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Session Plan · U12 · Team (7 or more) · 60 min

Back Cut, Blast Cut: Get Open to Catch

Why it works

A defender guarding a player without the ball has to pick one job: sit in the passing lane, or sit back to help. If they sit back, a cut straight at the passer, at full speed, the moment the passer looks at you, closes the gap before they can get back into the lane. That's a blast cut. If they sit in the lane, their chest is turned to the ball and the rim is behind them, so a back cut goes past them to the basket. The back cut also empties the spot it left, so the next teammate blasts into it. One helper can't stop the back cut and the blast at the same time. Waiting one empty spot away from the ball (a double gap) gives every cut room to work.

The thread through every block

  1. Wait a spot away from the ball
  2. eyes meet the passer
  3. defender off: blast to the ball
  4. defender in the lane: back cut
  5. teammate blasts into the empty spot.

Setup. 10 players, 1 coach, 2 hoops (full court), 10 balls, 2 sets of bibs. Five at each hoop for the first three blocks. Five-out spots a step outside the arc; "a spot away" means one empty spot between you and the ball.

Prints on A4 for the clipboard: diagram on the left, rules on the right, and no block split across a page.

Warm · 7B1 · 8B2 · 8B3 · 10B4 · 10Finisher · 12

Warm-upEyes, then blast7 min

123123eyes meet → blast to the wingpasser cuts to the rim, fills that corner
No defence. Passer at the top, a player in each corner, so both wings are empty. When the passer looks at one corner, that player blasts up to the wing to catch. The passer cuts to the rim and fills the corner they left.
  • Five at each hoop: a passer at the top with the ball, one player in each corner, two waiting behind the top. No defence.
  • The passer looks at one corner. That player blasts up to the wing, target hand up, and catches. The passer cuts to the rim, then fills the empty corner.
  • The wing passes to the next player at the top and joins the back of the line. Keep it moving: one pass every few seconds.
  • The passer must not pass until the eyes have met. A cut without eye contact doesn't get the ball.
  • Theme link: the blast cut starts with the passer's eyes, before there's a defender to beat.

Block 1Beat the sag8 min

112122catch and face the rim before they touch it = 1deflection = 1 to the defence
The defender starts with one foot in the paint. On eye contact the corner player blasts to the wing; the defender races to touch the ball. Catch and face the rim, then play 1v1 with two dribbles. Same from the left corner.
  • Adds: a defender on the receiver, starting off in help.
  • Passer at the top, receiver in the corner, their defender with one foot in the paint. The passer looks; the receiver blasts to the wing. The defender sprints to deflect the pass.
  • Catch and face the rim before the defender touches the ball: 1 point. Deflection: 1 point to the defence. After the catch, play 1v1 with two dribbles at most.
  • Rotate passer → receiver → defender → line. Both corners.
  • Progress when: receivers win most catches. The defender starts on the block instead of in the paint.
  • Regress if: the defender deflects every pass. They start under the rim.
  • Cues (questions): "When did you start your cut: before or after their eyes found you?" "How far did the pass have to travel?"

Block 2Help on the back cut8 min

1AA12233corner defender helps (A) → corner blasts to the empty wingcorner defender stays → back-cut layup
The wing is always denied and always back cuts. Behind the players' backs, the coach tells the corner defender to help on the back cut or stay. The corner reads their own defender: helped, so blast into the wing the back cutter just left; stayed, so stay home and the back cut is open.
  • Adds: a second attacker and a helper, so the back cut and the blast work as a pair.
  • Open passer at the top, no defender. Wing denied, corner guarded. The wing defender always denies, so the wing always back cuts.
  • The coach signals the corner defender before each rep: help on the back cut, or stay home. The corner player watches their own defender. Helped → blast up into the empty wing and catch. Stayed home → the back cutter is open for a bounce pass.
  • After the catch, play 2v2 live; the passer is an outlet who can't shoot. The back cutter who doesn't get it carries on to the far corner.
  • Back-cut layup: 3. Basket after the blast catch: 2. Deflection: 1 to the defence.
  • Rotate: offence to defence, defence to passer and the line. Switch sides halfway.
  • Progress when: the corner starts the blast as their defender's first step goes to help, not after. Let the corner defender choose.
  • Regress if: the corner blasts every rep regardless. Freeze on the help step and ask the corner who's guarding them now.
  • Cues (questions): "When your teammate back cut, where did your defender look?" "Who did the corner defender have to choose between?"

Water2 min

Block 32v2 live: deny or don't10 min

AB112233A: denied → back cut · B: not denied → step up and catchback-cut layup = 3 · basket after a blast = 2
Both defenders now choose for themselves, and the passer has a passive defender. The wing reads the denial; the corner reads the help. Play 2v2 live from the first catch.
  • Adds: both defenders choose for themselves, and a passive defender (hands up, no steals) on the passer.
  • Same shape. The wing defender denies or sits back; the corner defender helps or stays. Nobody is told in advance.
  • Wing: denied → back cut; not denied → step up to the wing and catch. Corner: their defender helps → blast into the empty spot.
  • Same scoring as Block 2. Score and stay on; a stop sends the defence to offence.
  • Progress when: cutters change direction on the first or second step, not after they've stopped. The passer's defender plays live.
  • Regress if: the passer can't find anyone. The passer's defender goes back to hands down.
  • Cues (questions): "What did your defender give you?" "When your teammate cut, which spot did they leave empty?"

Block 43v3: get open or lose it10 min

AB112233no dribble until the first pass is caughtball stuck: the nearest player cutsstop: off, next team on · deflection = 1
3v3 cutthroat at one hoop, everyone guarded. The ball can't be dribbled until a teammate has got open and caught it, so the cuts have to work. Teams of 3, 3 and 4.
  • Adds: everyone guarded, the passer included, and the dribble taken away until someone gets open.
  • One hoop, teams of 3, 3 and 4 (the four rotates a player off each time they come on). 3v3, the waiting team stands at half-way.
  • No dribble until the first pass is caught. If the ball-handler is stuck, the nearest teammate cuts straight away: back cut if they're denied, blast if they're not.
  • A basket keeps the offence on. A stop or a five-second hold: offence off, defence to offence, new team on defence. Defence keep a running count of deflections; most at the end wins.
  • Progress when: the first pass gets caught on most possessions. Make it the first two passes.
  • Regress if: five-second holds every possession. The defender on the ball stays an arm's length off.
  • Cues (questions): "Your teammate was stuck. Who was closest, and what did they do?" "Did your defender want you to blast or to back cut?"

Finisher5v5 deny game12 min

1122334455back-cut layup = 3 · score after a blast catch = 2other basket = 1 · deflection = 1 to the defence
5v5 five-out at one hoop, man-to-man. The defence scores for deflections, so they deny; the offence scores most for beating the denial.
  • 5v5 five-out, man-to-man, one hoop. Coach referees from the top.
  • Scoring:
    • 3 pts: a layup off a back cut.
    • 2 pts: a basket after a catch off a blast cut.
    • 1 pt: any other basket.
    • 1 pt to the defence: every deflection.
  • Two 5-minute halves. Swap at half-time.

Huddle3 min

  • One question to the group: "When your defender was in the passing lane, what was open behind them?"

Coach notes

  • Decision errors vs execution errors:
    • Blasting into a defender who's already in the lane, or blasting when the corner defender stayed home, is a decision error. Ask Block 3's question.
    • The right cut, but too slow, so the defender gets back, is execution. Ask "how many steps did it take you to get going?"
    • A cut before the passer looked is a connection error between two players, not one. Ask both: "did your eyes meet?"
  • Common failure: players fill straight into the spot next to the ball, so there's no room to cut. Ask "where's the empty spot between you and the ball?" Stay a spot away until the eyes meet.
  • Common failure: defenders sit back all session, so back cuts never happen. That's why deflections score. If they still sag, make a deflection worth 2.
  • Judge the read, not the catch. A back cut against a denial that didn't get the ball was the right cut.

Sources

SourceUsed for
Mike MacKay — How to Teach CuttingMechanism, warm-up, Blocks 1 to 3 (back cut, blast cut and the helper's choice), deflection scoring, coach notes
Bill Flitter — Youth Motion Offense in One HourBlock 4 "ball stuck: the nearest player cuts"
junior.basketball (original)Block 1 to 3 scoring and rotations, Block 4 no-dribble rule, finisher offence scoring

Related

More session plans, the Session Design guide this format follows, Game-Based Practice for why every plan ends live, and blank session plan templates to write your own.

Unofficial resource. Drills are adapted from recorded coaching clinics and credited to the coaches named in Sources above; anything marked junior.basketball (original) was written for this plan. Not affiliated with or endorsed by those coaches or the organisations that ran the clinics. Full credit to every presenter.