How Baylor Basketball’s Scott Drew Develops Elite Guard Play

• By Grant Young

With the basketball season now in the rearview mirror, spring and summer time presents the perfect time for a coach to start developing their guard’s ball handling and get them a head start for next year.

With the help of his assistant coach Mark Morefield, longtime Baylor head coach Scott Drew constructed a series of specific skill building workouts that has helped him produce a winning program year in, year out — including when they won the 2021 NCAA National Championship. 

Drew believes this master class set of drills is the key to creating well-rounded guards that will start the season with a leg up on their competition. 

Coach Drew shared his Baylor Guard Development Workout course, which breaks his drills down into eight separate sections designed to help your players blossom and help your team succeed. 

Those eight sections are as follows:

1.) Warm Up Shooting

2.) Commando Ball Handling

3.) 5 Spot Shooting

4.) Jab Step/Shot Fake Series

5.) Tracing the Arc

6.) “Get Open” Series

7.) 1 on 1 Moves

8.) 5 Spot Cool Down  

1. Warm Up Shooting/coachtube.com/course_lesson/baylor-guard-development-workout/warm-up-shooting/2503410">Warm Up Shooting

Drew’s guard development series starts simple. The coach will start with the ball, and the player will begin on an elbow. The coaches passes the player the ball, the player shoots, then runs to the other elbow while the coach rebounds and passes it to them again. Continue this for 30 seconds. 

The second phase of this warm up shooting section is the same, except the player will alternate between one elbow and a spot around the wing with the latter spot being dedicated to bank shots. Continue this for 30 seconds as well.

The final phase of this drill will be to alternate jump shots between the free throw line and a three point shot at the top of the key. Continue this for 30 seconds.

Ensure your player isn’t worried about makes or misses for these drills. The key is to establish rhythm and get one’s hands ready to receive and shoot the ball on a dime.

Commando Ball Handling

The next section of Coach Drew’s guard development program involves ball handling. Each phase of this drill will involves the goal of being sharp, quick, and getting to one’s spots. Start with your player at the baseline. Have them dribble to the free throw line and back, utilizing some sort of dribble move (crossover, hesitation, etc.) in the middle of each turn. Do this for 30 seconds, which should require somewhere between 12-14 turns. 

Then take a minute break and do the same drill over again, but from the baseline to half court. Set up three cones in between that distance, which will signify where the player should utilize some sort of dribble move. Do this for 30 seconds, which should require somewhere between 8-10 turns. 

Finally, conduct the same drill from a full court distance. Set up six cones where the player should utilize some sort of dribble move. Do this for 30 more seconds, which should require somewhere between 4-6 turns.

The goal for these drills is to have the guard keep their head up the entire time and develop an equal dribbling ability with both hands. 

3. 5 Spot Shooting

The third section of Coach Drew’s guard development program is 5 spot shooting. With this, you’ll want your player to take five spots from five different spots on the court. 

The five shots are: 1) catch and shoot 2) pump fake then one dribble forward and to the left 3) pump fake then one dribble forward and to the right 4) one dribble left then pull up 5) two dribbles left then pull up. 

The five spots are: 1) corner 2) wing 3) top of the key 4) other wing 5) other baseline. The guard should keep their hands ready and knees bent at all times. 

4. Jab Step/Shot Fake Series

The next section involves all of the same spots and shots as the previous drill, but it involves the player taking a jab step and a shot fake prior to receiving the pass and taking the shot. The emphasis here is moving without the ball, and getting open in order to free up scoring opportunities. 

5. Tracing the Arc

This next drill starts with the player on the baseline. They’ll take three steps along the three point arc, receive the pass, then conduct one of the aforementioned five shots, while also employing some of the dribbling moves from the commando dribbling series. Do this five times from the baseline, then do it five more times along the other baseline. 

6. “Get Open” Series 

Coach Drew’s sixth segment is about utilizing three different ways of getting open: the L cut, the V cut, and the Straight Line cut. 

The drill starts with the player on the block, running out to the elbow, then exploding off the elbow to the wing, where they receive the ball and shoot. Do this five times, utilizing five different shots. 

Next, player will start at the wing, run forward a few steps before making a V cut and doubling back to the wing for a jump shot. Do this five times, utilizing five different shots. 

Finally, the player will do a straight line cut five times, finishing near the basket. 

Coach Drew's assistant Coach Morefield suggests the player ending this section with two consecutive made free throws

7. 1 on 1 Moves

This next drill is about developing a player’s midrange jump shot. The player will start out at the wing, receive the pass, then conduct a jab step, shot fake, crossover, a dribble-drive, and a pull-up jumper. Employ one of these five moves in five straight shots, then do the same thing at the top of the key, then at the other wing. 

8. 5 Spot Cool Down

For the next section, Coach Morefield suggests going the 5 Spot drill one final time, move taking four shots in each spot rather than five. He also recommends testing out some different shots, such as a reverse layup or a floater. This is in order to increase the player’s toolbox, and make them a more versatile scorer. 

And there you have it. Coach Drew’s tried and true series of developmental drills that should take a guard’s game to the next level and prepare them for the season ahead.