Warm-upActivate and chin the ball8 min
- Pairs, full length, two pairs going at once (one each side). The defender starts with the ball, pitches it to the dribbler and closes to an arm's length. If the dribbler pivots backwards before dribbling, the defender was close enough. Then zig-zag up the floor: the defender keeps their chin over the ball and only goes for it when it's exposed (a loose handle, a dribble too far out in front).
- Down and back each, then swap.
- Theme link: the pressure has to be close enough to make the ball handler turn. Further back than an arm's length, they just dribble up the floor.
Block 1Turn them twice9 min
- Adds: a target. The dribbler is trying to get past half-way, and the defender is trying to turn them twice first.
- 1v1 in the outer third (sideline to the lane line extended), baseline to half-way, one pair each side at a time. The defender beats the dribbler to the spot with the chest, never the hips, and turns them. A change of direction or a turned back counts as a turn. Dribbling into the middle third is a turnover.
- Scoring: two turns before half-way is 1 to the defender; a steal is 2; the dribbler past half-way inside 5 seconds is 1 to them. Three reps each, then swap.
- Progress when: defenders get two turns on most reps without fouling.
- Regress if: the dribbler gets turned at will and the rep turns into a wrestle. Defender's hands go behind the back for a round; chest and feet only.
- Cues (questions): "Where did your chest meet them: in front, or on the hip?" "When was the ball exposed, and did you go then?"
Block 2Off the rebound: back off the passer, pick up the catch9 min
- Adds: the outlet pass, so the pick-up now starts on a catch, and a second defender who has to stop the long pass.
- 2v2 at each end, one waiting. The coach (or a player) misses on purpose; one attacker rebounds and outlets to the other, who is on the wing. The rebounder's defender backs off toward half-way, so the pass can't go over the top for a run-out. The catcher's defender lets the catch happen in front of them, then activates on the catch and turns them. Live to half-way.
- Scoring: as Block 1, plus 2 to the attack for a pass over the top that gets past both defenders. Three reps, rotate.
- Progress when: the catch is always made coming back toward the ball, never running away up the floor.
- Regress if: the outlet goes over the top every time. The rebounder's defender starts two steps further up the floor.
- Cues (questions): "Where was the long pass, and who took it away?" "Did you close in as the ball arrived, or after they'd turned?"
Water2 min
Block 3Crash four, pick up full14 min
- Adds: the crash itself, so the pick-up has to come from wherever the crash left you.
- 4v4 full court, two subs. The attack shoots a three within three passes; all four crash. Offensive rebound: play on. Defensive rebound: live the other way. The crasher nearest the ball picks up the rebounder or the outlet catcher; the other three sprint back past the ball first, then match up.
- Once the ball is over half-way, play it out at the far end, then the next possession starts there with the other team shooting the three.
- Scoring:
- Pressing team: 1 for an offensive rebound; 1 for turning the ball handler twice before half-way; 2 for a backcourt steal.
- Other team: 2 for a basket; 1 for getting the ball over half-way inside 5 seconds.
- Subs come in on every change of possession.
- Progress when: the pick-up is made within a step of the rebound on most trips, and no layups come from behind.
- Regress if: the pressing team gives up layups over the top. Only the nearest crasher picks up; the next nearest has to be past half-way before the outlet is caught.
- Cues (questions): "Who was nearest the ball when they rebounded it? Who picked up?" "Who was the first one back past the ball?"
Water2 min
FinisherCrash and pick up, 5v514 min
- 5v5 full court, a 20-second shot clock. Same rule every possession: on a three, four crash; on a defensive rebound, the nearest player picks up full court and everyone else gets back past the ball first. After a made basket, pick up on the inbound the same way, with the inbounder's defender backing off.
- Scoring: 2 for a basket (3 for a three); +1 for an offensive rebound; +1 for turning the ball handler twice before half-way; +2 for a backcourt steal.
- Two 6-minute halves with a minute between to swap who guards whom.
Huddle2 min
- One question to the group: "How many seconds did our pressure take off their clock tonight, and what did they do with what was left?"
Coach notes
- Decision errors vs execution errors:
- Two players picking up the ball, or nobody, is a decision error. Freeze it and ask Block 3's first question.
- A reach that gets the defender beaten is execution. Back to the warm-up rule: hands only when the ball is exposed.
- Common failure: pressing high and getting beaten over the top. Pressure without anyone back is a layup the other way. The first job after a lost rebound is basket first, then ball; only the nearest player presses.
- Common failure: fouls on the turn. Contact with the chest after beating the dribbler to the spot is legal; contact with the hip or a hand on the body is a foul. Referees at this age call the hands, so take them out of it in Block 1 if you need to.
- When to call it off: if the other team's ball handler is comfortable against it, don't keep pressing for the sake of it. The goal is that they're uncomfortable; drop back to a half-court pick-up on them.
- How it differs from Press Break (U16): that plan is the team under pressure. This is the team applying it, man-to-man, with no traps.
Sources
| Source | Used for |
|---|---|
| Roy Rogers — Building Transition Pressure Defence | Mechanism (four crash on a three, pick up full court, turn them twice, the clock it eats), Block 1 keeping the ball in the outer third, Block 3, finisher |
| Vinay Bhavnani — Maintaining On-Ball Pressure | Warm-up activation, pitch and chin to the ball, striking only when the ball is exposed, Block 1 beating the dribbler to the spot with the chest, Block 2 backing off the passer and catches coming forward, coach note on calling it off |
| Charles Lee — Offensive Rebounding and Transition Defense | Block 3 and coach notes: everyone but the nearest player gets back, basket first |
| junior.basketball (original) | Block 1 and Block 3 scoring, Block 2 outlet set-up, finisher clock and format |
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.