Every rebound is a fight for position, and most drives into the paint end with a bump. Players need to practice contact too.
Short wrestling and pushing games at the start of practice are one way to do that. Agree on the rules first: what contact is allowed, how a round stops and how partners signal they want to stop.
Strength work in the weight room matters. Players also need to use that strength against someone who pushes back.
The Gap Between the Weight Room and the Court
A barbell is heavy, but it doesn't push back or change the angle of resistance. On a drive, a rotating help defender does both. These sudden losses of balance are sometimes called perturbations.
Picture a guard finishing against a taller defender. To make space, the guard has to start the contact, often shoulder to chest, at the right moment. That timing only shows up against a live opponent.
Roughhousing in the warm-up
Use part of the warm-up for pushing, pulling and wrestling games.
Here is what these games give players:
- Physical Adaptability: By engaging in wrestling games, athletes naturally explore different stances, lower their center of gravity, and discover where they are strongest.
- Balance and control: Players learn to hold their ground against pressure that keeps changing direction.
- Psychological Resilience: Combat games provide an environment of "safe uncertainty". Players get comfortable with being uncomfortable.
- Social Cohesion: When players grapple and compete physically in a fun environment, they build deep camaraderie and learn how to appropriately manage their physical boundaries.
Free resource
21 SSGs for your next practice.
A free PDF of small-sided games you can run right away. A practical first taste of the approach.
Falling needs its own coaching
Contact games don't teach players how to fall on their own. If you add floor work or falling, teach it, and use the right surface and supervision.
Match each game to the group. If a pair can't control the contact, simplify the game before you move on.
Three combat games for your next warm-up
You don't need a wrestling mat or a martial arts background for these. You do need enough space, a safe surface and a coach watching every pair.
1. Fight for the Line (Tug of War)
Players have to find leverage and use their legs to win.
- How it Works: Two players face each other, standing on a specific line on the court. They lock arms or grab each other's shoulders. On the coach's whistle, they must try to physically push their opponent backward so that both of their feet cross over the line.
- Constraint Variations: Instead of pushing, have both players firmly grab onto a single basketball. Use the ball as the leverage point.
2. Plank & Lunge Destabilization
This targets core stability and the ability to absorb contact without losing posture.
- How it Works: Have players partner up and get into a high plank position facing each other. They must try to grab their partner's wrists or tap their shoulders to make them lose balance while maintaining their own plank.
- Constraint Variations: Move players into a deep, static lunge position. Partners use their hands to push and pull each other, forcing continuous muscle contraction and relaxation.
Demonstration of the Plank & Lunge Destabilization drill with two athletes
3. One-Leg Wrestle
Players have to keep their balance on one leg, like they do when jumping or landing in traffic.
- How it Works: Players partner up, stand on one leg, and hold each other's right hand. They must hop around and try to push or pull their partner to force them to put their second foot down.
- Constraint Variations: Have players work "shoulder to shoulder" like a triangle, leaning weight into each other to simulate boxing out.
Two players competing in the One-Leg Wrestle drill
Further Learning
For more on this, listen to Transforming Basketball Podcast Episode 97 featuring Jamie Smith from The U of Strength.
Jamie talks about the difference between force potential and force expression, and about using rough play with the groups he trains.
Where to start
Pick one of the three games and run it for a few rounds at the start of your next practice. Explain the boundaries before the first whistle.
Then watch the scrimmage later in the session. Are players holding their position when the bumps come? Keep the rest of your physical preparation as it is.
If you want to fit these games into a complete opening to practice, our basketball warm-up games guide has more options, and designing warm-ups around rate limiters shows how to choose games based on what your players need.
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