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A Fresh Approach to Teaching the Shell Drill
By Coach Randy Brown

For many years the defensive Shell Drill has been a staple for basketball coaches. The Shell Drill is the best tool for teaching your team the concept of team defense. In this article I present two fresh approaches to the legendary drill.

First, a main consideration when teaching Shell is whether the players understand the concept of one pass away and two passes away. This can be taught by walking through the drill, explaining that you either:

1. Are guarding the ball, 2. You are one pass away from the ball, or 3. You are two passes away from the ball. Your positioning on the floor are determined by the location of ball and the location of your man.

In this example, a player asks an excellent question to his coach about where he should be on defense when two passes away. Here is the exchange:

A player, who is two passes away, asks: "Coach, am I in the right position?" The coach answers, "You are if you can A) Help from that position, B) Rotate from that Position, and C) Close-out on your man from that position. Before moving on, walk through the scenario presented by the player so he can "see" what you just explained. Once he sees and understands the concept, then you can play it half speed to see if he can execute all three movements, then go full speed. The goal is for all players to understand the concept of the shell drill and are able to do it correctly full speed in games.

We once did a season long study on fouling. We found that over 80% of our fouls had to do with positioning on the floor. It did not depend on athleticism, experience, size or quickness which amazed our staff. It made us change our thinking about how important positioning is.

The Shell Drill is a must for building solid man to man defense, regardless of what level you coach. Coaches must be patient, teach in practical steps, and not take for granted that players understand the game as you do. The best way to find out is to ask them. Hopefully this new, fresh approach to the Shell Drill will help your teams man to man defense in the coming year.