Basketball Transition Defense Drills

One of the most common phrases you'll hear coming from the sidelines at a basketball game is the head coach telling his team to "get back on D!" It sounds like a very simple command, but many teams struggle getting back on defense after their team has taken a shot. Players crash for offensive rebounds, try and find their man and some even attempt to argue a foul call with a referee. Playing transition defense requires a lot of skill and concentration, but there are some very effective drills that coaches can use to improve their teams' ability in this critical part of the game.

  1. Shoot and Retreat

    • A great drill to work on breaking bad habits is the shoot and retreat drill. The team will run an offense against a defense, and take a shot trying to score. The second the shot goes up, the entire offensive team turns and sprints back past mid-court and into the paint. The defensive team's job is to get the ball and try and get up court as fast as possible and score. While it appears the advantage is with the offensive team, it's actually not. They have to run an offense and cannot crash for rebounds. As soon as a shot goes up, all but one player on the defense can sprint to the opposite end. One defensive player grabs the rebound and throws a pass, football style, down the court to an open teammate. The drill forces players to break their tendencies and get back on defense.

    North Carolina Drill

    • This drill works on defensive transition and stopping the ball. One team of five lines up on the baseline, they are the offensive team. Another team lines up at the free throw line, they are the defensive team. Each player of the defensive team matches up with a player on the offensive team and lines up across from them. The coach then throws the ball to one of the offensive players. The defensive player matched up against the player with the ball must sprint to the baseline and touch it before she can try and get back into the play. The offensive team sprints the floor and tries to score. The object for the defensive team is to slow down the offensive team. The easiest and most effective way to do this is by stopping the ball. This means the defensive player closest to the offensive player with the ball goes and plays defense against that player. The efforts of the defensive player should be to contain and slow down the offensive player with the ball until her teammate who had to touch the baseline can get back into the play.

    Back tap Drill

    • The back tap drill focuses on teaching players to "back tap" the basketball when recovering on defense. Back tapping involves swiping at the ball from behind the offensive player and hitting it to a teammate. For this drill there are two lines on the baseline and one player standing at mid-court. One line will have the basketball and the other line will be on defense. The offensive player starts dribbling towards mid-court and the defensive player follows after him. The defensive player then 'back taps' the ball to his teammate at mid-court. As soon as the defensive player has tapped the ball away he runs to his basket awaiting his teammate's (who grabbed the knocked-away ball at mid-court) pass. The defensive player catches the pass and then lays it into the basket. As soon as the player at mid-court throws the pass, he must sprint to the basket to catch the ball after it goes through the rim and before it bounces on the floor. The offensive player then becomes the player at mid-court. The defensive player goes to the offensive player line (line with the ball) and the player from mid-court goes to the defensive line. The drill works on the skill of 'back tapping' and also serves as a conditioning drill.