Spain Pick & Roll

Skill drill

Add a back-screen on the roller's defender — the advanced 'Spain' ball screen.

14 min 4+ Half court

TeamworkU14U16

Read & react

4+ · 1 ball, half court

Speed

Get everyone ready

● Player / attack■ DefenceGold: ball

Illustrated steps · 5 seconds per step at 1×

Set up

Ball-handler and screener up top; a shooter lurks behind the screen.

A coached example. In live play, players make their own decisions; the outcome can change.

Look for: Time the back-screen as the roll begins.

Playback options

Pause between chaptersIllustrated steps · 5 seconds per step at 1×

Coach’s notes & group organisation

Ball-handler and screener up top; a shooter lurks behind the screen.

Screener sets a ball screen for the guard.
As the screener rolls, the lurking shooter back-screens the roller's defender.
The roller gets a clear path to the rim.
The back-screener pops out for a three if their defender helps.

Suggested reset

For a walkthrough, finish one action and stop. The shooter retrieves and returns the ball to the starting handler. Walk back outside the cutting lanes, then cycle the starting roles before repeating on the other side. Waiting groups replace the whole group between repetitions. When adding live defence, stop on a score, turnover, foul, ball out or controlled rebound; return the ball to the start and swap attack and defence.

Coaching cues

Time the back-screen as the roll begins.
Roller: sprint through the opening.
Back-screener: pop out ready to shoot after the screen.

Adapt the challenge

Easier: Break it into two parts: screen-and-roll first, then add the back-screen.

Harder: Add two defenders in drop coverage so the back-screen has a real target.

Switch it: Have the defence switch the ball screen so the offence attacks the mismatch instead of screening.

What this drill teaches

Layering two screens into one action. In Spain pick-and-roll, a shooter back-screens the roller's defender just as the roll begins — so players learn that a second, well-timed screen can break a defence that had the first one covered.

In games: Gives an experienced team a counter on game day when defences sit back to swallow the roll — the back-screen clears the rim protector out of the play.

What good looks like

Back-screen arriving exactly as the roll starts, not before
Roller sprinting through the gap rather than drifting
Back-screener popping out shot-ready after contact

U14: teach it in two halves — plain pick-and-roll first, then add the back-screen. U16: expect the full action against live drop coverage and reads off a switch.