Youth Basketball Defense: Maintaining Good Balance

Video Transcript

"Hi, this is Sean Hobson, and what we're talking about right now is to become the best defender, that you can possibly be, you have to be a good, fundamental, defensive player. And, the first part to every bit of the fundamentals starts with base, and the strength at the support of your fundamentals, or your foundation. So, what we're going to talk about right now is the stance, and the stance is very important on defense. It's a little bit different than a shot, or something like that. If you're a shooter, you're going to be pretty much shoulder width apart, but if you're a defensive player, you want to be a little bit wider, you want to have a good, strong base in which you can jump from, in which you can move from, and also you want to try to cover as much ground, as you possibly can. So, the first step is, you want to have your feet a little bit more than shoulder width apart, so you have a good, firm foundation. The second part about the stance is, we're going to have our butt down, in our stance. You want to have your butt down, and your shoulders or your back straight up. You don't want to play defense leaning forward, and you don't want to play it leaning back. You want to be good and have your back straight, so that you can move around, and so that you can work. The other thing is your hands. You want to make sure and have your hands either out, or right here, but they've got to be ready to be used. You know when I look out there, and I see a defender with his hands down, he's useless to me. He's got to be able to use his hands. And, the last step, and the last part about having a good stance is, you've got to be up on your toes. You can't be on the balls of your feet, or else you're not going to be able to move. So, when you get in that stance, you want to be able to kind of bounce around a little bit, up on those toes with a good, wide base, being able to use your hands. And, that's how you start to become a good defender."