43Drills

You need to make sure that your players always get back on basketball defense. If the players do not get back and set, it eliminates all the hard work you spent on teaching defense. Teams are going to try to run on you and score before your defense gets set.

Here is one basketball defense drill you can use:

Whistle Drill

1. Divide your squad into teams of five. The teams should be scrimmaging like normal.

2. When the coach blows the whistle, the offensive player with the ball will set the ball down. This will be treated as a turnover, and the offense will have to hustle back to play defense. The defense should sprint back to the lane and locate the man they are guarding.

3. The defender closest to the ball will pick it up and get it to the point guard. The point guard will then push the ball up the court and try to get a quick fast break basket.

4. If a basket is scored, play it like a regular game. If not, set up the offense and repeat the first three steps.

Variety - Make sure to vary who has possession of the ball and the location of the ball when blowing the whistle.

Communication - Your players should always be talking when getting back on defense. “I got him.” “I got Jimmy.” To make sure they communicate, you can also mix it up by telling them that they have to guard somebody different every time you blow the whistle. This will force them to talk!

Jeff Haefner is the owner of BreakthroughBasketball.com
To get more basketball tips and learn more about basketball defense go to: http://www.breakthroughbasketball.com/pr/mandefense.html