How to teach an inbound play

Pick the few you need

Most teams need one baseline play against man, one against a zone, and one sideline play. A safe entry against pressure makes four. Add a short-clock play for the end of a quarter and you have five, which is plenty for most high school teams.

Choose plays that fit players you already have: who can pass from out of bounds, who can shoot, who can screen. A play built for a shooter you don't have is a turnover waiting to happen.

Choose your inbounder

The inbounder matters more than the play. Pick the player who:

• Sees the floor. They read the defense, not just the first cutter.
• Throws an accurate pass under pressure. A bounce pass into traffic and a lob over the top are both part of the job.
• Stays calm with a hand in their face. They count to themselves and don't panic at four.
• Can be an option after the pass. On many plays the inbounder steps in and is the next target.

Many coaches use a guard or a smart wing. Have a second inbounder ready for when your first one is on the bench or in foul trouble.

Four alignments to start from

Most inbound plays start from one of four sets. Teach the alignment and your players can line up for any play from it.

• Box: four players in a square in front of the inbounder. Good for screen-the-screener actions and for hiding which player gets the ball.
• Stack: players lined up one behind the other. A quick break out of the stack makes it hard for the defense to stay attached.
• Line: players in a line across the lane or floor. Good for timed cuts and against zones.
• Spread (1-4 or 1-3-1): players spaced wide. Best against pressure, because it gives every player room to get open.

With our plays: Box Screen-the-Screener (box), Stack Corner Three (stack).

Calls and signals

Name each play with one word the players can hear over a crowd, and use the same word in practice. Many coaches add a hand signal for loud gyms.

Decide who calls it. The head coach can call it from the bench, or the inbounder can call it from a short list you give them. Either works. Mixing the two doesn't.

Have the inbounder slap the ball to start, so every player moves on the same count.

Teach it in four steps

1. Walk it: five players and no ball, every spot and cut at walking speed, with the call said out loud.
2. Add the ball and a passive defender: the inbounder says which read is open before passing.
3. Run it against the defense you'll see most, then against the one you'll see second.
4. Put it in live situations in practice: a whistle, the call, and five seconds to inbound.

Read man and zone

The same play reads differently against each.

• Against man: screens free the cutters. The inbounder watches the screener's defender: if that defender helps on the cutter, the screener is often open slipping or popping.
• Against a zone: screens are set on zone defenders, and cutters find the seams between them. Many coaches run a separate baseline play against a 2-3, because the defenders in the lane change what's open.

Tell the inbounder what to look at first and second. Two reads are enough.

With our plays: Reverse and Circle (baseline, against a 2-3 zone).

Every player has one job

• The inbounder: read the first option, then the safety; slap the ball to start so the timing is the same every time.
• The screeners: hold the screen until the cutter uses it, then be the next option.
• The safety: start where the inbounder can always find you, and move to a spot you can catch in if the first look is covered.

Against pressure

When the defense presses the inbound, the goal is the catch, not the basket.

• Spread the floor so every receiver has room.
• Have one player screen for another, then the screener comes back to the ball.
• Use the safety: a player deep in the backcourt the inbounder can always see.
• Count out loud from the bench in practice, so your inbounder learns what four seconds feels like.

With our plays: Sideline Safety Release (full court, against pressure).

Short clock: the end of a quarter

End-of-quarter inbounds need a play for each time range. Under the NFHS rules, with 0.3 seconds or less left a player can't catch and shoot; only a tap or tip can score. For 2026-27, at least 0.3 must also come off the clock when the throw-in is touched in the last 59.9 seconds, if the clock shows tenths.

Have one tip play for 0.3 or less, one quick catch-and-shoot for under two seconds, and one play with a dribble for more. Put the time ranges on your gameday call sheet.

With our plays: Sideline Back Screen Lob (sideline, one second on the clock).

Practice it

Give inbounds a short segment in most practices, not one long session a week.

• Five minutes, three times a week, early in the season. Walk the new play, then run the ones you already have.
• Run each play from both sides of the floor, so the players know it on either side.
• Score it: a point for a clean entry, two for a basket, minus one for a five-second count or a turnover.
• End practice with a situation: "Down one, four seconds, our ball under their basket."

Build the segment in the practice planner, and quiz your players on the calls with play flashcards.

Common mistakes

• Too many plays. If players have to think about which play it is, they won't run it hard.
• Cutting before the screen is set. Timing wins inbounds. Wait for the screen.
• No safety. Every play needs a pass the inbounder can always make.
• Only practicing against no defense. A play that only works against air won't work on Friday.
• Panicking at four seconds. Teach the inbounder to use the safety or a timeout, not to throw it to the defense.

Keep it simple

Name plays with one word the players can hear over a crowd, and use the same word in practice.

Change the first look, not the whole play, when the defense catches on.

Rep the safe entry most of all: a turnover out of bounds costs more than the basket you were trying to get.

Draw your own inbound play in the play designer.