Purpose: To help players understand the importance of never playing defense from behind the ball, especially when in a full court pressure situation. Players must work at not only stopping the dribble but staying with their assignment the entire play. Drill: Two players start in the corner; O1 has a basketball, X1 is on defense. A third player, O2, starts near the midcourt line. O1 starts the drill by dribbling up the sideline. X1 must get ahead and cut him off. When O1 is cut off, he … [Read more...]
Closeout and Contest Dribble Drive Drill
Purpose: To work on closeouts, stopping the dribble-drive, and overall 1-on-1 defense. The offensive player gets to work on scoring off of a dribble move. Drill: Utilize baskets and groups or have all players at one basket. The players will be under the basket but off the court. The first player in line is on the baseline with a basketball. An offensive player starts at the free throw line. To begin, the first player in line rolls the basketball to the offensive player (in diagram, X1 to … [Read more...]
Defend the Lane Drill
Purpose: To work on defensive principles when guarding the dribbler who penetrates the lane. Helps to develop footwork and man-to-man defensive skills. Drill: Two players begin as shown in the diagram. O1 has the basketball while X1 defends. For the sake of this drill, X1 starts slightly out of position so he is basically giving up the lane penetration. On 'Go', the defensive player must cut off the dribbler in the lane to force a turn or crossover. The defender must stay in the stance and … [Read more...]
Contain Drive and Jump to the Ball Drill
Purpose: To work on containing a dribbler and then reacting to the pass by jumping to the ball and denying the return pass on a cut to the basket. Drill: Two players needed for this drill; O1 is on offense with the basketball and X1 is on defense. Two coaches, managers, or additional players are needed with one on each wing ('C' in the diagram). O1 will start with the basketball near the midcourt line. X1 will start just below the free throw line. O1 will start dribbling and advancing with … [Read more...]
1-on-1 Press Drill
Purpose: To teach fullcourt defensive tactics and improve conditioning. Also useful for the offensive player to work on dribbling in the full court. Drill: Two players of approximately speed start on the free throw line. The coach begins the drill by tossing the basketball off the backboard. Both players go after the ball once it leaves the coaches hand. The player who gains possession becomes the offensive dribbler and the other player becomes the defender. The dribbler will attempt to go … [Read more...]
Layup Deflection Drill
Purpose: To work on recovering and defending a layup attempt when beaten off the dribble and there is no help. This drill will help defenders learn to deflect or disrupt the layup attempt. When the dribbler gains a half-step advantage on the defender, the defender should not make matters worse by fouling, especially as a player is shooting a layup (think 3-point play!). The defender should attempt to stay with the dribbler and deflect the shot as the layup is attempted. Drill: Two players … [Read more...]
1 on 4 Shell Drill
Purpose: To learn all aspects of defensive positioning in a simple, breakdown shell drill situation. The defender will develop on-ball defense, off-ball defense, and help defense. Drill: 4 offensive players in a shell around the perimeter. A corner player begins with the basketball. 1 defensive player guarding the player with the basketball. Player 1 begins with the basketball and can attempt to drive baseline one time. X1 must stop the drive. O1 will then pass to O2 on the wing. O1 must stay … [Read more...]
Front the Post Drill
The Front the Post defense drill is used to work on fronting the post player and to react to passing around the perimeter. The post defender attempts to continuously front the post throughout the duration of the drill. The objective is to stop the post player from flashing open and receiving the pass. Purpose: The defensive purpose is to continually front the offensive post player and to teach the defensive post player to react quickly to where the basketball is passed on the perimeter. The … [Read more...]
Defender Towel Drill
Purpose: To improve defensive quickness and foot movement when playing on-the-ball defense by not allowing the defensive player to use his hands. Drill: 1 offensive player with a basketball and 1 defensive player with a towel begin at the baseline. The offensive player starts at the baseline facing the opposite basket. The defensive player gets in a defensive stance about 3-4 feet from the offensive player. The defender holds one end of the towel with the left hand and the other end with the … [Read more...]
Defending the Dribbler with Momentum
Purpose: To work on defending the dribbler who has already begun dribbling upcourt, much like in a pressing defense situation. Drill: X1 begins with the basketball at the free throw line extended. O1 begins on the baseline. The drill starts with X1 rolling the ball to O1 and then sprinting and touching the halfcourt line with a hand. X1 then comes back in a defensive position and attempts to stop O1 from advancing the ball up the floor via the dribble. O1 will begin dribbling once he receives … [Read more...]