Mirror Slides
Warm up the defensive stance and lateral movement.
What this drill teaches
Reacting to another body instead of guessing. Chasing a live partner's movements makes the follower keep their stance and read — the exact skill of staying in front of a dribbler — while the mirror game hides how hard the legs are working.
In games: Directly fixes the defender who lunges, guesses, and gets blown past — game-day defence is mostly staying square and in front, which is all this drill is.
- Push-slides with feet never crossing or clicking together
- Staying square and low, chest up through changes
- The follower moving a beat after the leader, not before
U10: slides turn into running and heels click — keep bursts short. U14–U16: expect sharp reactions to fakes and stance held for the full 20 seconds.
Setup
Partners face each other about 6 feet apart, both in defensive stance.
Steps
- 1One partner is the leader, sliding left and right.
- 2The other mirrors them, staying square.
- 3Swap leaders every 20 seconds.
- 4No crossing the feet — push-slide only.
Coaching points
- Stay low, chest up.
- Don't click the heels together.
- React, don't guess.
Why kids love it
The mirror game hides the fact that they're doing tiring defensive slides.
Variations
Leader can add fake changes of direction.
Leader slides on a three-count so the follower can anticipate the change.
Give the leader a ball to dribble so the follower reads the hips, not the hands.