Basketball drills for technique defense

Goal: to defend one pass away

Organization:

• attackers use quarter of the field
• try to get free with in-out or cut
• first restore balance by occupying the 3 positions before cutting again
• defender overplays when his man is playable with one pass
• attacker can dribble
• a waiting player counts down 20 seconds

Teaching Points:

• hand in the passing line
• front foot in the passing line
• catch your man with your forearm
• 3/4 of your attention on the man, 1/4 on the ball
• NO help
• change after x stops

Form of play:

• each team gets 5x ball possession
• who makes the most stops

Prerequisites:

players on the dribble can defend Â- and can make a pass the length of the field

Objective:

to practice defending the backfield in the arrowpress Â- to anticipate the pass and always make sure you are in a position to intercept it

Organisation:

• 4 takes the ball and then does not take part in the game anymore, but counts down the seconds
• defender 5 applies maximum pressure on the dribbler
• the defenders can defend all over the field
• attacker 1 may only act on the defensive half Â- attackers 2 and 3 only on the offensive half
• after a stop or score, defender 5 takes the ball back for the next round
• if the attackers score within 10 seconds they have a point Â- if not, it is a point for the defenders Â- the attacker calls if there is a foul on him. Point for the attack.
• play 5 times in a row with the same defenders
• 3 new attackers each time.
• If the defenders make less than 2 stops, they must run.
• when there are 2 or more stops, all attackers must run.

Teaching points:

defend the dribbler on your feet - he may not pass you under any circumstances Â- arms wide to make a pass difficult Â- defender 6 must anticipate the long pass to intercept it Â- must position himself so that he can see the ball AND both other attackers as much as possible (split vision) Â- always adjust his position on the field to intercept the most likely pass Â- if he has not been able to intercept the long pass, Â- He must NOT allow a lay up Â- Defender 5 must then sprint full speed towards the free attacker on the weak side.

Variations:

In the beginning, you may have to limit the space for attackers 2 and 3. Use existing lines on the floor, or place pawns on the sidelines on the attacking half.

Requirements:

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

Objective:

Force the dribbler to make a reverse dribble at the sideline and second defender goes for the steal.

Organization:

• 2 against 2 across the length
• losers must defend in the next round
• the trapper anticipates the reverse of the dribbler and taps the ball away as soon as the dribbler has turned 180 degrees Â- completes the lay up on the other basket
• a steal is 3 points Â- a 'normal score' by the attackers is 1 Â- the pair that has 12 points first wins Â- losers walk suicide

Teaching Points:

defender forces dribbler to the side, but must keep an appropriate distance, taking into account the dexterity and speed of the dribbler Â- defender must force the dribbler to the side so that he will make a reverse dribble

Variations:

• left and right
• with triplets half court; third defender must release his own man as soon as the attempted steal begins and cut off passing lines

Requirements:

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

Objective:

Set up kick directly over the center line.

Organization:

2 against 2 across the longitudinal half Â- losers must defend in the next round Â- the dribbler must be over the centre line within 4 seconds (the trapper counts down)

the trapper moves aggressively towards the half way line just before the dribbler crosses it (but due to his speed and the position of his defender is not able to change direction) Â- the trapper widens himself, but moves the foot closest to the touchline backwards slightly, so that he can close the touchline with 1 or 2 slides Â- the dribbler must never pass between the two defenders

As soon as the dribbler grabs the ball, the trapper stays with it Â- the other defender sprints towards the free attacker

Teaching Points:

defender forces the dribbler to the side, but must keep an appropriate distance, taking into account the dexterity and speed of the dribbler Â- defender must force the dribbler to move at high speed along the touchline to the attacking half

Variations:

left and right

Requirements:

players must know what the correct defensive posture is have

Goal:

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

Organisation:

• do as circuit, 1 minute each time
• player 1 jumps sideways with 2 feet left and right of the line
• player 2 does that forwards and backwards.
• players jump with 2 feet forward wide - narrow - wide. With a jump in the air they do a 180 degree jump and start over again.
• player 4 passes the ball through the wall to himself and goes with slides to the position where he catches it again. Makes it more and more difficult for himself by increasing the distance.
• player 5 defends the mid post and chooses every time another position (behind, swim over - full front - swim over low and back again)
• player 7 makes a square with jumps on 1 foot (feather by landing) always 2x with right, then 2x with left. First left, then right etc.

Teaching points:

• knees bent
• head above the

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.

• Player blue passes to red and sprints to red for a close-out. 
• Player red tries to get into the "paint" to score. 
• Player blue is going to try to prevent this.
• Either blue can steal the ball 
  • point for blue
• Either red can score
  • point for red
• After a possible goal is score, red takes rebound, passes to the next in line. 
• Blue goes to the position of red.
  The exercise now starts again with the next players.

• 4X4 or 5X5.
• Half Field.
• Only the defending team can score points through:
  • Turnover
  • Rebound
• When the attacking side scores there is a switch, so the attackers start defending and the defenders start attacking.
  
• The team that scores 5 points first has won.
• Losers 10 push ups.

• Starting lineup:
  • 1 forward left + defense
  • 1 forward right + defense
  • 1 guard center + defense
  • 1 strong group, 1 weaker group
• Progression:
  • Guard gives the pass to 1 of the forwards - alternating left and right
  • Forward does a v cut to run free
  • Defense tries to prevent the pass, but does not go full out yet
  • Forward goes 1-on-1 and makes a drive
• Progression:
  • Defense weak-side must drop off when the forward gets the pass
  • Give and go with the guard instead of 1v1
  • Active defense
• Regression:
  • Passive defense

• Starting lineup:
  • 1 group baseline with ball
  • 1 group baseline without ball
  • The inner group has the ball
• Progression:
  • Player 1 dribbles slowly to the center line
  • Player 2 does step and slide up to the center line
  • Then they play 1 against 1
• Progression:
  • Active defense during step slide
  • Extra defender under goal
• Regression:
  • Passive defense

• Get ready at the three-point line
• Watch your opponent's movements
• React quickly if the ball goes to your player
• Perform a close out to reduce the shot opportunity

• 2 teams, both behind the baseline.
• One group has a ball.
• On the go signal, one player from each team leaves for the cone in front of them.
• The player with ball tries to make a layup and the player without ball tries to prevent it.