Youth Man-to-Man play
Youth Man: Ball Screen Switch
- Court
- Half court
- Length
- 11 steps
About this play
The simplest way to guard a ball screen, and the one most youth teams should use: call it early, and switch. The screener's defender yells the screen as it is coming, both defenders switch men on contact, the new on-ball defender stays in front of the dribbler, and the old one stays attached to the roller. This play runs a whole possession: the ball swings both ways first, then the screen comes, the switch is made, the roll is fronted, and the kick-out and the passes after it are guarded by the switched defenders. Why switch at this age: fighting over or under a screen takes footwork and timing most young players do not have, and the two failures (trailing the dribbler, or two defenders on nobody) both concede a layup; a switch concedes a mismatch, which is a problem the offense has to notice and use, and youth offenses rarely do. Where the advantage lies: a switched screen produces no open shot and no open roll, so the offense has to pass again, and the clock is on the defense's side. Common youth mistakes: calling the screen late, switching late (both defenders on the ball), and the switched defender following the roller to the rim instead of fronting him. I picked up the call-it-early-and-switch approach from Jim Huber's ball screen session for Breakthrough Basketball and Athletes Untapped's youth pick-and-roll defense post; read them if you want the other coverages too.
