Basketball Defense & Agility Drill: Diamond Drill

Drill Purpose (All Ages)

This agility drill will help improve your players' quickness and speed. It's great because it
involves the basic movements of basketball with sliding, running, and back pedaling.

Instructions

1. Players will start underneath the hoop.

2. On the whistle, the first player will sprint to

half-court.
3. Once the player gets to half court, the player
will slide diagonally where a cone or some sort
of marker should be sitting. Make sure that the
players are using a proper defensive slide: butt
low, head up, hands out, chest out, good
balance, and don't bring the feet together when
sliding.

4. Once the player gets to the cone, (s)he will

perform a defensive drop step and slide to his
left to where he started.

5. When underneath the hoop, the player will turn

and backpedal as fast as possible to half court.
6. Once at half court, the player will slide to his
left as quickly as possible to a cone that should
be located on the opposite sideline.

7. Once the player reaches the sideline, (s)he

does a defensive drop step and slides as quickly
possible towards the hoop.

8. Repeat the drill as necessary if you want to

condition your players.

Points of Emphasis

Continually tell your players...

Keep their butts down when sliding.

When sliding, keep their arms out.
When back pedaling, the player should slightly lean forward.
Work! Work! Work! The players can not lolly gag through this drill otherwise it will not
benefit them as much as it should.

Motivation / Teaching Tips

Tip #1 - Player should always be facing half court when performing the defensive slide.

Tip #2 - If you want to keep it competitive, you can get out a stop watch and time every
kid. You could also do relays. Split into two groups. Once the first player gets done, the
second starts and so forth.

Tip #3 - If you need to get through this drill quickly, you can start each player after the
player in front reaches the three point line.
 No Hands Defense Drill
Categories: Defense Footwork
Ages: All Ages Youth Middle School High School+

Purpose of the Drill:

This drill forces the players to play defense with their feet rather than with their hands.
Often, players will get lazy and start to reach in. This drill instills good habits of moving the
feet and maintaining proper position to stop the offense.

Instructions

You can play 1 on 1, 2 on 2, 3 on 3, 4 on 4, or 5 on 5 using this drill. You could even do

overload drills with this drilll if you would like.
The only time the defensive player is allowed to use their hands is to grab a rebound.

Points of Emphasis:

No Hands - Some coaches like to have the players grab their jerseys or put their hands
behind their back to prevent them from using their hands on defense. This also makes it
much more difficult to move. I have seen some coaches do this at the beginning of the drill.
Then, they allow the defense to use their hands to move, but still restrict them from
reaching in or slapping the ball away. Only time they can grab the ball is still off of a
rebound.
 Motivation/Teaching Tips:

To add difficulty, you could require the defense to get a certain number of defensive stops
in order to go to offense.
To make it really difficult, you could make them get a certain number of stops in a row in
order to go to offense.
 Defense Reaction Drill - Players
Drill Purpose:

This is a great all around drill that improves your defensive speed, quickness, and agility. It
also improves conditioning and jumping. If you work hard, you'll see results on the court.

Instructions

1. Sprint to half court.

2. Defensive slide diagonally towards the sideline.

3. Once, you reach the baseline, swing your inside foot

back (defensive drop step) and slide back towards the
hoop.
4. Run to the free throw line.

5. When you reach the free throw line, get down in your
defensive stance and slide laterally to the sideline,
touch the sideline, and slide back.

6. Once, you get back to the middle of the court, sprint to

the opposite hoop and do 10 rim touches. If you can
not reach the rim, touch the net or backboard instead.
 4 Spot Fastbreak Shooting Drill
Drill Purpose:

This drill is great to work on shooting off the fast break. You can do it by yourself or with a
partner. We also show you how to work ball handling into this drill, so you can manage your
time better.

Instructions

1. Start at half court with a ball.

2. Spin the ball towards the 3-point line area.

Spin the ball high enough to get there in one
bounce.

3. Run under the ball and step-into a jump

shot.

4. Get your own rebound. If you miss, score a

lay up.

5. When dribbling the ball back to half-court,

perform a dribble move at the 3-point line.
That way, you can work on ball-handling at
the same time.

6. Once, you get back to half court, do the same thing again.

7. If working with a partner, you can have the partner position himself a little above the 3-
point line and make passes to you as you start running from half-court.

8. Pick 4 spots on the floor and take a few shots from each spot.
 Top 1 on 1
Drill Purpose

This drill adds a unique and fun competition aspect. The purpose of this drill is to improve
one on one offense and reading the defender to make the appropriate move.

Drill Instructions and Diagrams

1. Players are in 2 lines, above the foul line, even with

the lane lines.

2. Place a chair in the middle of the lane lines, above

the foul line, with the seat facing the basket.

3. Place a ball on the chair

4. When the coach calls "Go," the first player in each
line sprints and touches a spot on the baseline in
the center of the lane.

5. Players then sprint back to the chair

6. First player to the ball picks it up and is the offense.

Other player is defense. Game is on!

Teaching Points.
Offensive player immediately faces the basket and thinks "Shot."
If the ball is dribbled reinforce "Lay-up"
Limit the number of dribbles. You should be able to score with 1 dribble.
 1-3-1 "Lob Pass" Zone Defense
Categories: Defense
Ages: High School+

Summary:

This is a 1-3-1 zone defense similar to what Michigan used this year to baffle opponents. It
plays the passing lanes and forces the offensive players to throw lob passes over the
defenders. It forces the offense to play high and wide and confuses them into silly
turnovers.

It's vital that the defenders move as soon as the ball as passed.

Personnel:

This defense does not require a certain type of personnel. However, athletes never hurt.

Instructions

Initial Set
 Ball on the Wing:
1 - Sets up higher than half court and forces the ball to one side of the court and does not
allow the ball handler to dribble to the other side. Primary concern is to make the cross-
court pass as difficult as possible.
2 - Has one foot in the lane to defend the lob pass over defender 5 and still get out to
defend the corners.
3 - Faces the ball and is slightly above the 3-point line. 3 is in the passing lane to the corner
player. 3 should not allow dribble penetration down the sideline or to the middle of the
court.
4 - Is on the opposite side of the ball and drops down into the lane area to defend any
players in the post.
5 - Stops any dribble penetration and fronts the offensive player in the high post.
 Ball in the Corner:
1 - Drops down to front the high post.
2 - Covers the corner.
3 - Faces the ball and tries prevent a pass back to the wing. Make it as difficult as possible.
4 - Drops down in the lane for weakside help. Still close enough to guard skip pass to
opposite wing.
5 - Drops to front the low post.
 Skip Pass To Opposite Wing
1 - Rotates out to prevent the cross-court pass.
2 - Goes to the opposite side of the lane to prevent any lob passes and to cover the corner
if a pass is made
3 - Drops down into the lane to prevent any passes into the post.
4 - Rotates out to guard the ball and stop dribble penetration.
5 - Blasts to front the high post to prevent any passes.

Additional Comments:

If you'd like to dig deeper and get more information about developing an effectivezone
defense, we highly recommend Al Marshal's Zone Defense. In our opinion, he runs one of
the best zone defenses in the country and it gives you the most thorough explanation of
zone defense we have seen.
 Lute Olson 1-1-3 Zone Defense
By - Joe Haefner

During the 2010-2011 season at the varsity level, we ran mostly man to man defense, but
we occasionally ran some zone defense. And when we did run zone defense, we ran the 1-
1-3 Lute Olson Zone Defense.

Even though we did not run the zone defense often, our defense was actually better when
we ran zone from a statistical standpoint. It was 0.88 ppp (points per possession) with man
to man defense and 0.72 ppp with zone defense during the season.

I like the Lute Olson zone defense because it provides a different look that confuses the
offense and makes them hesitant.

We also used a variation of the Lute Olson defense in the state championship game that
almost helped us pull out a huge upset.

Basic Set

x1 applies pressure on the basketball. x1 will not

leave x1 until a pass is made.

Top Passes To Wing

1 passes to 2.

x3 applies a hard closeout to take away the shot.

x2 slides over to deny a pass into the high post

via a post or a cut and help out on dribble
penetration.

(Note: You can also have x1 slide down to deny

the ball-side high post. I prefer to have x2 deny in
this situation.)

x1 slides to the weakside.

x5 slides to ball side. x5 will full front any
offensive players on the block.

x4 slides towards the middle of the lane.

Top Dribbles To Wing

1 dribbles to wing.

When the guard dribbles from the top to the wing,

x1 stays on the guard. This is similar to positions
on the pass from the corner to the wing
diagrammed below.

x2 slides over and defends the high post. x5

defends the low post.

x4 protects the basket.

x3 is ready to defend a pass to the corner.

Wing Passes To Top

2 passes to 1

x2 defends 1.

x1 slides to high post.

x3, x4, x5 slide back to original positions.

1 passes to 3.

x4 takes away shot (hands high!) and forces ball

to sideline or corner.

x5 slides over to take away any passes to the post

and help on baseline drive.

x3 protects the basket.

x1 takes away entries to high post area.

x2 goes to weakside.

Pass To The Corner

3 passes to 4.

x5 sprints defends 4 and takes away the shot.

x4 sprints to protect the basket and weakside

block.

x3 rotates over to defend the low post.

x1 drops to mid post.

x2 slides over to help.

Pass From The Corner To The Wing

4 passes to 3.

x1 defends the wing. The guard always takes the

pass out of the corner to the wing.

x2 defends the high post.

x3 defends the low post and fronts if an offensive

player is there.

x5 slides down to help.

x4 protects the basket and weakside.

Ball Is Dribbled Out Of Corner

4 dribbles out of the corner.

x5 stays with the ball until x1 slides over to

defend the ball and calls him off.

x5 slides down to help.

x2 slides over to defend the ball.

Wing To Wing Skip Pass

3 passes to 2.

x4 defends wing.

x2 slides to ballside high post.

x1 defends weakside.

x3 fronts the low post.

x5 protects the basket and weakside.

Entry To High Post

2 passes to 5.

x1 and x2 defend 5. The guards collapse and have

active hands.

x4 slides down, but is still close enough to close

out on the wing.

x3 protects the basket area.

x5 is positioned to closeout on a pass to the

corner or wing.
Pass To Short Corner

2 passes to 4.

x3 and x5 trap the ball.

x4 slides over to protect the basket.

x2 and x1 drop down a couple of steps to defend

any cutters.
 Cutters - Against Man to Man
Defense
Summary

This play is great to use for youth coaches,

because it is very simple to teach, yet effective.
You can also use this as a simple, continuity
offense that you will run over and over. The
offense starts in a basic 1-3-1 set. It will provide
dribble-drive opportunities.

Personnel

You want Players 4 & 5 to be your post players.

You want players 1, 2, & 3 to have good ball
handling skills.

Instructions
1. Player 1 can pass to either wing, Player 2 or 3.

If the player is on the block on the ball side, he

will cut to the opposite block to clear out the

ball side. In this case, Player 4 goes to the

opposite block for Player 1 to make a basket

cut. It will also create an opportunity for Player

2 to dribble drive, if he/she sees an advantage.

2. Player 1 fakes towards the opposite wing, then

brushes his man off Player 5 as he cuts to the

basket.
3. When Player 1 reaches the block area, Player 5

flashes to the high post. Player 2 can pass to

either Player 1 or Player 5. If Player 5 gets the

ball in the high post, he can also dump the ball

down to Player 1. If Player 1 can get the

defensive player on his outside hip, he can get

an easy score.

4. If player 1 is not open, he/she cuts to the

opposite wing, and Player 5 replaces him on the

low block. Player 3 cuts to the top of the key.

Player 4 cuts to the free throw line.

5. If Player 5 & Player 4 are not open, Player 2

returns the ball to the top of the key. They are

back in the original set, and Player 3 can start

the offense again by passing to either Player 2

or Player 1. If the ball is passed back to Player

2. Player 5 will have to cut to the opposite block

again. If the ball is passed to Player 1, Player 5

stays on the left block.

Basic Flex Motion - Guard to Guard Passes

When a guard to guard pass is made, the player on the low block sets a flex screen for the
player in the corner which is followed by a down screen by the passer for the player setting
the flex screen.

Any time this guard to guard pass is made, this action occurs. You could run the flex offense
simply by passing guard to guard continuously. You will see this in this action over the next
few diagrams.

1 passes to 2.

5 sets a flex screen for 4. 4 cuts across the lane

looking for the pass from 2. This is the first
option off of the flex. If 4 does not receive the
pass, 4 finishes the cut at the low block.

After the screen is set, 5 opens up to the ball.

This is the second flex offense option.

1 sets a down screen for 5.

1 clears to the corner.

2 passes to 5.

4 sets a flex screen for 3.

2 sets a down screen for 4.

2 clears to the corner.

And the flex pattern continues.

Flex Offense - Corner Pass Option

Within the flex motion, whenever a pass is made to the corner, the passer sets a down
screen for the opposite wing. With proper timing, this flex action will often turn into a
double-staggered screen as you will see in the diagrams below.

1 clears to the corner and 2 passes to 5.

4 sets a flex screen for 3.

2 sets a down screen for 4 and 5 passes to the

1 in the corner.

5 sets a screen for 4. This turns into a double-

staggered screen for 4.
2 clears to the corner. 1 passes to 4. 4 passes
to 5.

3 sets a flex screen for 1.

4 sets a down screen for 3 and 5 passes to 2.

5 sets a screen for 3.

4 clears to the corner and the flex offense

pattern continues.