na-adjective
Describes an attitude, stance, or approach that is defensive, often in sports, debate, or strategy.
彼の守備的な態度が議論を長引かせた。
His defensive attitude prolonged the discussion.
チームは守備的な戦術を取った。
The team adopted a defensive tactic.
防御的 also means 'defensive', but 守備的 is more common in sports contexts, while 防御的 is broader and used for protection against attacks.
Formed from 守備 (defense) + 的 (-like, -ive). The exact historical derivation is straightforward; 守備 is a Sino-Japanese compound.