8 Advanced Basketball Defense Drills In 2020

The defense is the most essential part of any game. To win matches, you have to pay deep attention to the basketball defense drills of your team. If we say that defense is more important than the offense, it won’t to incorrect. If you have a good offense and your defense is weak. There is a significant chance that you will lose the game. Hence, you should be focusing more on basketball defense drills.

With that being said, let’s begin the show and check out what are the hot basketball defense drills that can stop the attack of any powerful team.

Basketball Defense Drills That Work In 2020

Struggling hard to stop the ball is not enough to counter the offense. You have to shape proper strategies to combat the opponent players. These basketball defense drills will help you to develop the basketball defense strategies that will make even the strongest of offenses feel weaker. It is advisable that you should practice these defensive drills basketball in your best basketball shoes so that everything should be checked properly. 2ndly Every player should know the basketball basics & rule to avoid any foul play or penalty

Basketball Defense Drills At a Glance

1. 1 on 1 Defense – Most Important Basketball Defense Drills

The 1-1 defense strategy is a must to have top drills if you want to save a lot of scores and put the offense players under pressure. If you lack the skills of tackling the offensive players in close combats. No matter how potent your team combination is. You are going to struggle very hard.

There is a saying:

“A Chain is as strong as its weakest link.”

If you want to dominate the basketball arena, you have to make your defense very, very strong. And this 1-1 basketball defense drill will help you to make it to the end.

Setup

To practice the 1-1 basketball defense drills, you have to place the defensive player on the paint area.

The drill starts with the defensive player in the paint area with the ball.
The offensive player stands at the wing.

Execution

Part-1

The defensive player throws the ball to the offensive player and then run towards the attacking player. The player at the wing is not allowed to move until the defensive player touches him.
When the defensive player touches the offensive player, the defensive player has to sprint towards the offensive player and urge the offensive player to go for a contested shot.
When the offensive player makes a shot, the defensive player has to block down the shot.
After blocking the shot, the defensive player should hunt down the rebound.

Part-2

In the second part of this drill, the offense can go live as soon as he gets the hold of the ball.
After the offense player goes live, the defensive player has to sprint towards the offense and minimize the chances of a dribble.
When the offensive player tries to make a shot, you have to block the ball down and then go for the rebound.

This basketball defense technique is the fundamental of any good basketball defense drill. You should try to change the offensive player and keep the same defensive player to get him more out of the drill.

2. Resist The Pass

The second basketball defense drill that you should focus on is the pass denial technique. In this drill, the defensive player learns the art of resisting the pass. If you want to improve the defense capabilities of your team. Then it’s a must-have drill.

Basketball Defense Drill

Setup

There are two offensive players, one of the strong-side slot position, and the other on the wing.
The strong-side slot player has the hold of the ball.
The defense player stays close to the wing player.

Execution

The duty of the defensive player in this scenario is to hinder the pass of the ball to the wing player.

The drill starts with the strong-side slot player in possession of the ball.
The Strong-side slot player tries to pass on the ball to the wing player.
The defensive player has to block the ball during the pass.
If the offensive player at the wing gets the ball, he returns the ball.
This drill continues until the defensive player has continuously blocked three pass tries.

This pass-blocking drill will enhance the capabilities of your players to resist the chances of the pass and then ultimately force the opponent players to look for other opportunities.

You can change the positions of the offensive players and then continue the drill until you feel confident in the defense.

3. Transition Position

Basketball is a game in which you have switch your position more frequently than you can imagine. This drill starts with five players from the defense and five players from the offense. The players of the defense have to instantly shift their positions and move to the next offensive player.

This drill needs much more focus than other basketball defense drills. The players have to communicate better and more efficiently.

Setup

This drill starts with five players on defense and five players on the offense.
Each player from the defense is attached to a player from the offense.

Execution

Each player from the defense has designated to an offensive player.
As soon as the coach has blown the whistle, the offense has to leave the ball on the ground.
A player from the defense picks up the ball, and then the positions get transitioned.
The players from the defense are now on the offense and vice versa.
The players cannot get attached to the same players that were guarding them.

This drill develops mutual understanding and better sportsmanship in the players. You can include a variety of other basketball defense drills in the exercise and make it even more useful.

4. No Paint Entry Drill

Restricting the opponent players from entering the paint area can be a very crucial part of the game. If you master this skill, you can pretty much dominate the whole basketball court.

If you want to have a proper basketball defense strategy, you should master this skill. Do this drill with your defense and keep the offense away from the paint area.

Setup

Four offensive players are trying to hit a goal.
Four defensive players are defending the paint area.

Execution

There are four players from the offense.
Four players from the defense have to stop the attack from entering the paint area.
Every time the offense comes to the paint area, they get the point.
With every point scored, the players transition their positions.

You can test the abilities of the defense with the Help of this drill. You can start the drill with a lower number of players, and then you can increase the number of players as the game progresses.

This drill will enhance the defense capabilities of your team and will get you an unfair advantage in the game.

5. 5 On 4 Drill

The five on four drills are the real test of the capabilities of your defense. As the defense players are low in number, they have to hustle very hard, communicate well, and stay focused. This drill is one of the best basketball defense drills.

In this drill, the players learn how to tackle the players in a position when there are more offensive players than the defense.

Setup

There are five players in the attacking team.
The number of defensive players is four.
The ball starts at the wing.

Execution

The ball starts at the wing, and the offensive players try to score points.
The defense players have to scramble for closeouts.
There is a clear opportunity for the attacking team to score.
But the defensive players are at a clear disadvantage.

In the execution of this technique, the defensive players might have to struggle hard to get the possession of the ball. It is the challenge of the defense to keep things under control.

Tip: Always ask the defensive players to go for close-ups; otherwise, it will become much harder.

You can do the same drill with four players on the offense and three players on the defense. The point is to always keep the number of defensive players one less than the offensive players.

6. Defense Specialist

This drill is a must-have if you want to prepare for players for all kinds of challenges. In this drill, the defensive player has exposed to different types of defensive tactics. The defense player will use different rehearsal strategies like closeouts, sprinting, defensive sliding, and backpedaling.

Defense Specialis

All these different basketball practices will make your defense much stronger. Some players like to use basketball practice sheets for this purpose.

Setup

There are four players involved in this drill.
Every player will start from the baseline.

Execution

You have to make the defense player test out his skills one by one.
The offense player at the wing gets the possession of the ball.
One of the defense players sprints towards the player for the closeout.
If the offensive player receives the passed to the next offensive player.
Then the other defensive player also sprints and closeouts.
If the offensive player is unable to pass the ball, then the players need to transition their positions.
You need to try all the defensive tactics one by one.

As a coach, you need to make sure all the defensive players are giving their 100% in the game. So, that they can get the benefit out of these basketball defense drills.

7. The Shell Drill – Most Safe Basketball Defense Drills

This drill is perhaps one of the essential basketball defense drills. This drill starts with four defensive players and four offensive players. The players from the offense have to be on the three-line area while the defensive players are on the baseline area.

This basketball defense drill will prepare your defense to counter challenges in the actual game.

Setup

The game starts will two players on the top of the three-point area and the other two on the wing from the offense.
Players from the defense lineup on the baseline.

Execution

All the defensive players have to follow this suite to complete the drill. The suite is Closeout, Denial, Help Side.

The basketball has passed to the top of the line player, and the defense activates.
The players from the offense will try to pass the ball to one another.
Guarding – The first step of this to defend the ball and force the offensive player to throw it.
Denial = One pass
Help Side = Two passes
Aggressive Side Help = Three passes away
The offense players need to pass on the ball so that the defense can move from the position to the next position.
The drill continues until the players are confident about the defense strategy.

This defense drill is the backbone of all the other basketball defense drills out there. All the famous basketball coaches regularly train their players using this super defensive drill.

Try this drill, and you will feel the difference in the performance of your team.

8. Pick & Roll Defense

This drill focusses on properly defending the ball. In this defense drill, the defender needs to fight for the ball and then finally protect it. This drill prepares the player for the aggressive defending scenarios in which they have to protect the basket.

Setup

There are two players on the defense and two players on the offense.
The ball handler is standing on the wing.
The screener is on the opposite wing.

Execution

Player 2 sets a ball screen for Player 1.
As soon as Player 2 cuts to set the screen for Player 1, the game is live.
You can repeat the number of games to specific points or timeframe.

You have extensively done this thrill to master this drill.

Basketball Defense Drills enhance the defense capabilities of your team. The defense is an essential part of any team, and you should spend time practicing these basketball defense drills to master the art of defense. All these advances defense strategies has plucked out of different scenarios.

We like these defense drills and hence prefer them to everyone asking for the perfect basketball defense drills. If you have some more basketball defense drills in mind, kindly write them down in the comments bar below. Cheers!

Frequently Asked Question For Basketball Defense Drill

Q-1: How can I improve my defense in basketball?

Reply: The simple and straight forward reply is practice and practice. As per the famous saying, “Practice makes the man perfect.” You need to concentrate on the following basketball defensive drill a bit more