Defensive Principles
Difficulty of the skill: Red, a difficult core skill for ages 7-9 years and upwards. With
practice the difficulty of this skill should reduce.
What are defensive principles?
By using defensive principles the players are looking to defend the goal and gain
possession. Defensive principles are reliant on players working individually, within small
units and as a team.
Defensive principles include; cover and delay; balance in defence; depth; control, restraint
and patience; restricting space; double teaming; zonal defence and man-to-man marking.
Example of the principles
Double Teaming
Channelling
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Cover and delay
Providing cover in defence is essential to minimising risk. When a team is defending,
ideally they will match the number of attacking opposition players plus have a spare player
who can cover for other defenders if necessary.
The cover and delay principle would be utilised when an attacking member of the opposite
team has possession of the ball and is breaking quickly with other attackers in support. The
nearest defensive player to the ball carrier engages them. Using their body position only the
player is looking to slow the attacking player down in order for other team members to track
back into defence and provide further support.
By slowing the attacking player down and providing time for team mates to get back into
defensive positions the principle of out numbering the opposition in defence can be
achieved. If a defending player is beaten by an attacking player another defending player
engages the attacker, the first player will then track back behind the engaged defending
player in order to provide cover should the engaged defender be unsuccessful at gaining
possession.
It is important that defending players continue to track back and defend if they are eliminated
by any attacker as they will provide the next wave of defence to support their team mates.
Example of cover and delay
In this example the delaying attacker engages with the attacking player who is running
quickly. This action slows down the attacking player and provides the next defending player
with time to run back and cover the space behind the first defender. Should the defender
engaging with the attacker be eliminated by the attacker, the next defending player will be in
a position in order to engage with the attacker.
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Key
Attacking player
Defending player
(delaying attacker)
Defending player
(covering space)
Running direction defender
delaying attacker
Direction of
attack
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Running direction attacker
Running direction defender
covering space
Balance in defence – Depth
As demonstrated by the cover and delay principle in defence it is important that teams have
depth in their defence. If defenders find themselves in a straight line then they can be
beaten easily by attackers if they break this line. Attackers would look to break a defence’s
line by creating situations where they can beat defenders easily and quickly with one pass
around defenders (for example a 2v1).
By having different lines of defence teams can cover space and prevent attackers from
passing around defenders.
Example of poor depth in defence
Example of good depth in defence
Balance in defence – Width
As well as depth it is important for defenders to have width across the pitch to maintain
balance. If a defending team find their width narrowed and all of their players are on one
side of the pitch then it leaves them open for the opposition to exploit gaps. For example if all
defenders find themselves on the right side of the pitch an attacking team would most likely
look to switch the ball from right to left and attack quickly down the left hand side of the pitch.
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Example of attacking players exploiting lack of defensive width
In this example the defending players are too concentrated on the left hand side (attackers)
of the pitch and therefore the space which is created on the right hand side of the pitch has
been exploited by the attacking players.
Key
Attacking players
Defending players
(defence and midfield)
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Ball movement
Control, Restraint and Patience
As a defender it is important to be controlled when it comes to making tackles. Rushing
tackles against skilful attackers will make a defender easier to evade and eliminate.
Defenders should look for cues from the attacker as to when is most appropriate to make a
tackle. This could be waiting for an attacker to lift their stick off the ball or waiting for an
attacker to make a poor decision whilst moving with the ball.
Being patient and waiting for the optimum opportunity to make a tackle should give
defenders a higher success rate at winning the ball. It is important that for a team defence to
be effective all players need to demonstrate good control, restraint and patience whilst
engaging with attackers.
Restricting space – Channelling
By channelling an attacking player defenders are looking to dictate to the attacker which
space they should use as opposed to the attacker dictating which space they are going to
use.
The defending player will either be looking to channel the ball carrier to the side lines with a
view to causing them to push the ball off the pitch, create a tackling opportunity or to provide
another teammate with an opportunity to make a tackle.
Channelling enables the defender to have maximum control of the situation. When
channelling a player into a teammate the defender would look to channel the player into their
teammates open stick side. If in the middle of the pitch the defending player would be
looking to channel the player towards their right hand (stick side) to either a teammates stick
or to the sideline.
The most dangerous area of the pitch for defenders is the centre of the pitch. If attackers
break through the defensive line and move through this channel they have the best view of
the goal when shooting. In most cases the defender will aim to channel the player off the
sidelines of the pitch with a view to prevent the attacking player from being able to move into
the middle channel. If a defensive player engages with an attacking player in the middle of
the pitch then they should look to channel them to their forehand side as it is the defenders
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strong side and the attacker’s weaker side.
In most cases the defender would be looking to close the attacker down and channel them
onto their open stick side. The defender in some situations may find it necessary to channel
players using their reverse stick. Defenders will most likely have to channel players using
their reverse stick when the player is attacking down the inside left channel or when a
defender is in a position in when they cannot get ahead of the attacker and force them onto
the defenders forehand/strong side.
Restricting space – Interception
For a defender to make an effective interception they must be able to read the game well
and look for opportunities to intercept the ball when it is passed from one player to another
on the opposite team.
Defenders should be in a position which is the ball side of their opponent. Adopting this
position will enable the defender to see the opponent and the ball. This distance the
defender needs to be away from the player they are marking is governed by the distance the
ball is from the opponent. The closer the ball is to the opponent the closer the defender
needs to be as the passing distance and time it takes for the ball to travel from player to
player is reduced.
•
It is important for the defending player to read the game well and
run to receive the ball ahead of their opponent in order to meet
the ball first.
•
The defender should prepare to receive the ball early by holding
their stick low to the ground.
The player should aim to receive the ball with the head of the
stick with a good first touch which will enable them to move off
with the ball in a good ball carrying position quickly.
Ball
Stick
•
•
Vision
•
Before intercepting the ball the player should pre-scan in order to
identify possible movement or passing options.
Once the ball has been collected the player should scan once
again to assess whether the earlier identified movement or
passing options are still available.
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Restricting space – Pressing
Pressing players is an aggressive form of defending in which the defending team looks to
force turnovers by placing large numbers of defending players into a smaller area of the
pitch. Teams could chose to press a team in the following situations:
1) When the team need to get the ball back and score quickly when there is not long left
in the game. For example if a team is losing 2-1.
2) To keep the ball in the oppositions defensive area. For example if the opposition
have a sideline ball within their 23m area by putting a high press on the ball will give
the opposition defence little room to outlet the ball out of their defence.
3) To keep possession and use up time. For example if a team is winning a game 2-1
then the winning team would want to keep the ball in their oppositions defensive area
as opposed to letting the opposition move freely which could lead to them creating a
scoring opportunity.
4) To expose any weak defenders on the opposition, who under pressure may make
mistakes and turn the ball over
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Double Teaming
Double teaming is a technique in which two defenders work together in order to dispossess
the ball carrier. The main principle of the technique is to keep the attacking player moving
towards their left hand side which is the defenders forehand/open stick side. When this
technique is executed well the ball carrier is prevented from moving into the centre of the
field which is a much more dangerous position for the defending team.
The defenders have two distinct roles to play when using this technique. One defender acts
as the channelling defender and one defender acts as the tackling defender.
The channelling defender
•
•
•
The channelling defender is the player closest to the attacker.
When approaching the attacking player the channelling defender picks up speed to
match the attackers and arcs their run from left to right.
By running in an arc the defender dictates to the attacking player which space they
should use, channelling them to the left hand side of the pitch which is the defending
player’s forehand side.
Key
AP
Attacking player
CD
Channelling defender
TD
Tackling defender
AP
Right hand side of
the pitch
CD
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•
•
The defending player should end up running with the attacker with their hips pointing
in the same direction.
If the defender were to imagine that the ball has a line running through the centre of
it, when channelling the player the defenders stick should be over or in front of this
line but their body should be behind it. If the defender gets too far ahead of the
attacking player then it could give the attacking player the option to pull the ball
backwards behind the defender the ball carrier can move into space into the middle
of the pitch.
Channelling
defender stays
behind the ‘line’
CD
AP
The channelling
player’s stick stays in
front of the ‘line’
•
•
•
After the channelling player has established correct positioning with the attacking
player and they are running hip to hip the defender should look to close down the
space between themselves and the attacking player. It is important that when
closing down space the positioning created by the initial channelling of the player
towards the left hand side of the pitch is not compromised.
By moving closer to the attacking player the channelling player is putting themselves
in a better position to make a tackle if the attacking player draws the ball to their right
hand side.
Closing down the space further gives the attacker two options:- keep moving out
wide towards the left hand side to avoid the defender or they move the ball
backwards. By moving the ball backwards the play is slowed down which will more
than likely result in the defending team being able to get back into position.
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The tackling defender
•
•
•
•
By engaging with the attacking player the channelling defender should draw the
attacking player’s attention towards protecting the ball.
The role of the tackling defender is to make a flat stick block tackle when they are
sure the attacking player is distracted by the channelling player.
The tackling defender should engage with the attacking player by moving through the
space diagonally to the right hand side of and in front of the attacking player. By
moving in this space the defender is blocking the most dangerous area of the pitch
for the attacker to move into.
It is the role of the tackling defender to communicate to the channelling defender
when they are making the tackle. As the tackling defender makes the tackle the
channelling defender loops around to the right covering the space behind the tackling
defender. By making this move the channelling defender can pick up the attacking
player again should the tackling defenders tackle be unsuccessful.
CD
AP
Right hand side of
the pitch
TD
What happens if the technique fails?
•
If the channelling defender is unable to contain the attacking player then the tackling
defender assumes the role of the channelling defender and the original channelling
defender loops behind to become the tackling defender.
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Marking
Teams will generally make decisions as to whether they use zonal or man-to-man marking
techniques of marking based upon where the ball is positioned on the pitch and the score in
the game at any one point. Teams throughout games may chose to use a zonal defence,
man-to-man defence or a combination of both techniques.
Zonal Marking
When adopting the zonal marking technique defenders cover/mark space rather than
individual opponents, therefore each defender is responsible for a specific area of the pitch.
By adopting zonal marking the defending team can; pass attackers from one defender to
another as the attacker passes from one zone to the next, cover the space in which
opposing players could pass the ball and mark an attacker as they move into an individual
defenders area on the pitch.
Teams may choose to give defenders ‘zones’ to mark in areas of the pitch which are the
most dangerous defensive areas with a view for defenders to channel players wide into less
dangerous areas of the pitch.
One key advantage of zonal marking is that if the defensive team manage to dispossess the
opposition and gain possession then the player with the ball will be less likely to be closely
marked and therefore will be in a better position to move with the ball uncontested.
Player to Player Marking
Player to player marking is a simpler form of sharing responsibility for marking throughout a
team. This style of marking requires players to mark an individual opponent as opposed to
space.
Positioning is important in order to utilize player to player marking effectively. Defenders
want to ensure that they are positioned between the player they are marking and the goal
they are defending and want to be further inside the pitch than their opponent thus reducing
the space the attacker can move in by keeping them towards the side lines.
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The drawback to this style of defending is if an opposing team are faster and more skilful
then they should be able to get around individual players easily. By marking individuals
rather than space teams are more likely to be able to get around defenders by penetrating
through the unmarked space.
Most players will generally have one player in their defence who does not mark a specific
player known as a Sweeper or a Cover Full Back, should the opposition penetrate the team
defence through the space available then it would be the Sweepers or Cover Full Back role
to defend the centre of the field which is the most dangerous area for attackers to move with
the ball.
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