The Best Motion Offense for Youth Basketball
Youth Basketball coaching is hard. The kids are looking to have a fun time bonding with friends, and it is your job to make it fun, while still teaching them the right way to play basketball. It turns out that 5-out motion offense is a great strategy to steer your team in the right direction. Motion offense for youth basketball keeps your team engaged while sticking to the basic principles they need to master.
The HOOPLEVEL 5 Out Motion Offense eBook is simple and easy to follow
It contains 30 drills and over 70 pages of masterful coaching content you will not find anywhere else. The eBook goes beyond the usual drills found in countless other books.
The HOOPLEVEL 5 Out Motion Offense eBook talks about philosophy, helping you maximize your team’s potential while keeping the game fun.
It is important to note that this book will not automatically make your team win every game. The strategies from the book take hard work and determination to create success. With that said, the basketball offensive drills the eBook offers will have your team playing the right way in no time.
Youth Coaching Expert and Author of The HOOPLEVEL 5 Out Motion Offense, Michael Lunde, has over 15 years of youth basketball coaching. His basketball motion offense has been proven at some of the highest levels of youth basketball. Read more here.
5-Out Motion Offense works in youth basketball for its ease of implementation. Your team will be engaged from the first drill. Forget about long nights coming up with drills or stressing about your team’s success. Give 5-out motion offense a try and you will not be disappointed, and neither will your team!
The Importance of Coaching
The role of a coach is often underrated. Coaches impact the lives of their players every week. All of us had idols growing up, people we looked to for advice, our role models. For a lot of us, those were sports coaches. The importance of youth coaching cannot be looked at lightly and it is your job to be a role model for your team.
The role of coaches is to inspire the player to want to continue to play basketball. Today, too many kids are dropping out of sports due to the coaches not making the game fun for them and a variety of other reasons. Motion offense for youth basketball is the best way to engage your team and keep them coming back to the amazing sport of basketball.
Understanding Basketball Basics
Perhaps the greatest joy for you as a coach is during a game, for others, it may be practice or the pre-game pep talks. Regardless of the time, coaches must understand the basics of basketball and the offense they are running. Much of this knowledge comes from practice.
The HOOPLEVEL 5 Out Motion Offense eBook offers endless insight on getting your players to understand and respect basketball basics. If your players need assistance dribbling towards the basket in the motion offense, the eBook has drills for that. If your motion offense becomes too stagnant, the eBook has drills for that as well. As a coach looking to implement motion offense for youth basketball, you will not be disappointed.
Coach Lunde has taken his 15 years of coaching expertise and boiled it down into The HOOPLEVEL 5 Out Motion Offense eBook. He understands that coaching can be difficult but with the right mentality and offense in place, your team can be successful too! Just like most things in life, it all starts with the basics.
Do the Players Love 5-Out Motion Offense?
5-Out Motion Offense is designed to give players the freedom to play their way. The players have the responsibility to make plays within the offense and always be engaged in the offense. Unlike other youth basketball offenses that prioritize one ball-handler, basketball motion offense is designed to get everybody the ball. Each of the five players on the court will be able to dribble the ball and contribute to the offense.
My offensive philosophy is to create high IQ basketball players who can play, create and think on their own. Working with fundamentals is crucial. When, where and how to use them is crucial as well. Having five players outside the 3-point line will teach the players guard skills, which are fundamental to learn before later specialization, e.g. for inside players.
Quote from Chapter 3 – “Offensive Philosophy”
Not sure if your team would like 5-Out Motion Offense? Hear it from the actual players themselves on how they liked motion offense:
“It’s fun to play because we as players decide what’s next.”
“This offense is really simple and makes so much sense.”
“It’s nice to see that everyone on the team is on the same page, no matter their skill set.”
“I never liked playing set plays, which is why I love playing this offense.”
These are just a few quotes from an endless amount of satisfied players. The philosophy discussed in The HOOPLEVEL 5 Out Motion Offense eBook goes into much more than just playing basketball. Coaching youth basketball means keeping kids interested in basketball, keeping them engaged in practice, and most importantly, setting them up for success moving forward.
Success at the Next Level
As a youth basketball coach, understand the basics of basketball is of the most importance. Youth basketball is simply much different than the professional basketball we love to watch. One of the most difficult parts of coaching is getting your players to understand the level they are playing at. It is completely normal for your team to not want to work on basics as they think they have them down. Guess what, professional basketball players work on the basics daily, and so should your players.
The HOOPLEVEL 5 Out Motion Offense eBook focuses time and effort in the right way, prioritizing player development for the next level. The implementation of basketball motion offense develops better overall players. The offense forces each player to become part of the offense, building their skill in the process.
Coaching basketball at any level, but especially the youth level is all about the process. Thankful for you, Coach Lunde has a proven process he has used time and time again and had discussed in The HOOPLEVEL 5 Out Motion Offense eBook. (link to 3.2 The Process) The key to success teaching kids this offense is starting with the basics. The eBook has a complete process starting with non-dribbling drills and moving through to more advanced offensive drills. This process will truly teach your team everything they need to know about motion offense for youth basketball, one step at a time.
Why 5-Out Motion Offense?
For those of you wondering, why should I go with motion offense for my youth basketball team, here is why! To be honest, the list of benefits of motion offense for youth basketball are nearly endless. From a coach’s perspective to a player’s perspective, basketball motion offense is the best offensive solution in youth basketball.
Players Develop Needed Skills
Basketball motion offense requires each of the 5 players on the court to be proficient in basketball basics. That means even if a player prefers to play in the post, they will still have to learn how to dribble, pass, cut, etc. This develops more well-rounded basketball players. Especially in youth basketball, players’ body types are always changing. A player who may be taller than everyone this season, may be the shortest on the court in a couple of years and vice versa. A well-rounded youth basketball player who runs the motion offense will have the basketball skills they need for the future.
A player developing handoff drill
A drill taken from The HOOPLEVEL 5 Out Motion Offense eBook.
The Handoff drill looks at adding a skill players need to know to thrive in 5-out motion offense. This gets players moving without the ball towards the ball-handler, creating more motion within the offense.
With five players on the perimeter, there is plenty of space to perform the handoff. This offense recommends starting from the top spot and performing the handoff at the wing spot. When doing the handoff, the offense looks a little different and the players must be taught to react differently in these situations. The handoff is also meant to be the last part of the offense to teach, requiring all the basics to already be in place.
O1 has the ball at the top spot.
O1 dribbles towards the wing spot forcing O3 to cut backdoor. O5 also moves towards the wing spot.
If O3 is open for the pass, this is also an option.
O1 hands off the ball to O5. O3 fills up at the corner spot, meaning that the weak side offense (O2 and O4) will not move.
O5 dribble penetrates middle to score. When O4 penetrates middle, O1 cuts towards the baskets while maintaining distance from O5 to maintain appropriate passing space.
O4 stays at the corner spot (usually this would be a backdoor cut situation for O4, but as O1 takes up space in the lane, there is no space for a backdoor cut).
Depending on how the defense reacts, O5 can dribble all the way to the basket or make a bounce pass to O1.
If the two previous options are not available, there are another two options:
- Pass to O4 at the corner spot
- Pass to O2 at the wing spot
O3 fills up at the opposite wing spot and O1 fills up at the opposite corner spot.
Note from the author: There are different ways of signaling the handoff. Here are two examples:
- You can implement the handoff as an automatic event when the player at the top dribbles towards the wing spot (this is what I did).
- You can set up a signal for performing the handoff for all of the offensive players to understand.
Players Take Control
Youth basketball needs to be fun and engaging to the players. Often, basketball offenses can get monotonous to the point players stop trying and simply go through the motions. This is not the case with 5-out motion offense as each player is engaged in the play. Additionally, rather than having a set motion to do each time, players can make their own decisions based on what the defense gives them. An intelligent basketball player will be able to read the defense to determine if dribble driving, shooting, or passing is the correct option. This forces players to want to learn moves and want to get better at shooting instead of just passing it every time. This offense helps create intelligent basketball players that play the right way.
Players have control more than when they just have the ball. The Multiple Backdoor Cuts from the Same Spot drill works on the ability to move off the ball. The backdoor cut is one of the easiest plays for a youth player to understand. Adding these plays to the playbook creates a more dynamic motion offense.
Multiple backdoor cuts from the same spot
A drill taken from The HOOPLEVEL 5 Out Motion Offense eBook.
When the defense keeps playing the passing line, the offense will have to do multiple backdoor cuts to draw the defense and create space for the offense.
Example:
O1 wants to pass to O3 at the wing spot. D3 is playing the passing line making the pass impossible to make.
O3 backdoor cuts trying to create a scoring opportunity.
D3 follows and covers O3 defensively making it impossible for O1 to pass the ball to O3.
O5 fills out the wing spot.
O3 moves to the corner spot.
D5 is playing the passing line between O1 and O5 making it impossible for O1 to complete the pass to O5.
O5 backdoor cuts.
This time O5 is in front of D5 making it possible for O1 to complete the pass to O5.
Find this and many other valuable drills in The HOOPLEVEL 5 Out Motion Offense eBook.
All 5 Players Involved
In 5-Out Motion Offense, every player gets involved in the game. Often in youth basketball, one or two star players dominate the offense, minimizing touches for the remaining players on the court. While basketball motion offense can still prioritize star players, the remaining players have an opportunity to impact the game on offense. This keeps all players engaged in the game and regularly performing basketball basics like dribbling, driving, passing, and shooting.
Basketball motion offense prioritizes working together within the offense. Three on a Side Drill works on isolating three players and determining options for them to create movement within the offense. The more players that are moving within the motion offense, the more successful the offense will become.
Three on a Side Drill: Handoff
A drill taken from The HOOPLEVEL 5 Out Motion Offense eBook.
Three lines.
O1 dribbles from the top spot towards the wing spot forcing O2 to backdoor cut. At the same time, O3 moves towards O1 at the wing spot.
O2 fills up at the corner spot (goes to line 3).
O1 hands off the ball to O3.
O3 dribble penetrates towards the middle to score.
O1 stays at the wing (in line 2).
O3 gets the ball after the shot and goes to line 1 at the top.
Find this and many other developing drills in The HOOPLEVEL 5 Out Motion Offense eBook.
Manageable Playbook
There are basketball playbooks that can be a hundred pages long with endless amounts of different plays and schemes; not with 5-out motion offense! With motion offense, there is the main scheme that all players understand with minimal added plays. The players have the freedom to make their own plays which other players react to. On top of having a smaller playbook, your players will have a better understanding of the game of basketball. For example, if player A dribble drives to the hoop, player B will then know to drive to the basket to get the rebound. The series of plays become intuitive to the players once practiced enough times. The manageable playbook also helps you as a coach to minimize the number of plays and focus on one idea, basketball motion offense.
The Using the Dribble to Force Movement drills look at adding a simple tactic of dribble driving to the motion offense. A dribble-drive can be utilized by any player. Once a player has initiated the dribble drive, it is often up to the rest of the players to rotate and continue the play. Having a simple tactic like dribble driving keeps the playbook manageable.
Find this and many other developing drills in The HOOPLEVEL 5 Out Motion Offense eBook.
Opportunities for Advanced Plays
The motion offense opens the door for an endless number of possibilities. The playbook is as big as the imagination of the players on the court. It is the coach’s job to foster that creativity through the introduction of more advanced basketball plays. For example, the pick-n-roll opens a multitude of possibilities within the motion offense. Once movement is started, the other players move without the ball, opening more opportunities to score the basketball.
The Ball Reversal and Double Back Door Cut is a great example of a drill that can start to open the minds of your players. Once they start to practice cutting and moving within the offense, their creativity for plays will be expanded. Then, the offense becomes more fluid and the players can focus on basketball and not running specific plays.
Find this and many other developing drills in The HOOPLEVEL 5 Out Motion Offense eBook.
Makes Coaching and Playing Fun
Perhaps the most important reason you must implement 5-Out Motion Offense for your youth team is the fact that it makes the game fun again. Players get the offensive freedom they have always been looking for and coaches get the easy scoring and success they want. With this strategy, practice becomes fun with drills that engage the players. Bring the fun back into coaching with motion offense for youth basketball.
Conclusion: Implement 5-Out Motion Offense Today
No matter if your youth team is struggling or at the top, implementing 5-out motion offense will make your team better. The HOOPLEVEL 5 Out Motion Offense eBook written by Coach Michael Lunde will help you every step of the way. The perfectly written eBook will turn your youth coaching experience into a winning one. The basketball motion offense is fun to play, watch, and coach. You will surely be getting compliments from every team you play against.
Still do not believe the HOOPLEVEL 5 Out Motion Offense eBook is for you? Take a hard look at your coaching style next practice. Think about how easy and intuitive the 5-out motion offense would be to implement for your team. Let Coach Lunde’s expertise take your coaching experience to the next level.