Defensive Spoils - Aerial Contest vs Tall Team

May 9, 2025

Key Concepts:

  • Target opposition teams who are aerially dominant or rely heavily on tall marking options.

  • Defensive spoils must be a priority tactic to:

    • Break up aerial chains,

    • Win back ground ball,

    • Trigger momentum shifts.

Tactical Notes:

  • After the opposition wins an aerial contest, immediately work to spoil the next chain to disrupt their flow.

  • The goal is to nullify marks, create chaos, and regain air control.

  • By doing this, we:

    • Negate their aerial impact,

    • Force ground-level contests where we can apply pressure.

Drills – Practice Plan:

  • Set up transition scenarios using tall players.

  • Allow their talls to take a few uncontested marks to simulate real-game aerial chains.

  • Add numbers to contests to simulate team defense and practice coordinated spoiling.

  • Focus on:

    • Winning ground balls after the spoil,

    • Quickly releasing the ball into attack.

  • Build scenarios, then run transition play-outs to sharpen reactive movement.

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