How to Master Hustle Basketball: 7 Drills to Boost Your Effort Plays

Let me tell you something I’ve learned after years around the game, both playing and coaching: talent gets you in the door, but hustle keeps you on the court. I was reminded of this stark reality just the other day, reading about Rondae Hollis-Jefferson’s concern for an injured opponent. His words, “I don’t know what happened to Justin but my prayers and everything for him… I don’t wish that on no one,” struck a chord. It’s a moment that lays bare the physical toll of pure, unadulterated effort. That play before the injury? It was almost certainly a hustle play—a dive, a sprint, a collision born of maximum effort. That’s the razor’s edge we walk. We celebrate and drill these effort plays precisely because they are so valuable and so demanding, knowing full well the risk they entail. Mastering hustle isn’t about mindless running; it’s a skill. A conscious, trainable discipline that separates contributors from spectators. It’s the difference between a good player and a player you can’t take off the floor, regardless of the score. And the beautiful, often overlooked truth is that you can absolutely train it. You can condition your body and, more importantly, your mind to make those effort plays a reflexive part of your game.

So, how do we build this engine? It starts with a shift in mentality, but it’s cemented through specific, grueling repetition. I’m a firm believer in drills that mimic chaos, because a clean practice layup line won’t teach you how to chase down a loose ball with the game on the line. The first drill I always implement, and one I think is non-negotiable, is the “Three-Spot Closeout.” You start at the rim, sprint to a wing closeout, then immediately slide to the corner as if chasing the ball, and finally explode back to the rim to contest an imaginary shot. Do this for 45-second bursts with 15 seconds of rest, repeating for 5 minutes. Your lungs will burn, but it builds the specific stamina for defensive rotations. Next, the “Full-Court Turnover Scramble.” Have a coach or partner randomly roll a ball toward any corner. On the whistle, you sprint from the opposite baseline, secure it, and immediately push into a fast break. It’s not about a pretty finish; it’s about the initial burst of acceleration from a dead stop. We track these sprints. In a typical drill session, a dedicated player might cover an extra 600 to 800 meters of pure, high-intensity sprinting just from these scramble drills alone.

My personal favorite, and the one that truly tests will, is the “One-on-Two Rebounding Drill.” You start under the basket with two offensive players at the elbows. The coach shoots, and your sole job is to secure the board against two bodies boxing you out. You get a point only if you grab the ball cleanly and chin it with two hands. Do ten reps. I’ve seen grown men get frustrated by this, but it forges the kind of toughness you can’t get from just lifting weights. It teaches you to seek contact, not avoid it. For loose balls, we use the “Shark Drill.” Four players lie on their backs around the circle, a ball in the center. On the whistle, they scramble up and fight for it. It’s ugly, it’s raw, and it’s about pure desire. You learn to get up off the floor faster than you thought possible. Then there’s the “Continuous Dive.” You line up at the three-point line. A coach throws a ball deliberately out of bounds. You sprint, dive, save it back to a teammate, pop up, sprint back to touch the line, and immediately do it again. Three dives in succession. This one is as much about recovery and mental resilience as it is about the dive itself.

Offensively, hustle isn’t just defensive. The “Missed Shot Chase” drill is critical. Take a contested jumper, assume it will miss, and immediately crash the boards from the perimeter. The key is the first two steps before the ball hits the rim. We film this to show players how often those first steps create the angle for an offensive board. Another staple is the “Sprint-Short-Sprint” conditioning drill. Baseline to half-court and back is a sprint, then immediately into defensive slides across the key, then back into a sprint to the far baseline. It mimics the brutal stop-start nature of transition defense. Finally, we integrate everything with the “5-Point Hustle Scrimmage.” Any hustle play—a charge, a dive, an offensive board, a deflection—earns your team an extra point. Suddenly, winning isn’t about pretty jump shots; it’s about who wants it more. The culture shifts in a single practice.

Watching professionals, you see this ingrained behavior. Hollis-Jefferson’s instinctive concern for an opponent following a likely hustle play underscores the mutual respect this effort commands. It’s a fraternity of effort. You know what the other guy is putting himself through because you do it too. That’s the heart of it. Implementing these seven drills—Three-Spot Closeout, Full-Court Scramble, One-on-Two Rebound, Shark Drill, Continuous Dive, Missed Shot Chase, and Sprint-Short-Sprint conditioning, all culminating in the 5-Point Scrimmage—won’t just make you a better athlete. It will rewire your basketball brain. You’ll start seeing opportunities for effort plays before they happen. The floor will look different. You’ll gain a respect for the game that only comes from leaving everything on the floor, play after play. It’s the hardest way to play, but I’m convinced it’s the most rewarding. Because when the game is on the line, and everyone is tired, the player who has trained for that specific moment, who has embraced the controlled chaos, is the player who will make the difference. That player could be you.