Man to Man Basketball Drills and Tips

Playing man to man defense in basketball is the quickest way to create turnovers against the vast majority of opponents. The first thing that you should teach a new basketball team is how to play solid, in your face, man to man defense. Fortunately, it is a defense that can actually be taught to most any basketball player.

The first key to playing solid man-to-man basketball is to understand the concept. When most players hear the term man-to-man, they automatically assume that this means to stay with their man regardless of the situation. To play solid man-to-man defense, players must be willing to switch off when necessary. This can be due to the offense setting picks, or when a defensive player loses their man. This is often termed playing help defense.

Another key aspect of man-to-man defense is to always keep your body between the player with the ball and your man. This is called playing the lanes and it can lead to quite a few turnovers when done correctly. When a team is playing this type of defense, helping out on other players is absolutely vital. Many players will sneak back door when you try to play lanes. This is another fine example of when you have to switch during man-to-man defense.

Of course the most important part of playing man-to-man defense is being able to pressure the ball. This is accomplished by keeping good position and not reaching for the basketball and picking up cheap fouls. Keeping your eyes on the torso of the player with the ball will help you to stay in good defensive position. Ignore head and ball fakes. Keep your feet underneath you at all times and do not leave the ground for pump fakes.

One of the best man-to-man basketball drills involves putting a basketball player on one end line and having the defensive player guard him up and down the floor. This simple but effective man-to-man defense drill will help a player to learn to stay in front of the ball and to move their feet. Make sure that the person with the ball goes from left to right and tries to get past the defensive player.

Playing man-to-man defense is not rocket science. The bottom line to any defense in the game of basketball is to create turnovers. By keeping a good solid base and playing the lanes, turnovers will come to the defense naturally.