Spacing is how far apart your five players stand, and how they hold that distance while the ball moves. The working number most coaches teach is twelve to fifteen feet between any two offensive players, which is about four to four and a half meters. Close enough to pass, far enough that one defender cannot guard both.
Why it matters
One defender should never be able to cover two players. At fifteen feet a helper who steps in cannot get back to his own man before the pass arrives. At eight feet he can do both, and your drive has created nothing. That is the whole argument, and it is why spacing decides more possessions than the play you called.
Corners matter more than most teams think. A filled corner holds the low man to the baseline. An empty corner lets him sit in the lane and wait for your drive.
How to teach it
- Give them spots, not distances. Corner, wing, slot, top, dunker. A spot is something you can check from the sideline in one look; a measurement is not.
- Move on the drive, do not watch it. The strong-side wing drifts toward the corner, the weak side lifts. The kick goes to whichever man the helper left.
- One player inside at most. Two bigs standing in the paint hand the defense a free helper.
- Test it in transition. Spacing in a set play is easy. Spacing in the first four seconds of a break is the habit that actually shows up in games.
When a play stops working, check the spacing before you change the play. Nine times out of ten two of your players are standing on top of each other.