I've been looking at how we defend on the ball and ways to train kids on the way up through their developmental teams:
1- It all starts with stance. No matter what age group I work with the largest issue is stance. In a defensive stance they must be low, strong, and explosive. The big mistake I often see is kids have their legs bent and lean forward with their arms out. This is not athletic. They need to be in a position of strength.
Look fors:
- Feet minimum shoulder width apart (inside of foot lined with outsdie of shoulder)
- Knee pointed forward, inside the width of their feet
- Heels not in contact with the floor.
- Butt down, back straight, chin out
- Hands should be above the height of the ball
Common errors:
- Flat footed - Not ready to move in any direction
- Head down or back bent forward, putting all the weight in one direction.
- Arms and hands down or in.
- Not in an athletic, strong. or balanced position to sruvive contact ro make an explosive move.
2- On the ball. This begins with a close out. In a close out the player must sprint at the ball carrier and once 2 sprint steps away, begin chop or "sttuter"stepping into the ball carrier in a defensive stance. They must position themselves in a manner which takes away whatever particular assest they are defending, they also need to take away as many directions of movement as possible so they can load up weight in their legs to anticpate the first move instead of reacting to it.
Look fors:
- Players are moving from low to high to get into position.
- 2 sprint steps away stance changes and choppy steps start.
- Hands above the ball.
- Chest & Feet square to the ball carrier between them and the rim.
- Chin up invading space.
- PLayers have taken away options from the attacker, so they can anticipate the next move.
- Feet must remain active.
Common errors:
- Players have straightened up or are too high on the way in and are dropping down into stance.
- Hands are in, on or below the height of the ball.
- Feet or chest are angled giving them an angle to attack.
- Defender is an arms length (or more) away allowing player to be a shooter, passer, and dribbler.
- No direction has been taken away so they weight is evenly distributed.
- Feet flat or legs straight.
3- Moving your feet. This is about hard work and good technique. If you are faster than your opponents you can basically do whatever you have to do to get there, but too many kids who are fast when they are young learn bad habits and as they get older cannot defend properly. At a low level we must teach kids to slide (which as a term is misleading) and then as they progress up through develop the ability to adjust from sliding to sprinting then back to sliding as a means of dealing with more advanced offensive footwork and athleticism.
The term "slide" does not really convey what the defender must do with their feet. The feet must make explsoive, lateral hops/chops to keep the defender moving, while allowing them to change direction. The weight must be on the push leg, with the knee angled well inside the plant foot. Then it is a quick lateral movement with both feet into the desired space. The arms should be pumping actively in the desired direction. The goal is to create 2 foot movement for every one of the offenses, beat them to desired space and all while staying in as low and explosive a stance as possible.
Look fors:
- Arms up and angled.
- Constant low stance, with heels off the floor.
- Movement resembling a push, or jump
- Quick, simultaneous movements with both feet onto new territory.
- New position should not overlap old position.
- Arms pumping laterally.
Common Errors:
- Arms are not up or moving. / Arms are reaching into or on the defender.
- Player is bobbing up and down, not staying in constanct stance.
- Movements resemble step and pull, or shuffling.
- Movements are 1 foot at a time.
- New position overlaps old position.
- Defender steps instead of "sliding".
Slide to sprint:
At higher levels vs athletic and/ skilled kids, if you haven't shut down the dribbler in one or two steps by the offense you will not regain position moving laterally while they move forward. At this point the defender needs to learn techniques involving arms and hip turning the sprint to get into a position where they can shut down the offensive player.
Arms - At low levels it is easiest to teach players not to reach in or put arms on the offensive players. At higher levels to negate skill, athleticism and the reality that they will be attacked with the free arm, kids need to learn some techniques. The first is an arm bar. If a player is creating space with their shoulder, use their forearm to get an angle or trying to get into contact with your chest or side players must arm bar. Your inside forearm must be placed above the height of the ball on the bicep or shoulder of the attacking player. The arm must intially be at a 45 degree angle or less and then extended to the 90 degree. As the arm extends you must move backwards in a two foot hop, keeping legs bent and muscles loaded for movement. After you re-establish position immediately remove your arm.
Hips - Generally your hips and chest should be square to the opponent between them and the rim. When unable to slide and keep in front the defender must "hip turn" in one movement the hips (and legs down to the feet) switch from square to hip tp hip. Since the defender does not need to expect space or time to adjust it is important to keep contact hip to hip. (If you lose contact the defender can change direction and pull back leaving you out of position.) Run hip to hip until the offensive player must slow down (out of room) or until you can get an angle to "hip turn' back in front in defensive stance and "slide" again.
Look fors:
- Arm comes up high @ 45 degrees when offensive player intiates contact.
- Arm extends as feet hop back to create space.
- Hips, feet, and legs all switch position in one movement.
- Contact is maintained until position is re-established.
Common errors:
- Arms end up on the body or lower arms of offense.
- Player extends arms without moving feet creating space instead of holding it.
- Arms remain on player when not recovering.
- Players are stepping out of slides into a run, in stages.
- Contact is not maintained, offense has room to escape.
In the next entry I'll include drills to support these concepts.
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