4-out 1-in Offense

4-out 1-in offense – download full pdf

Below is snippets of a few things you’ll find in the full PDF linked above.

WHO SHOULD RUN IT

Any team with a player who’s comfortable near the basket. That doesn’t mean the tallest kid — it means the kid who likes contact, rebounds hard, and isn’t afraid to catch the ball in traffic.

If nobody on your team fits that mold yet, run the 5-out for now. You can graduate to 4-out 1-in mid-season as one of your players grows into the role.

STRENGTHS

• Perfect spacing — perimeter players sit ~18 ft apart
• Teaches basketball IQ — decisions, not memorized plays
• Develops a real post player without losing the guards
• Opens driving lanes — defenders can’t crowd the paint
• Easy to exploit mismatches anywhere on the floor
• Hard to scout — no set plays for the other team

WATCH-OUTS

• Trickier to learn than the 5-out — more moving parts
• Falls apart if your kids can’t shoot from outside
• Post player needs rules — or the spacing dies
• Takes a season to look fluid

Jay Wright won a national title at Villanova with this offense. It scales — it works for fourth-graders and it works for college teams. The difference is how much you teach.