The most dominant play in basketball is:

1) Isolation with your best player to go one on one 

2) A Ball Screen 

I want to share some things that I love and have found successful in teaching it about ball screens.

I. THE MOST COMMON ANGLES OF A BALL SCREEN:

• Top/ Flat 
• High
• Side
• Step Up (Baseline)
• Elbow   
• Drag 
• Corner 
• Mid Post

These angles will be the game spots your drills are derived from.

If you want further definitions – please visit our Curriculum

II. THE BALL HANDLER

The buildup can be one OR all of the following:

• The ball handler(BH) coming off a chair (as a screener)
• The Coach can set the screen
• The BH can come off a cone or pop up defender 
• The BH can come off two sneakers 
• The BH can come off and hit a bell on the ground
• The BH can come off ANY of the above as screens and NOW the Coach can give the BH reads. The Coach guards the screener. After you get the reps, make sure you give your players READS!

A) Shots 

• The BH will have two shots.  A floater, a pull up jumper, or a three point shot.

B) Passes side pick and roll example 

• BH will have pocket pass to roller 
• Late lob pass to poller
• Hook pass to corner lift 
• Bounce pass to duck in spot 
• Lob pass to dunk spot 
• Air pass to opposite elbow 
• Air pass to opposite slot 
• Drive & kick pass to nail to opposite corner 

These passes are similar for the other ball screen angles as well. See our Curriculum for more details.

III. THE SCREENER 

• The Coach can be the BH and the Player can be the screener. After the ball screen the choices for the player (screener) are as follows:
• Hard roll to basket 
• Short roll to basket 
• Long roll (roll to under rim & to other side) maybe a reverse layup 
• Roll, then reverse pivot for the corner to lift and you have a seal post up  
• A flip or re-screen then roll 
• A pop to corner 
• A down screen on roll for shooter 
• A wide screen in corner for shooter 
• An early slip or ghost screen
• A late slip 

IV: TEACHING POINTS 

Ball Handler:

SET UP

– stay away from sideline (if on a side, baseline or corner P&R)

– Use misdirection dribbles and change speed 

– Wait for screener to have two feet set 

START

– get your D even or below screen  

– you want them to trail you 

– get your shoulders even or below your screener or their defender 

– ATTACK

– Feel your D, evaluate the screeners coverage, anticipate the help and rotations

SCORE 

– take two dribbles removed from screen or two seconds before you make a choice. 

– Don’t hesitate, always keep head up 

– you will have your floater, jumper or a pass 

SCREENER:

SET UP

– Engage your defender to dislodge them and create separation

– Use a misdirection or post up to distract

START

– SPRINT to set for your teammate 

– Come out unattached from D

– Jump stop on screen or have two feet set

– drop hips

– make contact and get close to BH defender 

– set proper angle based on coaches philosophy 

– send your teammate up hill, down hill, screen back of defender (etc…)

SCORE 

– wait two seconds or one body removed from BH to make your move

– you either roll, pop, screen another or re-screen BH again. 

V: Defenses vs BALL SCREEN 

A) Screeners Defender 

– Hard show

– Soft show

– Drop

– Blitz

– Switch

– Separated Show

– ICE or Down 

– Jam

The solutions to these coverages are covered in our Curriculum. 

B. Ball Handler Defender 

– Lock trail on hip (over) or chase 

– Go under 

– Switch

– Ice to trap 

– Trap 

Solutions are in curriculum 

C) Formula chemistry of screener and ball handler 

 – SIMPLE – Guard waits for screen. The big sprints to set screen low, wide, and aggressive. OFF SCREEN if guard goes low, big goes high. If guard is high, big is low. If defense goes under screen and guard don’t shoot. Under = Re screen. It can’t get any more simplistic than that!

I hope this blog got your passion firing. When kids turn 12 they are mature enough to start to work on ball Screens. Hopefully they have been playing for 4-5 years previously.

Next Blog will be PART 2: ICE READS AND SOLUTIONS

Here are two videos from my ONLINE CURRICULUM from the Intermediate & Pro section on ball screens.