1. Defense

2. Defense Overview We play man-man defense
Defense is about effort, discipline, trust and courage.
We have to work harder than the other team
We have to be disciplined enough to maintain our defensive responsibilities while giving maximal effort
We have to trust our teammates to do their job and focus on our responsibilities
We have to have the courage to take on the girl in front of us and know we can defend her

3. Defensive Goals
Our top goal is to hold the other team to less than points/possession.
We want to have a 70% defensive rebounding percentage in every game.
That means we get 7 out of every 10 defensive rebounding opportunities.
We to get a steal or turnover on 2/3 of the other teams possessions.
We hold our opponents to 20% shooting percentage from the field.

4. Defensive Terminology
Ball side- Side of the court where the ball is
Help side- Side of the court opposite from the ball.
On the line Up the line- Position of defensive players guard a man who doesn’t have the ball.
All players off the ball should draw a direct line between their man and the ball and the position themselves on that line towards the player with the ball.
One pass away- Your player can be passed to directly from the player with the ball.
Two passes away- Your player would need the ball to pass twice to reach your man or require a skip pass.
Sprint to help- When the player you are guarding passes the ball you sprint to an on the line up the line position to be in a help position and deny your player the ball.
Attack Position- Defensive position when playing defense off the ball

5. Attack Position Knees Bent Back straight One hand pointed at the ball
One hand pointed at you man
Butt to the basket
Shoulders directly in line with the passing lane.
Head on a swivel watching your girl and the ball
You are constantly repositioning yourself

6. On-The-Line-Up-The-Line
On-The-Line-Up-The-Line (OUT)
The concept here is that we are going to position ourselves in the pass lane between the ball and our girl.
How far up the line we are (towards the ball) depends on how far our girl is away from the ball
You are close to your girl only off by 2 feet
5 ft
You split the difference
10 ft
You have one foot in the ball side court so you are over 20 feet away from your girl!!
45 ft (ball in one corner your man in the other)

7. At this point the ball has not entered the front court and is not in a box

8. Help Side Ball Side Defenders on the ball side are tight on players.
Defenders on help side are on-the-line-up-the line with one foot in the ball side. We are squeezing the court trying to force the ball to stay ball side.
Now that the ball is in the front court there is a ball side and help side. Our goal is to keep the ball on the ball side and therefore stop any ball reversal
Help Side
Ball Side

9. .
Now that the ball is in the right lower box we want to deny any pass that lets it out of there. We front the Post players and deny any pass out of the box. Make someone come into the box to help him.
Once we get them in this position we are looking for a turnover. If she tries to pass out to the top we try and make the steal.
Help Side
Ball Side

10. Defensive positioning Ball side vs Help side
Skip passes are encouraged. Defender moves on the pass to get into defensive position

11. Defensive positioning Ball side vs Help side
You are fronting the man in the post. However we are not going to body this man. Instead we are going to be in attack position so the offensive player cant spin on us and pin us
Skip passes are encouraged. Defender moves on the pass to get into defensive position
Split the difference. You are taking away a drive but still able to steal the ball if they try and pass to your man
When a player positions way outside we don’t go with them but rather play on the line forcing them to catch moving away from the basket

12. How can OUT defense work when we are leaving players wide open?
On-The-Line-Up-The-Line (OUT) defense has 4 central principles.
Squeeze the floor: Crowd the pass lanes making everything look difficult.
Be in Attack Position:
Attack position is an athletic position so you are ready to jump or run to the ball or provide help. We never loose the ball because we always have one eye on it.
Defenders move on the pass.
In an OUT defense we move on the pass not the catch
As soon as the 40 foot skip pass leaves the hand of the ball handler the defender who has the intended target sprints to position. Instantly she makes a decision can I steal the pass? If so she goes for the steal. If she cant get the pass she runs to set up defense on the girl catching the ball
Pressure the ball:
On the ball defenders get in the ball handlers face as soon as she picks the ball up to pass making any pass difficult and accurate fast long passes near impossible

13. UNDER-Out of Bounds Play

14. Under Setup 1
It is important that our main ball handler be in the corner. This will pull a good defensive player to you removing her from the middle where all the action is going to happen
It is critical that everyone acts like they want the ball thrown to them. We want the defender to fight to get between you and the ball. 4 2 5 3

15. Under Step-1
On the Whistle 4 up cuts past the foul line. Prior to cutting up have your forearm in your girls back and get a little push off the get separation
2 throws lob over the top to her. 4 you have to go up hard and win the battle for this ball
5 cuts hard to set a screen for 2 coming in bounds. After you set the screen get out of the lane don’t get a 3 second call 1 4 2 5 3

16. Under Step-2 1 On the catch 4 immediately looks for 2 on the block.
2 cuts off of screen by 5 to get open on the block for the layup.
1 +3 you have to continte to act ike you ight get the balll. 4 2 5 3

17. Under Step-3 On the catch 4 immediately looks for 2 on the block. 1
2 receives the ball back from 4 for layup.
If they crash on 2 hard the girl who set the screen will be wide open on other block.
Play only works if 2 makes an accurate lob pass that gets everyone's attention going to 4 and then 4 makes a quick and accurate pass back to 2. after catch. Also 5 needs to start to move to set the screen as soon as the ball is released 1 4 5 2 3

18. On-The-Ball Defensive Stance
Feet are approximately shoulder-width apart with one foot slightly ahead of the other.
Athletic position with knees bent, hips down, back straight and head up, as if the player were sitting on a stool.
Hands should be palm up.
Hand to ball side should be high by your ear blocking the pass.
Hand on non-ball side should be waist height and ready to steal the ball on a cross over dribble
When going for the ball on a steal we want to go after the ball from below with an up-motion instead of bring your hand down .
Officials look for hands coming down on the players arm. They call many less fouls when you go for the ball by bringing your hand up.

19. Defensive Stance Players line up and get into their defensive stance.
Coaches move around adjusting the stance of the players.
Players watch coach dribbling in front of them and switch hands when he switches dribble hand.
Right hand dribble-Left hand up for defender
Left hand dribble- Right hand up for defender

20. Step-Slide Players get into on-the-ball defensive stance
When coach points in a certain direction, players step in that direction with their lead foot and slide their trail foot. The trail foot should never leave the floor.
Keep hands in correct position

21. Swing Step Players get into on-the-ball defensive stance
When coach points in a direction they swing the forward foot in the direction the coach points and step slide.
The swing should be a quarter turn as to no go fully parallel to you player and “open the gate”
Feet do not come together when the play moves.

22. Mirror Drill Players get into a proper defensive stance
Players follow coach instructions.
Left and right
Slide step left and right making sure to keep hands in proper position and drag back foot
Forward and backward
When advancing they lead with their front foot and drag back foot
When retreating they lead with back foot and
Change direction
Swing correct foot drag back foot