At Transforming Basketball, we are a big believer in using blast cuts as a primary trigger for U12 and U14 youth teams. This is a great way to develop modern principles of play and lay the foundation for a conceptual offense.
If you’re not familiar with what a blast cut is, start with this segment of a coaching clinic with our founder, Alex Sarama:
Once your players understand the cut, our conceptual offense guide shows how it fits into a full offense, and common triggers for a conceptual offense covers other triggers you can add over time.
Teaching Blast Cuts as a Principle of Play
When it comes to teaching this as a principle of play, we posed the question as a challenge to members in our community. We had such an amazing response from Tahj Holden (New Jersey) and Neil Houghton (Melbourne, Australia), that we had to share their answer. Their ideas are included below as a “masterclass” in bringing the blast cut to life with your youth team.
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.
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Connect these ideas with the Success Pathway, activity video library, coaching community and monthly live sessions.
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