We’re going to use handler defense to drive home a point, and I’ll explain a new concept on the topic.

Here’s the situation: it’s a trap mark on the forehand sideline, and you are playing defense on the handler reset. They are standing fairly even with the thrower, 8 yards off the sideline. Most people are naturally scared of the upline.

In our film school, I broke down four examples of how the offense completely cooked the buffer. In fact, during the breakdown, the best handler defense I saw was the one time the defender got close.

You can check it out with a subscription and look back at all of our other breakdowns.

Here’s the new concept: whether you are playing tight or with the buffer, you NEED to develop a mini game plan in your head. What are you trying to stop, and what are you okay with simply challenging?

In the situation above, we are stopping the upline with a huge buffer and softly challenging the swing. And here is where most players get it wrong. As the reset engages the upline, your instincts kick in and you stop thinking. Then they sell a jab step in the backfield toward the swing, and you bite. It’s a fake, and they flip your hips and get easy separation.

When you make a game plan and mentally decide what you are doing, you avoid falling for the fakes that take you to the spot you are already okay with. A lot of the time, when I watch defenders — especially handler defenders using a buffer — they don’t switch on their brain and instead react to the exact movement they are already setting up to allow.

Great defenders use anticipation, game plans, and their brain. Stop setting up in a poor position and compounding it by reacting to moves you are already okay with.

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