Question for the undersized guards

[u/SyqSi2]

How have you guys dealt with bigger defenders on offense? I'm 16, about 5'9 and 131 lbs, So it's very common that I'll stumble myself with someone bigger. The season in my school starts in about a month and I want to prepare myself. I want know from your guys's experience on how you dealt with this. Any go-to moves, techniques, tips, that worked for y'all I would love to hear!

[u/BadAsianDriver]

Fakes and floater keep bigs guessing. Their size is only an advantage if they know what they want to do. If you keep them uncertain of what you’re gonna do they become smaller and slower.

[u/Showfire]

Eat more and do squats. Gain some weight and strength. If you get in a shoving match, the low man wins. You have to win based on tenacity and IQ, not size. 

Work on your 3 because it is way easier if you are a proper threat. Then work on attacking a close out and scoring or passing out from the paint. 

[u/Excellent_Shelter136]

I’m 5’6 so I can totally relate. A couple of things, don’t be afraid of getting your shot blocked or tipped, it will happen, but never alter your shot / stroke based on the defense. Second, get a sense of where the defenders are…I know based on how far off they are, if I’ll have time to release the shot or not. If a guy is like 6’6, it’s much harder, but I think you need to just get better at deep shooting and then they have to guard you 25-30 feet out, or, that opens up lanes to take them off dribble which I doubt they can recover if you blow by them. 

[u/obi_infinite]

Get under them... So put your shoulder at about their hip, pin their arm to their body and sneak around. This is the most important part, to make sure they can't get back in front of you. Heck, they'll find it tough to even move. But this is damn scary at first, you have to keep practicing. You can start by trying on a chair or something to get a feel for it.

You can do this out of any move that shifts them even slightly, just enough to create that tiny bit of space you'll need to do this. Or if you're coming off a screen or attacking a closeout you won't even need any moves. Usually if you're smaller, your range of motion is smaller so you'll be a bit faster.

[u/wlr_wocky]

I’m 5’11 which may not seem bad but I play with mostly 6’2+ guys. Eating more healthy food and getting into the gym will never be a bad thing but I understand with school and practice that can be difficult (I don’t have any time in college either lol). In my opinion, agility training and dribbling/pivot drills will be your best friend so you can confuse the bigs and work your way around them. They might be big but you can have the edge with speed, elusiveness and an unpredictable bag

[u/MikeD1942]

Unfortunately, you aren't going to get there in a month, but as some said, get stronger and put on some muscle.

I was always an undersized forward until I was an upperclassman in HS, in college I was an undersized guard (at least, against D1-2) players. But having leg, butt, shoulder, and chest strength (for almost everything on defense, blocking out, setting picks & going through picks, taking charges, getting the "and-1s", etc) goes a long way to improving your chances.

In general, if you are undersized, you have to try to make sure you have few weaknesses anywhere else. Try to get quicker and more agile, ensure there are no fundamentals that you suck at (it blew my mind how many people I played with who could easily dunk at 6-3 but couldn't reliably make a 15-footer, how many guards I played against who couldn't pass with their off-hand, etc), and stay in good shape.

[u/Background-Code-4460]

By seasons tip you need to be at least 135lb. What’s your vertical? You need to focus on what coaches call the three Cs. Courage you already seem defeated, you need to believe otherwise these taller players who already have an advantage have already won. Catch and shoot if open, you need to be ready quickly get that shot off and knock it down. And lastly cross over (and let’s included hesi) if these taller players can’t stay in front of you they can’t guard you.

[u/Sideline-Teacher717]

Learn to create space. The more space between you and a taller defender will benefit you in reading the floor or getting a shot up. A lot of things on YouTube on this

[u/recleaguesuperhero]

Focus less on their superpower, and more on your own.

I'm short but fast. Growing up I repped out 3 shots 1) full speed layups going either direction with either hand. 2) quick first step into 1-dribble pull-ups 3) cutting to catch and shoot 3s.