Paint Points
No dribbling and no shooting — a point for every catch made with both feet inside the key.
What this drill teaches
Cutting into space as the only way to score. With no dribble and no hoop, a catch in the key is the whole game — so setting up the defender, timing the cut to the pass and clearing out become the skills that win.
In games: Cutting is the most under-coached habit in youth basketball because scrimmages rarely reward it — this builds the cuts that get players open against a set defence.
- Cuts set up with a step away before the burst into the key
- Cutters arriving as the ball does, not waiting in the paint
- Scorers clearing the key immediately after the catch
U10: cuts will be early and passes late — allow the one-dribble version. U14–U16: expect sharp set-up moves and on-time deliveries, and add the basket back for finished paint catches.
Equipment
1 ball, half court
Setup
Two teams of four on a half court. No basket is used at all.
Steps
- 1The ball moves only by passing; nobody may dribble.
- 2A team scores one point every time a player catches the ball with both feet inside the key.
- 3The scorer must leave the key immediately and cannot score twice in a row.
- 4Turnover or deflection and the other team takes over. First to ten.
Coaching points
- Set your cut up first — take your defender away from the key, then cut into it.
- Time the cut to the pass, not the other way around; arrive as the ball does.
- Cut through and out, don't stand in the paint waiting.
- Passers: hit the cutter early, while they are still moving.
Why kids love it
Cutting to get open is the most under-coached habit in youth basketball because nothing in a normal scrimmage rewards it. Removing the dribble and the hoop leaves nothing but cutting.
Variations
Allow one dribble, and let a catch anywhere inside the arc count.
Two consecutive paint catches before the point counts.
Add the basket back — a paint catch may be finished for two extra points.
A catch in either corner is worth one, a paint catch two.