Small-sided games library
Gauntlet 1-on-3
Advance past successive defenders in a tight space.
- 4 players
- No basket
- Offense
Quick rules
Run It in 30 Seconds
- Mark a narrow corridor from baseline to baseline, approximately three meters wide. Divide it into thirds, with one defender in each third.
- Defenders stay in their own section.
- The offense has ten seconds to reach the other baseline without losing the ball, stepping out or committing a violation.
- Award one point for completing the gauntlet and one to a defender who forces a turnover.
From our guide to Basketball Ball Handling.
Setup, Constraints and Explanation
Setup
Mark out a rectangular grid that is approximately three meters wide, just shorter than the distance from elbow to elbow. With a full team, three grids can be marked out using cones from the sideline extending close to the lane line, in between the paint, and then the opposite sideline to lane line. One offensive player starts with a ball at the baseline, with one defender in each third of the gauntlet. The defender can play defense anywhere in their segment, but cannot enter another defender’s space. The offense has 10 seconds to advance the ball from baseline to baseline without committing a violation, losing the ball, or stepping out of bounds.
Constraints
- Make the defense dribble a basketball or play defense with one hand to make the challenge point easier for offense if the task is too challenging.
- Limit the number of offensive dribbles used from start to finish, for example, eight dribbles.
- Play to a 1-on-1 score at the basket to finish the gauntlet.
- Remove a defender to make it a 1-on-2 gauntlet in a larger space.
- Only score the defense to incentivize defensive stops.
- Begin the gauntlet off an inbound catch against full-court pressure.
- Change the shape and space of the gauntlet (e.g. use cones to make irregular shapes for the offense and defense to play in).
- Add coaches as extra stunt defenders at certain positions within the gauntlet.
Explanation
The offensive player has 10 seconds to go from baseline to baseline, without committing a violation, having the ball stolen, or stepping out of bounds. The offense cannot step outside the rectangular gauntlet that is marked by the cones. The first defender is responsible for the first third between the baseline and coach’s box, the second defender the second third from coach’s box to coach’s box, and the last defender from the coach’s box to the baseline. Offense gets one point each time they complete the gauntlet, as well as the defender each time they force a turnover.
From Transforming Basketball (2024) by Alex Sarama, chapter 8, pp. 269 to 271.
Coaching Cues: What to Watch
What changes between defenders? A solution that gets past the first player may no longer be there against the next.
From our guide to Basketball Ball Handling
Make It Easier or Harder
Change one constraint at a time, watch what it does, then decide what comes next. The book's test is that the challenge point should be “just right” as opposed to being too easy or too hard. If players can't find a solution, take a constraint away rather than taking the defense away.
Adjustments from Our Guide
- Have defenders dribble a ball or defend with one hand if the task is too difficult.
- Remove a defender to create a 1-on-2 version with more space.
- For a different challenge, finish with a live 1-on-1 at the basket.
- Change the corridor's width or shape when you want players to encounter different spaces.
From our guide to Basketball Ball Handling.
Guides That Use This Game
Related Games
- HC Bursts 3-on-2The offense turns a numbers advantage into a good shot. The defense learns to stop it a player down.
- Jungle Shooting 3-on-2A representative shooting game. Shooters never shoot in a predetermined way in a game, so here they move, drive and pass to find their threes against live defenders.
- Battleship 3-on-3Start dominoes out of one trigger from different spots, against a defense that knows what you need.
- Around the Arc 1-on-1The offense deceives a trailing defender and keeps the advantage; the defender recovers to neutral.
Playing With Advantage
$39 USD
An on-court clinic on creating, keeping and extending advantages — spacing, zero-second decisions and the Floor Is Lava.
Transforming Membership
More Games, Rules and Video in the Membership
378 games filmed on court. Browse by area of the game, or tell Transform AI what your team is struggling with.
378 activity videos
Games filmed on court across nine sections, from warm-ups to defensive principles of play.
The Success Pathway
Ten pathways from the foundations of the constraints-led approach to game coaching, with assignments, peer review, graded quizzes and a shareable certificate.
Live every month
A masterclass and a coaches’ roundtable on the calendar, with every recording in the archive.