Disrupt the flow of your opponent's offense, change the tempo of any game and force both turnovers and time-outs with these press defense strategies!

One of the nation's most successful high school basketball coaches, Don Showalter, offers up a tutorial in tactics like full-court trapping, adjusting the press to match players' talents and confusing the offense by matching their press break moves.

Acknowledging the ever-changing skill levels inherent in high school athletics, Showalter has created a simple press defense that can be used effectively and successfully by players of all skills levels. His philosophy is based on constant ball pressure, patience and rebounding.

Using simple adjustments, Coach Showalter shows how to manage different press break attacks. While most press breakers attack the Diamond Press at the middle, for example, he covers how this press flows seamlessly into a 2-2-1 zone. He shares five drills to reinforce the effort and control it takes to play this defense.

To counter the press, Coach Showalter shares two different press breakers. The first strategy puts your strongest shooter in three-point range while the second, more traditional method uses the conventional 4-across scheme to break your opponent's trap.

Confuse your opponents by creating havoc in their offense with Showalter's innovative approach to full-court trapping. This very press is what helped the U17 USA Men's Basketball Team capture the 2010 FIBA World Championship.

Produced at the Spring 2011 Pittsburgh (PA) clinic.

79 Minutes. 2011.

A cornerstone of Coach Moran's success as a coach comes from his philosophy of competitive preparation. Practice is a tool to develop success by facing competitive situations each day in practice. A good scorer is a focal point of half court defense, and is defended differently than non-scorers. Depending on skills and strengths, Moran sets up his defense accordingly. Moran's focus is on the top two scorers on the opponent's team. Just as in the half court, offensive players are categorized according to skill in the full court also. Double teams are used only against ball handlers. Moran puts 10 players on the floor to set up full-court pressure. On ball technique is a major part of this full-court system. One goal is to take the ball out of the guard's hands and make post players handle the ball against intense pressure. A unique characteristic in this pressure defense is letting some players receive the ball and keeping it from others. Another feature is pressure trapping on side out of bounds plays.

55 minutes. 2008.

Coach Huggins' defense was created out of necessity early in his career and has been a part of his program everyday. Introduction to this defense begins with player-by-player assignments and coverage. The basic goal is to divide the court in half from basket to basket. Once the ball is on one side, the defense keeps it on that side. Ball pressure makes a big difference, keeping the offensive player from throwing skip passes and reversing the ball. To show the slides, a 5-on-5 zone shell drill is demonstrated. Huggins then moves the zone press up the floor, making it a full court attack. Once the ball is inbounds, keeping it in the box in the backcourt is important. Players away from the ball are on the line and up the line, in a direct line between the ball and the player in their area. Two methods of playing this full court trap include regular and a "speed them up" approach. Players are either trapping, anticipating, or protecting the goal. Each duty is broken down into several teaching points.

2007.

C. Vivian Stringer has proven to be one of the all-time best coaches in collegiate basketball with more than 700 career wins in her 30+year career! A large part of Coach Stringer's success as a coach has come from her aggressive and intense style of defense, including full-court pressure defense. Stringer has used full-court pressure defense to overwhelm and frustrate opponents and to score more effectively. Using on-court demonstrators, Stringer outlines all of the important elements, Xs and Os, rules and drills to best utilize her "55" full-court pressure defense. Stringer systematically builds this pressure defense as she walks through each player's positioning, responsibilities and rules in great detail. This defense is used to cause turnovers, create fast breaks, control game tempo and increase scoring opportunities with an aggressive, trapping style, which easily transitions into half-court man or zone defense. This defense will get all your players involved in the game and make your team better both defensively and offensively! 77 minutes. 2005.

"Full court pressure is the ultimate weapon in basketball."
- Gary Williams

A game-tested, baseline-to-baseline method for trapping and applying pressure defensively! Coach Williams gives you an insider's look into one of the most potent and aggressive full-court defensive systems. A large part of Williams' success has come from his aggressive and intense style of play, which includes the full court pressure defense. Williams provides extensive game footage to help illustrate the finer points of this defensive system, as well as on court demonstrations to further enhance his entire defensive playbook. Coach Williams also teaches you drills, special situations, rules, and the proper Xs and Os to best utilize this dominating defensive system. He systemically builds this defense as he walks through each player's positioning, responsibilities, when and where traps should occur, and how to rotate out of them, along with the transition needed to prevent easy scores and get the backdrop defense established. This defense is used to cause turnovers, create fast breaks, control game tempo and increase scoring opportunities with an attacking, trapping style of play, which can easily be transitioned into a half-court, man-to-man set. Williams also shares with you five "secrets" to utilizing this type of smothering defense. In this complete guide, three major presses are outlined: man-to-man, 1-3-1, and 1-2-1-1. Also included is instruction on situational Run-and-Jump pressure. This full court pressure defense is the perfect weapon to give to your team an advantage that is completely adaptable to your team and can be used at any level of play.

83 minutes. 2005.