6 Rules for On the Ball Man-to-Man Defense

1) Force Sideline

I want to keep the ball out of the lane defensively.  When the ball enters the lane, the defense has to rotate and help which opens up kick out 3-point shots.  If the ball stays out of the lane, then the defense does not have to rotate.  Because of this we force everything to the sideline.

We force everything sideline using our feet first and foremost.  Our defensive stances help with rules 1 and 2.  The inside foot is always going to be high.  The outside foot is always going to be low.

The inside foot is the foot closest to the midline of the court.  The outside foot is closer to the sideline.  If the ball crosses the midline of the court, then the two feet will switch which one is inside and which one is outside.

The inside foot being high helps to force the ball to the sideline.  The stance opens up towards the sideline giving the offensive player more space to go that way.  It does not matter if the offense is going to the right or left sideline.  The ball just needs to be on the sideline as much as possible.  This simplifies help side defense and any rotations the defense needs to make.

2) Force Baseline

I want to force the ball to the sideline and then down to the corner.  The corner is the easiest spot in the half-court defense to guard because the offensive player can not dribble in 2 directions.  We want the ball down in the corner as much as possible.

Most offenses do not design for the ball to be in the corner.  So, if the offense is not designed to go to the corner, I want the defense to force the ball into the corner.  I want our defense to force the offense to do things it is not designed to do. 

The defensive stance has not change from rule 1.  The inside foot is high and this helps to put the ball in the corner.  If the offense is able to attack the rim from the corner, then the defense must rotate.  The rotation to help a drive along the baseline is very simple.  The rotate of the defense to help when the ball is above the low block can be confusing.  Players can be unsure of who leaves to help and who drops backside.  To make rotations as simple as possible, I want the drive to happen on the baseline.  Best case scenario is no drive occurs at all.

3) Correct Distance-Fingertips

A defensive player too far away from their man leaves enough space for the offense to shoot.  A defensive player too close to their man gives the offense a chance to get around the defender.  A defensive player needs to be the right distance away to prevent shots as well as being able to react properly on any drive attempt.

The best distance for a defender to be on the ball is what I call fingertips.  Fingertips is a distance away from the offensive player where the defender can put his arm straight out and touch the offensive player with their fingertips.  This keeps them close enough to contest shots but far enough away to give them time to react on any drive. 

Most players do not have a good understanding of the proper distance.  I drill closeouts in practice early in season and make the players reach out and touch the offensive player with their fingertips before continuing the drill.  Most players are a half-step away from fingertip position and have to move forward to have the right spacing.  After checking a couple of times, the players learn the right distance and are able to stop at that distance.

4) Use Chest on All Drives

The emphasis on officials to call hand checks has been rising the last several years.  This emphasis on hand-checks had led me to have the players use their chest on an offensive player’s drives rather than their hands.  I want the defenders to keep their hands out to the side and use their chest as the offensive player enters the lane.  This keeps officials from calling a bunch of hand check fouls.

A player using their chest is all about staying in between their man and the basket.  This is one of the first things youth players learn as they learn how to play man to man defense.  I use this concept of staying in between the man and basket but elevate the physicality to a high school level.  I do not want the players turning their shoulders on contact.  I want the players to stay squared up to the offensive player.  When done correctly it gives no where for the offensive player to go to create space.

This can be a hard thing for players to start doing.  I like to practice defense making the players hold towels above their heads.  This removes their ability to guard with their hands.  Once they get accustomed to playing defense with their chest and body, then the number of hand check fouls will drop dramatically.  It will also raise the level of physicality the defense uses which can affect an offense a great deal as well.

5) Keep Offensive Player in Middle of Chest

Referees will call fouls on hand checks, but they will also call fouls on contact outside the center of the chest.  This rule was put in for that reason.  I want the defenders to square up the offensive player with their chest.  But the chest contact must be made in the middle of the defender’s chest.  If the contact is more on the side of the chest, then officials will call blocking fouls on the defense.  I want to guard man-to-man without fouling. 

I want the defense to initiate contact on the offensive player when the offense gets near the lane.  This contact is made with the chest, more specifically with the sternum of the chest.  I want the defender making contact with their sternum.  This puts the offensive player in the middle of the chest where officials are less likely to call fouls.

6) Backhand of Backhand on Dribble

This is the last thing I teach and not all players are able to do this.  It takes good timing and reaction to do it properly.  Again, these are techniques taught to guard but not foul.  The referees are looking for hand checking on the ball handler.  One of the keys they look for is the palm of the hand.  A ref is less likely to call a foul if they do not see the open palm of a player.  So, the backhand of the backhand helps to keep the palm hidden while making contact with the dribbler.

The way this works is the dribbler is going to go in one direction.  By rule 1 and 2, this should be to the sideline and baseline.  Anyway, the hand of the defender the dribbler is going away from is going to be used.  So, if the dribbler goes to his right, then the backhand of the defender is the right hand.  As the defender is sliding their feet to stay in front of the ball, the back right hand in this case is going to be placed on the trailing hip of the dribbler.  This little bit of contact helps to force the ball handler to continue moving the way they are going.  Thus, it helps prevents the dribbler from changing directions.

So, it is the backhand of backhand on the dribble.  It is the back of the hand on the hand/arm the dribbler is moving away from that is going to make the contact.  This keeps the palm pointed toward the defender and away from the ref.  Refs can still call hand check fouls doing this, but it does reduce the amount of fouls called when they do not see the open palm of a defender.

Conclusion

These are my 6 rules for guarding on the ball man-to-man defense.  These 6 rules of defense help to reduce fouls while increasing the physicality of the defense.  I want my teams playing a physical style of defense without fouling.  Being able to find that balance between being physical and fouling the offense is a very fine line.  These rules provide the players with a good definition or description of what we are trying to accomplish out of our man-to-man defense. 

The last thing we do is adjust our physicality each game with how the refs are calling the game.  If the refs are calling less fouls, then we can be a little more physical on the ball.  If the refs are calling more fouls, then we reduce the amount of contact and physical play during that game.  The rules of man defense do not change with each game.  We just adjust how much contact we use during each game.