The Ultimate Practice Package

After the first day of practice, will be surprised by your new team's grasp of the big picture of basketball. They'll be able to run an offense that can counter pressure and includes screens, the only shell defensive drill you’ll ever need, a play to bring the ball in from out of bounds, no matter which part of the court it goes out on. Your team will be able to run a full court transition, play early offense without setting up, break presses and stay tough in the end game to keep the lead and counter pressure. Read & React provides you a means to train your weakest team against your strongest team the ability to test it all with “Live” Scrimmage! This system will get your team up and running so fast your head will spin.

Coach Rick Torbett is known worldwide for the development of the Read and React Offense, a system for implementing 5-player coordination without the use of set plays. 

In this course, part 1 of a 5-part series, Coach Torbett uses three demonstration teams from different Read and React clinics to simulate a practice with content from the first two to three weeks of the season. The course covers drills for teaching Pass & Cut, Feed the Post & Cut, and Dribble East-West. In addition, it covers Out of Bounds Plays, Attacking Zones, Breaking Presses and Transition. Breakdown drills: from 2 players to 5 players to 5 on 5. At the end of this course, the team should have a working offense and be able to play and compete.

Coach Rick Torbett is known worldwide for the development of the Read and React Offense, a system for implementing 5-player coordination without the use of set plays. 

In this course, part 2 of a 5-part series, Coach Torbett uses three demonstration teams from different Read and React clinics to simulate a practice with content after the season has started. The course continues the needed review of the first 3 Layers but now covers the reactions of all players during North-South Dribble Penetration.  We apply it to Attacking Zones, Breaking Presses and Transition because teams are competing in the early part of your season.

Coach Rick Torbett is known worldwide for the development of the Read and React Offense, a system for implementing 5-player coordination without the use of set plays. 

In this course, part 3 of a 5-part series, Coach Torbett uses three demonstration teams from different Read and React clinics to simulate a practice that occurs during the middle of the season. The opponent is making adjustments. Once your team can manage and score with spacing, its time to add screening as a COUNTER to defensive adjustments: Pin & Skip, Cutter Screens, Post Screens, and Ball Screens. Combination drills are introduced as a means to teaching and training the screening actions. And like all courses in this series application is demonstrated for Attacking Zones, Breaking Presses and Transition.

Coach Rick Torbett is known worldwide for the development of the Read and React Offense, a system for implementing 5-player coordination without the use of set plays. In this video, part 4 of a 5-part series, Coach Torbett and a demonstration team simulate a practice with content for the later part of your season. This Practice Plan for implementing the Read and React remains in the Screening Actions of Pin & Skip, Cutter Screens, Post Screens, and Ball Screens, but goes further with more Combo Drills and applications of the screens. X-Screens and other additions are introduced. Full Court Trips blends it all together into a single offense. You are only a couple of weeks away from the Post Season. Everything you do should have the majority of your attention on your defense. How does your team defend everything in the Read & React? Your emphasis should be switching to defense.

Coach Rick Torbett is known worldwide for the development of the Read and React Offense, a system for implementing 5-player coordination without the use of set plays. In this video, part 5 of a 5-part series, Coach Torbett and a demonstration team simulate a practice with content for the very end of your season. This Practice Plan for implementing the Read and React in an example of of focusing on the FLOW – how to move seamlessly from transition to man-to-man and zone attacks without “setting up”. Color Codes are introduced to practice changing our tempo and emphasis of attack depending on the strengths and weaknesses of our opponents. We work on changing these codes during transition (our Full-Court Trips). Your practice emphasis could be 90% on your defense.

These workouts accomplish three goals. First, they cover a wide variety of shots over 3 ranges: outside the arc, the mid-range, and finishes on the goal. Second, the workouts help each player to associate certain shots with certain actions of the defender. For example, if the defender closes out short, then the player should shoot and not drive. These workouts also prepare the shooter to be more comfortable when he has to ignore the presence of the defender and focus on making the shot.

Coach Rick Torbett has developed his Read & React offense to teach players to recognize scoring opportunities and capitalize upon them. Most drills are broken down to teach only one aspect of a given real-game situation. In one step, Read & React teaches an offense by drilling players and teaching movement in response to the the ball, even as it reinforces the skills players need to succeed. Torbett will present the sixteen layers of the Read & React offense as taught by fundamental drills from the Read & React System with added explanations and demonstrations in this online video course. Why teach an offense separately from the skills your players need to win games? Teaching adapative play principles to the players at the same time that they learn the skills they need is a better way to get results.

We know that our Youth Read & React coaches are pressed for practice time. Many of you are lucky to get two 90-minute practice sessions a week with your team, and are trying to figure out how to put in all the Read & React has to offer during that short amount of time. 

This video shows how Rick would install Layers 1-6 & 17 with a youth team in one 90-minute practice. He uses demonstrators who are between the ages of 9-12, and establishes the framework for the offense that can easily be built upon in subsequent practices.

Read and React coaches are always looking for new and unique ways to train the Read and React Offense in practice. 

Coach Randi Henderson has adopted a concept she calls “Emmert Reads” from a coaching clinic she attended. In this 29 minute course, she introduces drills you can use to train post entries, the read-line, relocation, and x-cuts.

These actions are designed to imitate live game situations and stimulate your imagination for training any Read and React action initiated by post entry or dribble penetration.

Coach Randi Henderson works with her team through some excellent post drills. Her progressive teaching style is sure to help your players grow their inside presence, and her focus on drilling in groups is good for teambuilding in general. This online course will help you bring the same winning strategy to your team's practices.

Work on your zone shooting in a shootaround with Coach Randi Peterson. These fast-paced drills are designed to give the players practice shooting against a zone defense - they encourage players to find the open shot, pass the ball, and finally take shots against the zone. Remember, practice makes perfect!

Randi Peterson likes to mix it up! She has learned that practice gets repetitive when the same drills are rehearsed every single day until they become so repetitive that the teams she coaches have less fun with it. The trick is to do different kinds of drills that still work on the same fundamentals - that way the same work gets done, but the practice stays fun. These videos are filmed with Randi and her team practicing with one-on-one drills that keep it interesting and encourage the players to work their hardest.

What does it take to master the rebound? As with most things, practice is the key. In this video course, Coach Peterson shares her four favorite rebounding drills. They range from warm­up to full competition, and they include technique, footwork, and preparation as well as enough variation to keep the players on their toes.  

In this video, Coach Peterson takes you through her progression of drills from 1-on-1 to 2-on-2. The moves and finishes are the same as the 1-on-1, but the 2-on-2 adds more pressure and brings in the passing game for a more well-rounded, fresh practice session.

Here’s the situation: you’re on the move, with the ball, headed to the rim, but you’re not wide open. You need a finishing move and you have to use the right one for THIS situation. Rick Torbett has the moves you need!

This video identifies 9 finishing moves for 9 situations. We then add a bonus game at the end for 10 outstanding drills that will benefit any player or coach.

During the summer of 2010, we held a few clinics for those coaches already running the Read & React. One of the two major themes was Practice Planning – how to implement the Read & React. So, we decided that Coach TJ Rosene of Emmanuel College (2009 NCCAA National Champions) should simply run a practice.

Coach Rosene never strays far from the Reaction Drills and Reaction Habits that run the Read & React. He incorporates them in everything that he does. If he’s focusing on defense, the offensive component is the Read & React. If he’s working on transition, the transition is going to end in the Read & React. If he’s warming up or just getting in shots, he’s always doing it out of the R&R Reaction Drills. 

In doing so, Coach Rosene sends a clear message to his team:

This is how we play. This is what we do. This is who we are.

With this being Coach Rosene’s third season with the Read & React, you’re going to see players who have two years of the R&R under their belt, some with one, and some who are learning it for the first time.

This is a real practice in real time – nothing is staged.

Whenever a player tries to dribble penetrate and gets stopped or simply doesn’t like what he or she sees, then award-winning coach Rick Torbett trains them to Bounce Off, that is, keep their dribble and simply back-out to the perimeter. This came out of Read & React Layer 4 Dribble Penetration Circle Movement. Many non-Read & React players and coaches use it and call it by the same name. 

In this instructional video, there are two elements: Teaching and Training. In the teaching section, we slow down and work on technique. In training, we use repitition to drill down and make it reflexive. It’s not always about being FAST! And even though you can’t always be the quickest, you can build an element of cleverness into your game.