Dynamite Defensive Drills: Developing Fast & Ferocious Defenders

Steve Forbes, Wake Forest University Head Men's Coach;
2022 ACC Coach of the Year;
East Tennessee State Head Coach from 2015 to 2020;
2020 Hugh Durham Award;
2020 SoCon Coach of the Year;
2x SoCon Regular Season Champions;
2x SoCon Tournament Champions;
Wichita State Assistant Coach from 2013 to 2015;
in his first year, the Shockers went 35-1;
in his second year, they advanced to the Sweet 16;
Northwest Florida State Head Men's Coach from 2011 to 2013;
Back-to-Back NJCAA Division I National Runner-Up

Practice is where everything happens as it pertains to the development of a basketball team. A well-run, high-energy practice is where players build their skills, confidence and learn to work within a team-based game. 

The opportunity to watch a high-level collegiate program conduct their practice is something that coaches normally don’t get to do. In this instructional-coaching video, Wake Forest’s Steve Forbes invites coaches to an inside look at one of his practices. This up-tempo, fully loaded practice showcases why players enjoy high-intensity work and love practicing at a fast pace.

Example of the old adage that, ‘To play fast, you have to practice fast.’ is on full display in this coaching video. Coach Forbes takes you through a typical practice session all while breaking down the reasons ‘why’ they do what they do in practice and does so in a way that will help your players better understand what you’re trying to achieve every day with your own team. 

Warm-ups, Defensive Drills

Getting players moving and developing their individual skills are both critically important components of a highly productive practice. Coach Forbes explains that by putting both components together in your practice warm-up drills helps to emphasize how quickly you want to move in practice.

Forbes takes you through a fast-paced, 10-minute warm-up period – beginning with ‘Seminole,’ a warm-up passing drill that shows everyone who is ready to practice and practice fast that day.In a drill called ‘The 1-on-1 Zig-Zag Drill,’ Forbes showcases a drill that features your players moving up and down the floor – but with a twist – by adding a throw ahead to a coach, you can force players to get into help-side defense position, while staying at the level of the ball.  

In the ‘4-on-4, Box Close-Outs Drill,’ Coach Forbes starts to build his defensive pressure with a drill that features players moving from spot to spot, while closing out on shooters and denying players middle drives. This is a quick warm-up session that you can immediately add to the start of your next practice.

Next, Forbes transitions into his ‘Shell Drill,’ which demonstrates how to push players out of their comfort zone and fly around the court. Players work hard, going from on-the-ball defense to jumping from the ball-side to help-side and playing the lowest help-side defender by the rim. This drill will also show your players how to help each other and communicate at a high level.

In the ‘4-on-4 Into 5-on-4 Drills, Coach Forbes has players working on their transition defense and forcing opponents toward the sideline. 

In ‘Raptor Transition,’ Forbes demonstrates a different way to play 5-on-5 catch-up without running into anyone, making it more of a game-like drill in transition. 

Secondary Breaks, Quick Hitters

Not one to neglect his offense, Coach Forbes takes some time to show six different secondary break or quick actions that his team uses in transition that focuses on scoring quickly. 

In these quick-hitting plays, Forbes shows how you can find success using a lateral screen, down screen with a double-stagger, wedge screen, floppy action or a flare screen. With this combination of screening options, your opponents will struggle to stop these actions in defensive transition. These effective plays will place pressure on the defense as soon as it crosses half court! Coach Forbes shows examples of these actions as players fly up and down the court in both 5-on-0 and game-like, 5-on-5 settings. 

Baseline Defense 

Rounding out this fast-paced practice session, Coach Forbes shows why his teams have been ranked No. 1 in the country in baseline out-of-bounds defense. He demonstrates why putting your post player on the ball makes it difficult for opponents to even start thinking about what they can get around the rim. 

To play fast, you must practice fast. Going one step further, in structuring practices like Coach Forbes, so that players work harder in practice than they do games, prepares your players for any opponent!

This on-court practice-session video is a ‘must-watch’ for coaches at all levels of competition – providing you with an inside look at how to structure your practices in a way that’s designed to push players out of their comfort zone and create the components of a lock-down defensive program.

Customer Review: 5 Out of 5 Stars. ‘Love this practice video and all the drills in it! Coach Forbes moves fast to show you how you use drills and a practice structure that emphasizes an up-tempo pace. Yet, at the same time, he also does an excellent job of slowing things down enough so you can learn how to teach your players to play at a fast pace!’ 

82 minutes. 2023.