Coaching Resources · Templates
Season Plan
A printable season plan in three sheets: a pre-season checklist to answer before the first session, a master plan of everything you want to teach, and a team culture page. Built from the Session Design and Culture Building guides, the pre-season checklist in the Youth Basketball Coaching Guide, and the Parent Communication Toolkit. Fill it in on paper, or save it as a PDF.
Each sheet prints on its own page. To print just one, choose that page number in your browser's print dialog.
1 · Pre-season checklist
Revisit these questions before every season
The questions come from the coaches with the longest sustained success across 225 episodes of The Basketball Podcast. Jot a line under each; tick it when you have an answer.
Philosophy and identity
- What does winning mean for this team this season — and is it the same as long-term development?
- Who is this team made of, and how will we build its character? If you pick your players (a representative or select side with tryouts): character first, talent second — or the reverse? If you coach who signs up (a house or domestic team): how will you build character in the players you have?
- What three core values will govern everything this season? Can every player state them in the same language?
- What will we reward publicly that doesn't show up in the box score?
Practice design
- What percentage of practice time is spent in game-based, opposed, decision-making situations?
- Do we have a clear primary teaching intervention (Hold–Recreate–Replay) and do we use it consistently?
- Are we introducing constraints or giving instructions when we want to shape behaviour?
- Are we planning mental performance development — or leaving it to chance?
Players and culture
- Have we had a genuine one-on-one conversation with every player about their goals?
- Do our players know their role — and have they articulated it back to us in their own words?
- Are there player-led structures, or does everything flow through the coach?
- What will we do in the first losing streak to protect the culture we're building?
Parents and community
- Have we run a pre-season parent session covering development philosophy, not just logistics?
- Do parents know the 24-hour rule and the "I love watching you play" principle?
- Are we building a programme identity that extends beyond this year's roster?
2 · Master plan
Everything you want to teach, in four columns
Mike Zeppel's framework, from the Session Design guide: before the season, list every specific teaching point under each column, then tick them off as you cover them. Most coaches find they are trying to cram in more than they have sessions for. The plan forces the useful decision: cut what matters least and do the rest well. At the end of each week, review it and mark what you actually covered.
Offence
Ready-made sessions
- Outlet and Run: Beat the Ball Up the Floor U10
- Spread Out: One Defender, One Player U10
- 2v1: Pass or Go U12
- Back Cut, Blast Cut: Get Open to Catch U12
- DHO Reads: Take It or Keep It U12
- Drive and Fill: the Five D's U12
- Pass, Cut, Replace: Read Your Defender U12
- Score Off Their Make: Nearest Takes It Out U12
- Ball Screen: Feel, Look, Read U14
- Pin-Down Reads: Curl or Pop U14
- Back Screen: Cut to the Rim U14
- Transition Kick-Out: Win the Two-Side U14
- Burn Cut: Hunt the Middle, Cut Behind the Help U14
- Drag Screen: Make the Helper Choose U14
- Beat the Recovery: Score Before They Catch Up U14
- One More: Shoot or Swing U14
- Relocate: The Driver Gets It Back U14
- Crash From the Corners: Over the Front, Not Under U14
- Dunker: Wheel Under, Wheel Over U14
- Attacking Closeouts: Read the Last Step U16
- Handoff Counters: Shoot, Turn, Keep or Bounce U16
- Two Levels: Read the Help on the Drive U16
- Attack the 2-3: Make the Zone Move U16
- Zoom: Pin-Down Into Handoff U16
Defence
Ready-made sessions
- Closeout to Containment U10
- Go or Stay: Help Defence U12
- Transition Defence: Stop the Ball, Send It Wide U12
- Pressure the Passer: Dead Ball, Close the Gap U12
- Guard the Ball: Chest in Front U12
- Deny the Wing: Make Them Catch Going Away U12
- Help the Helper: Over and Down U14
- Defending the Pin-Down: Call It, Show, Get Over U14
- Jump to the Ball: Beat the Give-and-Go U14
- Stunt and Recover: Don't Help One Pass Away U14
- Closeout to Contain U16
- Rebounding: Front Turn, Keep Them Off the Middle U16
- Load to the Ball: Match Up From the Rim Out U16
- Lock Left: Put the Ball in Jail U16
- Crash Four, Pick Up Full: Turn Them Twice U16
- Peel Switch: One Rotation Stops the Advantage U16
Special situations
Ready-made sessions
Fundamentals
Ready-made sessions
- Ball Protection Under Pressure U10
- Catch, Stop, Pivot U10
- Stop and Go: Change of Pace U10
- Form Shooting: Start Close U10
- Layups: Inside Foot, Outside Hand U10
- Dribble Into the Pass: No Hold U10
- Pass to the Space: Lead the Receiver U10
- Push It Out: Fewer Dribbles, More Speed U10
- Power Layup: Two Feet, Ball to the Chin U10
- Eyes Up: Busy Off Hand U10
- Cut, Catch, Finish: Score Off the Cut U10
- Catch-and-Shoot Footwork U12
- Quick Second-Dribble Bump U12
- Jump Hop: Land on Two, Then Choose U12
- Fake to Pass: Move the Hands First U12
- Finish Away From the Blocker U12
- Back It Up: Retreat Dribble, Then Read U12
- Make Them Move First: Misdirection U12
- Stride Stop: Arrive in the Paint, Then Play U14
- Shoot the Contest: Find Your Space, Beat the Hand U14
- Hesitation: Pull Up or Go U16
- Post: Hop, Split, Score on the Catch U16
3 · Team culture
The first weeks of pre-season decide the year
From the Culture Building guide. Culture is the daily behaviours your team rewards, tolerates and models, so write it down where the players can see it.
Our values (set with the players)
Players who set the standards own the standards. When someone falls short, return to "this is what we agreed".
What we reward that the box score misses
The charge taken, the screen that freed the shot, the hockey assist.
Win stats we will track
- Hockey assists
- Offensive rebounds attempted
- Charges taken
- Deflections
Monthly one-on-one with every player
Not about basketball: about their life and goals. Tick a box when you have spoken, and write the date in it.
| Player | Month | Month | Month | Month | Month |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Parents
From the Parent Communication Toolkit and the Coaching Conversations guide.
- Pre-season philosophy letter sent. Date:
- Pre-season parent meeting held. Date:
- 24-hour rule explained to parents
- Sideline ask agreed: encouragement for effort only
The Season Plan layout is an original junior.basketball resource — free to use and share. The ideas are unofficial fan-created summaries: the master-plan framework is Mike Zeppel's, from the Talking Split Podcast (produced by Basketball Victoria), and the pre-season checklist and culture practices are synthesised from The Basketball Podcast. Full credit to them and to all guests, and see Sources & attribution. Not affiliated with or endorsed by Basketball Victoria or basketballimmersion.com.