Warm-upRace to the corners7 min
- Five at each hoop: four start on half-way, one waits. On "go": the two wings sprint wide to the deep corners, the ball handler dribbles down the right slot, and the trailer runs to touch the foul line, then comes back up and screens. The ball handler goes over the screen toward the middle; the screener rolls; layup off the roll.
- Race: first hoop to six layups. The layup only counts if both corners were filled before the ball crossed the three-point line. Rotate one spot after each rep; switch the screen side halfway through.
- Theme link: the drag only works while the corners are deep and the defence is still running. Every rep today starts with that race.
Block 1Screen from below8 min
- Adds: a defender on the ball handler, so the angle of the screen decides whether it works.
- 2v1 plus the screener at each hoop, two waiting. X1 guards the ball handler from half-way and is told to go under the screen every time. The screener comes from behind and has to set it below X1, on the basket side of their hip, so X1 can't get under. The ball handler then takes two dribbles past the screen to clear it before looking at anything, and the screener rolls.
- Point to the screener if X1 has to go over the top; point to X1 if they get under. Three reps each as screener, then rotate.
- Progress when: X1 is forced over the top on most reps, and the ball handler is two dribbles past before X1 recovers.
- Regress if: screeners keep arriving late or straight up and down. Start the screener on the foul line instead of half-way, so they only have to work on the angle.
- Cues (questions): "Where did you have to stand so X1 couldn't get under?" "After the screen, how far behind the ball was X1?"
Block 2Step up, roll behind10 min
- Adds: the screener's defender, who has to step up to stop the ball because X1 has gone over the top.
- 2v2 at each hoop, one waiting. X1 goes over and chases. X4 must step up to stop the ball (that's the rule for this block), then try to recover to the roller. The screener rolls the moment X4 commits; the ball handler keeps the dribble alive and passes to the roll before X4 gets back. If X4 steps up and the roller is covered anyway, the ball handler resets and they go again.
- Score and stay on; a stop sends the defence on. Next player waiting joins the defence.
- Progress when: the roller catches it on the way to the rim, not standing at the basket.
- Regress if: the roll is late and X4 recovers every time. The screener starts rolling as soon as the ball handler's shoulder passes their hip, whether X4 has stepped up or not.
- Cues (questions): "When did you start rolling: before X4 stepped up, or after?" "Where was X4's back when the pass left your hand?"
Water2 min
Block 3The corner helper's choice12 min
- Adds: the weak-side corner shooter and their defender, so the ball handler now reads the helper, not the screener's defender.
- 3v2 at each hoop: ball handler, screener and far-corner shooter against X4 and X3. Leave the ball handler's defender out on purpose: after going over the top, they're behind the play anyway. Start from the Block 2 screen. X3 chooses: pull in to bump the roller, or stay with the shooter.
- The corner shooter's rule: lift up toward the wing the moment their defender pulls in. Not before, or they've given X3 an easy choice.
- Scoring: 2 points for a catch-and-shoot by the corner shooter or a layup by the roller; 1 for anything else; 0 and the defence wins it if the ball handler picks up the dribble before passing. First group to 9, rotate three attackers and two defenders each game.
- Progress when: the pass goes to whoever X3 left, on most reps, without the ball handler stopping to look.
- Regress if: the shooter lifts too early and X3 just stays home. Back to "lift on their move": the coach points at X3 to signal the bump for a few reps, then hands the choice back.
- Cues (questions): "Which defender had two people to guard?" "What did X3's feet do just before you passed?"
Water2 min
Finisher4v4 transition, drag points double16 min
- Two teams of four, two waiting. The coach shoots at one end; whoever rebounds pushes it the other way and the other team sprints back. Corners deep, the trailer drags, and the offence plays out whatever the defence gives them. The defence plays any way it likes, apart from no switching.
- Scoring:
- 2 pts: a basket by the roller or by the far-corner shooter off a drag, within 8 seconds of the rebound.
- 1 pt: any other basket.
- Defence: a stop is a point, and they go the other way.
- Waiting pair subs in after every score. Games to 11, then swap teams.
- Progress when: the drag arrives before the defence is set on most trips.
- Regress if: it becomes walk-it-up offence. Add a 6-second count to get the ball over half-way.
Huddle3 min
- One question to the group: "Which defender did the drag put in a two-person job today, and how did you know who they'd left open?"
Coach notes
- Decision errors vs execution errors:
- Passing to the roller when the corner defender had already pulled in is a decision error. Freeze it and ask Block 3's question.
- A good read with a flat screen (set level with X1 or above them, so they go under) is execution. Back to Block 1's angle; the read needs X1 behind the ball first.
- Common failure: the screener jogs after the screen. A late roll lets X4 step up, recover and stop both. Ask "how far had you rolled when X4 turned round?"
- Common failure: the corner shooter drifts out of the corner early. If they're already on the wing, X3 can see both and doesn't have to choose. Corners stay deep until X3 moves.
- If the defence starts sending the ball to the sideline (the ball handler's defender stands on the screen side so they can't come off it), that's a counter for later, not a second theme today: the screener turns and sets it from the other side. Keep it out until the angle and the read are habits.
- Rebounding: the site keeps the drag and the rebound-or-get-back trade-off together at U14. In the finisher, the roller crashes and the ball handler gets back on every miss. Name it before the game starts and leave it at that.
Sources
| Source | Used for |
|---|---|
| Alvin Gentry — Transition Basketball | Warm-up deep corners and running wide, Block 1 screen angle forcing over the top, Block 2 making the screener's defender guard the ball, Block 3 corner lift when the helper pulls in, finisher clock |
| Billy Donovan — Newest Concepts in Early Offense | Block 1 screener getting below the defender, roller to the dunker spot, coach note on sideline defence |
| Brendan Suhr — 5-Out Series | Warm-up trailer touching the foul line, Block 1 two dribbles to clear the screen |
| Quin Snyder — Defending the Pick & Roll and Other Defensive Musts | Mechanism: the drag is an early action that only works before the defence is set |
| junior.basketball (original) | Warm-up race, Block 1 and Block 3 scoring, finisher scoring and 4v4 format for ten players |
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.