(cricket, of a batsman) Having the weight on the back foot in order to play a defensive stroke
(idiomatic) in a defensive posture; on the defensive; off balance; at a disadvantage.
Source: en.wiktionary.orgOf course there are regrets. I shall regret always that I found my own authentic voice in politics. I was too conservative, too conventional. Too safe, too often. Too defensive. Too reactive. Later, too often on the back foot. John Major