I’m relatively new to SAVI. I coach boys Varsity basketball in Wisconsin for a D4 (will be D5 this year based in enrollment). Last year, I implemented a match up zone defense that worked very well - got better as the season went on. Teams struggled with identifying what we were running - some yelled out man to man and others yelled out zone. I really like the concept of the Lock Left defense. RBUT is a good philosophy. My question is with the limited amount of time I have to install it (in Wisconsin we get less than 2 weeks of practice before our first game and over the summer I have about 1 practice a week excluding one week), how do I go about installing this with the limited time frame I have? I’m concerned it will be overwhelming with new terminology, roles and responsibilities. From a program perspective I feel like it would be beneficial. Another question u have is how early is too early to teach the Lock Left Defense? Is Youth and Middle School too early?

Today we kicked off our June focus: LockLeft Defense. 🎥 Get the full recording of today's live training HERE! Whether you’re installing it for the first time or refining it in year three, the reminder was this: 💡 LockLeft is a framework, not a script. It can be run as man, zone, matchup, full court, half court, high pressure, or more packed in. The key identifier is the main objective: ➡️ Force the ball to jail. Here were the biggest topics covered: 🏀 What is LockLeft? - It’s a principle-based defensive system built around shrinking the floor, forcing the ball into the left corner, and disrupting the offense. 👥 Who is it for? - EVERYONE. We have youth teams, high school teams, college teams, and pro examples using LockLeft principles. It looks different depending on age, skill, and personnel. ⏳ How long does it take to install? - A day to learn, and a lifetime to master. 🧭 Transition Roles vs. Half-Court Defense - Wolf, Gap, Snipe, Nail & Wall are transition roles. Once the ball settles in the half court, players defend based on their relationship to the ball. 🚨 Ball-Wall-Danger - If matchups get messy, fall back on the order of operations. 🧱 Rebounding in LockLeft - Yes, you can still crash the offensive glass. How many players you send depends on your personnel, risk tolerance, and ability to communicate in transition. 🎯 Sniping Passes - A big growth area for many teams is committing to hunting passes (especially to the right). Reward deflections and snipes in practice to build that identity. 🟢🔴 Free Corner vs. Jail Corner - In red, we’ll trap aggressively everyone. In green, we usually avoid trapping the free corner and instead work the ball back toward jail. 🚧 Common Early Problem - Many teams either give up right-hand drives or straight-line left-hand drives early in the install. The fix is training proximity and angle, as well as emphasizing that the goal is not just “left” - it’s jail.

Alright Coaches, 1st year Lock Left team- been installing for about 2 weeks. Played at a summer playday (2 games) against quality competition yesterday- won both with a Junior heavy team (lost 7 seniors last year). For those who have been doing LL a while a couple of questions: 1. How long before the training to close off and make the ball go to the floor really kicks in? We are hesitating and are given up some open 7's on the catch. I am not expecting perfect as we are learning a different concept of defense then they have been taught probably their whole lives. 2. What actions hurt the LL the most- we had a struggle with the pass left and cut/screen right away from the ball (we just switched it since it is off the ball). The adjustment was solid and it didn't bother us too much in the 2nd half. Anyone have an action that hurts you?

What teams at the high school level have had success with lock left defense

We just finished our first Varsity girls season running lock left. It helped us over achieve. We were co- district champions and had no business being there. It was very advantageous to us. Our JV went 16-3 running it. Here are some notable stats from the season for our varsity girls. Our Lock had 140 steals in 23 games played with 136 deflections. As a team we forced 422 turnovers and had 371 steals.