Man to Man Defense by Grade Level Guide

Man to man defense is the defense that might not be the best defense early at the youth level but it is the best defense for long term success into junior high and high school.  So if the goal is to get the players into the best possible position to be successful in high school then man to man defense should be taught at the young ages and continued to be developed all through youth basketball. 

So what should the kids and players know at each level?  This guide will help to guide you through what needs to be taught at each grade level.  What you are going to see here is a very simple breakdown of what every player should know at each grade level.  At first there is not much I am putting in for the players to learn.  I want players to play and not think.  I do not want to overwhelm them with too much information.  I also want the players to master skills before adding in a bunch of new stuff. 

So in the early grades, there is very little that each player should know and by the time they reach junior high and high school then there is a lot of little technical skills they should know and be able to do.  I have also broken down the skills into a double grade level.  So 1^st and 2^nd are paired together.  3^rd and 4^th grade are paired together and so on.  This gives a 2 year cycle on each development group.  Each player will develop at different rates so players can start to move on to learning the 3rd and 4th grade skills even if they are in 2nd as long as they have mastered all skills at the 2nd grade level.

1^st and 2^nd Grade

• Guard the ball
• Man-You-Basket
• Box Outs

At the 1^st and 2^nd grade levels, man defense should be very simple.  I am not even concentrating on off the ball defense at this age.  Man to man defense is about being able to guard your man 1 on 1 before anything else.  So that is where I start.  I want the players to be able to guard the ball 1 on 1 without needing help. 

Next is off the defense and this is all about maintaining positioning in relation to their man.  I want each player to stay in a position of man-you-basket.  Each defender should be in between their man and the basket at all times.  This is the start of off the ball defense.  Again I want to keep it really simple at first and build the complexity over time. 

Lastly, the players should learn to box out.  A defensive possession is not over until the defense secures the ball.  This can be after a made basket, a turnover or the most likely option is a defensive rebound.  I want the players to focus on ending the defensive possessions.  This means boxing out and getting a rebound. 

This is it for 1^st and 2^nd graders.  Very simple.  Three things to learn.  They should not get overwhelmed with the amount of information being given to them.  And they should be able to execute these things.

3^rd and 4^th Grade

• Guard the Ball
• One pass away
• Box-Outs
• Under a ball Screen

Guarding the ball and boxing out are here to stay.  That would be my top two keys for man defense to be successful.  The ability to guard the ball 1 on 1 without help and getting rebounds by boxing out.  This means the offense does not get an easy shot and the defense rebounds the hard shots.

Now I start to work on off the ball defense.  I want to start working on positioning in being one pass away.  Some coaches like to be really aggressive on defense and teach on the line, up the line.  This is where a line is drawn from their man to the player with a ball.  The defender is going to be on that line and up the line meaning a step or two towards the ball.  This works to prevent the ball handler from being able to pass the ball.  But it also helps to open potential driving lanes. 

I would much rather the offense pass the ball around then dribble into the interior of the defense.  I teach inside the line, up the line.  I still like the defender to be a step or two up towards the ball.  But I want the defender to be a step or two inside the line between their man and the ball handler.  This takes away driving lanes because the help is already there.  If the ball cannot be dribbled into the interior of the defense then the offense must take outside shots.  I want the offense to take shots as far away from the basket as possible.  I do not mind the ball being reversed as long as it does not get into the lane. 

So I start teaching to get into what I call help side defense.  This just means that if the dribbler starts to dribble into the lane area then the next defensive player should be right there to help the ball defender.  So now the players know on the ball defense and one pass away defense.

Finally at this age the threat of outside shooting is not very high so I would start to work on going underneath a ball screen.  This little focus will start to get the players to communicate to each other and start to learn how to play defense as a team and not just a bunch of individuals.

5^th and 6^th Grade

• Guard the ball
• One pass away
• Midline- two or more passes away
• Inside foot high
• Box Outs
• Closeouts
• Hedge a ball screen
• Hedge and Under a ball screen

Help side defense is one pass away for me.  Midline is two or more passes away.  This means for an offensive player to catch the ball then two passes should be made.  If the defender is guarding a player two or more passes away then I want them in midline.  Imagine drawing a line right down the middle of the floor.  If defenders are two or more passes away and the ball is on the other side of that middle line then I want the defender to have at least a foot on or across that middle line. 

As you can from the diagram the two offensive players on the right side of the floor are both two passes away. Their two defenders are therefore in midline. They are in a straight line right in front of the basket. This help side defense helps to stop all dribble penetration. It will force the driver to kick out for the 3. The defense should force the offense to the hardest shot possible. So this midline defense takes away easy open layups and forces kick-out 3’s instead.

Along with midline, I want the players to have and maintain inside foot high.  The inside foot is the foot closest to the ball.  I want this foot to be higher than the other foot.  Higher in this case is referring to the half court line.  This foot alignment makes it easy for the defender to recover back their man on either a skip pass or a shot.  The only time I want the foot to change is if they have to help on a drive because the ball defender got beat on the dribble.  If that happens we are in even bigger trouble.  This is why I put so much emphasis on being able to guard the ball.

Closeouts are introduced here at this grade level.  A closeout is a sprint to their man for ¾ of the way.  At the last ¼ of space between the defender and their man, the defender should chop their feet, drop their butt into a good guarding position and finally get a hand up to prevent shooting.  As the players get older, proper closeouts will separate bad defenses from good defenses.  A bad closeout team will struggle to ever be a good defensive team.  Closeouts are vital in preventing catch and shoots.  If a high school player is forced to dribble the ball and shoot off the dribble then the shooting percentages will normally go down.  Closeouts are now being put into the guard the ball and box out group.

Finally I am introducing hedging a ball screen.  I am still going under the screen because I am not worried about outside shooting just yet.  But now I want two defenders working together to hedge a ball screen and recover back to their original man. 

Junior High

• Guard the ball
• Stop cuts
• Backside Rotation
• Inside Foot High
• Box-Outs
• Communication
• Hedge Ball screens
• Force the ball baseline/sideline
• Run and Jump Traps
• Closeouts
• Help on Drive-Fake and Go
• Over and Under a Ball Screen

Now at the junior high grades, the level of basketball awareness should be better utilized.  Starting with the ability to communicate effectively within the defense can separate good defensive teams from bad defensive teams.  Coaches should not just be making the players talk on defense but teach them how to properly communicate with each other in a fast pace game.  The ability to effectively communicate with each defender can make a good defensive team into a great defensive team. 

I put a big emphasis on stopping cuts and this is where a more physical defense can start to be taught.  Along with stopping cuts is rotating on the backside of the defense.  Both of these skills are about teaching players to be in the proper position during a possession.  If players are in the right spots then a lot of mistakes are avoided for the simple fact that the players are where they should be.

I also want junior high players to start understand not only their own positioning but how to defend in a way that puts the ball into the worst possible scoring positions as well.  I like to force the ball on offense to the sideline and baseline.  I want the ball out of the middle of the floor.  This is where I introduce this skill and the players should make the connection between having their inside foot high and forcing the ball to the sideline.  With the correct footwork in 5^th and 6^th grade, the players have already been working on forcing the ball to the sideline. 

I also want the players to start to work on going over a ball screen.  At the junior high level, the 3 point shot is not that much of a tool but it is at the high school level.  In high school, I want the defenders to go over a screen to not give up a wide open 3.  So I want them preparing for that even though they will be going under a ball screen more often than not in junior high.  This is the transition period from going under to going over.  The players do not have to be good at going over the ball screen yet but they will start to learn in junior high to be better prepared in high school.

Finally, I want to introduce some deception plays on defense.  This is working on the ability to get players to understand how not to be robots.  I want the players to play the game of basketball.  So there are scenarios in which the player will have to make the right choice without me as a coach telling them what to do. 

The two big ones is the ability to run and jump the ball in a full court defense.  Watching the dribbler and waiting until their head is turned away from the defender before running up and trapping.  This takes some time to learn when to go and when not to go.  If done wrong then the offense is attacking with a man advantage.  If done correctly then a steal is likely. 

Also I want my players to learn to help the drive at times and also when they can fake help and go back to their man.  The fake and go leads to a steal or the ability to put loads of pressure on the catch.  The fake and go is when a defender jab steps towards the ball like they are coming to help and then runs straight back to their man.  If done correctly, the dribbler will see the fake and pass the ball.  As they start the pass, the defender is already running away from the dribbler.  This can cause travels or bad passes because the dribbler tries to change what they were doing when they see the help defender already running away from them.  It is a great skill and leads to a lot of turnovers when done correctly.  Learning in junior high how to fake and go makes those players that learn how to do it that much better of a defender in high school.  

High School

• Guard the ball
• 3^rd man through on downscreens
• Hedge and Roll man
• Backside Rotation
• Stop Cuts
• Chest the Drive
• Box Outs
• Communication
• Inside Foot High
• Force ball to baseline/sideline
• Run and Jump Traps
• Backhand on Drive
• Closeouts
• Help and Recover-Fake and Go
• Over a ball screen
• Trap a ball screen

Most of skills for a good defender has already been taught before high school.  The high school level is when everything comes together and the little things learned become major advantages for the defender.  There are a few other things to learn due to the speed and physicality of the game at the high school grades that were not there at the lower grades.

The first thing I want my players to learn is how to defend without fouling in a physical manner.  This comes down to chesting the drive and using the backhand on the dribble.  I harp on chesting the drive.  This is when an offensive player drives to the basket, the defender uses his body and not his hands to defend the drive.  The players have to learn how to do this without fouling.  This is keeping the offensive player in the middle of their chest and keeping their hands out away from their bodies.  This gives the ref a clear sight of their hands so the refs are less likely to call a foul even with body contact. 

And secondly, I teach to use the backhand on any drive.  Backhand is referring to two things.

1) Using the back of the hand.  Non-Palm side.

2) Using the hand the offensive player is dribbling away from.  So if the offensive player dribbles to the right then it will be the backhand of the defenders right hand making contact.

What the defender does is puts the backhand on the trailing hip of the offensive player.  This spot is normally blocked from the ref so no fouls are called.  And even if the ref sees the hand, the refs are less likely to call a foul when the defender in not using the palm.  The refs are trained to look for palm out to make a foul call and when they don’t see the palm then they do not tend to call a foul. 

After the physicality, comes positioning.  I teach 3^rd man through on downscreens.  I want the defender getting screened to be the 3^rd man through.  Think of a down screen and where each player is at.  The offensive player coming off the screen is the 1^st man.  The screener is next in line and is counted 2.  The player guarding the screener opens up and creates space between himself and the screener.  This defender is now the 4^th player in the line.  Finally the defender getting screened has a gap between the screener and his own teammate.  By shooting through this gap, this defender becomes the 3^rd man in the line.  Hence 3^rd man through.  When done correctly, downscreens are not effective for an offense.

Now I look at the ball screen.  I teach my teams to hard hedge and go over the screen.  This creates a scenario where both defenders are above the screener.  This should create a natural slip by the screener for an easy basket.  So I teach what I term as roll man.  The next defender closest to the ball screen becomes the roll man.  They take a step to step and half towards the ball screen.  If the ball is passed to the slip or roll man then this next defender steps up and when in the right spot has an easy steal.  If they are late to the pass, they are still chest up to the screener who is rolling to the basket.  Bringing this 3^rd defender to help a ball screen takes away the ability of the offense to get an easy basket at the rim.

At the junior high level, we starting teaching the fake and go.  Now at the high school level, the players work on both help and recover as well as fake and go.  This is what we do if a team is driving to the basket.  Each player has to make the decision on what to do every time there is a drive to the basket.  If the ball defender is still in front and guarding the ball then we fake and go.  The help defender acts like he is coming to help but jabs steps and sprints back away from the ball.  If the ball defender is beat then the help side defender helps by stepping over and chesting the ball handler.  If a pass is made after helping then the help defender has to recover back to their man.  I want all my players to be able to do both because I want them reacting to the game and not thinking about what to do.  This reaction and not thinking makes the defenders play faster.

Finally, I will throw in some things that go against our standard defense to keep the offense guessing at times.  One of ways I do this is by trapping a ball screen.  It is a special call.  We do not do it often but it is something different to keep the offense from getting into a completely comfortable feeling during a game.  As a coach understand your philosophies and throw in a non-standard play every once in a while.  Trapping a ball screen is one of those against the defensive philosophies I have that I use from time to time.

Conclusion

Defensive philosophies change with each coach.  No defense is perfect.  Every coach and team has a list of things they do not want to give up.  In having these priorities, the defense is going to lack in other places.  A trapping defense is going to give up some layups.  A hard helping team is going to give up some kick out 3’s.  An aggressive defense in denying passes will give up some backdoor cuts and layups.  What I have tried to do is simplify defense so that these grade level keys will be able to be used no matter what the defensive philosophy is.  Most of the key points for each grade level are easily transferable between the different styles of defense coaches want to run.  Having a good foundational defensive base makes playing defense that much easier.  I hope you are able to take some of this information and use it for your players.