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Session Plan · U14 · Team (7 or more) · 60 min

Stunt and Recover: Don't Help One Pass Away

Why it works

The pass to the player one pass away is the shortest, easiest pass on the floor. If their defender helps on a drive, the driver kicks it straight back to that player and they shoot before the defender gets there. A stunt (a jab step and a hand at the ball, with the weight still going back toward your own player) shows the driver help without giving it. The driver slows or picks it up, and the defender is one step from their player when the kick comes. The help that actually stops the ball comes from the weak side, where the pass to the player left open is long and goes across the floor, so there's time to close out on it.

The thread through every block

  1. Drive starts
  2. one pass away: jab, hand at the ball, weight going back
  3. never turn your back on your player
  4. weak side steps in to stop the ball
  5. close out on the kick.

Setup. 12 players, 1 coach, 2 hoops, 6 balls, 4 cones. Six players per hoop; every block runs at both hoops at once.

Prints on A4 for the clipboard: diagram on the left, rules on the right, and no block split across a page.

Warm · 6B1 · 8B2 · 9B3 · 10B4 · 10Finisher · 12

Warm-upClose out, jab and retreat6 min

1111 sprint, chop the feet before the foul line2 jab at the ball, weight back · 3 first slide
Defender starts under the rim, closes out to the ball at the top, jabs at the ball with the weight still going back, then beats the dribbler's first dribble to the spot.
  • Defender under the rim, attacker with the ball at the top. On "go", sprint out, chop the feet before the foul line and arrive balanced.
  • Jab at the ball twice (step and hand toward it, weight still going back), then the attacker takes one or two dribbles and the defender beats them to the spot. No shot.
  • Swap roles; lines rotate.
  • Theme link: the jab with the weight going back is the stunt. The rest of the session is about doing it when the ball is someone else's.

Block 1Jab, don't help8 min

121221 one dribble at X2's gap · X2 jabs, weight back2 kick · X2 closes out, hands up
One dribble from the slot at the gap; X2 jabs at the ball and gets back. Kick to the wing, X2 closes out. Same on the other side.
  • Adds: a driver and a pass to stop, one pass away.
  • Driver at the slot, wing and their defender. The driver takes one dribble at the gap; X2 jabs at the ball, hand out, weight going back toward the wing. The driver kicks; X2 closes out to a hand up. No shot yet.
  • Go back and forth: the driver can go middle or toward the wing. Then the other side.
  • Progress when: X2 is touching distance from the wing as the ball arrives, every time.
  • Regress if: X2's jab becomes a lunge. Walk it: X2 keeps one foot pointing at the wing.
  • Cues (questions): "Where was your weight when you jabbed?" "Could you see your player the whole time?"

Block 2The kick is live9 min

12A122late closeout → shoot · flying closeout → A: driveX2 contains: 1 to the defence
Same start, but the wing can now shoot or drive. X2 has to stunt and still arrive in time to stop both.
  • Adds: the wing plays live off the kick, shot or drive.
  • Same start. Now the wing can shoot over a late closeout or drive a flying one. Two dribbles max. X2 scores a point for a stop.
  • Progress when: X2 wins more than half without giving up the drive.
  • Regress if: the wing scores every time. The driver's one dribble has to be a slow one.
  • Cues (questions): "If you'd helped on the drive, where would you have been when the ball got to the wing?" "What did the wing do when you arrived out of control?"

Block 3Help from the weak side10 min

1212233X2 stunts · X3 stops the ballkick to the corner is long: X3 gets back
The driver's defender is already beaten, so the drive goes to the rim. X2 stunts and stays home; X3 comes from the weak side to stop the ball, then closes out on any pass across.
  • Adds: a drive that's already beaten its defender, so someone has to help, and it has to come from the weak side.
  • No defender on the driver. The driver goes to the rim. X2 stunts and stays home on the wing. X3, from the weak side, steps in to stop the ball before the restricted area, then closes out on any pass to the corner.
  • Live until a score or a stop; a stop is a point to the defence. Rotate one spot each rep.
  • Progress when: X3 stops the ball early enough that the driver has to pass, and X2 never leaves the wing.
  • Regress if: X3 is always late. Start X3 a step higher, on the split line.
  • Cues (questions): "Whose job was it to stop the ball, and why not yours?" "How long did that pass to the corner take?"

Water2 min

Block 4Live driver, 3v310 min

1112233X2 stunts every driveX3 helps only if X1 is beaten: "stay" or "go"
3v3 with a live defender on the driver. X2 stunts on every drive; X3 calls stay or go and helps only if X1 is beaten.
  • Adds: a live defender on the driver, so the helpers have to judge whether the drive is beaten before anyone commits.
  • 3v3 at each hoop. The driver has to drive. X2 stunts on every drive. X3 calls "stay" or "go" and only helps if X1 is beaten.
  • Scoring: a make by the wing straight off a kick is 2 (it's the shot we're stopping); any other make is 1; a stop is 1 to the defence.
  • Progress when: the wing rarely catches with time to shoot.
  • Regress if: X3 helps on every drive. X1 must stay in front for one dribble before X3 can go.
  • Cues (questions): "How did you know X1 was beaten?" "What did the driver do when you stunted?"

FinisherNo easy kick12 min

1112233catch-and-shoot make one pass from the driver = 3stop after a stunt = 2 to the defence
3v3 live, ball starts at the top. A catch-and-shoot make by the player one pass from the driver scores 3. A stop that comes after a stunt scores 2 for the defence.
  • 3v3 live at each hoop, offence free to drive or move the ball. Swap offence and defence every possession.
  • Scoring:
    • 3 pts: a catch-and-shoot make by the player one pass from the driver. That's the shot that comes from helping one pass away.
    • 1 pt: any other make.
    • Defence, 2 pts: a stop where the driver slowed, picked it up or passed out after a stunt.
    • Defence, 1 pt: any other stop.
  • First to 10, then change teams.
  • Progress when: the defence is getting 2-point stops without the 3s going in.
  • Regress if: nobody drives, so nobody stunts. Offence must drive within two passes.

Huddle3 min

  • One question: "When you stunted today, what did the driver do? And when you helped all the way, what happened?"

Coach notes

  • Decision errors vs execution errors:
    • Helping all the way from one pass away is a decision error. Freeze it, and ask who was open and how far the pass was.
    • A jab with the weight going toward the ball is execution. It looks like a stunt but it's a help. Back to the Warm-up: weight back.
  • Common failure: turning the back on your player to help. The defender loses the wing completely. Rule for Blocks 1–4: you must be able to see your player at all times.
  • Common failure: the weak side waits to see if the stunt worked. X3's job starts when the drive starts.
  • Link: this sits under Help the Helper (U14). Stunt and recover is the one-pass-away job; help the helper is who covers once the weak side has helped.

Sources

SourceUsed for
Coach Nick — Helping One Pass AwayBlock 1, Block 2, Block 3
Jeff Sparrow — The Close OutWarm-up
junior.basketball (original)Block 4, 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.