Practice plan
European Method: Academy Under-14 Session
- Length
- 90 min
- Age group
- Teen (13 to 18)
- Level
- Intermediate
- Season
- In-Season
- Contents
- 19 drills
About this practice
A ninety-minute under-14 session with the structure Italian youth coaches are given, three to five times a week: ten minutes of individual fundamentals before the dynamic warm-up, feet on the ladder, footwork and finishes, twenty minutes of one-on-one defense from live feet, three on three that turns into the break, a short five on five, and free throws tracked by percentage. No set plays. A few rules decide what the players do, the coach asks more than he tells, and a mistake is the lesson, not the crime. Learn the spot before the skill. The structure is the Italian federation's under-14 unit from the CONI Abruzzo programming deck, and the method is Andrea Capobianco's, from his 2026 under-14 session plan for the Lazio federation; both PDFs are public, read them.
- Conditioning
- Defense
- Finishing
- Footwork
- Shooting
- Teamwork & Communication
- Transition Offense
The plan, step by step
- Outline Practice2 min
- Form Shooting5 min
- Contact Layup Drill5 min
- Jog and Backpedal2 min
- Walking Lunges2 min
- Knee Hugs1 min
- Carioca1 min
- Defensive Slides2 min
- Ladder Drills5 min
- Jump Stop and Pivot Drill5 min
- Layup Footwork Progression5 min
- Close-Out One-on-One, Live Feet12 min
- 1-on-1 Defensive Pressure8 min
- Scheduled Water Break2 min
- Three-on-Three into the Break15 min
- Communication Scrimmage10 min
- Free Throw Shooting3 min
- Dynamic Rest Period3 min
- Practice Summary2 min
19 drills90 min of drills
