Warm-upSwing triangle6 min
- Three shooters at the top and both wings, three rebounders. The ball moves round the arc. On each catch, the coach steps toward the catcher, or doesn't. Coach steps: swing it to the next shooter. Coach stays: shoot on the catch.
- Ninety seconds per group, count the makes. Swap shooters and rebounders, two rounds each.
- Theme link: every catch is a read of the nearest defender, and the answer comes on the catch, not after it.
Block 1Two-on-one from the nail8 min
- Adds: a real closeout to read, from the nail.
- One defender on the nail, attackers on the wing and in the same corner, coach at the top. The coach passes to the wing; the defender closes out. The wing shoots if the closeout is late, or swings to the corner if it's there in time. The corner catcher shoots only.
- Rotate: wing → corner → defender → line. Switch sides every round.
- Scoring: a make is 1 to the attackers. The defender gets 1 for a stop, and 1 for a wing who held the ball or drove.
- Progress when: the decision comes on the catch, before the defender lands.
- Regress if: defenders get to every catch. They start a big step lower, near the block.
- Cues (questions): "Where was the defender's last step when you caught it?" "Who was more open, you or the corner?"
Block 2Two-on-two, one more9 min
- Adds: a second closeout, so the swing pass has to be quick too.
- One defender under the rim with the ball, one on the nail; attackers anywhere round the arc. The defender under the rim passes to either attacker. The nail defender closes out; the catcher shoots if open, or makes one more pass. The defender who made the first pass closes out the second catch.
- The second catcher reads again: shoot, or one more back. Three passes max, then it's a shot.
- Scoring: a make off the first catch is 1; a make after one or more swings is 2. Defence: a stop is 1, and a deflected swing is 2. Rotate in pairs.
- Progress when: swing passes leave on the catch, not after a look.
- Regress if: swings get deflected. The second defender has to touch the baseline after the first pass.
- Cues (questions): "When you swung it, where was the defender who passed it out?" "What did you see that told you to shoot?"
Water2 min
Block 3Near man9 min
- Adds: live play after the read. If there's no shot and the swing isn't on, attack the closeout, and the defence has to help and recover.
- Two defenders circle in the paint; attackers on both wings. The coach throws it to either wing. The nearest defender closes out ("near man"). The catcher shoots, swings, or drives a closeout that's flying past. Then it's live 2v2 until a score or a stop.
- Scoring: a catch-and-shoot make is 2 (3 for a three); any other score is 1. A stop is 1 to the defence. Rotate in pairs.
- Progress when: drives happen only on closeouts that fly past, not ones that arrive balanced.
- Regress if: everything becomes a drive. A drive counts only if the catcher's defender left their feet on the closeout.
- Cues (questions): "Which closeout did you drive, and why that one?" "When the help came, who was open?"
FinisherBuild-up to three-on-three9 min
- 3v3 that starts as a 1v1. Two defenders wait on the baseline. The ball handler plays 1v1 at the top; when the drive is cut off, they kick to a wing, and the baseline defenders join, the nearest closing out. Live 3v3 from there.
- Scoring:
- 3 pts: a make on the catch after one more pass.
- 2 pts: any other make.
- Turnover: a catcher who holds the ball more than a one count without shooting, passing or driving.
- Defence, 1 pt: a stop.
- Swap offence and defence after three possessions. First to 9.
- Progress when: the 3-point scores are coming without the coach calling for them.
Huddle2 min
- "What did the best swing passes have in common?"
Coach notes
- Decision errors vs execution errors:
- Holding the ball to look is a decision error, even if a good shot follows. The closeout had time to arrive. Ask Block 1's question.
- A rushed shot on the right read is execution. Back to the warm-up for feet ready before the catch.
- Common failure: passing up open shots to make the extra pass. One more is the answer only when the closeout arrives. A late closeout means shoot.
- Common failure: swing passes that float. A swing has to beat a running defender, so it's a hard chest or overhead pass, never a lob.
- How it differs from the nearest plans: Drive and Fill (U12) teaches the extra pass from the driver's side, after the help comes. Attacking Closeouts (U16) is the catcher's shoot-or-drive read. This plan is the catcher's shoot-or-swing read, with no drive needed until Block 3.
- Running it for 60: add the 15 minutes to the live end. Block 3 goes to 13 min. The finisher goes to 18 min, with a second round played without the one-count rule so the read has to come from the players. The huddle goes to 4 min, with a second question: "When was driving the right answer?"
Sources
| Source | Used for |
|---|---|
| Tony Miller — 5 Small-Sided Games for Game-Like Shooting | Mechanism, Block 2 two-on-two one more (the passer-defender contests the second catch), reading the closeout vs finding the more open teammate |
| Mark Cascio — How to Teach Defense with Small-Sided Games | Block 3 two-on-two near man (defenders circling in the paint, the nearest closes out, live off the closeout), finisher build-up from 1v1 (Michigan women) |
| junior.basketball (original) | Warm-up swing triangle, Block 1 two-on-one from the nail, finisher scoring and the one-count rule |
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.