The weave drill in basketball is a passing drill where a player runs behind the player they pass the ball too. It can be done with 3 players or 5 players. The weave can be used at the beginning of practices as a warm-up drill to get players running and passing the ball. I like to end practices using the 5-man weave. The 5-man weave signals to the players that we are almost done but it still makes them focus for that additional one or two trips before practice is finished.
I have coached with coaches who ended every practice with sprints. As a player and as a coach, it always seemed practiced ended on a bad note because of the sprints. The players do not enjoy it and if the players are not running hard enough then the coaches get upset. I wanted to end practices on a positive note while still getting in those last little bit of sprinting.
The 5-man weave is something the players enjoy doing and because they are running the length of the court, the sprints are still occurring. Once the players get the movement of the drill, then they can have some fun and playful banter occurs during the drill. These helps practices end with positive feelings instead of negative feelings.
Each group of 5 players will go down and back shooting layups on both ends. After the down and back, another group of 5 players will take off to continue the drill. One ball is used starting in the middle with the five players lined up across the baseline. The ball is passed between teammates and after each pass the thrower runs behind the player they pass the ball too. This is the drill.
The five players are lined up across the baseline. The 1st set of passes occur with the 3 inside players. The players are going to be running up the floor while all of the passing and catching is taking place.
3 passes to 4 and runs behind them. 4 then passes to 2 and runs across the floor behind 2. 1 and 5 are running down the sidelines to begin with.
The 2nd group of passes will involve 1 and 5 with one of them shooting a layup to end the 1st trip. In the diagram, 2 passes to 5. 5 will then throw the last pass to 1 who shoots the layup. 2 runs behind 5 and 5 runs behind 1. As the layup is made, all 5 players must touch the baseline. A player rebounds the layup now with all 5 players lined across the baseline. These 5 players return back down the court passing and weaving again to get back to the starting side of the floor.
Once these five return with a layup, another group of 5 players take off and do the weave. This will continue until the drill is ended. This can be 1 or 2 trips or it can be for 10+ trips. The length of the drill is up to the coach.
While the weave may not have any straight game situation, it does work on passing and catching on the run. I use it at the end of practice to help to wrap things up. Nothing more. It can be used at the beginning of practice to get the players running up and down the floor and loosened up. It is a simple drill that is used by most teams, but it should not be a drill run for an extended period of practice time. If you are going to use the drill, then get it in and move along too quick rather than too slow.
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