Weak defense is almost always paired with Ice defense. While Ice is designed for side screen actions, Weak defense is used for middle screen actions.

Its primary goal is to force the ball handler toward their weak, non-dominant hand—left for right-handed players and right for left-handed players. However, since identifying the non-dominant hand isn’t always straightforward, many coaches simplify the terminology by using "Weak" to mean left and "Strong" to mean right.