Pick and Roll Fundamentals

🎒 Gear Needed: 1 x basketball, partner, 1 ring
⏱ Suggested Time: 5 - 10 minutes
👥 Participants: Partner (Ball-Handler and Screener/Roller)
📍 Space: Half-Court
📊 Difficulty: Intermediate

📝 Instructions

1. Setup: The ball-handler (Player 1) starts at the top of the key with a basketball. The screener (Player 2) begins on the low block or wing, roughly 4 to 5 metres away.
2. Setting the Screen (The Pick): Player 2 sprints up to the top of the key to set a screen on Player 1’s imaginary or live on-ball defender. Player 2 must come to a complete, stationary stop:
   • Feet planted wider than shoulder-width in a balanced, athletic stance.
   • Knees bent with chest upright.
   • Arms crossed tightly across their chest to absorb contact legally without pushing.
3. Setting Up the Defender: Player 1 takes one slow dribble away from the screen to entice the defender to lean in that direction, setting up the angle of the screen.
4. Shoulder-to-Shoulder Rub: Player 1 suddenly changes pace, driving tightly past Player 2. Player 1’s shoulder must virtually brush Player 2’s hip/shoulder (“leave no daylight”), preventing the defender from squeezing through the gap.
5. The Roll to the Ring: As soon as Player 1 clears the screen, Player 2 reverse pivots on their inside foot, opens their chest to the ball-handler, and rolls dynamically down the centre of the key toward the ring with two open target hands.
6. The Pocket Pass & Finish: Player 1 extends their outside arm and slips a bounce pass or pocket push pass past the recovering defense into the key. Player 2 catches the ball on balance and completes a power layup at the ring.
7. Rotation: Switch roles between ball-handler and screener after every 5 repetitions.

💡 Coaching Cues

• Set, Don’t Move: The screener must come to a dead stop before the dribbler moves; leaning, sticking a knee out, or sliding while screening is an offensive foul.
• Shoulder to Shoulder: The ball-handler must scrape right past the screener’s shoulder; if you leave even a 30-centimetre gap, the defender will slip through and blow up the play.
• Open to the Ball on the Roll: When rolling to the ring, pivot with your chest facing the ball-handler so you can see the incoming pass throughout your cut.
• Bounce Pass in the Pocket: Deliver the pass low into the “pocket” between the screener’s waist and knees, where big defenders cannot deflect it.

🔄 Variations & Progressions

• Make It Easier: Practice 2v0 without defenders: walk through the stationary screen setup, shoulder brush, roll pivot, and bounce pass before building up to game speed.
• Make It Harder: Add two live defenders (on-ball defender and screener defender); the ball-handler must read whether the defense “drops”, “switches”, or “hedges”, choosing between pulling up for a shot or feeding the roller at the ring.

📺 Video Demonstration