Rodman had stellar careers mainly from rebounding. Can the everyday youth player become an NBA player as just a rebounder? Probably not but here are five rebounding drills for coaches and parents that may help their players and kids improve their individual and team rebounding.

1) Two-Hand Basic. This is one of the simplest, basic rebounding drills that some of the top coaches in the country use at each and every practice. Line up players on one side of the backboard about six feet away from it. Toss the ball against the backboard, run to get the rebound, secure it with two hands and come down with it. When the player lands, he should have a nice wide base with his feet. The feet in fact should be farther apart then the player’s shoulders. Once the player goes, he turns and pivots to the outside for the outlet pass and passes the ball to the next player. This is done continuously. Coaches can use both sides of the backboard with two lines. For younger players who may have trouble tossing the ball against the backboard, coaches can use a wall. This is one of those simple drills that give coaches a great opportunity to point out fundamental mistakes and correct them.

2) Bull In The Ring. This drill can get very physical. Anywhere from two to five players will pair up with someone. This drill is done around the circle at the free throw line. So say we have three pair of players participating. The three defensive players will be spread around the circle. The three pair of offensive players will be spread outside the circle. Each pair will be facing each other. The coach will put the ball in the center of the circle and get out. When the coach blows the whistle, the offensive players will try to get inside the circle to get the basketball. The defensive players will pivot at the sound of the whistle with their back to their partner. The defensive players will try to keep the offensive players outside of the circle and away from the basketball using out their boxing out skills. The coach can use 3, 4 or 5 seconds as the goal to keep the offensive players outside the circle. Coaches can adjust this drill according to the age and skill of the players that are being coached. And there is a safety factor here so coaches should pay strict attention and get ready to quickly blow the whistle. This drill can also be done around the mid-court circle. Because of the size of the circle, here you can only have one pair of players. An idea for coaches is to use all the circles in the gym.

3) Ball Bangs. This is a great drill for older kids who have some height and jumping ability and can hit the backboard. With that said, coaches and parents of younger kids should never be turned off by any advanced basketball drills they see or hear about. I would bet that 90% of most advanced drills can be adjusted for the youngest youth basketball players. In the “Ball Bangs” drills, starts on the right side. The player holds the basketball with two hands over his head. The player will jump up and bang the ball against the backboard. He does this as hard as he can three times. On the fourth jump, he puts the ball in the basket. You can work up to ten or fifteen or even twenty jumps and coaches can “encourage” players by yelling to hit the ball harder against the backboard. Players can then switch sides. For younger players a wall is just as good as the backboard. Coaches and parents should make sure players keep the ball over their head. Hitting the ball hard against the backboard or wall will condition the player to use his strength to hold the basketball. There is no rest or winding up between jumps.

4) Over The Top. This rebounding drills starts at the block (square color) on one side of the key. Each player has his own basketball and is in one line. The player will toss the ball to the box target above the rim. When he does this, as ball goes to the other side and the player should himself move to where the ball will be coming down. The goal for the player when getting the rebound is to make the effort to attack the ball at the highest point he can possibly reach it. When the player lands, coaches want to emphasize that the player should create a large base with his feet and his shoulders are square to the baseline with the ball around chin height, with the elbows out. With the shoulders square to the baseline and elbows out, this helps shield off any defensive player from the ball. After securing the basketball, the player will try to put the ball into the basket either with no dribble or with one power dribble. Then the next person in line goes. This is an excellent drill to utilize numerous baskets in one gymnasium. Or one player can do this continuously going from side to side. This can be a dual purpose drill for conditioning as well.

5) Carousel. In this rebounding drill, we have two regular five man teams in different color t-shirts. They are at the circle at the foul line. The coach is in the middle and the players will begin to walk around the circle. The coach will then toss the ball up to the backboard. The players will scramble for the rebound. They will play a one-point game and then start over at the circle. Coaches should have players go one way and then go the other way. It is important that while the players are going around the circle, they are able to see the coach at all times so they all know when he shoots the basketball.

These are only five of many basketball rebounding drills that teams of all ages can utilize. Coaches have to emphasize to their players that rebounding is one of the most important parts of the game of basketball though there is no guarantee that the best rebounding team will win the game. It is not a guarantee but it will help keep teams competitive and will put them in a position to win games