(Rental)-Frank Martin's Half Court Pressure Man To Man Defense

Man to Man Defense with Frank Martin

In today’s game of basketball, playing good man to man defense is vital. In this video, you will learn the pressure half-court man-to-man of South Carolina head coach Frank Martin. Coach Martin took the Gamecocks to the 2017 Final Four and earned the Jim Phelan Coach of the Year as a result.

Coach Martin will take you through how to set up the defense and the drills he uses to produce one of the nation’s most aggressive man-to-man defenses. Each drill has a purpose in teaching players how to communicate and trust each other in executing the defense.

Man to Man Defense Set Up

Coach Martin’s man to man defense video begins the most basic element of pressure defense – the set up. The defense picks up the ball at half-court and forces the dribbler one way or the other. Defenders learn to be on the line and up the line. As the ball is pressured, the other four defenders play up the line and deny all passes. This forces offenses to dribble instead of searching for and passing to open teammates with better scoring chances.

Included in Martin’s discussion of the set-up is help side defense. Defenders must understand that the further the man being defended is from the ball, the closer the defender is to offer help. This puts even more pressure on the dribbler. Also, Martin’s pressure defense is about attitude and aggressiveness. Those key characteristics are part of the set-up of the defense.

Playing Post Defense

In Martin’s defense, defenders need to be closer to the ball than their man. Post players have to become very good at breaking contact and staying up the line. When the ball breaks below the free throw line, post defenders have to get to the baseline. Martin teaches the Short Closeout drill to teach post players to progress from a closeout to squaring off with a ball handler.

Open Court Situations

To begin the progression of teaching the pressure defense, Martin utilizes a 2-on-1 drill building to a 3-on-2 where players must apply their stunt and force players to choose between keeping the ball or passing to a teammate. The idea that Martin stresses is that a defender should never give up on a play regardless of the situation.

Full Court 4-on-4

From the Open Court situations, Martin then introduces the 4-on-4 Full Court drill to teach all of the principles learned in break down drills. Players learn that when a defender is beaten by a dribbler the second line of defense must stunt and force the ball handler to make a decision. In the half-court, defenders learn how to deal with all sorts of screens.

Ball Screen Coverage

Martin emphasizes ball screen coverage and how to best defend one of the most widely used screens in basketball. Players are taught to go under the screen. You will see Martin teach this in a half-court drill where defenders are taught to be up the line, on the line, and closer to the ball than their man. These are the basic principles of Martin’s defense. Rent this Man to Man Defense DVD today.