(Rental)-Building A Defensive Culture

Building a Defensive Culture

On nights where they seemingly can’t hit a shot from anywhere, great teams still win because they play great defense. Dallas Mavericks assistant coach Larry Shyatt understands that defense can be the great equalizer and has proven so in his decades of coaching. In this video, Coach Shyatt presents a collection of ideas on how to build a defensive culture, including drills that help you do so.

Team Culture

You often hear coaches at all levels say that the key to winning championships is defense. Is that something you say or do you actually mean it? Coach Shyatt gives his Super 7 concepts for creating a defensive mindset and culture.

Half-Court Defense

Coach Shyatt guides you through the first steps of teaching a half-court defensive philosophy to your players at the beginning of a season. He uses ropes and the White Line philosophy to help players understand proper positioning on the floor. Coach Shyatt also shows you how you can extend this teaching to your full-court pressure defense.

Warmup Drills

How your team starts practice sets the tone for the entire session. If you really believe defense wins championships, they you need to start practice with warmup drills that emphasize it. Coach Shyatt demonstrates three drills the he uses on a daily basis to get players ready to play defense. Players work on breaking down ball screen defense with the ELC concept. Players work on their toughness in the Step Up drill where players help on dribble penetration and draw charges.

Peer Pressure Drills

When a game reaches a critical moment in a packed gymnasium, will your players hear you? Great teams are those who can communicate with each and hold each other accountable. Coach Shyatt introduces two peer pressure drills that force players to make layups and use full-court passing with perfect technique.

Transition Defense

For Coach Shyatt, this is the key to becoming a great defensive team. He stresses transition defense because it can eliminate some of the easiest scoring opportunities for opposing offenses. Coach Shyatt shows you three drills, two of which are the Tate’s Drill and the Circle Transition Drill.

The Tate’s Drill teaches players to excel in the first six seconds of a possession by sprinting back on defense, building a wall, and getting matched up quickly. The Circle Transition Drill teaches players to load to the ball in transition.

Coach Shyatt was part of championship programs at the University of Florida and the University of Wyoming. For any program looking to build a true defensive culture, Coach Shyatt’s video is a great place to start. Rent this Defensive Culture DVD today.