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Session Plan · U12 · Small group (up to 6) · 45 min

Back It Up: Retreat Dribble, Then Read

Why it works

When a drive gets cut off, a dribbler who keeps going forward runs into the defender or picks the ball up, and a picked-up ball can only be passed. Backing out with the dribble alive resets the gap. Turned sideways (feet, hips and shoulders), with the ball on the far side, the defender can't reach it. Now the defender has to choose. If they follow the dribbler out, they're coming forward, and a player coming forward can't stop a change of direction past them. If they stay back, the dribbler has space and time to see the floor and find the open teammate. Backing up with eyes down wastes it: the space is there so the dribbler can see.

The thread through every block

  1. Attack
  2. get cut off
  3. turn sideways, back it up, eyes up
  4. see what the defender did
  5. followed: go past them · stayed: pass to the open player.

Setup. 6 players, 1 coach, 1 hoop, 6 size-5 balls, 2 cones.

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

Warm · 5B1 · 6B2 · 7B3 · 8B4 · 7Finisher · 8

Warm-upThat way5 min

12C1231 explode where the coach points2 back it up: hop, step, hop
Three at a time, facing the coach. The coach points; players explode two dribbles that way, then back it up the other way with eyes on the coach. Swap every 30 seconds.
  • Three players spread across the floor facing the coach, a ball each; the other three wait and swap in every 30 seconds.
  • The coach points. Players explode two dribbles that way, then back it up two dribbles, eyes on the coach for the next point.
  • The footwork for backing up: dribbling with the right hand, step back with the right foot first, then hop, step, hop. Same on the left. Stay upright, not crouched.
  • Anyone the coach catches looking at the ball sits out the next point.
  • Theme link: backing up is only worth doing with eyes up, and the coach's hand is the test.

Block 1Cut off at the elbow6 min

123413 back it up sideways, eyes up4 attack again, finish
Change direction at the top cone, attack the elbow cone as if cut off, back it up two dribbles sideways, then attack again and finish. Alternate elbows.
  • Adds: the retreat itself, in the middle of a drive.
  • Change of direction at the top cone, attack the elbow cone, and treat it as a defender who has cut you off. Back it up two dribbles, sideways with the ball on the far side. Then make a second move to the rim and finish.
  • Alternate elbows each rep, so both hands back it up.
  • Progress when: the retreat is sideways and the head stays up through it.
  • Regress if: players backpedal square, chest to the cone. Walk it: turn the hips first, then dribble back.
  • Cues (questions): "If that cone were a defender, could they reach your ball?" "What could you see while you backed up?"

Block 2Back it up, find the corner7 min

123451C3 pass · 4 relocate · 5 catch and shoot
Drive to the elbow cone, back it up, pass to the coach, relocate to the short corner and catch and shoot. Alternate sides.
  • Adds: a pass out of the retreat, then a relocation to get it back.
  • Same drive and retreat. On the second retreat dribble, pass to the coach at the slot, then relocate to the short corner on your side. Catch and shoot from there, inside the arc.
  • Progress when: the pass leaves on the retreat dribble, not after the ball's picked up.
  • Regress if: the pass comes after a stop. Coach calls "now" on the second retreat dribble.
  • Cues (questions): "When did you see the coach?" "Was your dribble still alive when you passed?"

Block 3Followed or stayed?8 min

AB112X1 follows you out → A: go past themX1 stays back → B: pass to the corner
The dribbler starts from the end of the retreat. X1 either steps up to follow or stays back. Followed: change direction and go past. Stayed: pass to the corner, who shoots.
  • Adds: a defender who chooses, and one read with two answers.
  • The dribbler starts where Block 1's retreat ended. A defender at the elbow decides on "go": follow the dribbler out, or stay back. A teammate waits in the corner.
  • Followed: change direction past the defender's front foot and finish. Stayed: pass to the corner, who catches and shoots. The defender plays live once the read is made.
  • Rotate: dribbler → corner → defender → line.
  • Progress when: the read is right four times in five, and made on the move.
  • Regress if: the dribbler decides before looking. Defender shows the choice earlier and bigger.
  • Cues (questions): "What did the defender's feet do?" "Did you know before or after you looked?"

Water2 min

Block 42v2: earn the corner7 min

121122cut off → back it up, then readX2 can help or stay
2v2 live from the top. The driver attacks; if cut off, backs it up and reads. The corner's defender can now help, so the corner pass has to be earned.
  • Adds: the corner's defender, who can help on the drive or stay home.
  • 2v2 live: driver and defender at the top, corner and defender. The driver has to drive. If cut off, back it up and read: go past a defender who follows, or pass to whoever's open. Play to a score or a stop; two waiting rotate in.
  • Progress when: the driver backs out and still scores or assists, instead of forcing into two defenders.
  • Regress if: the corner pass gets stolen every time. X2 has to stay home for the first dribble of the retreat.
  • Cues (questions): "Who was open when you backed out?" "What did X2 do when you got cut off?"

Finisher3v3: back it up and score8 min

12112233make or assist after a back-it-up = 2any other make = 1 · picked-up ball when cut off = 1 to defence
3v3 live. A make, or an assist, that comes out of a retreat dribble scores 2. Picking the ball up when cut off gives the defence a point.
  • 3v3 live on the half court, everyone playing. Make it, take it, then swap ends of the scoring after each possession.
  • Scoring:
    • 2 pts: a make, or a pass that leads to a make, that comes straight out of a retreat dribble.
    • 1 pt: any other make.
    • Defence, 1 pt: a stop, or the dribbler picking the ball up when cut off.
  • First to 9.
  • Progress when: retreats are happening without being asked for, and the eyes come up on them.
  • Regress if: nobody gets cut off, so nobody needs to back out. Defenders must sit on the driver's strong hand.

Huddle2 min

  • One question: "When you backed it up today, what did you see that you couldn't see while you were going forward?"

Coach notes

  • Decision errors vs execution errors:
    • Going past a defender who stayed back, into two players, is a decision error. Ask Block 3's question about their feet.
    • Losing the ball on the retreat is execution, usually from backpedalling square. Back to Block 1, hips first.
  • Common failure: retreating with eyes on the ball. Make the Warm-up's rule the session's rule: caught looking down, sit out a rep.
  • Common failure: backing up too far, out past the arc, which kills the drive. Two dribbles back is the default.
  • Running it for 60: add 5 min to Block 4 (a second round where the corner defender plays fully live from the start), and 8 min to the finisher with a rule change for the second game: a possession only scores if the ball has gone backwards once. Add a 2-min huddle question: "Who did you go past after backing up, and why could you?" Never add to Blocks 1 and 2.

Sources

SourceUsed for
Coach TJ — Attack Off the Retreat DribbleBlock 1, Block 2, Block 3
Jim Jones — Playing Open With Your DribbleWarm-up, Block 3 (going past a defender who comes up)
junior.basketball (original)Block 4, finisher 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.