A Tip for Better Man-to-Man Defense
I have to make it clear that defense was not my strong point but I’ve worked with plenty of excellent defensive coaches. Defense is a mindset and players that play defense with a sense of pride and hustle are fun to watch. I’ve picked up a few man to man tips over the years but one of them I see used daily in college basketball and figured I would share it today.
Understand that what i’m telling you is technically a foul but nonetheless it won’t be called much if done correctly. College coaches teach this all the time and it is a great strategy for teams that play a tight man to man defense.
When guarding the ball handler it is extremely important to not get caught with your hands down. Defenders that keep both hands down while trying to stop a dribbler either get beat or get called for a foul. The reason they get called for a foul is because they drop their hands and inevitably try to use them to stop the man from going past them. Refs see this and call this many times a game. What refs don’t see is that the defender guarding the ball should have one hand up and the other forearm should be on the chest or stomach of the ball handler. The one hand up makes it appear that you are using your feet but your hand on the chest of the offense slows down the defense and gives you a chance to maintain defensive position.
Practice this by doing a typical 1-1 but have the defender be close enough that his forearm is on the offense with his off hand in the air. If the ball handler changes directions simply change hands with accordance to the direction the ball is going. It will work and will allow you to play a tight man to man defense while avoiding needless foul calls.
