Pillar

Practice Planning & Coaching

A play on paper is not a play your team can run. This is the bridge: how you install, a practice template you can copy, the checks that tell you it stuck, and the teaching method behind it all.

The install sequence

Four steps from chalkboard to live.

1 · Walkthrough

Zero defense, half speed. Players walk the spacing and cuts so they learn where before how fast. 3–5 minutes.

2 · Guided reps

Add token defense and a coach calling the read. Stop and fix on the spot. Build the habit before you add pressure. 5–8 minutes.

3 · Live reads

Full speed, live defense. The action stays the same; the defense gets to fight it. This is where players learn the counters. 8–10 minutes.

4 · Review

Two clips or two reps: one that worked, one that broke. Name the fix in a sentence the whole team repeats back. 2–3 minutes.

Practice template

A 90-minute plan you can copy.

Warm-up & skill · 20 min

Dynamic warm-up, then a skill block tied to tonight's install (e.g., backdoor catches before you install a Princeton set).

Install block · 20 min

Run the install sequence above on one new action. One concept per practice — do not stack three new things in a night.

Team / 5-on-5 · 25 min

Live play where the new action must show up. Score a point for the team that runs it correctly, made or missed.

Competitive & review · 25 min

A competition that rewards the habit (paint touches, assisted baskets), then a short review and free throws to finish.

Copy-ready plan

A full 90-minute install practice.

One concept a night, everything tied to it. Swap the play for whatever you're installing — the shape holds.

  1. 0:00 · Dynamic warm-up — 6 min. Movement prep, then straight into the gym — no standing around.
  2. 0:06 · Form shooting & free throws — 6 min. Close to the rim, perfect form, then two at the line.
  3. 0:12 · Skill + competitive shooting — 12 min. Ball-handling on the move, then a scored shooting drill like Oklahoma Shooting — every rep counts for something.
  4. 0:24 · Install the new action — 18 min. Run the four-step sequence above on one play from the : walkthrough → guided reps → live. One concept, not three.
  5. 0:42 · 5-on-5, constraint on — 22 min. The new action has to show up — a point for the team that runs it right, made or missed.
  6. 1:04 · Competitive, under fatigue — 16 min. A game-shaped drill where the habit has to hold when legs are tired.
  7. 1:20 · Review + free throws — 8 min. One rep that worked, one that broke, name the fix in a sentence, finish at the line.

Coaching a younger team? Run the same shape in 60 minutes — trim the team block to 15 and the competition to 10.

Teaching checks

Know it actually stuck.

Can the second unit run it?

If only your starters can, you have a play, not an installed play. Reps with the backups are the real test.

Can they run it tired?

Put it at the end of a competitive block. A play that only works fresh will not survive the fourth quarter.

Can a player teach it?

Ask one player to explain the read to a teammate. If they can teach it, they own it.

Need plays to install? Pull a diagrammed action from the , or read a full playbook breakdown.

Coaching & teaching method

The philosophy behind the plan.

All breakdowns →

Teach the Language First

Hand players a one-page diagram legend before you install anything — they can’t run what they can’t read.

Keep exploring

Offense · Defense · Situations · Drills & Player Development · Start Here