The Alternating 5-Out & 4-Out Motion Offense: Keep Defenses Guessing!

Good offenses create scoring opportunities at any time in the possession. Regardless of whether you score with your early-offense attack or patiently run your offense until it wears an opposing defense down and provides a high-percentage opening to score, the goal of any effective offense is to keep opponents on their toes and struggling to guard any of your designed actions.

Davison-Davie Community College’s head coach Matt Ridge has developed a powerful program that has succeeded for over 15 seasons with his highly effective 5-out, 4-out motion offense; this provides his team with scoring opportunities at any time during the possessing – utilizing a wide variety of offensive weapons – such as backdoor cuts, deep 3-point shots or dribble handoff options - to attack the glass. 

In this video, you will get a look at how Coach Ridge installs and teaches his 5-out, 4-out motion offense, as well as the key breakdown drills to teach the fine-point details that make the difference in beating good defenses. 

Setup, Principles and Using 5-on-0s To Teach 

Beginning with a 5-on-0 on-the-court demonstration, Coach Ridge demonstrates the four basic cuts players make to flow from a 4-out to 5-out motion offense, which include: 

1) Top of wing to corner,

2) Wing to corner, 

3) Wing to the top of key, and, 

4) From the corner out.

Coach Ridge explains that these cuts are the basic principles that help guide players to where they are supposed to move after passing the basketball. Utilizing one of these four cuts also allows players to maintain proper spacing; this is a key principle of running an effective offense.

You’ll see demonstrations of how players can often catch an opposing defender sleeping with a solid pass and change-of-speed cut to the basket. The principles Ridge highlights in this section help to keep your opponents on their toes and struggling to defend your team’s cuts. 

Using whiteboard drawings, examples of game film study and on-the-court demonstrations, Coach Ridge proceeds to share his other ‘insider secrets’ for a successful offense. Ridge explains that by having one player cut and turn into a post player, you will add more scoring opportunities, including options such as screening-away, a post-entry Lakers’ cut, and using a dribble-handoff to attack the paint. Each option gives your players additional confidence and creates buy-in.  Ridge explains that by relying mostly on back cuts and front cuts, players quickly learn to love this style of play, as they create easy backdoor layups. Coach Ridge then uses a 5-on-0 setup to demonstrate how players can perfect their cutting actions and focus, while learning the finer details of the 5-out, 4-out motion offense. 

5-Out, 4-Out Breakdown Drills 

Using a variety of breakdown drills, Coach Ridge demonstrates how you can use a ‘whole-part-whole’ teaching method to help your players pick up the key concepts and finer-point details within this motion offense.  

Coach Ridge shows off the ‘50-point Drill,’in which players are tested in a 5-on-5 scenario without utilizing a dribble, focusing on catching and passing the basketball while under defensive pressure. This drill helps to teach your players how to move and cut quickly so they can create great passes and easy scoring opportunities.

In the ‘3-on-3, On-The-Side Drill,’players are taught to focus on using screen-away moves, post-entry passes and Lakers’-cut actions with the post player. This drill serves as a great setup for your 4-out motion offense.

In the ‘3-Possession Drill,’ Ridge explains how you can implement restrictions within a 5-on-5 setup to help teach certain actions or cuts your players need to work on and see within the 5-out, 4-out motion offense. 

All the drills demonstrated in this section of Coach Ridge’s presentation are excellent teaching drills that help your players pick up on the critical actions within this offense. 

Great offense begins with cutting and moving, while maintaining proper spacing. With Coach Ridge’s 5-out, 4-out motion offense you get all these things and much more!  

Using all the breakdown drills, whiteboard sessions and game-film study in this highly valuable video presentation, you will quickly fall in love with Coach Ridge’s 5-out, 4-out motion offense.

This is a must-own instructional video that details one of basketball’s most effective offenses!

Customer Review: 5 Out of 5 Stars.‘Coach Ridge does an excellent job at teaching how players can flow between 5-out and 4-out setups. He shows great breakdown drills that help teach players the finer points of cutting, spacing and passing within this motion offense!’

60 minutes. 2023.