The Close Out, Slide, Backpedal is a fantastic drill for improving basketball movements.

Being able to move in multiple directions is important for basketball.

You need to move forward to run up and down the court. You need to move backward to defend a driver.

And you need to move laterally to cross up defenders (and to defend the crossover).

So, what drill can you do to practice these movements?

Well, you can just run around in different directions like a mad person who needs to use the bathroom but can’t find one.

Or, you can try the Close Out, Slide, Backpedal Drill.

(You should probably do the latter).

Here’s how to do this simple drill:

• On the baseline, stand on the right corner in front of the right elbow of the free-throw box.
• Run forward to the right elbow.
• Then slide to the left elbow.
• Then backpedal to the baseline.
• Then slide to the start position.
• Do 5 sets of 10 laps.

This drill is great because you get to work on moving efficiently, building stamina in your legs and improving cardio.

So, give the drill a try the next time you’re at the court.

Want To Get Better At Basketball?

I’ve created a basketball activity guide that can help you (or your disciple) improve quicker than if you just did random exercises at the park.

This 8-day guide lays out daily exercises and drills for you to do so you can master the fundamentals of basketball and start winning as soon as possible.

So, if you’re sick of putting time into workouts that aren’t helping you get better, then give my Old Man Game Basketball Guide a try.

In it, you’ll work on:

• The fundamentals of shooting with various shooting drills
• Your conditioning with various bodyweight exercises
• Ball handling and defence with skills and conditioning exercises
• …And more

If you’re interested in this activity guide, click here to learn about it.

(This article was originally published in my newsletter here.)