Switching & Surrounding

Any time that offensive players cross paths could be an opportunity to switch. This is advantageous because defenders don't have to run as far and they can also maintain good positioning on the person they are marking.

For example, in the first switch in the animation, defender 4 is able to stay under of the cutters, stopping easy short passes, while defender 3 can stay deep and be first to any hucks.

Notice that at the moment the switch occurs, the attackers are between the two defenders. This is a very advantageous position for the defenders, and an extension of this positioning is known as surrounding.

There are a few important things to notice when watching this animation of surrounding:

• When a player leaves the stack, they are closely marked 1-to-1

• The rest of the defenders re-adjust so that all sides are still covered

• We still want to take advantage of forcing to one side, so the open side has more defenders than the break side

• Good communication is needed. Two defenders may start to follow a cutter initially, but they need to judge where the cut is going quickly and decide who should mark them