I’ve coached players who love to dance:

• In the locker room
• In pregame
• During practice

Unfortunately, none of their dancing translated to better performance.

That’s going to change going forward. Check out this concept from The 2-2-1 Press: A Versatile Pressing System With Rob Beucler & let your players use their dance moves for good!

The “Problem” With 2-2-1 Press Traps

One issue many coaches have with the traps in the 2-2-1 is that the dribbler can see them coming.

This differs from the run and jump and other presses that use blindside traps. The advantage to those traps is the dribbler is caught off guard, adding the element of surprise.

In the 2-2-1, traps come from the front.

However, just because the dribbler knows where the trap is coming from doesn’t mean you still can’t surprise them. 

The Dancing Solution

“Dancing” is a technique that Coach Beulcer teaches to the players in the second line of the 2-2-1 to help maintain the element of surprise.

When players “dance,” they take 1 step forward and 2 steps back. They do this as the ball is being dribbled towards them.

This creates indecisions in the ball handler. Should they keep dribbling? Should they pass? Because they aren’t sure when the trap is going to be sprung, they often are lured into bad decisions.

If they continue to advance their dribble, the second line player will eventually trap. If they pass over the head of the second line player, that player will turn and trap with the back player.

Practice this with the 1v2 Trapping Drill from Coach Beucler.

• 1 attempts to split x1 and x2 or beat them to the sideline.
• X1 guides the ball up the sideline.
• X2 “dances” to maintain the element of surprise before trapping around half court.

Use Deception To Create Chaos

Deception is your friend on defense. When your opponent doesn’t know what’s coming (or when it’s coming), they get tentative.

When they get tentative, bad decisions ensue. By teaching “dancing,” you’ll create more of those bad decisions.

Those will lead to easy buckets for your team, giving your players even more reasons to dance. That’s a win-win!

Click here to learn more about The 2-2-1 Press: A Versatile Pressing System With Rob Beucler. 

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