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

Drive and Fill: the Five D's

Why it works

A drive forces at least one defender to help. Help leaves an attacker open, but only if that attacker is standing where the driver can see and reach them. The five D's (driver, drag, drift, diag, dunker, plus the diver in five-out) are the spots each helper's man ends up open in. When all five players fill them on every drive, the open player is always somewhere the driver already knows to look. Then the extra pass makes the next closeout longer.

The thread through every block

  1. Drive to score (two dribbles, two feet in the paint)
  2. teammates fill their D's and call them
  3. the driver reads the help
  4. kick
  5. extra pass.

Setup. 10 players, 1 coach, 2 hoops, 10 balls, floor tape or spot markers for the receiver spots. Groups of five at each hoop.

Spot rules (Gruggen and Sardi):

  • Driver: two dribbles, two feet in the paint, driving to score.
  • Drag: the nearest player fills behind the driver, to where the driver started.
  • Drift: the opposite wing drifts to the corner.
  • Diag: the top player gets diagonal to the ball, never in line with the dunker.
  • Dunker: the post goes opposite the drive. "When he goes high, you go low."
  • Diver (five-out): with no post, the weak-side corner dives to the dunker spot.

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-upCall your spot7 min

1233312345DRIVERDIVERDRIFTDRAGDIAGyell your D as you land
Five-out baseline drive from the left wing: weak-side corner dives, weak-side wing drifts, strong-side corner lifts to drag, top goes diagonal. Everyone yells their D.
  • Five-out at each hoop, no defence. The coach points at any perimeter player, who drives baseline or middle. Everyone else sprints to their D and yells it before the driver's second dribble.
  • Every rep from a different starting spot. Score a point for the group if all five calls happen before the second dribble.
  • Theme link: the spots are useless if players have to think about them once there's a defender.

Block 1Receiver shooting8 min

12312drift catches inside the arcfirst team to 10 makes
Baseline drive, drift to the corner, kick and shoot. Rotate: driver to the drift line, shooter rebounds and joins the drive line.
  • Adds: the pass out of the drive and a shot from the drift.
  • Driver on one wing, partner on the other. Drive baseline, partner drifts to the corner, kick, shoot. Driver rebounds and swaps lines.
  • Shooters step inside the arc at U12 if the closeout distance makes threes a coin flip.
  • Second round: drive middle, partner fills the drag behind.
  • Progress when: the kick arrives on the shooter's hands without them reaching.
  • Regress if: passes go behind the shooter. Driver jump-stops before passing.
  • Cues (questions): "When did you see your drifter?" "Where did you catch it?"

Block 22v1: drift or dunker8 min

12AB121helper stops the ball → kickhelper stays home → finish
One helper starts in the paint. The driver reads whether the helper commits. The partner chooses: drift to the corner (A) or dive (B).
  • Adds: one help defender and a read for the driver.
  • The defender starts in the paint and chooses whether to stop the drive. Helper commits → kick to the partner. Helper stays home → finish.
  • The partner picks drift (to the corner) or dive (to the dunker spot). The driver has to find them either way.
  • Progress when: drivers kick only when the helper actually commits.
  • Regress if: drivers pass before the helper moves. The rule becomes two feet in the paint before any pass.
  • Cues (questions): "Did the helper stop the ball or stay home?" "Where did your partner go?"

Block 33v2: split, kick, extra10 min

1234512312driver refills, extra pass beats the closeout
Split the two defenders, kick, refill. When the closeout comes, swing it one more time. Basket off an extra pass counts double.
  • Adds: a second defender, so the first kick usually isn't the shot. The extra pass is.
  • 3v2 from the top. The driver splits the two defenders, kicks to the wing, and the wing reads the closeout: open → shoot, closed out hard → extra pass. The driver refills to the open D after the kick.
  • Three possessions, then the attackers become defenders.
  • Progress when: the offence makes the extra pass without the coach calling it.
  • Regress if: the drive dies at the first defender. Defenders start a step lower.
  • Cues (questions): "Who was closing out on you?" "After the kick, where did the driver go?"

Water2 min

Block 44v4: two feet in the paint before scoring10 min

122211223344no shot until someone has two feet in the paint
4v4 live, four-out. No shot is allowed until a player has two feet in the paint. Score inside or kick out of it.
  • Adds: live defenders everywhere and a constraint that forces the drive.
  • 4v4 four-out at each hoop, 2 players resting and keeping score. A shot only counts if someone has had two feet in the paint during that possession.
  • Rotate every 3 possessions.
  • Progress when: most possessions reach the paint inside 3 passes.
  • Regress if: turnovers pile up in the paint. Allow the drive to be a pass to a cutter in the paint.
  • Cues (questions): "When the drive went, who filled the drag?" "How many passes after the paint touch?"

Finisher5v5 points12 min

1122334455paint touch + kick-out basket = 3any other basket = 1 · all four D's filled = +1
5v5 five-out. Points reward the drive-and-kick, not just baskets.
  • 5v5 five-out, one hoop. Coach referees from the top.
  • Scoring:
    • 3 pts: a basket from a kick-out after a paint touch.
    • 1 pt: any other basket.
    • +1: the coach sees all four non-drivers filling their D on a drive, whatever the result.
  • Two 5-minute halves. Swap defence at half-time.

Huddle3 min

  • One question to the group: "Which D was hardest to get to on time, and why?"

Coach notes

  • Decision errors vs execution errors:
    • Kicking out before a helper commits is a decision error. Ask Block 2's question.
    • A late or missed spot is a habit error, not a talent one. Send the group back to the warm-up call for one rep.
    • A pass thrown behind the shooter is execution. Jump stop first.
  • Common failure: the diag stands in line with the dunker, so the driver can't see the pass. Ask "could the driver see you?"
  • Common failure: everyone drifts and no one drags. The bailout pass disappears and the driver gets trapped.
  • Judge the fill, not the shot. A possession where all four D's filled and the kick-out shot missed was run correctly.

Sources

SourceUsed for
Sam Gruggen — Skill Development for Junior Athletes 1Spot rules, warm-up, Blocks 1 and 3
Sam Gruggen — 2019 Skill Development Clinic SeriesBlock 2
Curtis Sardi — BNSW Style of Play, Receiver SpotsSpot rules, Block 2
Paul Goriss — Style of Play to Practice PlanBlock 4, finisher
junior.basketball (original)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.