“Defense wins you games” if you played basketball in a team it doesn’t matter if it’s a high school team or the NBA each and every player has heard this line before at least once by their coaches.

Defense is one of the most important aspects of the game. A team who has bad defense are most likely not to succeed in their season. A team who has not that good at offense but has great defense plays against a team with great offense but bad defense they’re most likely going to win because they can keep scoring but with bad defense they won’t be able to stop the other team from scoring and they can score as many points as they want.

Basketball players don’t like to play defense because it’s not considered as “fun” as the offensive part of the game but it’s also the hardest and most important part of the game. Here are some general tips on how to improve on defensive skills:

1. Focus on forcing tough shots- The point of playing defense is to force the opponent team’s players into taking bad shots, whether they make it or not is irrelevant.
2. Maintain your balance- Balance is very important when trying to improve your defensive skills. A defender who has great balance makes it difficult for the offensive player to score because the defenders are quick of their feet and with great balance it’s hard to hit a cross-over move and blow by them.
3. Constantly talk to your teammates- Talking to teammates really helps playing better defense because if you communicate with your teammates about what’s going on and what you need them to do helps with better coverage.

Defense helps you understand the other players movements which is beneficial as it helps you make them miss shots and help you win games.