How to Help your Player Get Better with Less Practice Time (SSG)

Sep 04, 2025 2:15 pm

Coach-

Every day when a coach enters the gym to practice with their team as well as at the end of the day, we all ask ourselves the same questions?

“How can I help my team get better today?” and “Did my team get better today?”

It’s a constant source of frustration and keeps us continuously looking for the best ideas and drills from other coaches. We also look at other sports to see what they do to help their players gain skill mastery and understanding.

When you dig deep down to the micro level, coaches are trying to accomplish the following three things on offense:

Help my players with their decision-making (When do I shoot? When do I pass? Who do I pass to? When do I drive?)
Help my players be able to finish around the basket against defenders
Help my players take and make open 3-point shots

One of the best ways to work on these three areas is with Small Sided Games. Borrowed from the world of soccer, SSG’s allow coaches to teach and refine skills with a smaller number of players involved, allowing more opportunities for learning.

A good definition of SSG’s is “A live constrained competitive situation in a smaller space or with a smaller number of participants then regular live play/competition to target the development of a particular skill, concept, or tactic.” (Thanks @CoachDayejr for this!!)

Here are 4 drills within small-sided games:

#1 - Tony Miller - Cone Handoff

The cone handoff drill is a change of direction drill that works on multiple actions.

The best part about this drill is it puts the defense in a disadvantage. Therefore, players have to hustle to cut off the basketball to get into a defensive position.

This is a fantastic drill for the offense to work on finishing.

Link: Cone Handoff Drill

#2 - Mike De Kraker - Battleship - Small-Sided Games

Battleship are multiple small-sided games that work on different actions within your offense.

A coach can call out the action for each small-sided game.

For example, one segment of the drill you can have your team only work on flipping a screen.

Link: Battleship

#3 - Coach Z - 2 vs 2 Games - Small-Sided Games

The 2 vs 2 games drills purpose is to strengthen the advantage.

A coach can set up rules about the number of dribbles or a shot clock if needed.

The design of initiation for the drill is to move to different areas of your offense.

A coach can start the defense wherever they choose - to have them behind the ball to create an advantage or the opposite.

Link: 2 vs 2 Games

#4 - Aaron Fernandez - Ultimate 1 vs 1 - Small Sided Games

Ultimate 1 vs 1 is a designed drill to work at different areas of the court.

The goal of the drill is to hit each area - then the games are finished with free-throws.

This drill will be super competitive as the game goes on - the winner of the most areas of the court is the King of the Court.

This drill is great for spring workouts or individual workouts.

Link: Ultimate 1 vs 1

There is not a better time of the year to focus on small-sided games.

Never get out-coached,

– The Coaches Clinic Community of Coaches Helping Coaches

P.S. Here are some of our favorite resources from amazing coaches in our community on SSG’s if you’d like to study up!

Small-Sided Games Approach by Coach Kirby Schepp

Small Sided games to teach elite offensive decision-making PLUS more drills to teach `Position Pressure` individual defence by Coach Liam Flynn

Teaching with Small-Sided Games (SSGs) by Tony Miller

Developing SSG for Youth Development by Mike De Kraker

SSGs for Player Development and Team Defense by Tony Miller

SSGs for Ball Screen Offense by Tony Miller

Teaching (shot-drive-pass) decision making: a progression of SSGs by Michael Zeillmann

Small-Sided Games for Player Development by Aaron Fernandez

79 Basketball Drills and Small-Sided Games by Mason Waters

35 Small-Sided Games Playbook for Player Development by Tony Miller

Comments

ishvirya

Really solid breakdown on improving performance with limited practice time—especially the focus on small-sided games and decision speed. It’s impressive how much player development can come from smarter structure instead of just longer sessions. I also found some related reference material while browsing https://buckscountycourts.org that highlights how organized information access can support better planning and consistency. Overall, the approach shared here feels practical and easy to apply for coaches working with tight schedules.

emilyrobert45

Great insight on using SSG to improve player development in limited time—small-sided games really force quicker decisions and better game awareness. It’s interesting how constraints can actually accelerate learning when sessions are well-structured and intentional. For anyone also exploring structured information systems, you can check https://durhamcountycourts.org for organized records access and reference. Overall, blending focused practice with smart constraints seems like the most efficient way to build consistent performance.

Megan Clark

Really interesting breakdown on using SSG to help players improve with less practice time. Small-sided games definitely keep intensity high while still focusing on decision-making. It reminds me how structured information systems can also make analysis more efficient in other areas like how I explored insights through https://alachuapropertyappraiser.org for organized data review. The idea of doing more with less really applies across both sports training and learning environments. Looking forward to more posts like this that focus on smarter training approaches rather than just longer sessions.

Rachel Young

Small sided games are a great way to improve decision making and game awareness even when practice time is limited. They keep players constantly engaged while sharpening technical and tactical skills under pressure. For coaches looking to understand structured development and performance insights https://jeffersonparishcourts.org can be useful for organized information access and tracking. This approach really helps players grow faster with realistic match-like situations instead of long repetitive drills. Overall, SSGs are a smart solution for building better players in less time while maintaining high intensity and focus.