Trasition Defense

[Guest Ben Green]

I am having a tough time with the kids not reacting to the transition from offense to defense when we lose the ball. Is there a drill that might help them react faster?

[Guest Tommy]

I know of one that I really like.Put a coach at midcourt,at the sideline.Have teams scrimmage,you blow whistle,when you do,they drop ball,and teams hustle downcourt ,have the point sprint over to midcourt coach,the coach hands ball to point and they resume play.You blow the whistle after 1 minute,1/2 minute,you decide the time.When whistle blows,the players drop ball and hustle down court and the other point sprints to midcourt coach and coach hands ball to him/her and play resumes.Keep doing this untill you are satisifed with transitation.After whistle blows and they drop the ball and sprint downcourt,have another coach retrieve the loose bball

Tommy's Basketball Playbook

[hollad6636 0]

We do a couple of different drills depending on the age group of the kids.

• For younger kids we line our kids up in the backcourt and talk to them about getting back to their defensive positions and finding the ball. We then place a couple of coaches in the front court. I yell out transition and then I either drive the ball to the basket or a make a pass to one of the coaches in the front court. Then we point out mistakes to players. Then we bring them back to the backcourt and start over. We repeat this over and over until it becomes second nature.
  For older kids we have three lines starting on one baseline. The middle player underneath the basket is the defender. The two outside players are the offensive players and one has a basketball. On the whistle all players talk off down the court to the other basket. The defender must get out in front and stop the ball. After a shot or tournover the next group goes.
  

Remind your kids that the game isn't just about scoring, ask them to hustle to the defensive end as hard (or harder) than they hustle to the offensive end.

Good Luck Coach,

Schann