Team-Building Activities for Basketball Retreats!

Building trust on and off the court might seem cliche, but the thing is, when you build this early on, it can be enjoyable, and incredibly innovative. Here, we’ll go over some of the different activities that you can do on and off the court to build team trust, and a cohesiveness together that will know no bounds. 

Escape Rooms 

The first is an escape room. While it may not seem like it will work for basketball, it actually helps with boosting teamwork, and skills to solve problems. You and your team members will collaborate in order to solve escape room puzzles. There’s a time limit, so decisions need to be made quickly to create effective strategies.  It builds trust, and also gets them to work together better. 

A blindfolded Obstacle Course 

This is an activity that can be done before the end of practice. It does a lot of cool things for teams, but best of all helps with harnessing the communication skills of players. You want to set up a unique obstacle course that players can go through, and they will do it blindfolded. One person leads them, the other is blindfolded. They must rely on others for support, and guidance. It builds better trust, and strengthens communication with teams, building better cohesion than before. 

Trust Falls 

Trust falls may seem a little cliché for team building, but you do need to rely on others. Can you really trust someone on the court if they won't even catch you as you fall. There are variations as well, where a player may lean back, creating a “trust lean.” The team must catch them, and it adds surprises and elements to this.  While skepticism is common in a lot of sports, including basketball, understanding that sometimes you’ve just got to do these unconventional exercises can help. It’s effective, and it will definitely work! 

Two Truths and a Lie 

Want to learn more about your teammates? Use this exercise! The goal is to have every player say two truths, and then one lie about who they are. Everyone on the team is used to guess the lie, so it builds understanding, and better connections with the team. Again, this is good for getting to know others better, which is a vital part of trust and teamwork in the realm of basketball and builds connections better too! 

Safe Seat 

This is another one that’s great and is actually popularized by basketball players. There's a seat that’s called the “safe” seat, put in the locker room.  The team members are invited to sit, and then answer any questions anyone has about the way they play, or their specific productivity.  The goal of this is to not leave the room. This can be scary, as you’re going to be vulnerable, but this is a good way to build better trust and understand your teammates better. 

The Defining Moment 

Finally, we’ve got the defining moment, where a player shares the defining moment within their lives that matters to them. 

The players offer feedback on these stories.  These stories can be good for understanding what makes other players happy, or even getting to know other players again. 

You will be surprised as the coach of their team the different answers. Trust is hard, but for basketball players, it’s vital, so make sure that you always have it. These exercises can help to build trust right away, so that they can play even better both on and off the court with each other and create a real winning team that works together! 

Crossover Dribbling and Ball Handling Drills to Try

Crossover dribbling is a great way to build better ball handling and also builds confidence in your skills. Here are a few crossover drills to try, along with ball handling, in order to get better at moving the ball. 

Stationary Crossover Drills 

This is a unique drill because it involves different phases. The first state is where you’ve got the feet about shoulder-width apart, and they begin with two dribbles using the right hand, and then crossing to the left, doing this for about thirty seconds. Then, for the second thirty seconds, take one hand, dribble it, and then cross it to the left. 

Finally, for the third, just do the drill, without crossovers or dribbles.  This is a good one that should be done on a regular basis.  That’s because players need to learn ball control.  Don’t worry about losing the ball, as it will happen. They should keep the ball lowered, beneath one’s knees, and keep the crossover night and tight towards the body. Make it as quick as you can and dribble it hard! 

Crossover Drill with Cones 

Then there is the next crossover drill, which is an extension of the last one.  Start with a few cones a few feet apart.  dribble the ball in the right hand near the cone, then cross it from right, to the left in the first cone.  Then, as you dribble by the cone area, you want to take one large step with one’s right leg, in order to put the leg between the cone, and then the ball. 

From here, continue towards the next cone, and continue to do this. 

This is a bit challenging, but the double crossover can be mastered with progress.  When you use the cone, try to imagine a defender trying to stop you, and also, going to the secondary crossover near the cone. 

You should make sure to always switch hands with the start of this drill. 

Full Court Dribbling 

This is a good one for mastering dribbling and ball handling.  

Take a bunch of cones and put them in different parts of the court.  The goal is to dribble towards the cone, move towards it, and then, head towards the next one. 

With a lot of moves here, you can try crossovers with this too, or even between the legs and then behind the back too! 

The Figure Eight 

This is a bit of a hard one, as it may require you to move the ball quicker.  It’s good for crossovers and helps with mastering it in a quick manner. Start with your feet far apart, and the ball inside the right hand.  Dribble this ball through the legs, all the way to the left hand, and then, back towards the right. get quick with this. 

Pound and Dribble 

This is one that can be good with keeping the dribbling hard, so you can do crossovers better. To do this, you should start with dribbling by putting the ball inside your hand. Bend the knees to the poor position, dribbling this quickly with the hand being used. Keep the eyes looking upright, and as straight ahead as you can as you dribble. 

It’s good for building control and will help people maintain control when they dribble this as best as they can. 

Crossovers are a challenge, but with this exercise, you’ll be able to master them, and you’ve got some great conditioning that’ll impact the overall performance, and will in turn, help with your overall success in the grand scheme of things as well too.