Defensive Strategy
BASKETBALL
What is Defense?
• Defense- team trying to stop the other team from
scoring
• Defenses are deployed in an effort to disrupt and
combat offensive plays.
How to play Defense?
• Here are 9 Keys to a Great Defensive Stance:
•
Fronts of the Feet - A little more than half of your weight
should be distributed to the fronts or balls of your feet. Heel
should still be in contact with the ground.
•
Stable Base & Feet Straight Ahead - Your feet should be
pointing straight ahead.
•
Your feet should also be slightly wider than shoulder width
apart.
•
Hips Back & Knees Bent - Butt should be behind the heels
and your knees should be pointing forward.
•
Knees should be inside of Feet
How to play Defense?
• Butt Down - Staying in a stable position with your butt
down enables you to stay balanced.
• Shoulders Over Knees - Your shoulders should be over your
knees with your chest out and back straight.
• Hands up - Depending on the tactic (Hands out or hands up
to defend shot/dribble).
• Eyes focused on the player's waist or chest.
What does it look like?
Types of Defenses
• Person-To-Person Defenses (Man to Man)
• Person-to-Person defenses match up the defenders against
specific offensive players. Defenders are usually assigned to
be matched up with offensive players by size and ability.
Types of Defenses
• Zone Defenses
• With Zone defenses, defenders are assigned to guard
specific areas on the court. Zones are named or designated
by their player alignments.
Types of Defenses
• Combination Defenses
• With combination defenses, some of the players are assigned
to play person-to-person while the rest of the defenders play
zone. Combination defenses are usually deployed in an effort
to stop or neutralize great individual offensive players.
Fouls
• FOULS: A foul is when a player breaks a rule of basketball while making
physical contact with another player. If the player was fouled in the act of
shooting, this results in one or more free throws awarded to the opposing team.
• Common Fouls:
• Blocking- impeding the progress of an opponent by extending one or
both arms horizontally or getting in the path of a moving player.
• Charging- running into a stationary player while you are moving with
the ball.
• Hacking- the player hits the arm or hand of the person holding the
ball.
• Holding- the player holds the person with or without the ball.
• Reaching – A foul in which a defender makes contact with the ballhandler while reaching-in an attempt to steal the ball.