Performing basketball post drills are very important for two players on the offense in particular, the Center and Power-forward.
Because of the average size of these two positions, the ball handling skills are not as particularly as good as the shorter players on their team.
So it is important that they are always improving the post skills in order to get spacing for them to get to the hoop, or posting up a player in order to get in position for a rebound.
I will highlight some basketball post drills that will help any player with their post game. Post drills are a very important part of the game for all players but specifically the PF and C.
The PF and C are the players that are closest to the hoop during most of the game and these players having a post presence are very important to their overall value in their position.
The most effective and well-known post drill is called the Mikan Drill, named for Hall of Fame center George Mikan, who dominated the NBA in the early 50’s with his exceptional post play. This drill is very simple, however it is very effective.
A player will stand about 3 feet from the hoop and shoot hook shots while falling away from the basket.
So if going right, the player would spin right and put a hook shot up and then rebound the ball as fast as they could and then do the same thing from the left side. You would keep up this rotation for about 15-20 drills. This will help your post moves to make shots as well as your rebounding and aggressiveness.
Another very effective post drill is the rebound drill. In this drill you would stand at the free throw line and throw balls off the backboard as soon as you throw it off the backboard you will run towards the hoop trying to grab the rebound before it hits the floor.
By doing this, you will start to learn the flight path of the ball and where it will go when it hits a certain point on the backboard. This will also improve your aggressiveness when going to the hoop.
This last drill is the drop step move; this will help you to score when you are in the post. The drill includes holding the ball while in your pivot and either fading away from the hoop to shoot or going towards the hoop to shoot.
The point of this drill is to allow you to get spacing from the defender while using a drop step to do so. So you are basically using your free foot in order to get the spacing you need from your pivot.
No matter your height or size, the post game is important for all players, because if a player can master the post game, they will be given more respect as an inside threat and an outside threat which will in turn make you very hard to defend.