Defensive Close Out Fundamentals -- 5 Keys to Better Close Outs

Joe

My question to you is the following: when a defense player closes out, as they studder step -then puts their hands up to contest the shot or pass isn't the defense player off-balance according to newton's law(2). This would give the advantage to the offensive player with the ball because the defensive player is off-balance. What is you thought? Newton's second law (center point of gravity/balance)

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Anthony, you could be right. I'm not quite sure.

On the close out, is the player ever on balance until they're completely set?

I'm making an assumption here, so correct me if I'm wrong, but you're questioning putting both hands up versus just one hand up.

I think it depends on your coaching philosophy. I've heard both arguments and they both make sense to me. I've actually taught both ways too.

This is the way I look at it.

The studder step creates friction on the ground to slow your speed down. A few coaches will also teach quick stops.

To contest the shot or deter the initial post pass, both hands are only up for a brief second. Also this motion helps stop the forward momentum as well.

Once the pass and shot has been deterred, you'll notice that the defensive player immediately brings their hands down which would be a balanced position.

To me, the player quickly progresses from really out of balance (sprinting towards the player) to slightly out of balance (slowing down when studdering and throwing hands up) to being balanced stance (one hand up or whatever you teach).

Your close outs may also change based on the player you are guarding. For a knock-down shooter, you may fly at them and force them to dribble. For a dribble penetrator, you may close out 7 feet short of them.

For somebody who can do both, good luck! You may never want to leave their side, so close outs won't happen.

Another thing just from my observations, the best athletes are the athletes who can maintain balance in typically unbalanced situations.

On the basketball floor, I don't if you will ever be truly balanced, but I guess you can try to teach techniques that will help you get to center of gravity as quickly as possible.

What do you teach?

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Joe -

You make a lot of great points here, the key to any sport is maintaining good balace. Once you lose that, your opponent has the advantage. Think of a boxer and his stance, IF your feet were together, one punch and its over.

To me, the idea of closing out is to take away the offensive players best move.... if its shooting, make him put in on the floor, IF its driving, let him shoot it.... and like Joe said, if he can do both.... you better get some help.

I used to say, score first and pull the fire alarm. LOL

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I like Ken's thoughts there.

Closeouts are like so many other areas where we need to be able to do multiple things depending on need/opponent.

We try to take away 1st/2nd wants for offense. I like to primarily close out into a proper stance, so we wouldn't do 2 hands up.

My only thought about the video is that I would disagree with saying you shouldn't close out any specific way. If they have a strong shooter with only one strong hand, I would want my guy to close out to defend the shot and take away strong-hand drive (1st/2nd options).

But the footwork and focus on this area is huge for any good defense.

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Good points!! So much of this depends on age and level of play. For young kids you'll want to teach them how to do it one way. College kids might have a handful of different ways to close out depending on the person they are guarding.

With that said, some college coaches primarily teach one way and don't spend time teaching a bunch of different close outs because they don't believe they get a big enough return on the necessary time invested to drill players in closing out all those different ways. You always have to decide what is worth spending your time on and what's not.

Lots of ways to go about things but I don't think you can go wrong following the fundamental elements taught by Jim in the video. It works for him and his teams compete at a national level... mostly because of their tough m2m defense.

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I agee with Jeff H.,you can''''t go wrong. I think the main point is for the athlete to be fundementaly sound so his response is more effective, being low, sprint, hand ups then down quickly, he's not going have time thinking about where his center of gravity is.

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Hi All.
Throwing hands up in the air (or back) is used to keep the body in balance as the player defending was sprinting to close out and therefore needs resistance to stop. This is also useful to prevent a quick pass inside. The key here is not to keep hands in the air for too long but just enough to stay in balance.
Afterward, player closing out will lower one hand down to judge the distance (cushion) depending on the speed of the offensive player and also to prevent / disrupt crossovers (if low) or passes to a flasher (if placed higher).
The other hand can stay above the ball to prevent a quick shot. If an offensive player is not in shooting motion, then the defensive player's hand comes down too.

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I was always taught to learn what your opponents dominant shooting hand is and when closing out put the hand up that mirrors his shoot hand. It's always worked for me very well. It takes a good shooter outta rhythm and makes him a driver or passer

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please i need to know what is the best closing out with 1 hand or 2 hands and where to closeout with 1 hand or 2 hands.thank you

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I think a lof of that has to do with the coaches philosophy. I taught one handed close out for years, but towards the end I changed to two hands.

The key is to take away the offensive players best move... challenge shooters WITHOUT fouling while being under control in case he wants to drive. JMO

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Coach Huber said something about hopping which I remember my coach constantly saying.
"NO HOPS." Basically players hopping both defensively and offensively could be one of the most overdone bad habit that players make. How many times do we see a ball handler hopping with the basketball? In many instances he gets past his defender and then lets him off the hook by hopping which allows defenders to recover. Defensively if I close out and then leave my feet and hop in the air, I am basically dead in the air ready to be scored upon. Great video!!

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My players know our opponents weak hand. I teach my guys to close out one handed to the offenses strong side. We do a one handed closeout with the hand up being the offensive players strong side because typically a two handed closeout will result in the defense more upright and out of position defensively. One handed also allows the defense to jump quicker to contest a shot. Closing out to the strong side with that hand up helps take away the shot and with the weak side hand down in a defensive position, the pass away is typically more effectively defensed. Short choppy steps, and under control, is a must do.

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Some coaches who influence away from the middle (like Texas Tech does) will teach 1 hand closeouts but it's always the "inside" hand to make the middle less inviting.

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I’m of the mindset to close out with one hand vs two. Two doesn’t make sense as you leave the defender susceptible to an even higher percentage shot in the drive and dunk, foul, or drive and kick to a more open three. You close out with one and use the other hand for counterbalance in the stop, then using it to guide the offensive player to either their weak hand or into the defense where you can get additional help defense.

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