I play defender, and I have tryouts next week. Can you give me some drills/tips for my position that I can do without a lot of help or equipment
Here are a few ideas that require only a playing area, a ball, and one friend.
Practice jockeying – forcing the ball carrier in the direction you want them to go. If you’ve already played defense, you should know how to do this.
- Create a touchline (out of bounds line). If you don’t have any way to mark it, it can even be imaginary, as long as you and the other person are both aware of where it is.
- Have a friend start a few feet away from the line and about 1/3 of a field length away.
- She should dribble towards you.
- As soon as your friend starts dribbling, quickly close the distance between you and your friend, but remember to slow your steps so that your your body is under control once you are about 2-3 body lengths away.
- As soon as you are close enough to apply pressure, position your body to force the ball carrier to dribble towards the touchline.
Practice your “mirroring” skills
- Start about arms distance apart from your partner, and have them move around an area of about 15×15 yards, facing you at all times.
- You must follow their movements and try to keep that same arms distance at all times.
Practice your 1 on 1 skills
- Set up an area about 15 yards long and 10 yards wide.
- You and a friend each start at one end of the rectangle (since you are the one that wants to practice your defending, you start with the ball).
- Start by crisply passing the ball to the other person and immediately closing the space between the two of you.
- Your partner’s goal is to make it across the other side by dribbling.
- Your goal is to stop them by either taking possession of the ball or getting the ball out of bounds.
- Increase or decrease the space as needed.
