How to Improve Basketball Guard Play:
Tips, Secrets, Drills, and Fundamentals for Point Guards & Off Guards

When discussing guard play, we enter probably the most complex area of basketball. Your team's guards fill such a variety of roles that is difficult to cover all the changing responsibilities -- not only from game to game, but sometimes from play to play. None of the other positions have to make as many adjustments and changes as your guards do. No other position has to be as instantly adaptable as your guards have to be. However, some principles of guard play are consistent regardless of the situation, and those are the ones we will cover here.

Obviously, your guards should be able to shoot and handle the ball. They should have the ability to pass and play defense. But that is what we want of all our players. We will go over some drills that might improve your players in these common areas.

What is it that sets our guards apart from other players?

For your team to be successful, your guards have to do more than shoot and have to be more than good dribblers, ball handlers, and passers.

Here are some things that set your guards apart from other players -- and some of the secrets related to developing great guards:

Responsibility

More than any other position, your guards must be willing to take responsibility. All plays flow though your guards. They must be able to handle the ups and downs of the game and be able to stand up and say, "I will take the responsibility!"

Your guards must learn not only their positions, but all positions. You must teach them not only what to do, but why to do it and what the objectives are. When the game starts, the coach cannot be on the court. The guards must be an extension of the coach's philosophy.

You would be hard pressed to find a successful team where the guards and the coach are not on the same page!

Pace of the Game

Your guards are the gas and the break pedals of your team. They must understand the pace that you need to play to be successful, the pace of the game as it is being played, and any adjustments that need to be made. They must have a feel for situations related to time and score, scoring runs, and scoring droughts. Reacting properly will go a long way toward your team being successful.

Teammate's Abilities

Your guards must know the abilities of their teammates. If they give a post player the ball 20 feet from the basket and the post player turns the ball over, it might be recorded as the post player's turnover, but it is the guard's mistake. They never should have put their teammate in that position. By the same token, if there is a shooter open in the corner, it is the guards' responsibility to hit the open shooter with a well placed pass. Your guards have to play traffic cop, only giving the ball up to players who are in position to do something positive with it.

Spacing

The most valuable commodity on the basketball floor is space. Proper spacing allows players to have room to operate, to slash to the basket, and makes your team more difficult to defend. Your guards are in charge of space!

They should not destroy space with their dribble or decisions; they should CREATE it. For example, if there are three players on one side of the floor and your guards goes to their dribble, they should take the ball away from the crowd, allow the other players to adjust toward the ball, and, thereby, create better spacing on the floor.

Leadership

Because your guards always have the ball, the entire team looks to them and will take on their personality. They can be fiery and emotional, but they have to funnel that energy in a positive direction. They cannot get down on their teammates or show their frustration when things don't go right. They always have to remain in control of themselves and the team.

Your team will look to your guards for direction and calmness. They cannot lead if the team does not trust them!