Ball-Screen Mastery
Execute every ball-screen read — reject, use, attack, retreat — against live coverage.
- Duration
- 18 min
- Steps
- 4
- Equipment
- 3 items
- Difficulty
- Advanced
How to run it
- 1
Defender goes over, under, switches, hedges, and blitzes in random order.
- 2
Read the coverage instantly and choose: reject, use-and-pull, retreat-and-re-attack, or pass.
- 3
Execute at game speed; no hesitation.
- 4
12 reps, defender randomizes coverage each time.
Coaching points
- Read the defender's hips before the screen — they telegraph the coverage.
- Reject with a tight, quick crossover.
- If blitzed, retreat to space — never pick up the dribble.
Equipment
- Basketball
- Screener
- 2 Defenders
Why it works
Randomized coverage forces true reading, not memorized reads. The nugget: against every coverage type in one drill, a guard builds the complete pick-and-roll decision tree. In a game, the defense changes coverage every screen — a kid who can read and counter any coverage runs an offense through the pick-and-roll, the most efficient action in the modern game. This is the skill that elite guards are paid for.
Ball-Screen Mastery
Purpose: Execute every ball-screen read — reject, use, attack, retreat — against live coverage.
▶How to run it
- 1Defender goes over, under, switches, hedges, and blitzes in random order.
- 2Read the coverage instantly and choose: reject, use-and-pull, retreat-and-re-attack, or pass.
- 3Execute at game speed; no hesitation.
- 412 reps, defender randomizes coverage each time.
✓Coaching points
- ✓Read the defender's hips before the screen — they telegraph the coverage.
- ✓Reject with a tight, quick crossover.
- ✓If blitzed, retreat to space — never pick up the dribble.
▢Equipment
★Why it works
Randomized coverage forces true reading, not memorized reads. The nugget: against every coverage type in one drill, a guard builds the complete pick-and-roll decision tree. In a game, the defense changes coverage every screen — a kid who can read and counter any coverage runs an offense through the pick-and-roll, the most efficient action in the modern game. This is the skill that elite guards are paid for.