What is pressing in basketball

press

What Is The Definition Press Defense In Basketball?

1. This is a term used to describe when a player plays close and aggressive defense in basketball.

Examples Of How Press Defense Is Used In Commentary

1. Paul is not giving Williams any room to get a good shot off with his strong and close press defense.

SportsLingo Goes The Extra-Inch With The Meaning Of Press Defense

A defensive player may be enticed to play press defense if they know that the ball handler is mainly a one dimensional jump shooter. If the ball handler is not good at driving into the lane, then the defender will play press defense and will get closer to the ball handler so that they have a difficult time getting a shot off.

On the other hand, if the ball handler is quick and is very good at driving to the basket, then the defender may not play as close to the ball handler to help prevent them from using their speed and dribbling to the basket.

Sport The Term Is Used

1. Basketball


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press

What Is The Definition Press Defense In Basketball?

1. This is a term used to describe when a player plays close and aggressive defense in basketball.

Examples Of How Press Defense Is Used In Commentary

1. Paul is not giving Williams any room to get a good shot off with his strong and close press defense.

SportsLingo Goes The Extra-Inch With The Meaning Of Press Defense

A defensive player may be enticed to play press defense if they know that the ball handler is mainly a one dimensional jump shooter. If the ball handler is not good at driving into the lane, then the defender will play press defense and will get closer to the ball handler so that they have a difficult time getting a shot off.

On the other hand, if the ball handler is quick and is very good at driving to the basket, then the defender may not play as close to the ball handler to help prevent them from using their speed and dribbling to the basket.

Sport The Term Is Used

1. Basketball

What is pressing in basketball

Coaches can employ a defensive strategy to press to achieve a number of ends. Pressing offers teams an opportunity on defense to be the aggressor and set a pace for the game that the a team employing a press is trying to set. With the opportunities that a press presents, also comes risks. Here we will look at not only why teams may press but also the dangers and opportunities.

Pressing to speed a team up. Coaches can employ a press (regardless of the form) in order to speed a team up. Often the purpose of speeding a team up is to attempt to force them to turnover the ball. If a coach sees that the team they are playing does not handle speed well this may lead that coach to try and make the opposition uncomfortable by pressing them. Also, If a team is small they may press to negate their height as the faster the game is the more it levels the field from the perspective of height. When pressing to speed a team up the principles that achieve this end begin with pressuring the ball. Teams trying to speed the game up through a press must pressure the ball in order to get the ball to move quickly. On any pass, the pressing team must get to the ball quickly and pressure it so that the offense wants to get away from the pressure. Often times teams will employ a full court press in order to achieve this end.

Pressing to slow a team down. Presses can also have the exact opposite impact than speeding a team up. A coach can employ a press in order to slow a team down. The press formation for a press to slow a team down can be the exact same as to speed them up but the principles guiding the team pressing to slow the opposition down would be different. When pressing to slow a team down the main guiding principle a team wants to follow is to take up space without pressuring the ball. A team in this scenario wants the opposition to have to think about where to pass in order get the ball past the press. Often times teams will employ a half court press in order to achieve this end.

The main danger of using a press is that if it doesn’t achieve the end it is employed for the game can quickly get out of hand. This happens because teams that press are spread all over the floor, creating more room for the offense to operate. With greater room it can be more difficult for a team to help each other out and that can lead to higher percentage shots, either by allowing penetration that gets all the way to the rim or by leaving players wide open for shots.

Whenever a team presses it is important to understand the goal of the press and the principles leading to the goal. Coaches should also keep in mind that pressing for an extended period of time often diminishes the value a team will get out of the press. Use a press sparingly in order to maximize its effectiveness.

By Dr. James Gels, from the Coach’s Clipboard Basketball Playbook


Press defense extends your defense into the opponent's back-court. Before selecting and teaching a defensive press system, first decide whether an uptempo, pressing defense is best for your team. Do have team quickness, well-conditioned athletes, and a good bench? Will your players buy into and be committed to a pressing defense? There are man-to-man and zone presses. Our favorite (high school varsity level) is the full-court matchup press "system", initially pioneered by Rick Pitino at Kentucky.
A good press can create back-court turnovers, steals and easy baskets for your team. So it is an offensive weapon as such, and a way to come from behind, or a way to break open a close game, and a way to wear down a slower, not well-conditioned opponent.

What is pressing in basketball

It may help nullify the opponent's "bigs", who may labor to get up and down the floor. You can turn the game into a track meet, rather than a slow-down game that favors the opponent's big post players. The press keeps the opponent off-balance, changes the tempo of the game, and often has the opponent doing things they don't normally like to do. It often forces the opposing coach to use valuable time-outs. It favors a well-conditioned team with a deep bench, and with more substitutions, allows more of your players to get playing time.

A fair amount of practice time is required to develop a good, cohesive press. Also, remember that any press is a gamble (especially trapping defenses). You risk giving up the easy transition lay-ups, and you have to be willing to accept that fact. If your players are not well-conditioned, fatigue can become a factor. Your players may be more apt to foul and get into foul trouble, so a good bench is very valuable in this regard, as well as the fatigue issue. You might want to press only in certain situations (e.g. after a made basket), or certain times of the game, as a surprise tactic.

See Transition Defense for important principles that apply to all press defenses.

Full-court "pressure" defense is simple man-to-man defense extended over the full-court. This defense is excellent for youth teams who must learn to play man-to-man defense, and it is easy to teach, requiring less practice time than other press defenses. Players use and learn the same basic concepts of man-to-man defense - on-ball, deny and help-side defense, just extended to the full-court. There is little risk, or gambling, with this defense. This press would probably be less effective at higher levels where good ball-handling guards could break it down.

Bob Kloppenburg's Full-Court SOS Pressure Defense - transition and full-court aspects of the SOS defense.

Zone presses have the defenders start in a certain formation, such as a 1-2-1-1, 1-2-2, 2-2-1, etc. and feature pressuring the ball and trapping. You can categorize zone presses by where the press starts on the court:
  • full-court ("80"), with a defender guarding the inbound passer (e.g. 1-2-1-1 zone press)
  • 3/4 court ("60"), with nobody guarding the inbound passer (e.g. 2-2-1 zone press)
  • half-court ("40") where the press starts at, or just beyond, the half-court line (e.g. 1-2-2 Viking press)

Specific Zone Presses
1-2-1-1 "diamond" zone press... try to tip the inbounds pass, trap the first pass in the corner, or along the sideline. Vulnerable along the sidelines at half-court, but you can adjust to a 1-2-2 (but then there is no defender back deep as a safety).
2-2-1 zone press... allow the inbounds pass (to the corner), get the ball-handler to commit, and then aggressively trap and rotate.
Coach Sar's 3/4-court 1-2-2 press... Coach Ken Sartini's pressing system.
3-1-1 3/4-court press... a zone press that you can use against teams that show a "3-Up" press-breaker. A 3-2 adjustment is included.

Our match-up press defense is a more complicated "system" of presses compared to simple zone presses and involves a fair amount of practice time. We begin teaching this system at the freshmen and JV levels, and fine-tune it at the varsity level. It has the advantage of always having pressure on the ball no matter what press-breaker the offense uses.

What is pressing in basketball

The match-up press is different from a zone press in that we have our defenders all match-up with someone when the ball is inbounded... much like man-to-man defense. So it doesn't matter what press-breaker the opponent uses. Techniques such as "cut & double", "run & jump", and "run & double" are presented.

Full-court ("80") presses of various alignments (1-Up, 2-Up, 3-Up and 4-Up), as well as a "staggered" press are discussed. Additionally, two deny presses, "81" and "61", are presented. Use these drills "Match-up Press Drills", and see "Teaching Basketball by Progression".

Run and Jump Press... Coach Forrest Larson of Lake Geneva Badger High School (Wisconsin) has put together an excellent DVD entitled "Simplified Run and Jump". See this page for notes and more details.

Trapping with a Trailer Defender by Coach Joao Costa.

Half-court presses start at, or just beyond, the half-court line. These presses are less of a gamble, since all five defenders are back in the half-court. These defenses trap the ball as it comes across half-court, in the half-court corner on either side, while the other defenders look to intercept a poor pass made out of the trap. These presses are usually easier to teach and conditioning is less of an issue. "Deny" presses are used to deny the inbounds pass, hopefully resulting in either intercepting the inbounds pass, or getting the 5-second call. Defenders play in the passing lanes between the ball and their man. A deny press is needed in a close game, in an attempt to get the ball back after a made basket, or whenever the opponent has to inbound the ball. It can also be used from time-to-time during the course of a game as a surprise tactic. Several deny presses are presented as adjustments to a main press.

In summary, the press(es) that you decide to use should be based on your level of committment to press defense, the age and skill level of your players, the amount of practice time that you have available, your teams's quickness and athleticism, and the depth of your bench.

How you use the press is also key. Do you want to use it the entire game, to fatigue your opponent and make their "bigs" less effective? Do you just want to use it as a surprise tactic, and make the offense less comfortable?