The first thought you might have is, how useful is a blocking pad when coaching? Turns out it way more useful than you might think. The one I bought, the Spalding Basketball Blocking Pad has been super helpful when I’ve been coaching youth basketball the past couple years.
The Pad
The pad itself weighs only about a couple pounds, and comes with a couple of straps on the back to hold it. The foam is solid but has give so it can simulate running into or posting up against another player. The outside is a leather/vinyl surface that has held up really well so far.
Basketball Blocking Pad Drills
There are a variety of drills which I run with the blocking pad. They are:
- Layup contact drill. This is where I initiate contact with the pad while the player is driving for a layup
- Post up drill. This is where the player posts up against the pad and does a move.
- Shooting through contact down low
These are mainly designed to allow the player to finish shots when being fouled or pushed when shooting. One thing to note is when you’re doing this, don’t always make contact. By faking contact, you also provide helpful training where the person thinks they’re going to be fouled.
Where to buy?
To be honest, there are a lot of different brands besides Pro Down which will work. For instance, this one on Amazon is affordable and has really good ratings:
Anything like this one or similar will work. The Pro Down one is harder to find online, I believe I bought it at a sporting goods store one time (don’t remember which one).
