Wall, Ball and Slide Defensive
A key element in the game of basketball is being to guard a defender with the ball in a one-on-one situation.
Improve your ability to defend and guard the basketball with a defensive drill designed to improve your defensive footwork movement while working to increase your lateral defensive transition.
The player should find a solid concrete or brick/block wall. The player should set themselves in a defensive stance position approximately eight (8) to ten (10) feet away from the wall with a basketball in hand.
To start, the player will toss the basketball against the wall, with an underhand throw, at an angle away from their defensive stance position.
- Once the ball leaves the players hands, the player must execute a defensive slide in order to recover and be directly in front of the basketball to catch it.
- When the player catches the basketball they will immediately repeat the process.
- The player will execute the wall, ball and slide segments going one direction while space permits.
- When the player runs out of room to execute the drill going that direction, the player will immediately begin executing the drill going in the opposite direction.
The player will continue this pattern of side-to-side wall, ball and slide defensive work for thirty (30) seconds. The player should complete three (3) thirty (30) second sets.
NOTE: The player will need to be able to slide back and forth in order to execute this drill therefore the player will need about fifteen (15) to twenty (20) feet in order to effectively execute this drill.
Skill to Drill Emphasis:
- Players should focus on staying down in their defensive stance position. A good way to measure a players ability to stay down in their stance while sliding side-to-side is to watch the head to make sure it stays in a nice level plain. If the head and body bob up and down the player will need to refocus on staying down in the defensive stance position while sliding from side-to-side.
- Don’t gallop! Players typically start off in a good defensive position while stationary, but when they go to move they come up out of their stance and stand upright in their position and the feet are then clicked together in a galloping fashion. In order to execute proper defensive slide technique the player will need to pick up one foot and extend while pushing of the instep of the other foot. This is defensive motion is called drive and recover.
- Drive and Recover: Players should work on driving off the instep of one foot while extending with the other foot to cover distance. Once distance has been covered the player will then need to pull the other foot quickly back into proper stance position so the body is under control and balanced.
- Use your peripheral vision to move side-to-side while staying focused on seeing the ball bounce off the wall and into your hands.
- Keep the hands up and out. Catch the basketball and then lead your slide by tossing the ball underhanded against the wall several feet from your current position. Have your hands ready to catch the ball and immediately repeat the process in order to simulate game-like transition with the defensive slide.
