3 From The Corner: Rebounding: The Third Skill in Basketball

Every summer I spend at least 5 days in Waverly, Iowa on the campus of Wartburg College for Snow Valley Basketball School. It is by far the best thing I've done as a Coach. I get the chance to learn and talk basketball with some of the best basketball minds in the game.

This past session one of my clinics was on Rebounding. A typical clinic at Snow Valley is 45 minutes to an hour on a topic. There are 3 types of drills in basketball: Individual, Team and Camp. Designing drills for 70 campers is a task at times but something that I feel makes you a better Coach.

Tates Locke says there are three skills in basketball: Shooting, Passing and

and Rebounding. I agree with him. Before you think "What about Dribbling?" I would agree that Dribbling is a habit.

Rebounding is the only skill that Toughness and "Want To" comes into play. Just because a Player "Wants To" be a good shooter doesn't mean they will be. There is a definite skill in rebounding. Here are what I think are the 3 points on Rebounding.

1. Prevent or Pursue

"Shot is taken, shot is missed. Shot is taken, shot is missed." Every player except the shooter should be thinking this thought. On average, from point of release to contact of rim is two seconds. This gives you plenty of time to assess the situation. Answer these questions:

If on Defense, is my assignment attacking the class?

If so, Prevent by blocking out
If not, Pursue the ball - Think Point Guard situation

If on Offense, is my defender preventing me from the ball?

If so, Try to take them under the basket
If not, Pursue the ball

Attack a shoulder. Most Players are taught to step with a forearm and spin

Go to the "elbow side"
Swim move over that shoulder

Are you going to attack the glass or are you going to stop transition baskets? The easy answer is do both but the fact is you're not going to be able to be good at doing both.

2. Know Where the Miss is Going and Who is Shooting

This is the easiest but most often overlooked part in rebounding; knowing where to rebound. If you're in the "target area" be prepared. If you're not, prevent your assignment or your defender from getting it. Is it a good shooter? Then the miss will probably be fewer and softer. If not, well...it can get wild.

If your team is a set play team, do you design your set with offensive rebounding in mine?

Defensively, the weak side rebound is what kills your team. We send 2 players to double team the backside offensive rebounder. This is usually a guard "cracking down" from the top

3. Rebound in "Live" Situations

We only do one Rebounding Drill - Get 1, Get 2, Get 3 (attached in the .pdf) for this simple reason. EVERYONE IS AN ALL-AMERICAN REBOUNDER IN A REBOUNDING DRILL.

We will teach technique, do a couple 1 v 1 reps then assign a coach to watch rebounding in a live scenario (shell drill) or in the drill mentioned.

Here are the drills I used during the Snow Valley clinic.