Being too rigid or strict with your offense can hinder development.

It creates robotic players who aren’t adaptable to different defensive approaches and situations on the floor.

And yes, that is often true.

Nobody wants to develop a bunch of mindless zombies.

But Sometimes Young Players Need More Structure First

After coaching youth basketball for more than 20 years, I’ve learned something VERY important…

Sometimes you actually need to be more structured or strict at first.

When I first started coaching, I was very detailed with the offensive rules. In the first layer of offense, I’d teach…

• Pass and cut

• Fill the opposite corner after you cut

• Go backdoor when overplayed

I was even strict about things like:

• Players shouldn’t pass to the corners

• Players filling to the wing must wait until the cutter got to the basket before moving

It was structured. Maybe even a little too rigid or controlled at times.

Over time, as I gained more experience, I loosened the reins.

I taught more concepts and gave players more freedom.

For the most part, that worked better too.

But just like any pendulum, you can swing too far to the other side and potentially create issues… In the real world… Not the idealistic world.

What Happened When My Team Got TOO Loose - And I Lose More Hair

Last season, while working with a fifth-grade and sixth-grade team, we ran into a problem.

Players would pass and just stand there which destroyed ball movement.

The opposite wing and corner would start creeping up too early and towards the ball.

Before long, everyone was bunched together and our spacing and movement went to crap.

There wasn’t enough guidance and structure to give them a foundation. We went too far in the other direction.

So I went back to giving them clearer structure and holding them accountable to it.

In practice, if the opposite wing or corner filled too early and closed space, it was an automatic turnover.

I utilized Dave Lepisto’s phrase of “Chill before you fill” from his video CLA Youth Basketball Drills.

A simple phrase like this, that was clear and memorable to young kids, helped immensely.

Additionally, if the player who passed the ball and they didn’t cut SOMEWHERE… Automatic turnover.

I told them to either basket cut and fill a corner or cut straight to a corner.

At first, they struggled at times. It looked ugly. But they even made progress in the first practice.

By the second practice, it improved a lot.

Then in games, our spacing looked dramatically better… and we started scoring more.

Does Structure Create Freedom?

That experience reminded me of something important:

Sometimes structure actually creates freedom.

When players are young or inexperienced, being more strict with spacing and movement can eliminate the habits that destroy offense.

Later, once they truly understand spacing, you can loosen up the rules.

They’ll recognize the right moments to basket cut… even from the opposite side of the floor.

They’ll see when there’s a real opportunity to move.

They’ll make smarter reads naturally.

But first, they need a foundation.

That’s why I believe there’s a time to be open-ended… and there’s also a time to be a little more structured.

The goal isn’t to keep players rigid.

The goal is to give them enough structure early so they can eventually play with real freedom!

This is the same philosophy that Coach Jim Huber teaches in his youth offensive system.

He teaches you to have a structured plan, that develops skilled players who eventually have enough on-court freedom that they become hard to guard!

Coach Huber also provides practical solutions to problems youth coaches face on a daily basis.

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