Q: From Coach Phil: I like the full court charge drill but I was wondering if you ever run drills where the defender actually has to take contact and fall? How do you teach that?
A:
Taking a charge
- Here’s a half court scenario that could easily be turned into a drill
- We’re in the half-court – an offensive player has the ball at the wing and a defender stands near the elbow on the same side of the floor.
- The offense drive to the basket while the defender slides down to draw the charge in the block area.
Keys:
Positioning
- The defense must hustle to get directly in the path of the offensive player early enough to establish position.
- I emphasize to my players that they try to establish position outside of the lane ( as it is a major point of emphasis for us not to let the ball into the paint). It should be noted though that a charge can be called in the key or even under the basket at the high school level. Also, a defender does not have to be completely motionless in order to avoid the blocking call – he can be moving but he must have established his defensive positioning prior to the offense.
Body Control – How to take the charge
- We want to sit down and slide back on our rear-ends when drawing a charge, as opposed to reaching out with the hands and risk injuring a wrist injury on the fall.
Related posts:
I want to teach the Pack Defense. Do you sell a DVD on this topic? Thank you.