Warm-upBall tag7 min
- Pairs, all at once, spread across the half court. The player with the ball can't dribble; they pivot and move the ball high, low and to the side to keep it away. The defender stays an arm's length away and tries to touch the ball (not the arms) as many times as they can in ten seconds.
- Count touches, swap, three rounds each. Best total wins.
- Theme link: without a dribble, the passer can't get away from you. All they can do is pivot, and an arm's length is close enough to bother them.
Block 1One pass to stop8 min
- Adds: a pass to stop.
- Groups of three at each hoop, two waiting. A passer with no dribble, a receiver about five metres away who can take one step to give a target, and a defender on the passer at an arm's length. One hand tracks the ball, the other goes into the lane the passer is looking at.
- Scoring: a clean pass is 1 to the passer; a deflection is 1 to the defender, and catching it is 2. Thirty seconds each, then rotate: passer → defender → receiver → waiting.
- Progress when: defenders get a hand on the ball without reaching across the passer's body.
- Regress if: defenders lunge and the passer steps round them. Feet stay still for a round; only the hands work.
- Cues (questions): "Where was the passer looking just before they threw it?" "Which hand of yours was in the way?"
Block 2Two-on-two, no dribble10 min
- Adds: a defender on the receiver too, so the pass has to beat two pairs of hands.
- 2v2 at each hoop, one waiting. No dribbling. The offence needs five passes in a row without a drop, a travel or a deflection; the receiver has to cut to get open. The ball's defender is an arm's length away with hands busy; the other defender denies the next pass, a hand in the lane.
- First round of 30 seconds: defenders keep their hands at their sides. Second round: hands up. Ask the passers which round was harder.
- Scoring: five passes is a point to the offence; a deflection, a steal or a travel is a point to the defence. Swap after each point; the waiting player rotates in.
- Progress when: the offence can't get five most of the time.
- Regress if: the receiver is never open and the game stalls. The receiver gets a free catch inside the three-point line; only the passer is pressured.
- Cues (questions): "What did the passer have to do when your hands were up?" "Was their pass faster or slower than before?"
Water2 min
Block 3Alive or dead12 min
- Adds: the dribble, so the defender now has to read when to close the gap.
- 2v2 live at each hoop, one waiting. The ball's defender stays a step off while the dribble is alive. The moment it's picked up, they shout "Dead!" and close to an arm's length, hands busy; the other defender hears it and denies the pass.
- Scoring: a basket is 2 to the offence. Defence: a stop is 1; a deflection or steal after a "Dead!" call is 2; a passer stuck with the ball for a three-second count after a "Dead!" call is 2 (a practice rule, not a game rule). Swap on every score or stop.
- Progress when: the call comes on every pick-up and the gap closes straight after it.
- Regress if: defenders close in on a live dribble and get beaten. Back to one rule: no closer than a step until you hear yourself shout "Dead!"
- Cues (questions): "When did you close in: before or after they picked it up?" "What did your teammate do when you called it?"
Water2 min
FinisherTeam pressure game16 min
- Two teams of five. Three from each team play 3v3 at one hoop; the other two from each play 2v2 at the other. Both games count toward one team score. Swap who plays where every four minutes.
- Scoring:
- Offence: 2 for a basket.
- Defence: 1 for a stop; 2 for a deflection or steal after a "Dead!" call, or for a passer stuck for a three-second count.
- Ball goes to the other team after every score or stop. Highest team total after four rounds wins.
- Progress when: you can hear "Dead!" from both hoops without anyone prompting it.
- Regress if: the offence stops dribbling altogether to avoid the call. Every possession starts with a dribble.
Huddle3 min
- One question to the group: "What made a pass easy to steal today, and who made it that way?"
Coach notes
- Decision errors vs execution errors:
- Closing in on a live dribble is a decision error. Freeze it and ask Block 3's question.
- The right call with the hands down or reaching for the arms is execution. Back to the warm-up for a round.
- Common failure: the call with no close-out. Players shout "Dead!" from a step away and stay there. The call only matters if the gap closes straight after it.
- Common failure: fouls from reaching. Early on, praise the pressure and fix the hand: the target is the ball, never the arms or the body. Stopping the drill for every slap teaches players to back off, and backing off is the habit this session is trying to break.
- How it differs from Fake to Pass (U12): that plan teaches the passer to move the defender's hands. This one is the other side of it: the defender learns when to get those hands close enough to matter.
- One helper, one call still applies. The second defender's job here is to deny the next pass, not to double the passer. Doubling and trapping aren't on the site's under-12 list.
Sources
| Source | Used for |
|---|---|
| Larry Shyatt — Man-To-Man Defense | Mechanism (hands, feet and mouth; fingers up), warm-up, Block 2 hands-down then hands-up rounds, the one-word call |
| Jay Bilas — The Best of What I've Seen From College Coaches | Block 2: Mike Rice's passing drill (passes in a row without a drop, a travel or a deflection; defence tries to make the passer turn their back) |
| Mike Dunlap — Zone Defense, From Teaching Points To Drills | Block 1 and finisher scoring (1 for a deflection, 2 for a deflection and a steal), taking the dribble out of the drill, coach note on not punishing early fouls |
| junior.basketball (original) | Warm-up ball tag, Block 3 alive-or-dead read and the three-second rule, finisher 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.