Bounce Pass Exercise: Heart Push-ups

 Heart push-ups are named this for two reasons: (1) your fingers make the shape of a heart, (2) your hands are placed below your heart on the floor.

1. While doing these push-ups, the only contact points with the floor are your toes and hands. Keep your back straight and bring your chest to your hands.
2. Form is far more important than the number of repetitions.
3. If this push-up is too difficult, you can put your hands further from each other as demonstrated in the video. The farther your hands are separated, the easier it is to do the push-up. You could also do your push-ups from your knees instead of your toes.

Since the bounce pass involves the flexion and extension of the arms at the elbows, push-up are a great exercise to do. The closer your hands are to each other, the more you are working the triceps. I recommend trying to keep your hands as close as possible to simulate the closeness while holding a basketball and to gain maximum results. You would also want more strength in your triceps to have the ability for a quick, explosive pass before defenders can guard against it.

Bounce Pass Drill #2

1. You and a partner should be on opposite sides of the free-throw line and facing each other.
2. When ready, both of you can side-step up and down the court while bounce-passing the ball back and forth to each other. (It is important this is a side-step; do not cross your feet over! It may cause you to trip and lose possession of the ball)
3. Take breaks when needed.

There are several benefits to this drill. Obviously, the more practice one has performing a skill, the more automatic the skill will become for the player. This can also simulate a more game-like experience because you are moving towards and away from the basket. This drill also promotes teamwork and gets players acquainted with their teammates ability and style of play. In this video, you see the man on the left takes longer strides because of his height. The man on the right seems to have better control, probably due to having more experience. This drill is a good basis for more detailed passing drills. You could progress to adding obstacles to pass around, changing the angles you attack the net, and eventually put actual defenders into the drill.