Every coach wants to be able to coach a team at a championship level each season… but you will never do this consistently if you are not teaching your team to rebound like the champions that you know that they can be.
When on the defensive side of the court, having the ability to secure offensive rebounds will only lead to more points on the scoreboard for your team… possibly a lot of them… and you already know that the more points to go up on the board… the better your chances of winning will be.
Better rebounding can also increase your team’s confidence in themselves and others as well as improve the energy and hustle of your team.
Think for just a second…
If your basketball team can manage to snag just 8 offensive rebounds in one game, that could possibly result in your team throwing an extra 24 points upon the scoreboard each game. That’s quite significant!
In a whopping 90% of your games, that would very swiftly turn into an easy victory for your team… and it would be coming from what COULD have been a devastating loss.
A Surefire 3-Step Rebounding Formula
Before we talk about any rebounding drills, let’s take a minute to talk about the easiest way to teach your team the mindset of good rebounding…
When a shot is thrown out by the opposing team, All of your players on the floor should know to rebound using a simple 3-step formula. Here is the formula:
1. Find
2. Hit
3. Get
See? That’s not so difficult.
Now let’s take a minute to break each step down to better help you and your team to get the hang of rebounding in a way that can snag you more and more wins with each season.
Step One: FIND
When a shot is put up, the very first action of all players is to ‘find’ an opposing team’s player to keep them from getting a rebound.
To be an excellent rebounding team… your guys or girls cannot wait to see where the ball has landed or bounced or even if the shot has been missed or made…
Finding a player has to happen ASAP and become second nature, even as the ball is in midflight.
This will usually be a player’s direct opponent but it can get a little more topsy-turvy if you are going against a team who is known for its amazing offense and who loves to throw switches and rotations into the mix.
Step Two: HIT
When moving on to step two this is where player contact comes into play.
Although when coaching youth basketball we typically teach the opposite, it is not necessary that all 5 players should box out their opponent.
If one of your players is defending the perimeter, the defensive player will need to simply make contact with their forearm to prevent the offense from springing to the rebound.
While on the topic, a player who is on the perimeter putting their weight against their opponent is not the best idea as it does not put the defending player at an advantage to snag the rebound.
Whether outside or inside the key, defending team members should be battling for front position to box out opponents.
The key to remember is this…
Extraordinary rebounders will begin finding contact mid-shot. Rebounders who need work will wait for contact to show up at their door.
Step Three: GET
Charles Barkley used to say that he would laugh when people asked him about his rebound techniques. He would simply say… I have one… it’s called just get the damn ball!
Most all basketball teams will only teach their young players to find an opponent to make contact with. This will only lead to your team giving up as the offense circles around your players.
Extraordinary rebounding teams have amazing coaches who take time to put emphasis on this third step.
This last step is all about not only pursuing but snagging the rebound.
After your players make contact, teach your players to basically attack the ball mercilessly. You have to teach them to fight for the rebound with both hands. In other words, they have to want it.
Players who are close to the rim will be in the best position for rebound, however, those on the perimeter can attack the ball and be fast to grab a quick rebound.
Remember, rebounding is a 5 player effort and with plenty of practice you will be training a championship team… who rebounds like champs too.
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