I received this question recently.

"I'm looking for a video of how players need to react when "dead" and under pressure and need to pass."

Here are 5 major tips that helped me dramatically improve passing with my teams.

1. Better footwork with space step

   Teach players how to create space using their feet, so it opens up passing angles. This drill and coaching tips from Jim Huber is a great start.

2. Create contact before cut

   Teach players to take a couple of steps towards the basket and try to create contact with the defense before cutting to the ball. This will get the defender on their heels and make it hard for them to time your cut to get open. To stop the pass, they often have to be overly aggressive which opens up the backdoor cut.

3. Cut backdoor when defender crosses 3-point line

   If a defender is above the 3-point line, tell your players to cut backdoor. Then have the other players cut and fill. For older players, you might use the NBA 3-point line as a reference. These next few drills and coaching tips from Jim Huber are great for teaching players how to cut and get open.

4. Show hand for a pass

   Have players show a hand when they're ready to receive a pass. If the player doesn't have a hand up, don't pass the ball. This reduces errant passes where the receiver might be getting ready to cut to the basket. This is an old tip we learned from coaching legend Bo Ryan.

5. Use No Dribble Drills

   You simply play a game where players are not allowed to dribble. It'll be ugly at first, but when you free them to dribble later on, your offense looks much better. Following this drill, I often progress to a 2-dribble or 3-dribble limit on each catch. This teaches them to value the dribble and attack if they're going to use it.

I like to use a scoring system for this drill too. 1 point for a basket and negative 3 points for a turnover. You can adjust this for age levels. You can even do 2v2 half-court drills where you split the court between left and right. You can have two groups going at once. I've also done 2v2 full court without shooting. You just go baseline to baseline, but you split the court into narrow lanes.

These 5 things have dramatically helped my team's passing, and I guarantee your passing will improve if you implement these as well!

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