3.01 COLLECTIVE DEFENCE
(g) PRESSURE DEFENCE
Exercise in pressure defence
Four against four in one division.
Pressure defence is defined as an aggressive way of defending that makes it extremely difficult for the attackers to play the ball to each other. Attackers who are not used to this type of defence will make frequent mistakes, allowing the defence to win the ball quickly. The weakness of pressure defence is the risk of a running-in shot from an assist from far from the korf. Front defence throughout the zone is crucial to pressure defence.
A. The four attackers stand in a circle around the korf and are told to play the ball clockwise around the post. The defenders position themselves so as to be between the player in possession and their personal opponent, and of course between their personal opponent and the korf. They stand so close to their opponent that (s)he can only receive the ball by moving further away from the korf.
B. As A, but now the attackers play the ball anti-clockwise. The defenders stand on the other side of the attackers with their right foot in front.
C. The attackers play the ball around the korf. If someone cannot play the ball to the right, then it is played to the left. The defenders must move from one side of the attacker to the other and be continuously changing their front foot. The defenders continue to pressure the attackers, trying to move them continuously further from the korf.
D. Tell the attackers that they must feint a move for a running-in shot before moving away from the post again. This in-out movement makes it easier to play them the ball. Even this technique does not always bring the attack closer to the korf. The defenders must continue to try to win the ball. Otherwise as C.
E. As D, but now the attackers try to run to the post to take a running-in shot.
Naturally, the defenders should not allow any running-in shots. Nonetheless, they should put as much pressure as possible on the attackers. Thus they stay very close to their opponent. The danger of the running-in shot is very real, but there is the advantage that the defender knows that this is the only scoring possibility that the attacker has. Furthermore, the defender knows the side on which the attacker will run (since the position of the defender makes running the other side impossible). So the defender can react very quickly to the action of the attacker, making it very difficult for the latter to break free.
F. As E, but now the defenders are going to make it very difficult for their personal opponent to pass the ball by putting him/her under lots of pressure when in possession. Taking a running-in shot is now practically impossible since, even when an attacker breaks free, the pass is extremely tough with a defender between the attacker breaking through and the passer, and a lot of pressure on the passer from his/her direct opponent.
G. The attackers now give up their fixed positions around the korf and may play freely on the condition that there may not be a fixed rebound player. If the attackers are more than four metres from the korf, they are defended as above. Thus, very close to the personal opponent and always between him/her and the player in possession. The defender stands with the right foot in front if the ball is to his/her right and vice-versa. Front defence under the korf. The defenders try to win the ball as quickly as possible. If they succeed, change functions.
H. The danger of a running-in shot is still present. For example, a defender may fail in an attempt to intercept the ball. To minimise this risk, the defender whose attacker is furthest from the ball leaves his/her opponent and ball-watches. His/her objective is to intercept the ball when it is played in the area of the post. The difficulty of this approach is that once the ball is played to a different attacker, it is a different defender who must ball-watch and the previous ball-watcher must move quickly back to his/her opponent.
Pressure defence is very effective if the attack plays slowly and very tactically. A few years ago Nic (my club) drove several opponents crazy with pressure defence. At times, teams had not managed a shot after five minutes in attack. There are solutions for the attack, but these are not easy to find quickly the first time that a team is confronted with this kind of defence.
A couple of solutions to front defence:
1. Using a fixed player under the korf, combined with frequent shooting from distance. Since the ball is often under the korf, the defenders cannot see it and so do not know how to position themselves.
2. Quick play with continuous changes of position. Now the defenders do not have the time to take up a good position.