Teaching Effective Post Play

Q3- What is the first technique that you teach in developing the low post player?

Larry Dean Jackson
Deweyville High School
Deweyville, Texas

In my years of experience I always start with a players footwork and catching the ball. The most common problem amongst young post players is footwork. Tall young players have the physical problem of growing so quickly their motor skills can't catch up with their growth spurt. They often have big feet, poor strength and coordination, and often loose their balance when simply trying to make any movements. I know for a fact, that Pete Newell, the "father of the big man individual workouts" stresses the importance of teaching good footwork.

Whatever drills I am having my young post players practice, I always make them fake away from the post area where they want the ball, and then sprint with two quick steps to the ball ending in a two foot (one contact) jump stop at the same time the ball arrives. What normally happens is the young player will "lumber into the ball" and not be able to react quickly to the defense or a poor pass, and will almost certainly loose their balance when physically pushed by a defender (see my article in the Coaching Box archives on balance).

Young players also tend to take only one step to fake the defense. Any coach worth their own weight teaches the defense to react only on the second explosive step by an offensive player wanting to cut to the ball. So what are we teaching our offensive players. The second thing that the second hard step does if force the post player to "really" move their feet. Over a long period of time this significantly improves their footwork. It sort of light weight training. The more times they must move their feet two quick explosive steps, the more the footwork become ingrained as part of their physical movement library. You must put a lot of energy into two quick steps, but it does force you to keep your balance. This added energy is also extremely helpful in holding off a defender trying to push you off of a position.

When passing the ball to the young player during post moves I tell the passer (or coach) not to pass the ball to them if they're not coming explosively to the ball off of two quick sprint steps. The first few times they may have to make the move 4 or 5 times before they get the idea of what you are talking about, but eventually they will make this a habit. This also sends a message to the post player that they're going to have to work to get the ball, and not just stand. If the post player doesn't get the pass, have them go away from the ball again and repeat the two quick explosive steps to the ball. Later when they have developed a variety of post moves you will find that the defender will begin to react hard on the first step as the only way to get defensive position. In turn, the learning of the quick two steps is the foundation for the second step (with balance) being a counter cut behind the defense for an easy score or strong pin position. This is an invaluable skill and habit for a young post player to develop. The toughest players to guard are those that constantly are moving to establish position.

The second preliminary skills to teach your young post player should be how to properly catch the ball. What good is a player with great moves but stone hands. They should learn on the two step sprint to the ball, to move with their hand and arms up and their elbows extended outward to create space. The greatest problem for young post players in catching the ball is that they generally wait to raise their arms after the ball has already been passed. By constantly practicing movement with their arms up they will also be doing a simple form of strength training establishing upper body strength through repetition of position.

Just as importantly, without getting into a lengthy discussion of reaction and movement time, it is very difficult to react and move the hands into position to catch a ball that is only in the air less than half a second. By keeping the arms in the upright position, their is little reaction or movement time required to be in a position to properly catch the ball. This must be taught as mother nature makes it a little more comfortable to let the arms hang by our sides. All great post players move with their arms constantly in the air ready to receive the ball. I generally have my post players signal with their hand when and where they want the ball. You can have them give a verbal signal, but this can alert the defense as well. The young post player must learn to give the passer a signal and target for receiving the ball.

After catching the ball they should immediately bring the ball into a tuck position under the chin. This is the strongest position for holding the ball prior to the actual move. If you want to demonstrate how much strength is required to hold a ball, have try to slap the ball out of your players hands with the ball tight to the chin, or with the arms extended. They'll get the point.An equally important point that too many young players are not taught is to catch and hold the ball for a second or two to read the defense.  While there are times a player will have a body or position advantage and can power move to score immediately, too many young players catch and put the ball on the floor before reading the defense.  I think this should be taught at an earlier age because it teaches players to catch and look first when they do not have an obvious advantage step to attack the basket.

The last basic skill is on their post move is where to put the ball when it must be put on the floor. Whether it be a drop step, or step through move I teach all of my players in a penetration situation to literally pass the ball to themselves off of a power dribble behind the defender. This forces them to put the ball in a location where it is difficult for the defender to get to the ball without giving up a significant amount of defensive position. Most balls are lost in the post or off of penetration because the "body" has gone to the basket but the ball has been left behind because of a short dribble. This requires that the ball be dribbled explosively and low to the ground. They must learn to do this with their eyes on the basket or up so they can read the defense and pass on a double. Many young post players miss easy shots as well, because with their eyes down on the ball, they can't locate the target quickly enough. This is true in all target acquisition sports and not just basketball. The sooner those eyes are on the basket the greater the shooting percentage will be.

One of the basic rules of post defense at the Professional level is that you double down on the post the minute the post player begins to put the ball on the floor. The best example of this I can recall is coaching a few years ago against Uwe Blab (former Indiana University center, and Dallas Mavericks) who was playing for Alba Berlin. Uwe is a very fine player, but he had a great deal of problems passing the ball out against double pressure once the ball was on the floor. Remember it's a long way down from the chin to the floor for a 7'2" center. If you allowed him to make his move without a double he was very effective. However, it was almost certainly a turnover when the ball was put on the floor. This signifies two additional point to consider in teaching the post play. First, your post players must learn to put the ball on the floor in traffic with power, and the ability to quickly pull the ball up and pass out against a pressing double team. An second, if that dribble is slow you can forget any success from a thousand post moves they may attempt to make. Today's defenses are quicker and stronger, and it becomes a game of kick out on a double and reestablish position, or bust it to the hole if the double doesn't react quickly.

Question: What are the best drills for teaching post play?

Once you have established that your player has good footwork to the ball, and is moving with their arms up, followed by tucking the ball, you should proceed to developing their individual moves. To go into a lot of detail on this would require a great deal of space. I would highly recommend that you purchase the two post tapes by Five Star Instructional Video's Vol. 2-3, on The Post Development Program, and Offensive Low Post Play. Both Coaches Tom McCorry, and Will Rey do a superb job of developing a progression for teaching post skills.They can be ordered from Sysko's Books and Videos on our site. They are well worth the money, and you will learn a great deal. I've been coaching nearly 20 years and they taught me a few new things as well. I'm sure there are other good videos as well, but I was very impressed with their presentation. They cover moves with your back to the basket, facing up, and re-establishing position when the defense takes a position away. Pete Newell's Big Man Post Moves video is also another good source of specific moves. I also like Mark Few's stuff on big men moves and footwork because he teaches effectively explosion movement by the bigs with balance.

The 5 Star Video's teach you specific moves for when a post player is defended and when to use them. They also are especially good at teaching post play without the ball, and situations for passing from the post when the defense doubles the ball way. They are well organized and you can implement their program very simply into your own practice situations. I hope that we can provide a full clinic on this in the future.
Thank you for question, it's an important one for young coaches.

The Coach