Defending Drills

Mark up
- Students are organised into groups of 4, with one student being the defender and 3 the
attackers.
- Students are positioned on square created with cones, with one ball
per group
- The defender and one attacking player begin on one of the cones, and
the other three players are positioned on the remaining cones
- To begin, the defender and attacker run into the middle, as the
attackers aim to pass the ball to the middle attacking player
- The ball can be passed around the outside to each attacking player,
with the aim of getting it to the middle attacker
- Once getting the ball, the middle attacker is to dribble it to the cone
they started on, without the defender getting it off them
- Rotate roles
- The focus should be on the defending player, aiming to mark up and defend the pass
Progression
- Change number of players
- Increase playing area
- Add a time limit
KTPS
- Effective mark up and staying on attacking player
- Effective movement to defend shot/pass
- Correct positioning

1 v 1 defending
- Students are to work in pairs, with one as the attacker and one as the defender
- The attacker aims to dribble the all the way to the end line without losing the ball, scoring a
point if they achieve this
- The defender aims to win the ball or forcing the attacking player out of bounds to score a
point
- Students tally points to determine a winner
- Students rotate roles after given time or number of points
- Focus should be on the defending player aiming to get the ball
Progression
- Increase playing area
- Add a shooting component
- Increase number of defenders and/or attackers
KTPS
- Effective mark up and movement with the attacker
- Effective movement to defend attackers actions
- Correct positioning
- Attempt to force the attacker out of play

Group Defending
- Students are organised into attackers and defenders, with the attacking team having one
extra player compared to the defending team
- The attacking team has the ball and aims to pass the ball to each player, focusing on getting
the most amount of passes
- The defending team aims to minimise the number of passes the attacking team gets
- The defending team can mark up, as well as aiming to intercept and prevent passes
 - After a given time, students switch and rotate to have a new
attacking team and a new defending team
- Focus should be on the defensive team to intercept and limit
passes
Progression
- Change playing area
- Change number of players
- Include scoring
KTPS
- Effective mark up and staying on attacking players
- Effective movement to defend passes
- Correct positioning and movement within area
- Effective communication and team defence.

(Krossover, 2019)