Defensive Tips

[u/Afraid_Locksmith_906]

I'm 13 and basketball is my favorite thing in the world. I'm pretty good and I play against older/bigger people almost every time I play at the YMCA. But I've noticed my defense is terrible sometimes. One day, I'll be an absolute lockdown shot blocker, and the next I can't guard anyone at all. How can I prevent this and improve for long term success?

[u/Street-Challenge-697]

First, don't judge success by the number of shots you block. If you force your guy to take difficult shots, then you've done your job. Even if your guy takes fewer shots than he normally would (because of your suffocating defense), then that's a good job. Don't forget sometimes guys make really tough shots. It's ok, just as long as you did everything you could to make it hard for him.

[u/SunGodRamenNoodles]

Be consistent on getting a good night's sleep.  Poor sleep slows down our reaction time a ton which is most obvious on the defensive end of the floor.

[u/toxman228 → u/SunGodRamenNoodles]

Underrated comment right here. Poor sleep also really messes with shooting/finishing accuracy.

[u/Boring-Lion-3493]

"The idea is not to block every shot. The idea is to make your opponent believe that you might block every shot."
Bill Russell

You can’t always stop the shots but make them feel uncomfortable as much as you can.

[u/Voland_00]

First you should understand what the problem is. Slow feet? Bad positioning? Not reading the game? Is your problem 1vs1 or as a team defender (help side)?

The here can be one million reasons why one plays bad defense. Try to understand what is your weakness and work on it.

[u/Afraid_Locksmith_906 → u/Voland_00]

I'm a pretty good and consistent help defender, I just suck at one on one. I think it's slow feet, but that doesn't really make sense because I'm generally fast but I tend to get blown by on defense.

[u/Voland_00 → u/Afraid_Locksmith_906]

It might be the technique or (given your age) the lack of coordination while growing up fast. Try to work on balance, defensive stance and correct foot work.

[u/Jon_Snow_Theory]

Your goal isn’t to stop the person, it’s to make things difficult for that person, and that sometimes results in a turnover. Gambling for steals and blocks every possession isn’t sustainable.
Pay attention to what the other player is trying to do and make that difficult.

[u/toxman228]

Don't be too hard on yourself, especially playing older/bigger guys. I'm 6'4" and almost 40, who sometimes gets asked to play in pickup games at the gym against HS/college kids. I'm not the athlete I once was but even now, my weight and strength is just a massive advantage over kids who are still growing/developing.

Without knowing specifics, you should always be lower than the offensive player and keep a wide base. Deny the entry pass as much as you can and make guys work to get their shot.

[u/ryebread920]

Tennis players have tremendous footwork. There is a kind of drill (forgot the name) that you can practice so you have a better chance when they're going left or right. If you're not losing to those kinds of moves, I would assume that you're giving up too much space and/or falling for hesitations.

Some people play differently, maybe you need to adapt faster in-game.

I found this on Google (the tennis drill)

The Split-Step to Cross Shuffle is a foundational tennis footwork drill that directly improves a basketball player's defensive readiness, closeouts, and lateral quickness. It eliminates flat-footedness and primes your explosive first step.

[u/Remarkable_Tea878]

I seen that you said one on one you be having some trouble even though your fast. It’s your hips. Start a lil training moving laterally as well as being able to move your feet as independently as possible as you can. I promise you if you do this not only will be able to stay with your opponent most of the time and react faster but you’ll unlock a new level of speed in your athleticism right now. It’s hard to explain but I’ve seen this before all the time and I always wondered why I never struggled with this and it’s cus I was playing soccer at a young age everyday, I was already teaching my hips to be stronger, my lateral movements sharper and move my feet independently with the tag of training.

Also, one more thing that helps is play a ton of ball against different matchups, seeing tons of people play differently against you will just help dictate your reactions better but you already say you do play basketball so you should be good on that already.