A player development plan (PDP) should help you decide what to do when the player walks into the gym.
"Improve finishing" gives us very little to work with. Does the player struggle to get to the rim? Keep the ball away from a defender? Recognize when the help has committed?
Those are different problems. They need different practice environments.
At Transforming Basketball, we use the term rate limiter for something that is currently restricting a player's performance. The more clearly we can describe it, the easier it becomes to design a useful small-sided game. We use the same idea to plan a rate limiter warm-up.
Start the Pdp with the Player
Watch a few possessions together. Ask:
- What do you already do well?
- Where do you get stuck?
- What would you like to be able to do?
- How does that connect with your role on this team?
The player's answer might be different from yours. That is useful information. Build the plan together and agree on a priority you can both recognize on film.
Keep their strengths in the plan, too. Development should help players use what makes them effective while expanding what they can do.
Keep the Player Development Plan Small
A simple PDP can include three areas:
- Anchors: strengths the player can already use in games.
- Building blocks: areas they are beginning to develop.
- Rate limiter: the specific problem you are prioritizing now.
For example, a player might be good at beating their own defender but pick up the ball as soon as a second defender appears.
Their current priority could be: "Keep the drive alive long enough to recognize whether to finish or pass when help arrives."
That gives the player and staff something observable. We can see when it happens, design for it, and revisit it.
Free resource
21 SSGs for your next practice.
A free PDF of small-sided games you can run right away. A practical first taste of the approach.
Bring the Rate Limiter into a Small-Sided Game
Try a 2-on-2+2 Advantage Start.
- Offense starts in front of the defender on the 45. The off ball player can start in the weak corner with their defender in MIG position.
- Two defenders are positioned in shrink (gap) spacing. These defenders can reach for the ball but are not allowed to move.
- Play is live once the defender gets both feet outside the three point line.
- Play normal scoring and switch roles after three possessions.
The intention is to help the ball handler keep their dribble alive as they drive past the shrink defenders.
If the player is overwhelmed, adjust the constraints to simplify the game:
- Move the shrink defenders further away.
- Add a guided MIG defender who gives the decision to either pass or shoot without playing live.
- Make it a 1-on-1 with an advantage start.
Individual Development Can Happen in Team Practice
You do not need a separate activity for every PDP.
In that same game, one player might be working on keeping the drive alive. Their teammate might be working on creating a passing window. A defender might be working on walling up without fouling.
Keep the shared game intention clear. Give individual players one additional focus when it helps, rather than a different set of rules for everyone to remember. Our basketball player development guide explores this balance between team and individual work.
Review the Behavior, Then Adjust the Plan
Record how often the relevant situation appears and what the player does.
At the next conversation, ask the player what they are noticing. Has the original rate limiter changed? Is the task still challenging them?
In episode 131 with Robby Bostain, we discuss giving players tangible challenges they can take ownership of between sessions.
Before your next session, choose one player and replace one broad development goal with a specific game problem. Then put that problem in front of them.
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