— TRAINING SESSION

Pick-and-Roll Mastery (U16+)

Block and Bank · 73 minutes · 8 drills · Generated 13 May 2026

Age group: U16
Focus: Screen action
Duration: 73 minutes
Drills: 8

Modern offence revolves around PnR. This session covers every read, every counter, every modern wrinkle including Spain action.

8DRILLS

73MINUTES

9AVG / DRILL

1 Passing Lines Warm-Up

4 min Difficulty: Beginner Age: u8 Court: Half

Pairs, 5 metres apart. 20 chest passes, 20 bounce passes, 20 overhead passes, 20 one-handed push passes (10 each hand).

Fundamentals warm-up every coach should run every practice. Countless turnovers prevented.

Coaching points

Step into every pass.
Fingertips on follow-through.
Receive with both hands, fingers spread.
Bounce passes: 2/3 of the way to your partner.
Overhead passes: snap wrists, from the forehead.

2 Pick & Roll Reads

10 min Difficulty: Intermediate Age: u16 Court: Half

Foundation of modern offence. Ball-handler comes off a screen and reads the defence: drive if the big drops, pull-up if they switch, pocket pass if they trap, kick to the wing if help comes.

Walk through each read at half-speed before live reps.

Coaching points

• Set up the screen with a hard step opposite first
• Use the screen — shoulder to hip with the screener
• Read the big's hips: drop = drive, hedge = pull-up, switch = mismatch
• Pocket pass to the roller is always available
• Eyes scan the weak side — corner shooter is the easiest help-kick

3 Hedge & Recover (Pick & Roll)

8 min Difficulty: Advanced Age: u16 Court: Half

Standard pick & roll. Big defender 'hedges' — steps out to slow the ball-handler — then recovers back to their man (the roller). Ball-handler's defender fights over the screen.

Most common defensive coverage against pick & roll at the modern game. Requires precise timing.

Coaching points

Big: hedge with both feet outside the lane, hands up.
Make the ball-handler hesitate — don't dive too aggressive.
Recover the moment the ball-handler retreats.
Guard's defender: chase over the screen, never under.
Communicate: 'screen left' before the screen is set.

4 Point Guard Reads

10 min Difficulty: Advanced Age: u16 Court: Half

PG at top with ball. Coach holds up fingers 1-4 representing coverages: switch, hedge, drop, blitz. PG calls the read aloud and executes the appropriate response.

Builds the most important guard skill: reading defence in real time.

Coaching points

See the big defender's hips FIRST.
Call the read out loud.
Drop = pull-up jumper.
Switch = attack the mismatch.
Hedge = reject screen, attack gap.
Blitz = pocket pass to roller.

5 Horns — Quick Hitter

10 min Difficulty: Advanced Age: u16 Court: Half

Two bigs at the elbows, two wings in the corners, point guard at the top. Both bigs set screens for the point guard simultaneously, who chooses one. The unused big pops out for a three; the screen-roller dives.

A classic NBA quick-hitter that creates 3-4 simultaneous reads.

Coaching points

• Bigs set strong screens — wide base, hands across chest
• PG reads the defence — chooses based on who's hedging higher
• The non-screened big POPS out, doesn't crash
• Wings space — corners are the kick-out targets
• 4 reads: drive, pull-up, roll pass, kick to corner

6 Spain Pick and Roll

15 min Difficulty: Advanced Age: u16 Court: Half

Standard PnR with a twist: as the big rolls to the rim, a SECOND screener back-screens the rolling big's defender. Creates a lob option, a pop-out for the screener, or the standard pull-up read.

Modern wrinkle on a classic. 3-4 options simultaneously.

Coaching points

PG reads big defender's hips like normal PnR.
Roller dives HARD, assume lob is coming.
Spain screener: back-screen when roller starts moving.
Spain screener pops AFTER the screen.
Most defences can't cover all 3.

7 Hammer Action

12 min Difficulty: Advanced Age: u16 Court: Half

Ball-handler drives baseline. Big sets a back-screen on the weak-side corner shooter's defender. Driver delivers a skip pass to the wide-open corner three.

The Spurs made this famous. Brutally effective. Most defences haven't figured out how to defend it.

Coaching points

Driver reads the help, passes when help comes.
Screener times the back-screen to the drive.
Shooter relocates to corner during screen.
Skip pass: long, on the line, not lobbed.
Shooter sets feet on catch, open three.

8 Cool Down Routine

4 min Difficulty: Beginner Age: u8 Court: Half

End-of-practice: 30 seconds each, toe touches, quad stretch, hamstring stretch, calf stretch, lunge stretch, cobra back stretch, shoulder rolls. Total 4 minutes.

Most coaches skip it. Don't. Recovery starts here. Players who stretch consistently miss less practice from soreness.

Coaching points

Slow movements, no bouncing.
Breathe, exhale on stretch.
Don't push through pain, just to the edge.
Hold each stretch.
Debrief while stretching: what worked today?