Players start underneath the basket and get in good defensive posture. They slide directly up the lane to half court. Once they reach half court, they drop step with the right leg and slide diagonally to the side line (foul line extended). Once they reach the side line, they slide on an even plane directly across they court to the opposite side line. Here we have them stop, do 10 finger tip pushups then resume a diagonal defensive slide back underneath the basket to the starting point.
One thing we like to do as well is position coaches at the diagonal sliding spots to pass the kids a ball where they will catch and pass it back. This allows the team to get in good defensive posture as well as them working to receive the basketball.
Players learn to slide feet on defense quickly and always keep eyes on the ball
You can do the drill with any number of players, we use the whole team

The basketball drills are licensed under a Creative Commons License.
TLC: Pål Degerstrøm 2000-2008