Freeze Tag

Video by MOJO (yougotmojo)

Classic freeze tag with a dribbling twist: two taggers try to freeze everyone else while they dribble around the three-point line, and a frozen player can only get back in by setting their ball down and doing five jumping jacks. Because taggers close distance fast, players learn to shrink their dribble low and under control near defenders so they can plant and change direction quickly to escape. This drill comes from MOJO (yougotmojo).

Space Treasure

Video by MOJO (yougotmojo)

A team dribbling relay with a decision-making twist. Split into teams of three or four, each assigned a home cone ('planet'), with a pile of balls ('treasure') in a circle at center court. One player per team sprints in, grabs a ball, and dribbles it home, where the whole team tosses it up, claps, and catches it before the next player goes. Once a team has collected all its own treasure, it can send players to steal from a rival planet — but a tagged thief has to give the ball back. Whichever team is holding the most treasure when time's up wins the round. This drill comes from MOJO (yougotmojo).

Sharks and Minnows

Video by MOJO (yougotmojo)

A basketball twist on the schoolyard classic: 'minnows' line up on a goal line, each with a ball, and try to dribble to the opposite goal line without the coach — the 'shark' — knocking their ball away. Any minnow who loses their ball becomes a shark and helps tag the next wave, until only sharks remain. Players have to keep changing speed and direction to protect the ball, which builds the same instincts they'll need to shake off a defender in a real game. This drill comes from MOJO (yougotmojo).

Detective Pikachu

Video by MOJO (yougotmojo)

A dribbling mirror game that doubles as a poker-face challenge: one player becomes 'Detective Pikachu' and covers their eyes and ears while the coach secretly picks a 'leader.' As the leader starts dribbling through different moves, everyone else copies along, and the detective has three guesses to spot who's actually setting the pace. Rotate roles and play again — it's a fun way to get players executing dribble moves without staring at the ball or each other, building the court awareness that leads to no-look passes down the road. This drill comes from MOJO (yougotmojo).

Basketball Tennis

Video by MOJO (yougotmojo)

Two players stand on either side of a cone 'net' inside a marked court and rap the ball back and forth like a tennis rally, each trying to place a pass that's hard enough to catch that their opponent drops it or misses entirely. A dropped or missed catch scores a point for whoever threw it; play it out with real tennis scoring. Trains players to make (and catch) passes that land in awkward, contested spots rather than only easy, in-rhythm ones. This drill comes from MOJO (yougotmojo).

Passing Tag

Video by MOJO (yougotmojo)

'Runners' try to avoid getting lightly tagged by the ball in the hands of 'passers,' who outnumber them and can only pivot (no dribbling) once they're holding it. Once tagged, a runner sits out until the next round. Because passers have to pivot to find an angle immediately after catching, it's really a pivoting drill disguised as a tag game, reinforcing that once the dribble stops, only a pass, shot, or pivot is legal. This drill comes from MOJO (yougotmojo).

Cross the River

Video by MOJO (yougotmojo)

A three-player drill where the ball handler tries to advance from one end of a marked rectangle to the other without two defenders (stationed at the halfway line and the far end) deflecting or stealing the ball. A successful crossing scores the ball handler a point and they go again in the other direction; a takeaway scores the defender a point and swaps roles. Rewards changing speed and direction rather than trying to just outrun defenders in a straight line. This drill comes from MOJO (yougotmojo).

Endzone

Video by MOJO (yougotmojo)

A football-inspired possession game: two teams advance the ball into an end zone on a marked rectangle, with the offense limited to three dribbles before they must pass. An interception flips possession instantly and the new offense heads the other way; reaching the end zone scores a 'touchdown.' Periodic huddles between rounds give teams a chance to talk through how to move the ball into space with fewer defenders. This drill comes from MOJO (yougotmojo).

Diamond Passing

Video by MOJO (yougotmojo)

Four lines form a diamond around a center cone; the first player in each line dribbles to the middle, jump-stops, pivots to their right, passes to whoever's waiting at that cone, then joins the back of that line. Set a 60-second timer and count how many full rotations the group can complete. Isolates jump-stop and pivot fundamentals — landing balanced on both feet and staying low through the pivot — inside a drill that still has real passing pressure and a clock. This drill comes from MOJO (yougotmojo).

Pass the Rock

Video by MOJO (yougotmojo)

Half the group stands inside the paint, each with a ball, while the other half spreads out beyond the three-point line without one. For 30 seconds, the ball-side group tries to complete as many passes among themselves as possible — one point per completed catch — while staying inside the paint the whole time. Swap groups and challenge them to beat the previous score. With so much simultaneous passing in a tight space, players quickly learn to make eye contact with a target before throwing. This drill comes from MOJO (yougotmojo).

Keep Away

Video by MOJO (yougotmojo)

Three offensive players stand at the corners of a small square (one corner left open) while a single defender works the middle; offense passes around the square trying to keep the ball away from the defender, but can only catch a pass while standing at a cone. A defender's interception swaps them into offense with whoever threw the errant pass. Since there's always an open cone somewhere on the square, it trains players to recognize and move into open space before calling for the ball. This drill comes from MOJO (yougotmojo).

Roadrunner

Video by MOJO (yougotmojo)

Partners face off across a cone circle as 'roadrunner' and 'coyote,' with the coyote getting 15 seconds to chase and tag the roadrunner around the circle. Run it first with no balls, then with the roadrunner dribbling, then with both players dribbling, so players build the same chase-and-evade instincts whether they're the one being chased or trying to keep the ball under control while doing it. This drill comes from MOJO (yougotmojo).

Team Dribble Knockout

Video by MOJO (yougotmojo)

Two teams share a marked rectangle, everyone dribbling their own ball with two jobs at once: protect their own ball while tapping an opponent's ball away. A tapped-away ball scores a point for whoever knocked it loose; the player who lost their ball keeps playing without one, moving to open space and acting as a decoy or passing target for teammates. Team with more balls remaining after a short timed round wins. This drill comes from MOJO (yougotmojo).

Dribble Knockout

Video by MOJO (yougotmojo)

Everyone in the group dribbles their own ball in a shared space with two jobs: protect their own ball while tapping other players' balls away. A successful tap scores a point; the player who lost their ball simply retrieves it and keeps going. Play short timed rounds and challenge players to beat their score, reinforcing using the whole body to shield the ball from pressure on every side. This drill comes from MOJO (yougotmojo).

Pac Man

Video by MOJO (yougotmojo)

A line-restricted tag game: one or two 'ghosts' try to tag everyone else, but every player — taggers included — must stay on an actual court line (sidelines, half-court, free-throw line and circle, lane lines, baseline, three-point line) the entire time, moving forward or backward without ever stepping off. Tagged players become ghosts themselves, and the round ends once no dribblers are left. Doubles as a fun way to drill the exact court lines that separate in-bounds from out-of-bounds. This drill comes from MOJO (yougotmojo).

Jailbreak

Video by MOJO (yougotmojo)

Dribblers start bunched in the paint and have eight seconds to break out past a ring of defenders spaced along the three-point line; defenders can't reach in and grab the ball, only slide to cut off driving lanes. Any dribbler who breaks through becomes a defender for the next round, continuing until just one dribbler remains uncaught. Also a good chance to work the off-arm as a ball shield against pressure. This drill comes from MOJO (yougotmojo).

Team Shield Steal

Video by MOJO (yougotmojo)

Offense dribbles inside the paint while defenders try to steal or deflect their balls; every successful steal swaps that pair's roles (thief becomes offense, victim becomes defense). Coaches encourage defenders to hunt in pairs — two defenders working together on one ball carrier get results faster than one alone — while noting that in a real game, doubling up like that risks leaving somebody else wide open. This drill comes from MOJO (yougotmojo).

Closing Time

Video by MOJO (yougotmojo)

A defensive-conditioning drill: defenders start bunched in the paint and, one at a time, sprint out to close out on a cone along the three-point line, chopping their feet and getting a hand up before recovering to the paint and repeating on the next cone. Each round adds another defender until the whole line is closing out simultaneously, and coaches time how long it takes the group to close every spot. This drill comes from MOJO (yougotmojo).

Switch Up

Video by MOJO (yougotmojo)

Groups of three work a rectangle split at the halfway line: the player in the middle tries to dribble past a defender to reach a teammate waiting at the far end; once they cross midway, they pass, then immediately become the defender guarding the next pass back the other way. Since roles flip every single rep, it trains the instant transition from offense to defense that live basketball demands. This drill comes from MOJO (yougotmojo).

Stunt Drivers

Video by MOJO (yougotmojo)

Partners face off from cones and dribble straight at each other, executing a 'stunt move' — starting with a simple crossover — right before they'd collide, to get around their partner and reach the other side. Once the basic move is comfortable, add harder moves like between-the-legs or behind-the-back. Played as a one-minute race to see how many crossings each pair can complete. This drill comes from MOJO (yougotmojo).

Staying Power

Video by MOJO (yougotmojo)

A continuous full-court, small-sided scrimmage rotation with at least three teams: the team at half court challenges whichever team is waiting at either end, and whoever wins a possession — offense by scoring, defense by getting a stop or rebound — immediately pushes the ball to the opposite end to challenge the next team. Keeps players moving constantly between offense, defense, and transition for the full round, with the most total points at the end declared the winner. This drill comes from MOJO (yougotmojo).

Alley Hoops

Video by MOJO (yougotmojo)

Two connected obstacle-course alleys test dribbling and defense at once: in the first alley (baseline to half court), the ball handler just has to get past the defender without getting turned around; in the second (half court to three-point line), they try to actually score on the defender. Pairs cycle through both alleys, switching roles each time through. Defenders are taught to stay within arm's reach and push the dribbler toward the edges rather than letting them go straight down the middle. This drill comes from MOJO (yougotmojo).

Tic Tac Toe

Video by MOJO (yougotmojo)

A small-sided scrimmage layered on top of an actual tic-tac-toe board made of cones off to the side: every time a team scores, one of their players has to sprint over and place a marker in a square before returning to play. Forces players to think about two games at once — basketball and strategic square selection — while still communicating and playing solid team defense in between trips to the board. This drill comes from MOJO (yougotmojo).

Surprise Party

Video by MOJO (yougotmojo)

An advantage drill built around unpredictable timing: the ball handler places the ball on the back of the defender in front of them, and the moment they lift it off to start dribbling, the possession is live with the offense already a step ahead. Since the offense gets such a big head start, defenders are coached to stay in a low, weight-on-toes ready position so they can explode into the chase as fast as possible. This drill comes from MOJO (yougotmojo).