I spent last weekend watching the first tournament that our Canada Games boys and girls teams played. I just had a few observations on how that went:
1 - Speed Kills! In just about any aspect of the game, if you can get there first your team has a significant edge. First to rebounds, first to loose balls, first down the floor (both ways), ability to keep your player in front, ability to recover, ability to blow by. If you have superior speed and can still execute skills at speed you are well on your way. The NB girls that won the tournament had greater team speed (and individual speed in a lot of cases) they the opposition. By playing to that strength the lions share of the scramble points, hustle points, and uncontested points went to NB which was enough to win the games handily. The NB boys only struggled in the game vs. Nova Scotia when NS went a group made up of superior athletes and started beating NB players to spots with and without the ball in 1 on 1 matchups.
2 - Skilled Depth. It sounds simple but the team with the greater wealth of talent wins. If you can have 12 very skilled players up against 5/6 great players and some role players; over the course of a 40 minute game the skilled kids are going to come out on top. If they work and show skills they can balance out the ability of the stronger individuals on the other side, and they should win most intagbible categories as their always making a skilled play, and when the opposition goes to their bench they won't be.
3 - Bigs are overrated. While clearly the larger the frame you can have and be atheltic and skilled , the better it is for basketball. Pure post players however, can be overcome quite easily in the FIBA game. Better shooting, ball pressure, and speed of play doesn't allow them to be as effective as they once might have been. Players that dominated this weekend were long, athletic skilled wings or strong quards.
4 - Shooting. This weekends game was played on a large new floor in a huge open empty space in an arena. It was very clear who the shooters were with good mechanics and which shooters were streaky or relied on consistent environment. Both winning teams had more players that could hit open shots from 18-21 feet in this environment. Shooting is still the great eqaulizer.
5- Tactics. While at this level you might think tactics play a larger role, its not entirely true. Tactics are more a change of pace, or a way to test the opponents offensive or defensive principles. Sure a trap can still cause havoc or get you some quick hoops, a shift to zone might change the momentum, and a set piece gets who you want the ball. At this level most of the game is being played in breakdown moments and 2nd/3rd level reads. At speed and with such high caliber teams, the hardest working more skilled team often wins regardless over 40 minutes. Now in an evenly matched game at key moments the correct tactical call becomes huge because a quick lead or big shot can be the difference. The reality is training and natural gifts combined with intensity can still win the the game at this level. Everyone is better, but its not the NBA where everyone is a freak who can do everything, so tactics still don't seem as important as talent.
Monday, June 1, 2009
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Posting Up
The first point I would like to make about posting up is the distinction between posting up and post players. Post players, or what I refer to as "bigs", are a rare and special commodity in our province. I say this because a true "big" is a phsyical specimen with a unique skill set designed for being superior in size to most of their opponents. They play close to the basket, and have different roles then most players.
The issue is that we don't have a lot of "bigs" in our province. The best NB boys players this year were a 6'4 point guard from Riverview and a 6'7 forward from Nepisiquit. THey'll both play at Acadia next year and neither will play the post. The point I'm trying to make is we will often see kids in our programs who are taller than the rest, and suddenly we teach them to be a post. Then they get to high school and aren't bigger anymore, or they have no options to do anything beyond their club/school because they wouldn't be a post at another level. My feeling is that we need to make our kids skilled face up players and if we are lucky enough to ever get a kid who is 6'6 - 7'0 who will be a legitimate "big" kid then we can worry about their interior game at that point.
That being said, one of the skills everyone needs to have is the ability to post up. Posting up is the skill of putting an opponent on your back to seal them away from the ball. This allows the offensive player to cleanly catch the ball, while maintaining contact they can exploit when they've made the catch. This skills allows people to catch by the rim uncontested, get an inbounds pass, or simply create space to catch to play 1 on 1. THe key is to post up a player not an area.
H0w do you teach kids to post up?
1 - The first step is to teach them to be comfortable and mobile with contact. Have them low in a stance, doing some pushing and pulling for space.
2 - PLayers need to learn that lower and wider allows them to hold space vs. contact and maintain position. Have one player position themselves as low and wide as possible to be strong and balanced. Have a partner (with increasing force) try to move them off a spot.
3 - Place a ball on the floor. Have both partners (using only their legs) fight to be closer to the ball then the other player without touching the ball. See how long one player can keep the other away from the ball using their back, butt and legs.
4- Once that is done have kids work in groups of three. Start with guided defense and work up to live play. One partner can have the ball and be trying to throw a straight line push pass to his partner. The third defender is trying to deny the ball into the offense. The reciever must post and position their body between the ball and the defender before they can recieve the pass.
What sort of footwork do kids need?
The basic footwork and body position is a step over or "swim move". The offensive player is low and tight to the defense. They then swing their inside arm out and around the defender knocking away arms and pinning the defenders torso. They step quickly over the closest foot of the defender, pinning the knee with their backside. They repeat this process until they have created an unobstructed line between themselves and the ball, with their defender on their back/hip.
Why post up?
The post up has many purposes.
The big one is that is takes the skills, footwork, and speed/agility often needed to beat an opponent and turns it into a game of who is stronger. So if a player were having trouble recieving a pass vs. and opponent of superior speed, agility or defensive aptitude they could use the post up as an equalizer.
The second advantage of the post up is it has contact already created. On any good attack of the defense, the offensive player has initiated contact and sealed a player off. The post up allows most of the work in initiating to be accomplished prior to the catch and it is only a matter of maintaining contact while keeping a hard angle in the direction you wish to move.
Finally it is a chance to be physical with an opponent. If you've got a player that is particulary fast or talented that you want to make work hard one defense, then a post up nullifies their speed and skill and requires them to exert a great deal of energy dealing with the contact. The other teams star cannot rest on defense if they are constantly being posted up, regardless of whether or not we intend to attack them with the ball.
The issue is that we don't have a lot of "bigs" in our province. The best NB boys players this year were a 6'4 point guard from Riverview and a 6'7 forward from Nepisiquit. THey'll both play at Acadia next year and neither will play the post. The point I'm trying to make is we will often see kids in our programs who are taller than the rest, and suddenly we teach them to be a post. Then they get to high school and aren't bigger anymore, or they have no options to do anything beyond their club/school because they wouldn't be a post at another level. My feeling is that we need to make our kids skilled face up players and if we are lucky enough to ever get a kid who is 6'6 - 7'0 who will be a legitimate "big" kid then we can worry about their interior game at that point.
That being said, one of the skills everyone needs to have is the ability to post up. Posting up is the skill of putting an opponent on your back to seal them away from the ball. This allows the offensive player to cleanly catch the ball, while maintaining contact they can exploit when they've made the catch. This skills allows people to catch by the rim uncontested, get an inbounds pass, or simply create space to catch to play 1 on 1. THe key is to post up a player not an area.
H0w do you teach kids to post up?
1 - The first step is to teach them to be comfortable and mobile with contact. Have them low in a stance, doing some pushing and pulling for space.
2 - PLayers need to learn that lower and wider allows them to hold space vs. contact and maintain position. Have one player position themselves as low and wide as possible to be strong and balanced. Have a partner (with increasing force) try to move them off a spot.
3 - Place a ball on the floor. Have both partners (using only their legs) fight to be closer to the ball then the other player without touching the ball. See how long one player can keep the other away from the ball using their back, butt and legs.
4- Once that is done have kids work in groups of three. Start with guided defense and work up to live play. One partner can have the ball and be trying to throw a straight line push pass to his partner. The third defender is trying to deny the ball into the offense. The reciever must post and position their body between the ball and the defender before they can recieve the pass.
What sort of footwork do kids need?
The basic footwork and body position is a step over or "swim move". The offensive player is low and tight to the defense. They then swing their inside arm out and around the defender knocking away arms and pinning the defenders torso. They step quickly over the closest foot of the defender, pinning the knee with their backside. They repeat this process until they have created an unobstructed line between themselves and the ball, with their defender on their back/hip.
Why post up?
The post up has many purposes.
The big one is that is takes the skills, footwork, and speed/agility often needed to beat an opponent and turns it into a game of who is stronger. So if a player were having trouble recieving a pass vs. and opponent of superior speed, agility or defensive aptitude they could use the post up as an equalizer.
The second advantage of the post up is it has contact already created. On any good attack of the defense, the offensive player has initiated contact and sealed a player off. The post up allows most of the work in initiating to be accomplished prior to the catch and it is only a matter of maintaining contact while keeping a hard angle in the direction you wish to move.
Finally it is a chance to be physical with an opponent. If you've got a player that is particulary fast or talented that you want to make work hard one defense, then a post up nullifies their speed and skill and requires them to exert a great deal of energy dealing with the contact. The other teams star cannot rest on defense if they are constantly being posted up, regardless of whether or not we intend to attack them with the ball.
Friday, May 1, 2009
1 on 0
The game is easy when you get a one on zero. At least it should be! If you can get 1 on nobody and can't score the rest doesn't matter because you won't win anyway. So everything I'm about to talk about needs to be prefaced by the notion that you have to be able to make shots.
How do you get a 1 on 0?
Run
When we get the ball who is running out? If the answer is not everyone then you've got a problem. If you can get even 1 player down the floor ahead of an opponent you've got a 1 on 0. In an ideal universe someone would have sprinted to the rim as soon as we got the ball and been there in the first 3 seconds of our possesion with everyone else down and ready to shoot somewhere between 5-7 seconds. This means if you've got anyone on the other team that gets caught up, gambles, doesn't hustle back or just isn't as fast as their matchup then you are getting a 1 on 0 look for someone.
Take On
If you can't get a 1 on 0 by running you should at least be able to get a 1 on 1. This means if someone can take on their defender and beat them cleanly off the dribble then we get a 1 on 0 for them or someone else. This isn't the same as backing someone in or playing 1 on 1 all the way to the rim. A take needs to be at speed and leave the defender behind. This way the ball handler gets a 1 on 0 or their teammates do when defense shifts to help.
Cuts
A cut is a chance to beat someone. Its not something we do for the sake of doing it. Everytime you cut you force the defense to react to you, if the defense doesn't have to deal with you then your cut wasn't very good. Once a defender challenges you then its a battle to see who wins. If you win you should get a 1 on 0 catch or put them in a position to need to close out so you can use your "TAKE ON" to do the same.
Screens
Screening is a team skills that reuires a good read no only by one player but by 3: the screener, the player getting screened for, and the ball handler/passer. In this situation you are using and reading to screen to get a 1 on 0 catch or force a close out/ mismatch to occur that allows a player to win a "Take On" or "Cut"
What to do once you get a 1 on 0?
This answer is easy use it. Look to score. Either your open and need to make a shot or you need to find your now open teammate as help rotates.
How do you get a 1 on 0?
Run
When we get the ball who is running out? If the answer is not everyone then you've got a problem. If you can get even 1 player down the floor ahead of an opponent you've got a 1 on 0. In an ideal universe someone would have sprinted to the rim as soon as we got the ball and been there in the first 3 seconds of our possesion with everyone else down and ready to shoot somewhere between 5-7 seconds. This means if you've got anyone on the other team that gets caught up, gambles, doesn't hustle back or just isn't as fast as their matchup then you are getting a 1 on 0 look for someone.
Take On
If you can't get a 1 on 0 by running you should at least be able to get a 1 on 1. This means if someone can take on their defender and beat them cleanly off the dribble then we get a 1 on 0 for them or someone else. This isn't the same as backing someone in or playing 1 on 1 all the way to the rim. A take needs to be at speed and leave the defender behind. This way the ball handler gets a 1 on 0 or their teammates do when defense shifts to help.
Cuts
A cut is a chance to beat someone. Its not something we do for the sake of doing it. Everytime you cut you force the defense to react to you, if the defense doesn't have to deal with you then your cut wasn't very good. Once a defender challenges you then its a battle to see who wins. If you win you should get a 1 on 0 catch or put them in a position to need to close out so you can use your "TAKE ON" to do the same.
Screens
Screening is a team skills that reuires a good read no only by one player but by 3: the screener, the player getting screened for, and the ball handler/passer. In this situation you are using and reading to screen to get a 1 on 0 catch or force a close out/ mismatch to occur that allows a player to win a "Take On" or "Cut"
What to do once you get a 1 on 0?
This answer is easy use it. Look to score. Either your open and need to make a shot or you need to find your now open teammate as help rotates.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
I'm a basketball/volleyball/soccer/rugby/cricket/handball player . . .
We have an on going debate in my school, my home, and amongst all my coaching friends and colleagues. The topic is the multisport athlete. The points of contention always seem to be what is the goal of sports at certain levels, how and when should you specialize and whether the nature/history of community dictate how the sport is managed. There are lots of issues but you can see why people have varying opinions.
Let me start by saying I was a dual sport athlete. Up until I was 17 I competed at reasonably high levels in basketball and swimming. Once in high school I limited my swimming to outside of the my high school basketball season and trained year round for basketball (this limited my opportunities but I swam because I was good at it, not because I wanted to be an Olympic athlete). Also growing up I tried a little baseball, soccer, and volleyball in competitive leauges. While doing things like sking, jogging, and a variety of sports recreationally.
I'm not interested in debating the finer points of if, when, and how you should sport sepcialize. Everyone has to make their own decisions. I am going to say if you want to compete in leagues with competitive teams that are producing high level athletes, its only fair to your kids to do the same things. That being said to create atheletes that perform at a high level we should follow what the science tells us, not what worked for some group, some time in the past.
So what do we know scientifically speaking:
Prior to Age 10 kids should play a variety of sports. The point of which is develop basic phsyical attributes and motor skills. This should be done through games and activity based learning. They should play a variety of sports every week doing each a couple of times with no one sport going for more than 6-12 weeks consecutively.
Between the Ages of 10-14 young athletes should play complitmentary sports (activities with similar movements and requisite general motor skills). They should begin training with sport specifc activities and select a prefered sport. This sport should have a high intensity training period lasting 20-30 and they should train 3-4 times per week for this sport, in addition to other sports activities. 75% of the their time should be spent training skills and physical attributes with 25% in actual preparation for competitive games/competitions.
Between the ages 14-18 (the high end range of kids opportunities in our area) kids should be sport specialised. They should be training 6-9 times per week during high intensity training periods in that sport. These periods should occur twice a year and total 42 weeks. Training should be 50% skills and phsyical attirbutes and 50% compettion specifc skills. Exercises and training should be geared towards their sport specialization.
That is science of it. I know these numbers may or may not work in individual settings. I also know that if your goal is not high performing athletes these targets are not needed. I would like to say again: if the goal of your program is to give kids a place and chance to play, you can do that without putting kids up against athletes who are training specifically to be high performance. Telling kids its ok to do less and just play more, while then making them compete with high performing sport specialized athletes is setting the kid, your coach and your program up for failure.
Let me start by saying I was a dual sport athlete. Up until I was 17 I competed at reasonably high levels in basketball and swimming. Once in high school I limited my swimming to outside of the my high school basketball season and trained year round for basketball (this limited my opportunities but I swam because I was good at it, not because I wanted to be an Olympic athlete). Also growing up I tried a little baseball, soccer, and volleyball in competitive leauges. While doing things like sking, jogging, and a variety of sports recreationally.
I'm not interested in debating the finer points of if, when, and how you should sport sepcialize. Everyone has to make their own decisions. I am going to say if you want to compete in leagues with competitive teams that are producing high level athletes, its only fair to your kids to do the same things. That being said to create atheletes that perform at a high level we should follow what the science tells us, not what worked for some group, some time in the past.
So what do we know scientifically speaking:
Prior to Age 10 kids should play a variety of sports. The point of which is develop basic phsyical attributes and motor skills. This should be done through games and activity based learning. They should play a variety of sports every week doing each a couple of times with no one sport going for more than 6-12 weeks consecutively.
Between the Ages of 10-14 young athletes should play complitmentary sports (activities with similar movements and requisite general motor skills). They should begin training with sport specifc activities and select a prefered sport. This sport should have a high intensity training period lasting 20-30 and they should train 3-4 times per week for this sport, in addition to other sports activities. 75% of the their time should be spent training skills and physical attributes with 25% in actual preparation for competitive games/competitions.
Between the ages 14-18 (the high end range of kids opportunities in our area) kids should be sport specialised. They should be training 6-9 times per week during high intensity training periods in that sport. These periods should occur twice a year and total 42 weeks. Training should be 50% skills and phsyical attirbutes and 50% compettion specifc skills. Exercises and training should be geared towards their sport specialization.
That is science of it. I know these numbers may or may not work in individual settings. I also know that if your goal is not high performing athletes these targets are not needed. I would like to say again: if the goal of your program is to give kids a place and chance to play, you can do that without putting kids up against athletes who are training specifically to be high performance. Telling kids its ok to do less and just play more, while then making them compete with high performing sport specialized athletes is setting the kid, your coach and your program up for failure.
Monday, April 27, 2009
We do in fact have an offense . . .
The title is in response to a lot of the people that see us play and don't believe we're in fact teaching anyone anything on offense. Trust me we do. My favorite moment was year with our boys playing the best team in the province (at any level). After the game a local official said: "Your kids have to do something other then one guy dribbles and passes to the other guy to shoot it. There are guys on the floor watching those two guys play."
It was true we didn't execute very well and the only two kids who can compete against a team at that level ended up being the ones who could get open and get most of the shots. The point being I still felt we were running offense, our other kids just weren't skilled enough to run our stuff against them. We got open shots (or at least as open as we were getting when compeltely out matched). Isn't that what offense does.
As far as I'm concerned (and I've been wrong before, more frequently when my wife is present) offense is simple. You are trying to get someone a shot they can make. What makes offense complicated is lack of skills. If you can't shoot or people have to shoot from a certain area or range then suddenly you have to do all sorts of crazy things to get people the ball in those places. My feeling is that if we can shoot it, then all we have to do is beat someone one and one.
Once someone is beaten 1 on 1 with a cut, post up, mismatch off a screen, dribble drive, etc . . . then someone is getting an open shot. If no one helps then we get a layup. If someone helps late we get free throws and/a layup. If help is early then somone is open and by moving the ball someone should get an open shot.
Our offense basically is a lot of rules/concepts about spacing and movement to make it difficult for teams to help. We look to score by relying on individual skills. If we win then it is because we had better talent or we worked our but off defensively. If we lose its because we weren't better than their defense and our d wasn't good enough to get us the win by itself.
I know that there are many who feel the job of the coach is to put their kids in the best situation to win. Buld your system around the talent you have, blah. blah, blah . . . I'm coaching high school aged kids still learning to play the game. Most of them will play after school only in an informal or recreational way. Do I want their basketball experience for the rest of their life to be: go set a post screen and seal??? I want kids who can play. A kid who can get out and run with anyone and be able to shoot, attack, pass from all positions.
We have an offense. It is teaching kids to put themselves in situations where they and their teammates can use the skills they train to use. Why does it have to be more complicated then that. You can't do much better then an open shot can you???
It was true we didn't execute very well and the only two kids who can compete against a team at that level ended up being the ones who could get open and get most of the shots. The point being I still felt we were running offense, our other kids just weren't skilled enough to run our stuff against them. We got open shots (or at least as open as we were getting when compeltely out matched). Isn't that what offense does.
As far as I'm concerned (and I've been wrong before, more frequently when my wife is present) offense is simple. You are trying to get someone a shot they can make. What makes offense complicated is lack of skills. If you can't shoot or people have to shoot from a certain area or range then suddenly you have to do all sorts of crazy things to get people the ball in those places. My feeling is that if we can shoot it, then all we have to do is beat someone one and one.
Once someone is beaten 1 on 1 with a cut, post up, mismatch off a screen, dribble drive, etc . . . then someone is getting an open shot. If no one helps then we get a layup. If someone helps late we get free throws and/a layup. If help is early then somone is open and by moving the ball someone should get an open shot.
Our offense basically is a lot of rules/concepts about spacing and movement to make it difficult for teams to help. We look to score by relying on individual skills. If we win then it is because we had better talent or we worked our but off defensively. If we lose its because we weren't better than their defense and our d wasn't good enough to get us the win by itself.
I know that there are many who feel the job of the coach is to put their kids in the best situation to win. Buld your system around the talent you have, blah. blah, blah . . . I'm coaching high school aged kids still learning to play the game. Most of them will play after school only in an informal or recreational way. Do I want their basketball experience for the rest of their life to be: go set a post screen and seal??? I want kids who can play. A kid who can get out and run with anyone and be able to shoot, attack, pass from all positions.
We have an offense. It is teaching kids to put themselves in situations where they and their teammates can use the skills they train to use. Why does it have to be more complicated then that. You can't do much better then an open shot can you???
Friday, March 20, 2009
Defensive Footwork Drills
As promised a while ago drills to follow up on the defensive footwork technique we are talking about:
(The names of the drills are inconsequential, you can call them anything you want that your kids can easily remember.)
Mirror Slides
Kids get into pairs. They face each other seperated by a line. (We use the foul line but any line will do.) One partner is the leader, the other is the mirror. The leader slides in a direction while the mirror does their best to match them move for move as simulataneously as possible. We force them to play between two set points, so they have to work on change of direction.
Mirror Images
Players get into groups. One player is on offense with the ball, one player is defending the ball. The remaining players are staggered behind original defender. They are all in defensive stance too. As the ball moves side to side or forward, the on the ball defender practices footwork. They "mirror images" all try to match the on the ball defender move for move.
Footwork Chase
Players get into 2 lines, each one beginning at the elbow and going to the near baseline. The first two players in each line face each other. In a defensive stance they move together working on footwork as they move to the other foul line before jogging back. The coach can vary the movments: all slides, slide to sprint (or any variation), make it a race, create a leader and a follower.
Triangle Slides
Players work with a partner. One with the ball pivoting, one in a defensive stance on the ball. As the offensive player pivots to protect or attack, the defensive player must make a quick 2 footed movement to take away the new angle. All the offense can do is pivot, the defense simply has to keep taking away the new lane created by the pivot.
Full Court 1 on 1
Players work with a partner. One on offense the other on defense. Have the player with the ball advance up the court while being pressure by the defense. The particular route or movement may be determined by your defensive philosophy but the key is to work on the defenses footwork. This drill can have several layers: offense just making the defense work, half speed, live one on one, etc.
These are just a few basic drills for footwork. Any thing you can think of is probably just as useful. Simply make sure that the focus is on proper defensive positioning and footwork not neccessarily the end result.
(The names of the drills are inconsequential, you can call them anything you want that your kids can easily remember.)
Mirror Slides
Kids get into pairs. They face each other seperated by a line. (We use the foul line but any line will do.) One partner is the leader, the other is the mirror. The leader slides in a direction while the mirror does their best to match them move for move as simulataneously as possible. We force them to play between two set points, so they have to work on change of direction.
Mirror Images
Players get into groups. One player is on offense with the ball, one player is defending the ball. The remaining players are staggered behind original defender. They are all in defensive stance too. As the ball moves side to side or forward, the on the ball defender practices footwork. They "mirror images" all try to match the on the ball defender move for move.
Footwork Chase
Players get into 2 lines, each one beginning at the elbow and going to the near baseline. The first two players in each line face each other. In a defensive stance they move together working on footwork as they move to the other foul line before jogging back. The coach can vary the movments: all slides, slide to sprint (or any variation), make it a race, create a leader and a follower.
Triangle Slides
Players work with a partner. One with the ball pivoting, one in a defensive stance on the ball. As the offensive player pivots to protect or attack, the defensive player must make a quick 2 footed movement to take away the new angle. All the offense can do is pivot, the defense simply has to keep taking away the new lane created by the pivot.
Full Court 1 on 1
Players work with a partner. One on offense the other on defense. Have the player with the ball advance up the court while being pressure by the defense. The particular route or movement may be determined by your defensive philosophy but the key is to work on the defenses footwork. This drill can have several layers: offense just making the defense work, half speed, live one on one, etc.
These are just a few basic drills for footwork. Any thing you can think of is probably just as useful. Simply make sure that the focus is on proper defensive positioning and footwork not neccessarily the end result.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Teaching - Defensive Footwork - The Basics
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.
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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