Basketball Defense Drill: Corner Close Live
No coach has ever felt their team was too good at closeouts. Closeouts are one of the toughest parts of defense. There are multiple techniques. Some teach choppy steps. Others teach hockey stops. Whatever you teach, you must practice it.
If your team gets good at closeouts, you keep people in front of you and stay out of rotation.
Long closeouts are especially challenging. They separate the elite defenders from average ones. Can your players cover a large area and then keep an offensive player in front of them?
Use Corner Closeouts to develop that skill.
Corner Closeouts
This drill provides practice in closing out from a distance at the baseline angle and playing effective one-on-one defense.
- Don't give up a layup
- Get into the offensive player's "bubble"
- Force a contested jumper off the dribble
- Rebound the ball
Instructions
- The drill starts with the defender throwing a pass to a player at the top of the key, who then throws a pass to an offensive player in the right corner area.
- As soon as player 1 passes to player 2, they sprint across the baseline and closeout on player 3.
- They should play one-on-one live. The offensive player is limited to four dribbles. After the initial shot, the ball remains live until the defender gets the rebound or the offense scores, but the offense is limited to a single dribble per rebound.
- The rotation through the drill is as follows: Defender goes to the passing line at the top; Passer at the top joins the shooting line; and the Shooter joins the Defender line. The diagram shows the second rotation of the drill with players in proper lines.
Key Teaching Points
- The defender should try to angle their stance as your system teaches. They might play straight up, force middle, or force baseline. Make sure their stance reflects that.
- Remind players of what shots you want to allow. Those should be mid-range off-the-dribble jumpers. Conversely, your offensive players should be looking for catch-and-shoot 3's or layups.
- Encourage your offensive players to be decisive on the catch. DO NOT catch and hold.
- Make sure defenders box out the shooter. This is hard for many players. They must be able to go from contesting to boxing out with no lag time.
Build A Defensive Identity
It doesn't matter what defense you play; if you can't close out, you won't be successful. Closeouts are a building block of good defense.
If you're looking to build an elite man to man defensive team, consider these resources.
- Man To Man Defense With Jim Huber - we at Breakthrough believe youth players should be taught man to man defense. This speeds their development and sets them up for long term success. In this video, Coach Jim Huber goes over every aspect of man to man defense. He starts with how to guard the ball 1 on 1 and builds from there. This is an A-Z system for how to teach man to man defense in a logical way.
- Man Left Defense With Rob Brost - for those who want to teach man to man by making players use their weak hand, the Man Left is for you. This defensive system is based around forcing the ball left. It forces players to make plays using their non-dominant hand. It's a great way to force your opponent to play uncomfortably. One hidden benefit is that your players will improve their weak hand by practicing against this defense on a regular basis.
- The Outer 1/3 Defense With Nick LoGalbo - this defensive system forces on keeping the ball on 1 side of the floor. This makes defensive rotations easier, which is huge for young players. This system gives players clarity, helping your players stay connected on the defensive end.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Facebook (127k Followers)
YouTube (141k Subscribers)
Twitter (31.8k Followers)
Q&A Forum
Podcasts