Basketball Drills - Breakdown Drills for Teaching the 2-3 Zone DefenseFrom the Coach’s Clipboard Basketball Playbook, @ http://www.coachesclipboard.net

The 2-3 zone defense is the most commonly used zone defense, designed to stop the inside game. But we stillwant pressure on the ball, on the perimeter. See Al Marshall's Aggressive 2-3 Zone Defense and 2-3 ZoneDefense. Just like teaching man-to-man defense, to get good at it, you must also break down the 2-3 zonedefense into drills, so that rotations become a habit, without players having to think about it. Some players andcoaches have the wrong notion that playing zone defense allows defenders to "rest" and loaf somewhat ondefense. In fact, to play a really good zone defense, defenders have to work very hard, sprint in their rotations,move on the flight of the ball, and close-out on shooters with high hands. It's been said that "a good zone lookslike a man (and a good man looks like a zone)."

Individual Skills DrillsSpend time on individual skills each day... these drills are quick and don't take a lot of your practice time, but areimportant for developing the skill set necessary to play good zone defense.

Stance DrillIn diagram A, we get all players lined up four or five across (depending on your number of players) in rows. In thestance drill, we have players maintain the correct defensive stance for one minute. We want the hands and armsup and out, and feet shoulder width apart, weight on the balls of the feet (not flat-footed), knees bent and butt out.Surprisingly, it is not easy for players to hold this position for 60 seconds, as arm and leg fatigue creep in. Youmust do this drill regularly to strengthen these muscles so that your defenders don't lose their defensive stancelate in a possession. A zone defense looks "lazy" when players are tired, not sprinting, and hands are down.While players are holding this stance position, you can use this minute to talk to them about anything you want.

Slides DrillIn diagram B, after doing the stance drill for one minute, we do slides from side to side, again maintaining a gooddefensive stance with arms out and up, weight on the balls of the feet, and using good footwork, without crossingour feet. Start with players chattering their feet in place. As the coach yells (or points) the instructions, "right" or"left", players slide accordingly and chattering again once they stop sliding. Make sure that when players slide,they do not lower their hands... hands should remain up and active. Do this for another minute.

Triangle "Anticipation - Deflection" DrillIn diagram C, break the team down into 4-player groups. The player in the middle gets in the defensive stance(described above) and will try to anticipate and deflect the pass. After receiving the pass, the passer should holdthe ball for a couple counts to allow the defender to get set, and can pass to either receiver. Do this drill so thateach player gets 30-45 seconds of defending. This drill teaches defenders to read the passer and improvesreaction time and quickness.

Ball Pressure DrillIn diagram D, each player has a partner. The defender is an arm's length from the offensive player, and he/shepressures the ball-handler with active hands, but without reaching in and fouling. No dribbling is permitted, andthe offensive player must use his/her pivoting skills to protect the ball. Do this for 30 seconds and have playersswitch offense <==> defense.

Contain the Dribbler DrillIn diagram E, each player again has a partner. The defender is an arm's length from the offensive player, andhe/she pressures the ball-handler with active hands, but without reaching in and fouling. Dribbling is nowpermitted, when the coach yells "go", the offensive player dribbles either left or right for a few steps, as thedefender moves his/her feet quickly to contain the dribbler. Have the offensive player dribble to the right and tothe left several times, and then switch offense <==> defense.

1-on-1 Full-Court Zig-Zag DrillIn diagram A below, each player has a partner of similar quickness and size. We use both sides of the floor andeach two-some is confined to their side of the court. The offensive player tries to dribble the length of the court(staying on just half of the court), and attacks to score. The defensive player tries to cut and turn the offensiveplayer as many times as he/she can coming up the court, and then defends 1-on-1 at the basket. The defendermust get low and move his/her feet quickly. Hands should be active, but the defender must not reach in and foul(there is even a variation wherein the defensive player must keep his hands behind his back at all times). If thedefender gets beaten, he/she must turn and sprint to recover.

1-on-1 Full-Court Zig-Zag and Close-Out DrillIn diagrams B and C above, again each player has a partner of similar quickness and size. We use both sides ofthe floor and each two-some is confined to their side of the court. The offensive player tries to dribble beyondhalf-court and then passes to a coach standing out-of-bounds along the sideline. The defensive player tries to cutand turn the offensive player as many times as he/she can coming up the court. Once the pass is made to thecoach on the sideline, the offensive player turns and sprints back to the half-court line and then back andreceives the pass back from the coach (diagram C above), while the defensive player sprints to the endline andthen back to close-out on the ball. Both players then finish by playing 1-on-1.

Rotation and Close-Out DrillsThe following drills help develop the necessary "habits" in rotating within the 2-3 zone defense, and closing out onthe offense.

On-Off DrillIn diagram F, as the ball is skip-passed to the left wing, X3 must first close-out with high hands, and then retreatback inside once X1 gets over to the ball. This is called going "on and off" for the forward defender (X3).Defenders should sprint quickly as the ball is in the air, as soon as it leaves the passer's hands. Close-out withhigh hands in a good defensive stance.

Skip-Pass to Corner DrillIn diagram G, as the ball is skip-passed to the left corner, X3 must close-out with high hands and defend the ball.This is his/her man and X3 does not go "on and off" in the corner, but stays with the ball. X1 drops inside toprevent a pass to the lane or elbow. Defenders should sprint quickly as the ball is in the air, as soon as it leavesthe passer's hands. X3 closes-out with high hands in a good defensive stance.

Forward's Wing and Corner Rotations DrillNow we will drill how the outside low defender (forward) X4 defends the pass to the wing and to the corner. Indiagram F2, as the ball is passed to the wing O2, X4 goes "on" (closes-out with high hands), and then retreatsback inside ("off"). As the pass goes to the corner (diagram F3), X4 closes-out with high hands and stays with theball in the corner. As the ball is passed back out to the wing O2 (diagram F4), X4 simply drops back inside, asnormally X1 would already be on the ball O2 and there is no need to go "on and off" here.

Forward's On-Off Rotations DrillThe next several diagrams H - K show how our two outside low defenders (forwards X3 and X4) rotate as the ballmoves around on the perimeter. In diagram H, as the ball is passed from the point to the right wing, X4 goes "onand off" initially closing-out with high hands, and then retreating back inside. X3 moves inside the paint. As theball is passed back to the point (diagram I), X3 moves back out to his/her usual neutral position.

As the ball is passed from the point to the left wing (diagram J), X3 goes "on and off" initially closing-out with highhands, and then retreating back inside. X4 moves inside the paint. Diagram K shows a wing-to-wing skip-pass,with X4 going "on and off" and X3 dropping inside.

Spend a few minutes with the three offensive players passing the ball around on top while X3 and X4 rotateaccordingly and quickly as the ball is in the air. In you have an assistant, use both ends of the court and makesure all of your inside defenders get enough repetitions.

Guards and Forwards Skip-Pass DrillProgressing on from the previous forwards on-off drill, now just add your two top perimeter defenders X1 and X2.The X3 and X4 rotations are the same as described above. O1 and O2 skip-pass back and forth from wing-to-wing. In diagram L, the pass goes to the left wing and X3 goes "on" with high hands, and then "off" once X2 getsthere. X1 drops inside to defend the high-post, while X4 drops into the paint.

On the skip-pass to the right wing (diagram M), X4 goes "on" with high hands, and then "off" once X1 gets there.X2 drops inside to defend the high-post, while X3 drops into the paint.

3-on-4 Perimeter Passing DrillProgressing on from the previous drill, now we add an offensive point-guard O1. O1, O2 and O3 pass the ballaround on the perimeter as the defenders rotate. X1 initially starts on the ball. As the pass goes to the right wing(diagram N), X4 goes "on" with high hands, and then "off" once X1 gets there. X2 drops inside to defend the high-post, while X3 drops into the paint.

On the pass back to the point (diagram O), X2 closes-out on the ball as X1 drops to the high-post and X3 movesout and up (anticipating a pass to the left wing).

On the pass to the left wing (diagram P), X3 goes "on" with high hands, and then "off" once X2 gets there. X1defends the high-post, while X4 drops into the paint.

Diagram Q shows a skip-pass to the right wing. X4 goes "on" with high hands, and then "off" once X1 gets there.X2 drops inside to defend the high-post, while X3 drops into the paint (diagram R).

Again, if you have enough players, use both ends of the court and rotate offensive players into the defensivespots so that everyone gets enough repetitions.

4-on-4 with a High-Post DrillProgressing on from the previous drill, now we add an offensive high-post player O4. O1, O2 and O3 pass theball around on the perimeter as the defenders rotate, and they also try to pass to the high-post O4. X1 and X2 willmove in and out of the high-post defending and denying the pass to O4. All the rotations are the same aspreviously described above.

In diagram W, the ball gets to the high-post O4. X1 and X2 swarm (double-team) O4, forcing him/her to pass itback out. Here is where you have to know your opponent. If O4 is the star player, X1 and X2 will swarm. But if O2is the great shooter, X1 will not swarm so much and will tend to stay a little off toward O2.

After a high-post "touch", the offense can shoot the perimeter shot, or the shot from the high-post. You can usethree groups of four, and rotate them quickly in and out of the defensive and offensive positions. You can makethis competitive with a point awarded only on a defensive stop. When the offense scores, they go on defense andthe group on the sideline goes in to play offense. The two losing teams either do pushups or run a sprint.

"Triangle" Wing-Corner-Post DrillThis drills focuses on defending the triangle created by the wing-corner-low post spots. The ball starts on thewing and is passed to and from the corner, and when possible, in and out of the low post. In diagram X, when theball is passed to the corner, X4 closes-out hard with high, active hands. X5 defends the low post from thebaseline side. X1 drops part-way inside to help deny the pass into the low post, but not too far down as he/shehas to be able to close-out on the wing O2 when the pass goes back to the wing (diagram Y). On the pass backto the wing, X4 drops back inside.

Short-Corner to High-Post Dive DrillWe use five defenders in this drill and teach how to defend the pass from the short-corner to the high-post playerdive-cutting inside. In diagram Z, the ball starts on the wing O2 and (for purposes of this drill) we allow the passinto the short-corner O4. X4 closes on O4 and X5 goes about halfway and will double-team with X4 if O4 tries todribble-drive the baseline. On the pass to the short-corner, X2 immediately "sinks" down inside to prevent thepass to the cutter O5 (diagram Z2). X3 drops inside as well and protects the weakside. X1 drops inside to theelbow area. If the ball is passed back out to O2 on the wing, X1 closes-out, and X4 and X5 move back inside, asX2 moves to the high-post.

Run this several times and switch in new defensive players. Note that whenever the ball is passed from the short-corner back out to the wing, we can just continue the drill from here.

High-Post to Short-Corner Dive DrillAgain, we use five defenders in this drill and teach how to defend the pass from the high-post player to the short-corner basket-cutting inside. In diagram Z3 above, the ball starts on the wing O2 and (for purposes of this drill)we allow the pass into the high-post O5. X1 and X2 swarm O5, but allow him/her to pass and O5 tries to makethe pass to O4 cutting inside. X5 comes up to defend O5 and X3 drops to the basket inside. X4 has to recoverquickly to deny or deflect the pass to O4, or defend O4 if the pass does get through.

5-on-5 DrillsSimilar to man-to-man defensive "shell" drills, we can also go 5-on-5 in teaching zone defense. We can imposecertain offensive rules before allowing the offense to score. For example, if we want to drill our short-cornerdefense, we impose the rule that the offense cannot shoot until the ball is passed into the short-corner at leastonce... from there they go live and try to score. Make it competitive... a team can only score a point by making adefensive stop. When the offense scores, they go on defense. Play to 5 (or 7). Losers run.

An advantage of doing these 5-on-5 zone defensive drills is that you are also working on your zone offense(s) atthe same time, so your zone offense actually gets better too. We actually use three separate zone offenses andmight use them all in these 5-on-5 drills... we allow the offense to huddle briefly to select their offense, so that thedefense doesn't know initially what the offense is trying to do.

Related pages: Principles of Zone Defense, Aggressive 2-3 Zone Defense, 2-3 Zone Defense, and ZoneRebounding.

Copyright © 2001-2012, James A. Gels, all rights reserved.