Man to Man Principles: Boxing Out

After your team spends a difficult possession playing great defense against a tough opponent, the other team forces up a difficult shot.  As a coach you have to be excited about that until you see the other team get the offensive rebound and get an easy two points.  One of the most vital steps to coaching defense is boxing out.  It is an area of defense that will always be covered by coaches but many times it is not covered enough.

Rebounding is about desire and focus.  In order to keep an offensive player who wants to get to the boards away from the ball you need to be prepared to work hard and be aggressive.


There are a few points that are imperative to boxing out and grabbing the defensive rebound that we want to cover right now.

  1. When the shot goes up all players that see the shot need to yell the word "ball." By doing this the rest of the teem is being told that they need to stop their defensive assignments and start boxing out their man.
  2. Get close to your man.  Whether you are covering the original player you have been assigned to or are stuck covering somebody else because of rotations, you need to get close to your man.
  3. After you go face to face with your player you need to reverse pivot and begin the box out process by doing the following:
    • Get wide and low - make sure your feet are wider than shoulder width apart but not wide enough that you are uncomfortable.  In addition, make sure you are as low as possible.  This base you have now established will make it difficult for the man behind you to push you around.
    • Make sure that you establish contact with the player you are boxing out - After you establish a base make sure that your rear makes contact with the body of the player you are responsible for.
    • Keep your arms out wide - This will make you as wide as possible and prevent the player you are boxing out from going around you.
  4. Locate the ball at the rim as quickly as possible.
  5. Attack the ball when you see you can get a hold of it.
  6. Grab it with 2 hands if you can.  One handed rebounds are difficult to pull off.
  7. Once you grab the ball, protect it by wrapping your hands around it.  
  8. Pivot and outlet as quickly as possible. One of the most vulnerable areas on the court is under the basket after you grab a rebound.  Don't do the other team a favor and stay there for too long.
Second shots are one of the variables which determine whether your team will win a game or not.  Second shots mean extra shots for the other team.  Usually the team with more shots will win the game.  Keep that from happening by emphasizing to your team how important boxing out is.


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