Basketball drills for technique defense

Goal: learn or improve side slides + condition

Organization:

• all players on the helpline, facing the coach
• when coach bounces the ball all players jump into defensive position
• coach moves to the left or to the right, parallel to the backline
• players must stay with their face right in front of the ball
• increase the level of difficulty by changing direction and/or speed at random

Teaching Points:

• feet at least shoulder width
• knees at about 100 degrees (= sitting down deeply)
• shoulders above the heels (= back straight)
• Head upright (overlook the field)
• Hand closest to the ball is low (to be able to tap the ball away on the dribble)
• Other hand is above the shoulder (to intercept a pass)
• push hard on the push-off leg to gain speed
• Feet stay low to the ground (= slide, shuffle)
• feet do not connect after a slide, but remain at shoulder width

Variations:

• let the defender keep his hands on his back if you want to accentuate the feet and stance.
• 1 slide and back to the sideline, 2 slides and back etc. until you reach the sideline; followed by a short fierce sprint back to the sideline
• first a drop step and then slides backwards to the sideline + sprint back
• idem, but first a little tap (quickly transfer weight from one foot to the other)

Prerequisites:

players must know what the correct defensive stance is

Goal:

• to reinforce good habits regarding defensive position
• To increase speed and flexibility of footwork

Organisation:

• always 3 minutes
• back over the backline with sprint to the basket and then slides to the sideline facing the centre circle.
• facing each other slowly - wax on wax off
• faster - hold both hands
• only the back hand
• follower holds the leader's shirt
• leader tries to get free by changing speed
• follower tries to keep his head in front of the chest of the leader

Teaching points:

• knees bent
• shoulders above the feet
• front foot pointing in the direction
• hands: wax on - wax off

Prerequisites:

players must understand the principles of help side and ball side defense

Goal:

To create automatisms in defence

Organization:

5 against 5 on one basket

Successively:

• pass only
• pass + cut + fill in
• drive left + turn the wheel and the same player does a back up dribble + drive right + turn the wheel
• then he passes and cuts to the weak side
• the same with a skip pass after the two drives
• centre comes in from the weak side = catching and forcing a cut to the back
• both forwards cut in from the weak side in quick succession
  
  

Variation:

• play with 4 out
• allow the first pass to the centre
• Defender of the center takes up his position between man and basket while the ball is in the air with a hop.
• passer cuts past the post
• centre passes out to the head

Teaching points:

• all defenders move to their new position while the ball is in the air
• cutting in after a pass = jump to the ball - catch with the chest and force the ball to be cut in behind you
• cutting in from the weak side catch the player with your forearm and force him to cut behind you
• recover immediately after you have helped and the ball is passed out
• aggressive sprint + mini slides + sitting deep at close out after skip pass
• centre passes to the head = his defender has to be 'up the line and on the line

Requirements:

players must be able to defend the man with the ball individually (slides)

Goal: apply individual defensive technique in a simplified game situation

Organisation:

• attackers use one quarter of the playing field
• is not allowed to cross the baseline
• plays 1 against 1
• the defender may only step over the half-way line once the attacker has put one foot over the half-way line (the attacker may make feints, if the defender steps too early he must first put both his legs back behind the line)
• the defender first has to sprint to get his position between man and basket, then stay with slides between man and basket
• winner will attack on the other half of the court
• Loser keeps on defending in this quarter (turning in at the halfway line).
• the next pair starts when the predecessor takes the rebound.

Teaching Points:

• make sure you overtake the attacker by a large margin and only then take the defensive position.
• then immediately move backwards with slides
• In case of a defensive fault, the attacker is the winner.

Variations:

• let the defender keep his hands behind his back if you want to accentuate his footwork
• You can give good defenders a handicap by having them start 1 or 2 steps behind the attacker
• attackers can be slowed down by having them dribble behind their back in front of the 3-point line, etc.

Goal: high post permanent replay after pass between forward and guard

Organisation:

• attacker 4 offers himself at the elbow at the moment of the pass
• defender 3 passes with his back to the baseline
• when passing back to the guard, defender 3 steps in front (here: right foot) and passes to the other side
• attackers 1 and 2 try to adjust high post 4 on the elbow
• if they cannot do so within 2 seconds, they must pass back to each other Each passis a point for the defender.
• if 4 is matched, he gets a point and plays 1 against 1 against 3
• the winner gets another point
• play to the 5

Teaching Points:

• feet on both sides of the high post
• keep the elbow cylinder
• prevent the pass on the high post with the other hand.

Variations:

passers parallel to side of bucket and center asks at the mid post

Prerequisites:

players must know how to use slides and sprints to keep their position between man and basket

Objective:

to teach positioning in the help side

Organisation:

• in the waiting line white and black take turns; offensive and defensive
• stop at the side of the bucket, pass the ball backwards to the next player
• closing the back and changing roles (attacker and defender).

Teaching Points:

• forearm on the hip of the dribbler
• sit deep
• Keep your nose in front of the ball
• Make sure you stay between man and basket until you get below the block

With two defenders on the help side:

• The help side defenders start with one foot in the bucket.
• As soon as the dribbler goes below the free throw line, both help side defenders step in until they reach the helpline.
• when the dribbler passes his man, they close the way to the basket (under the block or above the elbow)

RECOVERY:

• Â- as soon as the dribbler picks up the ball they sprint back to their position on the helpline
• Â- if he passes the ball back to the guard line, then the help position side bucket

Teaching points:

• defend close to the dribbler; don't leave room for feints
• only really help to stop the dribbler after he has passed his man
• but at all times prevent the dribbler from entering the bucket.
• recover immediately after you have helped and the ball is picked up or passed to the passer
• in the assisting position, your chest is parallel to the imaginary line between the ball and your man
• Split vision: see the ball AND your own man
• until you actually start to help Then you let go of your man and concentrate fully on stopping the dribbler
• when the ball is passed out, all defenders move to their new position while it is in the air

Rotation:
dribbler 2 and his defender take the bottom positions is3
and 8 go up5
and 7 join the back row the
defenders on the weak side are always the same colour as the defender on ball side

Variation:

• start with a skip pass
• 4 starts from the helpline

Teaching points for the recovery and close out:

• sprint two steps towards your man
• then use minislides to reduce the distance to an arm's length while lowering your hips.
• raise one hand to be able to block the shot

Prerequisites:

players must master slides and a close out of the shooter

Objective:

• to instill good defensive footwork
• increase speed and flexibility of footwork, plus fitness

Organization:

always 3 minutes

A jump strength

• start in defensive stance
• take off with two feet, jump high over the cones (try to touch your chest with your knees)
• land in balance, spring through the knees, feet at shoulder width
• and jump directly over the next cones.

B close out weak side shooter

• two explosive sprint steps, then lower your hips a bit + reduce step size
• inside foot in front
• outside hand in the face of the archer
• Touch the pawn with your inside hand (= check that you are sitting deep enough)
• take off with 2 feet and jump as high as possible with both arms stretched to block the imaginary shot

C help stopping penetration of the guard

• two explosive sprint steps, then lower your hips a bit + reduce step size + turn a quarter
• feet parallel
• arms wide
• quick step straight forward + pull in the back foot (in the game when the guard stops and shoots)
• tap the pawn with your hand
• push off with 2 feet and jump as high as possible with both arms extended to block the imaginary shot.

D defend the dribbler

• land in defensive stance
• powerful sllide steps to just in front of the pawn
• arms wide
• touch the pawn with your outside hand (= check that your seat is deep enough)
• take off with 2 feet and jump as high as possible with both arms stretched to block the imaginary shot

E turn the hips

• Face and chest parallel to the sideline.
• walk crosswise towards the backline
• alternately put the right foot in front of and behind the left leg
• while doing so the pelvis rotates which increases the flexibility of the hips.

Goal: Defending the mid post in front if it threatens to get into the bucket

Organization:

• Forwards 1 and 2 may adjust a center. If they cannot do so within 2 seconds, they must pass to each other. They remain in place
• as soon as a center has the ball in or near the bucket, they play 2 against 2 and try to score (but passing is allowed)
• ball side defender plays denial defense
• weak side defender stands with 1 foot on the helpline
• as soon as the mid post on the ball side looks for a position on the edge of or in the bucket, defender 5 stands between attacker 3 and the ball
• at the moment of the lob pass, defender 6 should stand in the back of attacker 3 and try to force the attacking foul
• when attacker 3 passes to the high post, every defender looks for his own man
• every pass from forward to forward or a pass from a center back to the forward scores 1 point for the defenders
• a defensive rebound also scores 1 point
• for every score from the bucket you lose 2 points
• foul on a goalie = score
• On a swing, the hig post looks for a position on the block.
• Defender 6 stays between man and basket until the block.
• steps around attacker 4 along the top of the block (top foot first, then step around the block with the bottom foot).

Teaching Points:

• prevent the pass at the mid-post with 1 hand up
• with the other hand, feel which way the mid-post is moving.
• get as close to the attacker as possible (but make sure you can jump to intercept the pass)
• When switching from denial defense to frontal defense, first move the foot closest to the basket.
• then pull the other foot in

Variations:

put a defender at the forward to make the pass towards the mid post more difficult

Goal: frontal defense of the low post

Organization:

• Players 1 and 2 may adjust a center. If they cannot do so within 2 seconds, they must pass to each other. They remain at their place.
• The attacking centre asks the side of the bucket for the ball.
• defender must cross between the attacker and the free throw line
• and defend the attacker in front.
• every pass from forward to forward scores 1 point for the defender
• a defensive rebound also scores 1 point
• for every score from the bucket 1 point is deducted
• foul on a goalie = score
• play until the 3

Teaching Points:

• prevent the pass on the mid post with 1 hand up.
• Push the attacker backwards with the other forearm (but make sure you can jump to intercept the pass).
• face to the half way line

Goal: learn/improve defensive position (1 pass or 2 passes away)

Organization:

• 4 attackers and 4 defenders
• attackers may only pass
• immediately after the pass, the passer must change position
• 2 passes to 4
• 2 cuts to basket
• 6 defends the pass to 2 with a jump to the ball
• defender 8 does not allow the pass from 4 to 2
• Attackers 1 and 3 move up one position
• Defender 3 goes from help to denial
• ball is above the lifeline, so defender 8 moves from the lifeline to the side of the bucket

Goal: learn or improve drop step and side slides + condition

Organization:

• place 5 cones as shown
• vary distance and angle
• players move with slides from one pawn to the other
• at every cone they make a drop step and change hands from high to low and vice versa
• Always face the back line where the player started.
• between pawns 3 and 4, a short quick sprint (now with the face to the other back line)
• at pawn 4, turn 180 degrees, assume defensive position, drop step + slides to pawn 5
• in a quiet run back to the starting point

Teaching Points:

• Feet at least shoulder width.
• Knees at about 100 degrees (= sitting down deeply)
• shoulders above the heels (= back straight)
• Head straight up (overlook the field)
• Hand closest to the ball is low (to be able to tap the ball away on the dribble)
• Other hand is above the shoulder (to intercept a pass)
• push hard on the push-off leg to gain speed
• Feet stay low to the ground (= slide, shuffle)
• feet do not connect after a slide, but remain at shoulder width
• at the drop step, the foot closest to the ball moves backwards quite a bit; then the defender changes direction and the hands change from high to low and vice versa
• intermediate sprint must be quick (= simulate recovery of defensive position after the dribbler has passed the defender)
• take up position between pawn 4 and the basket and immediately with slides to pawn 5

Variations:

• let the defender keep his hands behind his back if you want to accentuate his feet and stance
• make bigger differences in the distance between the pawns and the angle they are placed to each other.

Requirements:

• players must be able to individually defend the man with the ball
• players must be able to dribble

Goal: defender must keep the dribbler in the marked area, so that it crosses the center line in the lane

Organization:

• waiting player takes the ball
• and counts down 8 seconds
• The dribbler has to touch the helpline at least once with his foot before he can cross the
• the half way line.
• the dribbler wins if he crosses the half way line outside the marked area (choose a line on the field)
• defender wins if he allows the dribbler to cross the centre line inside the marked area OR at 8 seconds
• loser has to defend in the next round

Teaching Points:

• defender must keep an appropriate distance, taking into account the dexterity and speed of the dribbler
• Defender must anticipate the changes of direction of the dribbler.