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defence DRILLS
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1 on 1 Dive Drill

2 lines on the baseline, with the coach in the middle. The coach will roll the ball down the middle of the court. Both players will run and dive on the ball. The player that gets the ball is on offence and the other player on defence. They will attack the basket from the side they came from. First player to score wins.

1 v 1

2 on 2 Helpside Drill

white1 and white2 will pass ball to each other 3 or 4 times.blue1 and blue2 will adjust accordingly.red1 and red2 are continually getting open.white1 or white2 will pass to either red1 or red2. Now, it becomes a 2 on 2 game.reds vs blues until reds score or blues get the ball.Rotation = Offence to defence, defence to passers.

Games

3 ON 1 AND 3 ON 1

Red 1 shoots a free throw. Players O1, O2 and O3 rebound the ball, fill the lanes. Red 1 plays defence. 2 cones at the halfway line. The wing players must go around the cones. After finishing fast break the shooter becomes defender and 3 players goes against 1 to the opposite basket.

Passing

3 vs 3 with defence

Players join with another group of 3. One group plays passive defence to start off with. As the attacking team improves they the defending team progressively become more active.

Screening

Multiple rebounds

The coach feeds the ball off the backboard. If the offence gets it and scores they get 2 points. If the defence gets the rebound, they get 1 point. As soon as the coach shoots then its a 2 v 2 game.

Rebound

Presssure defence - rebounding

White player 1 starts with the ball and proceeds to pass the ball up the line to the next player and so on. Blue Players 1 and 2 are defenders and can start once the 1st pass has been played. They have to run to protect the basket and stop the white players from scoring. On reaching player 4 the white players 3 and 4 move forward with the ball and try to score. After playing the point out the white players 3 and 4 then become defenders and blue 3 and 4 join the queue of attackers on the other side of the court.

2 v 2

Swapping Defender in the Middle

Once the player passes to the opposite line, they will follow their pass and play defence on the player with the ball. The passer will always go to defence. Once the defence has finished they will join the back of the opposite line.

Passing

Zig Zag Drill

Set out cones to split the court in half, with your players working in pairs. The player with the ball should dribble the ball up the court in a Zig Zag pattern. The second player will be playing passive defence. They should be in front of the attacker at all times but are not actively trying to steal the ball. The defensive player must try to cut the dribbler off at each of the the lines (cones and touchline) using their outside foot so that the dribbler has to change direction. They continue to do this until they reach the end of the court at which point players then switch roles and repeat the drill in the opposite direction.

Defense

Zig-Zag Dribble Drill

First player dribbles full court with a defender covering all the time. Upon reaching the opposite baseline player dribbling becomes the defender and the other player dribbles the length of the court.

Dribbling

2v2 Help Defence drill 2 v 2 -...

Set players up as shown in video clip. The baseline offensive player will drive towards the basket. The help defender will come over and stop the drive. The player with the ball will pass to the other offensive player. The receiver of the pass will shoot the ball. The defensive player will sprint out and challenge the shot.

General

2v2 Help Defence drill Defense...

Set players up as shown in video clip. The baseline offensive player will drive towards the basket. The help defender will come over and stop the drive. The player with the ball will pass to the other offensive player. The receiver of the pass will shoot the ball. The defensive player will sprint out and challenge the shot.

General

Zig Zag Drill Defense - Basket...

Set out cones to split the court in half, with your players working in pairs. The player with the ball should dribble the ball up the court in a Zig Zag pattern. The second player will be playing passive defence. They should be in front of the attacker at all times but are not actively trying to steal the ball. The defensive player must try to cut the dribbler off at each of the the lines (cones and touchline) using their outside foot so that the dribbler has to change direction. They continue to do this until they reach the end of the court at which point players then switch roles and repeat the drill in the opposite direction.

General

Speed crabs Defense - Basketba...

Set-up over about 30m. Use three blocks of wood or something similar, evenly spaced across the working area. Crab sideways, as fast as possible as possible but do not bring your feet together. Collect each block in first hand and transfer to other hand and replace on ground. In training to be a top player do this drill twice a day.

General

3 vs 3 with defence Screening ...

Players join with another group of 3. One group plays passive defence to start off with. As the attacking team improves they the defending team progressively become more active.

General

Defensive Conditioning Footwor...

Set up as shown in the image. Players will run to the first diagonal cone and close-out by chopping their feet.<br /><br /> They will then sprint to the cone at the half way line.<br /><br /> Once they get there, they will slide across the half way line to the other side of the court.<br /><br /> To finish they will back pedal to the baseline.

General

Zig-Zag Defence with Offence F...

The players will pair up with one offensive player and one defensive player. The offensive player will dribble from cone to cone. The defensive player will keep their head in line with the ball using a defensive slide. Once they come to the end of the cones the players will go back to the start and the offence and defence will switch over.

General

Defensive Position Drill Defen...

Set up as shown in video clip. Position 1- Close Out and guard the ball. Position 2- Deny the ball Position 3- Front the post Position 4- Help side defence Position 5- Sprint out deny the pass Position 6- Sprint to help side defence Position 7- Bump the cutter and play 1v1 from the top of the 3 point line.

General

3 ON 1 AND 3 ON 1 Passing - Ba...

Red 1 shoots a free throw. Players O1, O2 and O3 rebound the ball, fill the lanes. Red 1 plays defence. 2 cones at the halfway line. The wing players must go around the cones. After finishing fast break the shooter becomes defender and 3 players goes against 1 to the opposite basket.

General

Rebound - Basketball Drills, B...

Need to anticipate where the ball is going to go and the speed of the ball. Stand about 2 meters from the basket. Toss the ball up to the rim simulate a shot. Jump and rebound the ball.

General

Zig-Zag Defensive Slide Footwo...

Have cones set up as shown in the image. Players will start at the 1st cone and defensive slide from cone to cone. Once the player gets their outside foot to the cone the player will push off of that foot and change direction.

General

Basketball: Defensive Conditio...

Players stand on each side of the hoop. On the coach's whistle they will jump and touch the backboard 5 times, before then turning and sprint back on defence.

General

2v2 Transition - Continuous ga...

Set up 4 lines of players, with a line in each corner of the court. Players will play 2v2. Once a shot has been taken the ball is passed to the next pair of players and the previous attacking pair must sprint back to play defence into the 2v2. A continuous drill. The coach can keep score if they wish too.

General

2 on 2 Helpside Drill Games - ...

white1 and white2 will pass ball to each other 3 or 4 times.<br>blue1 and blue2 will adjust accordingly.<br>red1 and red2 are continually getting open.<br>white1 or white2 will pass to either red1 or red2. Now, it becomes a 2 on 2 game.<br>reds vs blues until reds score or blues get the ball.<Br>Rotation = Offence to defence, defence to passers.

General

Cuts off the screen drill 2 v ...

Top side or over the top cut 1 has the ball.<br>2 will screen for 3 who uses the screen as shown.<br> 1 may pass to 3 or 2

General

Ball Screen vs Hedging Defense...

The player will dribble down to the level of the ball screen. Once they get in line with the screen, the ball handler will dribble backwards simulating that the screen is being hedged by the screeners defender. Once the dribbler has gone backwards they will then attack again getting 1 or 2 dribble separation to shoot a jump shot.

General

Basketball: Simulate breakdown...

This drill will simulate breakdown play being the furthermost defender. Start at the guard position denying the ball. In the glide position go up and back twice then go into a help position opening up to the lane at the free throw lane. There is now an imaginary baseline breakdown. The offensive player is driving to the basket. Another [virtual] defensive player who has been guarding a player on your side moves to stop the ball handler, which leaves an offensive man wide open. Drop down to the base line under the basket to deflect or steal and pass made. The only offensive player who is completely open should be the player previously being marked, who is furthermost from the play and thus has the poorest percentage change at the basket. The [virtual] pass is thrown over the top to this man. React again to intercept this pass. Run onto the offensive player who is now into his shooting motion, jump to bother his shot. Do this drill three times on each side. Once this drill is perfected it can be used for quickness cutting the repetitions down to just 2 each.

General

1 v 1 Advantage Games - Basket...

A line of players will start in the corner. There will be a cone in front of the players about 25 ft away. There will also be a cone along the baseline that the defensive player will run around. The player at the front of the line will have a basketball. The coach will nominate 1 person to start on defence. When the coach yells GO both players will take off to get around their cones. Once they are around the cones they are playing 1 v 1.

General

Slide Race Drill Fitness - Bas...

Cones will be set up as shown in the video. Two players will be competing against each other. On the coach's whistle the players must touch each cone 5 times. Once they have done that it is the 1st player to grab the cone in the middle.

General

Bounce and Step Footwork and M...

Player bounces the ball making a long stride, then holds up the ball.

General

Speed crabs Fitness - Basketba...

Set-up over about 30m. Use three blocks of wood or something similar, evenly spaced across the working area. Crab sideways, as fast as possible as possible but do not bring your feet together. Collect each block in first hand and transfer to other hand and replace on ground. In training to be a top player do this drill twice a day.

General

Close-out baseline drive Shoot...

The defensive player will pass the ball to the offensive player. The defensive player will run towards the offensive player and close-out by chopping their feet. Once the defensive player has closed out, the offensive player will dribble towards the baseline for a jump shot. The defensive player will stay with the offensive player and challenge the jump shot.

General

Swapping Defender in the Middl...

Once the player passes to the opposite line, they will follow their pass and play defence on the player with the ball. The passer will always go to defence. Once the defence has finished they will join the back of the opposite line.

General

Back Screen Screening - Basket...

The back screen happens when the lower offensive player sets a screen for a player higher up on the court. The screen will be set on someone's back and the player receiving the screen will cut towards the basket.

General

Rebound Chaos Rebound - Basket...

Four teams of three rebounders The coach tosses the ball up for the 1st three players to battle for the rebound. The player that catches the ball is the attacker, and the remaining two players then try to stop the attacker from scoring. The 1st player to make 2 baskets moves to the end of their line. The winner is the 1st team to get all 3 players through.

General

defence SESSIONS
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Team Development Session

Produce a winning mentality amongst your group of players with an unbreakable team ethos. The improvements in your play may just surprise you!

Using Screens On and Off the Ball

Create space in congested areas with clever movement by the players off the ball. Teach your team how to set the screen to make space for the ball carrier to attack into.

Squad Selection Session - Choose Your Best Team

Who's going to make the final cut? It's never easy running a selection session. Use this competitive session, to help you complete the puzzle and find your best team!

Fast Break, Transition Offense and Fitness

Develop your players fitness by translating the conditioning to specific offence transition skills. Get them turning defence into attack with a fast break right up to the final buzzer.

Developing Your Team's Attacking Game

"Success is never final, failure is never fatal. It's courage that counts." - Get your players comfortable with failing and make them courageous in offence to make them better next time! Use this session to develop offensive structures and techniques.

Team Defense and Progressions

Bumper defending session that's positively bursting at the seams with 10 Team Defending Drills!

Help Defence - Covering and Recovery Defensive Techniques

Defence wins you championships! Coach your team how to cover, help and recover on defence and build a team difficult to beat.

Introduction to Defence - Coaching the Stance!

Make defending just as rewarding and start to see a defensive player become the star!

Scoring on the fast break - Aggressive Running, Attacking Passing

Attacking at pace is all about decision making. Develop your players decisiveness and start cutting through the opponents defences at ease!

Defending Fundamentals: Footwork and Body Position Session

Offence sells tickets but defence wins championships - Teach your players to take pride in their defence with this real game practice fundamentals session!

Preparing for your next game - Team Session

Get your players working together with this team session - perfect for building team chemistry and preparing your players for their next big game!

Team Defence - A Comprehensive Coach Handout

Key defensive concepts to improve your team's defending ability to turn them in to a strong defensive unit

Power Forward - Player Development

Develop a fundamentally sound power forward! Use this session to work on all the skills required for a Power Forward, a critical position for any successful basketball team!

1v1 - Advanced Attacking, taking the advantage!

Improve your players' offensive play by working on their 1v1 skills! Get your players reading opponents' defences, running to the basket at speed and spotting where the advantage is!

Defensive Player's Mindset

Key points and ideas to improve your player's defendsive mindset and skills.

Defensive Fundamentals - Shadowing and Man-marking

Build a defensive team to withstand any attack! Coach important defensive fundamentals - teach your players to take responsibility for their man in this Shuffle and Shadow defensive session.
defence ANSWERS
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How do you defend against taller people in basketball?

How do you defend against taller people in basketball?

Archived User Coach

What's the best sort of defence at college level?

I'm a  basketball coach in India, coaching at college level. In your opinion and experience which type of defenceworks best? So far my experiences shows that half court pressure, working man to man to deny the pass works best. Feedback and suggestions welcome! Thanks,Mahesh

Archived User Coach

What are Zone drills for 8 & 9 year olds?

What are some defensive drills for zone to 8 and 9 year olds? What are some good drills for teaching players to play offense against a zone? Thanks, John

John Murphy Coach, United States of America

How to become a great basketball player in 4 months?

I did not make my 9th grade tryout team and I want to make the team for my 10th grade tryouts...

Archived User Coach
defence COMMUNITY DRILLS
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Pass and Defence

Overload offence vs 2-3 defence part 1

Switch pass drill

41 offence structure

Zone Defence

Autosave 26263509

3x3 match

Defence - Crocodile Drill

Autosave 96729640

Defence Slides (Speed Drill)

defence WEB VIDEOS
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