What Defense Should You Teach Youth Players (Zone, Man, Press)??

I had never thought about the press that way. You are right. My kids are not skilled enough to read a press. It also frustrates them very quickly. This leads to them being demoralized.

Nice article.

This is so true.The problem is I'm on the only one on the board that see's it that away.

I agree 100%. I have a 5th grade team and we played an all 6th grade team last Saturday. The team started out the game full court pressing us. I haven't introduced my team to this and won't as they are not ready for this. I told the boys to not get discouraged, but it is difficult not to when they start out with a press!

This article makes me rethink my strategy - i have an 8th grade boys team, and I was considering doing a press - but I believe I will focus that time on a press-breaker for those teams that use it, and continue to focus on fundamentals.

Agreed! I have a 3rd grade team that is just learning the basics. We are in a PAL league that other coaches want to play zone. They will be cheated in the long run. I teach "Ball - You - Man" which the kids can remember. The legendary Al LoBalbo taught me that man to man is the way to go.
This is a great site... thanks1

I guess someone has the disagree, if even a little.

We've got a 5th grade team this year. This is the first year the boys have played together. We are going into the Thanksgiving tournament with the idea of zone pressing the whole time. We are going to sub every 2 minutes with 5 new players.

So what is my rationale?
- fun, this should be fun for the boys
- every boy gets to play substantial minutes

For kids around here, just about the only time they play basketball games is with this team. They never play pick-up, they never have free play on the basketball court. I want them to have fun and solve some problems themselves on the court. I want them to love basketball so that they will continue to play when they are my age (50+). We are calling our defense - CHAOS.

In some european countries zones and zonepresses are not allowed under the age of 13. I totally aggree. Zone and press defense in these age groups are taking advantage of poor long range shooting, poor ball handling, passing and dribbling. On the other hand, "team" man to man teaches personal responsibility and commitement.

i coach 5th grade girls basketball. I run into half court zones all the time. My girls are not phiscally strong to shoot long shots over other girls or pass out of traps. It builds up frustration after turning the ball over time and again. I believe coaches who play zones at an early age are out to win only. And that does not help when trying to teach the game of basketball.

i coach young players (under 14 & mainybasket) but i have one problem that in my last game i know the rouls for the young plaers not play press, sudnly tha ather team paly press, can i teach my team how 2 stopped the press & play press>

thanks

I encounter this problem repeatedly with my boys team. Because I focus on man-to-man defence, the boys are not skilled at playing against a press and this causes turnovers because of trying to force passes through a double team. This has cost us a couple of games when the opposing coach has put a press on in the late part of the game - games that we were winning! Am currently just working on how to break a press.

Dear Lynne

I have some problem but what can i do

f the players cant understand how to break the press deffinc?

can tell me what the spicail tech. to break the press or stay with staratgy

no 5 get the ball out said

no 2 scren no 1 to get the ball and n 3 open the court no 4 stay in bost afther passec all palyer rain to poistion to open our said to no 1 to move >

do u have ather whay, plz tell me

Great article and so true. Coaching under 11 girls they are learning man to man defense and getting better at it. It frustrates me no one when a team plays a zone defence against us because I have a very skilled group. They figure it is the only way to try and beat us but unfortunately it teaches all the wrong principles that are mentioned above. It should not be allowed in basketball this young.

I'm from Norway and basketball is not a big sport, but we have a few rules that I like. Up to the age of 15, teams are not allowed to play Zone defense and after an offense they are required to withdraw to their defensive half court (unfortunately there is nothing against half court press) a violation to this can lead to a technical foul for the coach. It does a lot of good, but I find a lot of "lazy" coaches turning to zone defense as soon as they can. I'm currently trying to develop a training regime for our region (one elite club with six feeder clubs) where I will focus predominately on defense and basic individual skills. My biggest challenge is to get enough coaches, being a small sport in small country we don't have many parents that know the sport and are not daring enough to take on the challenge. Most parents are used to soccer and skiing. I like the ideas put forward above and I would also appreciate any help or recommendations put forward to a training regime.

Good article. If you could get more youth coaches and the PARENTS to understand it is not about winning at any cost. Learning sound foundamentals should be fun and will be more beneficial in the long run.

I have always agreed with this. I even agree with this a step further.
I believe that youngsters (Under 12, some Under 14) should be taught to defend with feet first, not reaching. Get the player to pick up the ball off the dribble. Other players learn good denial defence. Then as skills improve they can learn to start attacking the dribble with balanced and controlled movements, not by just reaching or slapping.
I have always believed a good man to man defence is essential for individual development and team growth.
The KISS principle needs to come back into basketball. Coaches are trying to complicate what is essentially a very simple game. Coaches of youth need to teach sound fundamentals and good defence. Not over complicate the game with too much complex defence or offensive plays.
I liked the article.

Google "youth basketball" and you'll pull up leagues across the country which state in their rules that no zone defenses are allowed.
Unfortunately in my Parks and Rec league, zone is allowed so we're behind the times. I've always taught man-to-man. If it's good enough for our nationally-ranked junior college basketball team down the street, it's good enough for me. Two years ago my team of sixth graders faced a team that started out in a zone, but after several 3s, it was so cool to see that coach hastily call time out and tell his guys to play man.

I can not agree more with teaching man to man defense. After coaching at the JV high school level ( girls) It was obvious that our girls were not getting enough fundamentals. I have decided to be apart of the change and now I am attempting to ensure that the girls have more fundamental skills when they reach high school. Time will only tell!!

Great comments we dont allow zone in children u/14 competetion here in australia in most areas of basketball.We teach man first then zone after u/14 age group in probably 80% of the time depending on your state or city.

This was a great article. I am coaching 3rd-4th grade boys and even at this age there are kids who can shoot 3 pointers and one way to stop that is to be man-man. Our year just started and I am glad I read your article before we got to far into the season.
Thank you,
Julie

For five years I coached a 4th through 6th youth league team. Every year we have to re-draft each team and every year during the coaches meeting I lobby for a no zone rule. The best I could get the other coaches to agree to is limiting zones to only half the game (which was never enforced). They would argue that the kids would face zones in middle school, so they needed to learn how to play against them. I was the only coach that played man to man defense only and over five years my teams lost only two games. It was frustrating to work with kids one year on sound m2m fundamentals and then watch it be undone the following year when the kids were redistributed to different teams to play zone.
In regard to pressing, on years that we were allowed to press I would have my kids pick up their man full court, but no zone press or trapping.

my 12 year old girls are having trouble braking a full court press what do i do to help them

Hi Randy,

You can see more about press breakers on this page at our website: http://www.breakthroughbasketball.com/qa/q1515.html

I couldn't agree more, I coach under 9 basketball and at rules meeting I was voted down 10-1 to allow halfcourt and fullcourt traps and presses. So far we are 3-1 and lost because the one team knew how to trap fantastically but there coach told me after the game that they work on trap 30 minutes every practice. I choose to work on basics, dribbling, passing, proper technique and footwork. I salute all the coaches who resist coaching to win NOW and teach basketball the right way.

Hi

I Coach grade 5 girls in Newfoundland, Canada.

Our provincial rules allow pressing in the last two minutes if the score is close. However, after reading this, I agree that pressing should be out.

We are not doing the kids any favours by allowing it.

Coach Baker

Don't agree about not playing a zone or trapping. I have 2nd and 3rd graders. 3 really good players, 2 OK, and 3 (or 4 when he shows up) marginal players. I wouldn't be able to have any defense at all if I played man to man all the time. I do a 2-1-2 zone and press at mid court trapping the point. I move up my defensive forward on the weak side and cut off the passing lanes. We get alot of fast break opportunities which is great for spreading around the touches and getting everyone involved which is most important. My good players share he ball willingly when the other players are scoring. I probably have more sharing and assits than any other team in my league. I switch to a man to man about 25% of the game depending on who is on the floor.

When I'm not breaking we play a 3-2 offense with 2 low posts with a lot of movement. My kids love to run; set picks; and screen. I practice rebounding extensively. We usually control the boards and put the ball right back up for easy scores around the basket.

So far we are doing OK. I'm 5-0 with 5 games left. My margin of victory averages 32 points. We are the first Bantam team in our gym to score 60 points. And my kids love it. They love playing defense. They slide with the ball. Protect their zone with zeal. All shoot lay ups easily and a few have good outside shots although we rarely if ever take a shot more than 10 feet away. One of my better shooters can shoot 3 pointers with a fair amount of success. I let him fly 2 or 3 times a game.

I think the zone defense is the way to go at this level. It is easy to teach. Gets results. And all the kids can contribute either at the guard or forward position. I always have support from the center for the weaker kids.

Let's not kid ourselves. Kids prefer to win. It is more fun. They are exposed to winning and losing every day especially in sports. I don't think I'm special but I get results and my kids have a good time. Most of my kids won't be playing competetive basketball in a couple of years. Why not let them win now. I'm teaching how preparation and playing to strengths can make you a winner in whatever you do even if your skills are not as good as the next guy. And it is so much about being a team. I'll take giving those lessons to a kid over teaching proper form for a jump shot he'll never use anytime.

I agree on not pressing and in fact that is against the rules for our 4th graders.

Disagree on the zone. I've got 7 boys (the entire class) who are of very differing skills. We are playing against other schools who have multiple teams and therefore significantly better skill levels. If I play man-to-man the lower skill guys will continually get beat.

I think man-to-man works if the skill is there. Zone is easier to understand, model and ensure people are in the right spots which is what we need. ON the flip side my 1st graders team plays man-to-man which quickly degenerates into everyone playing the ball.

Kids understand playing a "spot" which then carries from offense to defense.

In response to Norm & Jim:

You are absolutely correct! You will win more games at that level…

FACT: Almost every very young youth team will win more games by playing zone and trapping.

FACT: Almost every very young youth team that plays mostly zone and traps will lose MORE games when they get older. Those bad habits will HURT them when they get older.

I don’t think anyone can argue these facts. We’ve coached all the way from 1st grade, to very competitive high school teams. As with many other coaches, we have seen this first hand.

The good and great teams have players with SOLID foundations.

So if winning NOW is the #1 priority, then you should trap and press.

On the other hand, if building a SOLID foundation for your basketball players is #1 priority, do NOT play zone and trap. You’re players will be much better in the long run and in the future.


ANOTHER POINT TO CONSIDER:

What is an important trait of very successful people?

Most successful people have learned that you must first build a foundation and work very hard to become successful. Many times you can’t be successful right away. There are FEW shortcuts in life. And if you learn to build a solid foundation (instead of taking quick diet pills, selling a product before its ready, taking steroids, cheating, skipping the fundamentals, etc, etc.) you will be far more successful.

Too many coaches and players want INSTANT gratification. Well, we all know that true success and greatness does not happen overnight.

Successful people understand success takes hard work. Successful people understand that when you fall, you must get up and keep trying. How many times did Lincoln fail at business before he eventual became successful and one of the most well known presidents?

There are more important things than winning. And yes, you can have FUN without winning. We have lots of tips to keep things fun while you’re building a foundation. We can’t argue that it’s more fun to win, but not everyone can win all the time.

We give you credit for trying to be positive with the players. And doing what you feel is best. But we respectfully disagree with the comment about using zones and pressing.

We believe this sends the wrong message to players and hurts those kids chances to be good in the future. Maybe some of your players will want to play competitive ball when they get older. You just don’t know and many times you’ll be surprised which kids want to play competitive ball.

Not to mention, the BEST ZONE COACHES in the world will tell you that players MUST first thoroughly learn and excel at MAN before learning zone.

Jeff Haefner
http://www.BreakthroughBasketball.com

In response to Jim & Norm:

Interesting and valid points you have brought up. Teaching those life lessons like you said are VERY important and we give you props for doing that.

You said that it teaches these players how to win and makes basketball fun. You said that you win by an average of 32 points. Do you ever think about all of the opposing players you are demoralizing by taking advantage of a flaw in the youth basketball system? It’s not your fault that the league allows this play, but you can still abstain from it.

I know we talk about the little league baseball analogy in the article, but I’m going to break it down a little bit more.


Here’s how we progress children in baseball:

T-BALL:

Hitting – ball set on tee
Mound – Tee
Bases – Very Close Together
Stealing – Not Allowed

PEE WEE LEAGUE:
Hitting – Coach pitches underhand
Mound – Very Close
Bases – Very Close Together (approximately the same as t-ball)
Stealing – Not Allowed

LITTLE LEAGUE:
Hitting – Player pitches
Mound – Close – a little further than in Pee Wee League
Bases – Close Together, but further than Pee Wee League
Stealing –Allowed, but can not steal until the ball hits the catcher’s glove.

JUNIOR LEAGUE:
Hitting – Player Pitches
Mound – A little further than Little League
Bases – Further than Little League
Stealing – Allowed, can leave the base once the ball leaves the pitcher’s hand

HIGH SCHOOL:
Hitting – Player pitches
Mound – Same as MLB
Bases – Same as MLB
Stealing – Same as MLB, can now lead off the base and steal whenever they want


Notice, how there is a progression over 10 years of baseball before they even think about using the Major Leagues rules. They have the bases closer together, mounds closer, and stealing rule changes to progress the children. They progress the children, because allowing MLB rules and regulations would not help the children in the long-run. It would hurt them, because they would not learn the fundamentals and they are also underdeveloped. Don’t you think we should do the same for basketball?

Start with lower rims and smaller balls for good shooting form. Do not allow pressing, zones, and traps because it just takes advantage of the players being undeveloped physically. Most of all, it doesn’t teach the correct fundamentals and creates bad habits.

We can GUARANTEE that some of these players if they progress to higher levels of basketball will trouble breaking some of these bad habits. A few examples are lunging out of position, going for steals all the time instead of protecting the basket, and not knowing how to play defense one-on-one. This will hurt them tremendously if they try to play basketball later on.

There is a reason that many of the successful coaches at the College and NBA level believe that fundamentals should be taught at this level instead of playing zone and traps. BOBBY KNIGHT, COACH K, and STAN VAN GUNDY are just a few we can recall.

In our 5-6 grade youth league (loose group of 8 Vermont towns) we have "house rules". Some towns press, some towns don't.

In our game last night the visiting coach asked if we should press in the second half to get ready for the upcoming Feb tournament. I said, "it's o.k with me". Our typical house rules are no press, once posession is gained, the defense retreats to their end of the court.

I was really saying "Go ahead, make my day". We scored 15 2nd half points off the press break play we have. They scored....CORRECT YOU ARE>>>NONE! Then, to top it off, they put themselves in the 1 and 1 at the end of the 3rd quarter from sloppy play while "pressing" us.

We do practice press breaking like we practice any other inbounds strategy - get it in, advance it to a point and set up the offense for a good scoring opportunity.

One and only one is all we needed because they were so bad at pressing my team saw it as an opportunity to work on fast break transition offense. Once we got ahead by a safe (10 points, not 32 points!!) margin we went back to the half court 1-3-1 offense we have been using all year.

One of my players asked me if we were going to press them since they were pressing us. I reminded him that we had no such training, and why would we do it if we were playing well defensively.

We play both MTM and zone - one quarter each - just to expose them to both. I agree that a kid who can't move his feet or understand the man/ball-me-basket relationship won't be able to do either MTM OR zone. The better we do the MTM the better we do the zone.

Joe - not sure where I disagree with you? Don't think my guys have nearly the capability to do a press nor am I recommending it.

My point is on a very junior team - except for one player all of my guys are new to basketball and this is their first team. They are absolutely learning the basics as in what's meant by out of bounds, the positions, dribbling, etc. and I love the advise on the site on how to ramp them up quicker.

Where I disagreed was on the M2M. The other teams have some good ball handlers and basic plays. If I play M2M all that happens is they drive the hoop and we are giving up quick points. At least with the zone I've got a basic protect the key defense with the middle/easy shots covered. They are taking some open outside shots but at this skill level I'm ok with that and the few hot hands we came up against I'm ok letting get a few points.

Again might just be my team and the fact that they are such beginners but I think the zone to start off helps put the basics in place - teaches positions, eye on the ball, staying in between man and the basket etc.

Interested in if there are ways to get there with a M2M but my take is my guys are not ready for it yet. Appreciate the advise.

Norm

Get to a M2M by linking both offensive and defensive players to any of the drills that focus on dribbling. This is how i think my guys developed the footwork and relationship to the man, ball and basket. I use it to teach the position play of point, wing and post play. You'll see the defenders must follow a dribbler or passer all around the court.

Also could use the 3 man weave down the court against air, and turn around to weave back to a 3 man M2M defense and play to a score. It's not a leap for them to take it to a 5 man M2M

Norm,

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I’m glad you did. Because I know that thousands of other youth coaches feel the same (or similar) as you. And many many youth coaches run zone defense because it’s easier. You’re one of the few that’s brave enough to voice your contradictory opinion on this site.

You mentioned that other teams get easy lay ups against the man defense because no one is protecting the basket with your young team. That can certainly be fixed. More on that in a minute.

The truth is that running a zone for a few years and spending the majority of time on fundamentals won’t hurt anything. Focusing on fundamentals and basics is a great idea. And you’ll in fact win more games the first couple years by running mostly zone defense.

But here is the rub…

Let’s say in two years you or another coach decides that after running mostly zone (and winning games), it’s time for these kids to learn and play mostly man to man defense.

Guess what happens after switching to man defense?

- the team starts losing many of their games
- the players think man to man defense sucks
- the players ask the coach to switch back to zone
- the players fight to new M2M concepts and subconsciously are convinced that M2M defense does not work

Why do they lose more games? Because M2M is more difficult to teach and takes a little longer for you to get results. Plus the players have learned lots of zone defense habits that simply don’t work in man.

It’s very difficult to switch from zone defense to man. So in many situations, teams never make the switch successfully. On the other hand, it’s MUCH easier to add zone defense after players learn a tough M2M.

That is the biggest reason to start with man and not to worry about losing games for a while. You will soon start winning games and take away those easy lay ups.

When using man defense, can you get the same benefits of a zone (having somebody under the basket, helping, stopping lay ups, etc)?? Absolutely! When you’re not guarding the ball, sag into (or near) the lane and be ready to help you teammates. A good man to man defense is true TEAMWORK at its best. All players are in good position and ready to help each other.

In fact, many coaches say, “a great man to man defense looks like a zone. And a great zone defense looks like man to man”.

Does M2M take a little longer to teach than zone? Yes. It takes repetitions and practice to learn. But it can be done. Thousands of young teams have learned how to do this.

We don’t explain all the details of man help side defense and how to teach all the tactics in articles on this site, but if you’re interested, we do have the step by step process in our paid ebook and audio system:
http://www.breakthroughbasketball.com/pr/mandefense.html

Now I’m hesitant to mention the paid product because I’m not writing this post because I’m trying to sell our product about man to man defense. I’m writing because I’m passionate about this topic and believe in it.

Back to the rub of switching from zone to man defense...

This exact same psychological issue with players (mentioned above) happens with shooting too...

Let’s say you have a 13 year old kid that has a horrible shot. His elbow sticks way out and he doesn’t hold the ball properly. But he manages to make some shots. He doesn’t shot a high percentage but he makes enough to get by.

But you as a coach know that if this player moved their elbow in and used better shooting mechanics, they would make MANY MORE shots in the long run. And their shooting percentage would be higher.

So you decide to teach the kid better mechanics and have him start using a new shooting technique with the correct form.

So you fix the elbow and grip, then send the kid to the basket.

What happens next?

He misses and probably doesn’t hit the rim. The new mechanics don’t feel comfortable and he just can’t make many shots at all.

What is the player now thinking?

The player thinks both at a conscious and subconscious level that this new form doesn’t work!

So what happens next?

The player fights the new form and 9 times out of 10 he switches back to his old, bad shooting form.

Its psychology 101 and we’ve all seen this over and over again. Players want instant gratification and it’s difficult for them to take two steps backward before they can take three steps forward.

BTW (Since we’re on the subject, here’s a shooting tip): When you change shooting mechanics, ALWAYS have the player shoot away from the basket. In other words, have them shoot to a spot on the floor, a spot on the wall, or to themselves. Do NOT send them to the basket. Because if they don’t see the ball going through the hoop, they will think they new form does not work and get discouraged.

We’ve been through this development process in young players enough to know how they will react. Whether it’s playing zone, shooting form, or other skills. Basketball coaching is just as much “selling” and “psychology” (if not more so) than Xs and Os. Half of your job is to sell concepts, sell work ethic, sell confidence, etc.

Not sure if this zone/man defense issue occurred to you, but I wanted to share our experience. I’m glad we had this discussion and hope someone can get something out of it. It’s good to work these things out and share opinions, experiences, and ideas.

As always, the topic is open for discussion!

Jeff Haefner
http://www.breakthroughbasketball.com

I coach a 4th grade girls team and could not agree more, especially regarding no press. Our league allows the press in the 2nd half up to a 15 point lead. I've lost count how many teams have pressed us in the 2nd half when already up by ten or more. These coaches have girls who can't make a layup, dribble with their left hand or shoot a free throw but they can sure set them up perfectly for a press. It disgusts me to no end.

I have noted that anyone who agrees with allowing coaches to use the zone defense has made the comment, "it's easy to teach". How sad is that. You should never take the "easy" way out in anything; life or sports. Hard work will pay off for both players and coaches. If you expect great effort from your players, they should be able to expect great effort from you. Put the time in and teach your kids how to play man to man. If you insist on pressing, try using a full court man to man press. No traps just straight up man to man.

I agree about pressing being too complicated for kids.They not only get confused with the coverage but do not hustle back on defense.However,I teach the kids how to break the press.Once they get used to handling pressure and beating the press the other teams will back off on pressing.

good talk!ponit well noted.

I have to disagree, or I had a special set of 7 and 8 year olds boys. These young Boys could shoot, press, play Man-to-Man, rebound, AND box out. I taught these kids nothing but defense, we didnt even practice offense. We worked on our shooting and rebounding, but our offense was our defense! So maybe age does play a factor, however, I think that a lot also depends on the talent that you have on the team.

Hi Patrick,

Thanks for your comments and insight. We love that people share their opinions and discuss these issues on here.

Yes. Pressing is extremely effective at that age level, especially if your kids are talented. With this being said, it does hurt them in the long run.

Players at that age need to focus on fundamentals and how to play the game. They need to work on shooting, footwork, dribbling, passing, cutting, moving without the ball, and so on. They also need to learn about screening (how to read a screen, how to set a screen, and when to set a screen), offensive spacing (how close should they be to another player, where should they go, what cut should they use to get there) before a coach should even entertain the idea of pressing.

Kudos to you for teaching defense. At that age level, you should be teaching the basics of defense. Such as how to slide defensively, staying between your man and the basic, where is your man and where is the ball. Also, players have not physically developed at that age and will have a harder time playing defense. That is why the majority of your time should be spent on offensive fundamentals. Don’t get me wrong, you should spend time on defense, just not nearly as much as if you were a high school coach.

And there is a reason that all of the successful college and NBA coaches preach fundamentals for youth. It’s because that’s what they need to work on. Why do you think all of the other countries have caught up to the U.S. in the olympics? Why do you think foreign players are all over the NBA. They work on FUNDAMENTALS. They don’t worry about pressing.

Now, let's go back to the same group of kids that have been pressing since youth basketball and fast forward about 8 or 9 years. The pressing doesn't work as much, because players are bigger, faster, stronger, and more coordinated. They can throw passes across the court which they couldn’t do as a youth player. They are strong enough to dribble through traps. They are smart enough to use ball fakes.

The players who focused on pressing as youth players have formed bad habits (lunging out position, going for steals, and so on) and have not learned the offensive and defensive fundamentals. They are getting beat by the teams with superior fundamentals and may even be far-inferior athletes. Now if all of the practice time would have been spent on fundamentals and learning to play the game, this same group of players will be winning those games they should.

The reason I am so passionate about this is because I’ve seen this happen more than once in my coaching career. I’ve seen a team win hundreds of tournaments as youth. I’ve seen that same team get beat in the first round of playoffs as a varsity team.

And everyone would much rather win games at the high school level.

Thanks,
Joe Haefner

I agree with you on most of your points. However, at this age group, We didnt have much time to practice (Due to league Rules limiting practice) so I had to teach them a specialty. They knew how to press but it was a man to man press. We worked on the exact defensive fundamentals that you mentioned.
i am hoping to keep these boys together for the pcoming season as they move up to the next division.
I liked your site because I wanted to become a better coach and make them better ALL-AROUND Players. Is it time to teach them a certain offense (if so what do you recommend for this age group 8-10) or continue to focus on the fundamentals? Thanks for your time.

Hey Patrick,

After reading a rough copy of a "Motion Offense" book that Don Kelbick is helping us develop, I believe that the motion offense is the way to go with youth players. A motion offense does NOT put youth players into 'roles.' With a motion offense, they learn all of the skills needed to be a good all around players as you mentioned above. It doesn't if they are going to be a guard or a post when they get older, they will have developed the skills needed within a motion offense.

A motion offense teaches them how to react to situations, instead of just learning patterns like other offenses I've seen used at the youth level.

You could easily run something as simple when you make a pass, you either cut to the basket or set a screen away from the ball. Then, you would teach them a pass and cut drill and a pass and screen away drill. Within each drill, you teach them how to react to what the defense gives you.

And you can slowly expand upon this as they get older.

I would also run the spacing drill at this link: http://www.breakthroughbasketball.com/drills/basicspacingdrill.html

Hope that helps! We hope to have the Motion Offense ebook out some time this summer.

Joe Haefner
www.breakthroughbasketball.com