• A basketball spends most of its time in a guard's hands.basketball image by Alexey Klementiev from Fotolia.com
  
  When it comes to running an offense, the guard is the most important position in basketball. Guards are the facilitators of the offense since they tend to be the fastest players and most adept at handling the ball. Point guards and shooting guards have some related skill sets, which makes it easy to run drills that that can help players at both positions improve.
  
  

Offensive Drills

• Offensive drills help guards develop their shooting stroke by presenting them with different situations they may face during a game. One example is the "screen" play. The guard begins with the ball as a defender guards him. One of the guard's larger teammates runs up and stands in a spot to the guard's left or right. The guard dribbles the ball over to his teammate, who "screens out" the defender, standing in his way and preventing him from continuing to defend. The guard is left undefended for a brief moment, providing him an opportunity to attempt a shot. Other drills include three-point shooting, mid-range shooting, driving to the basket for a layup and moving without the ball.
  
  

Defensive Drills

• Guards represent the first line of defense for their team, since they're usually matched up against the opposing ball-handler. The "screen" drill can be run for defensive purposes, with the objective of having the guard find his way around the screen as quickly as possible. This drill should be run multiple times to give the guard a chance to try out different options, such as chasing the ball-handler around the screen or running around the defender and reestablishing position in front of the ball-handler. Another popular drill involves the defender using her hands to try and swat the ball away from the opposing player. By learning how to make contact with the ball and not the defender, the drill can help increase opposition turnovers while limiting fouls.
  
  

Running the Offense

• A guard's most important job is to run his team's offense. The best drills for this involve having the guard handle the ball while the defense presents different looks. One effective drill has the guard begin with the ball in a standard 5-on-5 set. As he drives for the basket, the drill should call for two defenders to collapse on him and attempt to deny him a shot. The guard should keep his head up at all times, and look for the open man created by the double-team. Each drill attempt should leave a different man open to give the guard different looks. Once he identifies the open man, the guard makes the pass and the open shooter launches a shot. This drill is a good example of how a quick guard with good ball-handling skills can run an offense that opens up scoring chances for his teammates.