How to Play Basketball Defense
Scoring wins you many basketball games, but if you want to win championships, you must focus on defense. Through a slew of defensive plays, you can limit the opposing team’s top scorers, which gives your team more scoring opportunities in the process. Playing defense is not easy, by any means. Excellent physical fitness is required, as well as an alert mind to anticipate the moves of the player you’re defending.
Excel at Moving Laterally
With quick lateral movements, you can deny the opposing player’s path, limiting his or her offensive options. You then have the option to go for a steal, a block or force a turnover. However, before you have good lateral movement, you must have enough stamina to keep up with the opposing player. Accustom yourself to moving sidewards at an extremely quick pace. Stretch and sway your arms while moving laterally to block your opponent’s view. If you’re fast enough, you can trap the ballhandler in a corner where he or she will likely commit an error.
Develop Proper Timing
All defensive plays require proper timing. You must time your jump well if you want to block a shot. A steal, on the other hand, involves good hand and eye coordination. To improve your timing, you must focus on the opposing player’s movements, as well as the opposing team’s offensive formation. By doing so, you can anticipate a pass or thwart any of his offensive options.
Box Out
defenseNext to scoring, the rebound is the most essential stat in basketball. Recovering a missed basket gives you a scoring opportunity and denies possession to the opposing team. So how do you grab a miss if you’re surrounded with tall players? Go in front of them, lean forward while stretching your arms, then go for the ball. The opposing players will have a hard time getting the rebound, since your posture creates distance between them and the ball. Also, if any of them attempts to grabs the ball from you, he or she would likely be called for an over-the-back foul. That effective defensive move is called the box out.
Do a Few Dirty Tricks
Legendary defensive players like Dennis Rodman and Ron Artest are not only known for defense, but also for applying dirty tricks when necessary. You can take a page from their book and add a few roughhousing tactics to your defensive repertoire. When the referee is not looking, you can tug the jerseys of players going for the basket. A shooters, on the other hand, will surely miss if you tap his or her elbow while shooting. Don’t forget to plant a few elbows and commit hard fouls on the opposing team’s leading scorer. He or she will either be injured or may challenge you to a fistfight, which will merit two technical fouls. That player will be out of the game in both cases.
Defense is just as important as scoring baskets. In fact, tight defense often leads to more than a few opportunities for scoring. Practice it and you just might win your team the trophy this season.