3-on-3 (Must Screen)
Play competitive 3-on-3 with a rule that forces screening actions.
What this drill teaches
Making screens a habit, not a lesson. The must-screen rule means no basket counts without one, so screening stops being something players know about and becomes something they reach for — while the defence gets live practice talking through them.
In games: Transfers all your screening work into real games — teams that only screen when the coach calls it start creating their own actions on game day.
- Legal, planted screens with real contact — not moving drive-bys
- Cutters using the screen hard, shoulder to shoulder
- Defenders calling every screen out loud before it lands
U12: require only off-ball screens and expect them slow and soft. U14–U16: on-ball actions, defences switching or icing on command, baskets only from the screen.
Equipment
1 ball, half court
Setup
Two teams of three, half court, winner stays.
Steps
- 1A team must set at least one on- or off-ball screen before scoring.
- 2Play live to a make or a stop.
- 3Defence must communicate and defend the screens.
- 4Games to 4 baskets, then rotate.
Coaching points
- Set real, legal screens.
- Use the screen — cut or come off it hard.
- Defence: talk through every screen.
Why kids love it
Forces players to use what they've learned about screens in a live, competitive setting.
Variations
Require only an off-ball screen (easier to set).
Make the defence switch every screen and let the offence hunt the mismatch.
Require the defence to ice every side ball screen and force the ball to the baseline.
Only count baskets scored directly out of the screening action.