But they sure are 3rd grade all stars. 3-POINT PLAY Get a quick dose of wisdom to enhance your game and life. He related to me of a college coach that came in to coach some of his younger kids and taught nothing but fundamentals. Anyone have other/better suggestions? I for one did not blame lower level programs for NOT teaching how to play m2m defense. In addition to spending 6-7 hours on the court each day, lessons will be reinforced through classroom sessions and video analysis. Lockdown defense is a term used in a lot of basketball circles, but what does it mean? I coach a select team (10 years olds) that practices or plays fall-winter-spring and several of my players also play on their school rec team in the winter. Get a good education and build a good foundation for your future. I've seen it first hand. Good question. I am trying to teach them man to man now, but with such a limited practice time and sketchy attendance, it can be difficult. It is much too easy to spread the floor, isolate the favorable matchup, and begin the layup drill. Ideally leagues and tournaments apply age appropriate rules. Coaches that are lazy will not teach the core fundamentals and really should not coach. Like the writer of this article says, make sure your team is confident in the offense. I play almost no zone because I do want my kids to learn the right things as well, but I also firmly believe in PRESSURE defense and that includes a variety of looks. In the leagues my select team plays, we play the full high school rules. That seems like a bit much. Before that, it only applied to a player without the ball. I am teaching fundamentals as best I can (I'm not a career coach, I'm a volunteer), but I'm noticing the girls getting very tired toward the end of the game. 4 boys and 3 girls. We also run motion offense with usually a 3 out 2 in. Mental and physical maturity, experience and athletic talent are really the determining factors in all this. As time went on we moved on to more competitive leagues with many different rules some I agreed with some I did not. This is a little trick some of the best NBA players use and especially smaller guards use to score over taller defenders. When it comes to playing defense in the NBA, one of the most important things you can do is face-guard your opponent. Pressuring the Player with the Ball. It starts out good at first but eventually all the players just end up chasing whoever has the ball. defense because they are left completely vulnerable if their man, effective strategy for both offensive and defensive players in basketball. However, the chaser does need to be athletic enough to make it difficult for the offense to get the ball.For offense, I love to set ball screens as well with the player being chased as well. In Iowa, all teams make the playoffs and they got bounced by a less than mediocre team. But the bottom line is that we study basketball for a living and all the other experts we know that do the same thing, all agree that the best recommendation for the youth coaching community is for them to teach man to man defense. The so-called face guarding rule prohibits defenders from putting their hands on an offensive players face or chest, or from extending their arms horizontally in an attempt to impede the players progress. Offensive players should seek opportunities to create separation from their defenders by using head fakes, jab steps, and change-of-pace dribbling. Your footwork should help you to stay in a position between your opponent and the basket. There is one, *maybe* two girls on this team that would consider playing in middle school and high school. If you can't handle a press, you'll get run by 60 pts or more. In basketball, face guarding is a defensive technique used to prevent the offensive player from getting open for a shot. At any level of basketball, the rule book generally calls for a face guarding violation to be called in each of the following situations: For specific basketball rules at each level of play, continue reading. Or maybe it didn''t make a difference. I plan on attending and petitioning for rule changes at these lower grade levels at the end of the season, knowing full well I will get run out of the place by coaches and boosters that have the wrong priorities, but I gotta try. We are allowed to play zone and I am teaching them how it works. Communication is a two-way skill. We see and talk with thousands of coaches. Are you trying to teach players life lessons and prepare them for life? As with all defensive strategies, there are strict rules governing what players can and cannot do when face-guarding. Miami went on to become the sixth No. The center or middle man should step up above the 3 pt line. Good solid fundamentals are the foundation of your programs. The ball side forward should be high and wide(10-15 ft above the 3 pt line and close to the sideline), weak side forward should be at the weak side block, this forces the defense to extend back to the basket some to cover the man. Lunge forward to slap the ball away if a taller opponent faces you and dribbles. They'll allow you to: a. It is very important for you to. Our rec league simply forbids it in grades 3-8. CHANGE OF PACE. Put yourself in a 3rd or 4th graders shoes. I have been coaching for a lot of years at the Jr High level as well as 4th and 5th grade teams and I spend an average of 30 minutes a day on man-to-man defensive principals. When players panic, it is one thing, but when the coach panics, it is over. We only played zone against teams that we have large lead on and we are tired of the layup drill. The sad part is that many kids don't go out to the park any more and spend to much time inside on the computer. Winning is a funny thing - win all the time we long for a "real game not as much fun anymore. Set your wings O2 and O3 wide at the three-point line extended, 3-point arc areas. and lost 53-51 we run dribble attack 4 out 1 in and the guy who is normally in we had him set a ball screen to free up the pt. If you work hard on defense, it will pay off in terms of preventing easy baskets for the other team and giving your team more opportunities to score. Please HELP young players learn the basics of man to man defense and leave full court presses and crazy zone's to high school coach's. My on ball defender is my third grader he is a terror on man to man and he traps and steals at the half court line. Arm-barring is when the defender uses their arms to block the vision of the offensive player, making it difficult for them to see where they are going and whats happening around them. But it all starts with M2M fundamentals. You can read the some of the reasons why here: http://www.breakthroughbasketball.com/defense/age.html- I was one of those kids that just needed a chance. Sorry, fellas. In terms of defense we experimented with all different types our first season, before settling on M2M half court as our primary defense. Of course, you cant just stand in front of your opponent all game long, as they will eventually figure out a way to get around you. It contains a section on how to play junk defenses, both box & one & triangle & two. Protect your space with your front foot at 12 oclock and once pass the defense, sever the angle by putting your body in front of the defense, putting the defense on your back. Do not use the excuse that practice time is too short to teach solid fundamentals that the kids can grow on. Some of my 9-10 year olds still don't seem to know if they are on offense or defense. I am the assistant coach of a homeschool girls team (ages 12-18) and we are playing against a team we lost to 37-30 who played a Box-and-1 against us last time. We do ball handling drills every day but there isnt enough time in a season to improve your non ball handlers enough to deal with a good team trapping. A player can be considered to be in legal guarding position if they are facing their opponent and they are grounded with both feet on the floor. How well would you hold up dealing with the parent(s) of the kids who were the ones consistently getting beaten individually?At the youth level, any experienced coach will destroy a M2M defense unless the other team has a signficant advantage in size and/or athleticism across the board. I swore to my son it would never happen again.This year I decided to coach his team. GcBcBasketball.Com Is A Participant In The Amazon Services LLC Associates Program Which Means We May Get Paid Commissions On Editorially Chosen Products Purchased Through Our Links To Retailer Sites. A def like box and 1 is a breeze. As a high school head coach, I agree that younger players need to be taught the correct fundamentals of the game. Saying that it takes half a season to teach m2m for a junior varsity or varsity coach is great. Its not rocket science Ken, just put em where they aint. In basketball, face guarding is a defensive technique used to prevent the offensive player from getting open for a shot. > How to Improve Basketball IQ: What Is It and How to Develop It. When all things break down, defense is what can hold your team together. We have NO height and just 7 kids so trying to play a straight 1/2 court man defense is not going to work for 4 quarters against tall well-rebounding teams. By perfecting 6 fundamental basketball moves, you'll have everything you need to explode past any defender on the court. Simple things to help her out. It's simply better for their players in the long run. I would appreciate any feedback! Just let the kids play and have fun that should be the focus." Now comes the planning part. If you dont know how to make a good practice plan, search the Internet and find the answer.. or find a mentor to help you learn that skill. I believe if you teach solid fundamentals that kid can run any coaches Off or def scheme does not matter. We are trying different things but they don't seem successful. We hit 9 of 10 from the arc and 15 of 19 from the free throw line in the 4th quarter? Run some ball handling drills and pressure drills, so the other guards get used to handling the ball under pressure. I use it when teaching Man both to my son's youth team and my varsity boys.I think that we have lost the focus of developmental leagues. Of course we want to teach fundamentals but ignoring a large part of the game is not helping, its hurting the kids! This topic does make me think of re-enforcing man to man principles with the players in our rec league that also play in other leagues using zone. Copyright 2023 Leaf Group Ltd. / Leaf Group Media, All Rights Reserved. but I know plenty of new coaches that do. Make sure your players understand that. https://www.breakthroughbasketball.com/defense/age.html. These teams get priority for gym time and help from the high school staff (as they should).2. Harold, when playing the junk defense, I don't even like putting my best defender as the chaser. Most zone defenses are susceptible to fast breaks. If you can prevent your opponent from getting the ball in the first place, you do not have to worry about dribbling or shooting. To me as a former high school coach - this is a place where there may be a need to put in a special set or at least to tweek the regular zone or man offense. Jeff has pretty much nailed this. so I will just add a few things. Here is the article:Important Lesson for Youth Basketball Coaches By Jeff Haefner Heres a guest post and very good lesson from Coach Ken Sartini. There needs to be some education in the youth world about proper teaching progressions. Not enough discipline. One potential downside of face-guarding is that it puts much strain on the defending teams players. It's attitudes like yours that are a detriment to youth sports everywhere. The key with this is to establish space and beat your defender to the spot. Have you ever coached in an AAU tournament? It is legal in basketball as long as the defender does not make contact with the offensive players head or body. I'd like to see all of these high school coaches preaching in these comments to come on down to the grade school/CYC/rec level where I've been coaching for the last 25 years. I also coach my 3rd grade daughters team. I am blessed to have a core group of parents and kids who are interested in learning basketball. The guard with the ball should dribble up to entice the defense to begin trapping, as soon as the defense commits the guard with the ball should reverse the ball to the weak side guard. in our rec leagues, 3rd grade up to 8th, there is a no zone rule. Johnny, great post.In our youth leagues, until grade 9 you have to play m2m and are not allowed to press. B squad in 8th. Help D is allowed on a driving opponent. Somewhere in the game you will have to guard someone.By the way, you might be surprised about what you can and cannot do vs GOOD teams that play m2m defense exclusively. However, we still incorporate a full court match up zone press in a 1-2-1-1 concept as well as throw in a diamond and two look against teams for a change of pace or to slow down a team with a couple of players that are hurting us. Junk Defenses are designed to give the opposing coach heartburn & headaches & that is just the beginning! Don't let these people bother you.As for the first part of your post..I was a varsity coach, so I knew what I was looking at.. you can watch some games and see some kids that are hands down, head and shoulders above the others no brainer they will play HS ball. how far, thats another story. Ahead of that . Great conversation!I agree with what the high school coaches are saying about teaching "fundamentals" but here is my situation.With over 900 kids in the developmental league. Keep head and eyes up and pass the ball ahead. The problem is they have success with those bad habits early on and they end up sticking.Look, I could go on about this forever. Defenders that are considered to be lockdown defenders can do one or more of the following things really well. However, I find that most coaches at the younger levels do not fully understand what it takes to teach these fundamentals. Ted, about the difficulties of teaching solid M2M concepts at lower levels - teach them correctly and you'll be fine. National Basketball Association: NBA Officiating News, Rulebook and Referee Operations, NCAA Publications: Basketball Men's and Women's Rules, Federation of International Basketball: Official Basketball Rules 2012, If a defender places their hand in front of the eyes of an opposing player in the act of shooting a jump shot rather than defending the ball, If a defender is guarding an opposing player that does not have possession or control of the ball, blocking the offensive players vision to prevent him from receiving a pass from their teammate is a violation. The basketball defense rules state that a player playing defense should not push, hold on to, charge into or impede the progress of an opponent by using their appendages or body in any abnormal way. Offense in todays game of basketball is very versatile. Jeff and Joe have done a great job with this site and they KNOW what they are talking about. Amazon And The Amazon Logo Are Trademarks Of Amazon.Com, Inc., Or Its Affiliates. What Accessories Do Basketball Players Wear? Do not allow the player to enter the paint and drive towards the net. Quick comment on artificial rules. If this happens, you can change to the "box and 1" (above). BTW - the stealing and layup drips referred to early in the comments short changes kids offensive development too. More thoughts on that at bottom of this article: http://www.breakthroughbasketball.com/haefner/should-you-use-the-popular-high-ball-screen-play-for-your-youth-team/. Once you are good one on one defenders, you must teach scenerios. I think they can do other activities (tag, hopscotch, flag football, soccer, obstacle courses, juggling, and so on) which would help them more athletically which will help them when they're ready to play basketball when they are older.With that being said, you can work on lots of ball handling, passing, and lay ups. Unfortunately, Steve. The VAST majority of youth coaches use zones and do so because basketball is enough of an individual sport without making it about the team with the best athlete winning every game. You can build offense in pieces as the season progresses but if you can''''''''t stop the other team from scoring, your done. That''s why we''re trying to help. But I teach whatever defense(s) gives my team the best chance to win. Offense in todays game of basketball is very versatile. With an aggressive defender we tend to pivot from three oclock to 6 oclock and this allows them to take away our space and may take us out of a dangerous position. Speed is an essential aspect of defense. For example, if you know your opponent is stronger when they drive to the right, cut off the right dribble and force them to go left. I wish varsity coaches would talk to the youth coaches in their communities to stress fundamentals and what they want to see and don't want to see out of the youth programs, since isn't it our job to prepare them for hopefully varsity and above athletics? A wise person builds a house on solid ground. The NCAA defines face guarding as, "Purposely obstructing an opponent's vision by waving or placing hand (s) near his or her eyes" in Rule 10, Section 6, Article 1 in the official rules, which cover both men's and women's basketball. I also like to find the best ball handler and set a ball screen for them. Finding that most 1 -3 rd grad kids cannot shoot properly but they can make shots. Rule 7-5-10-b, page 62 of the National Federation of State High School Associations reads: "Any player who hinders an opponent's vision without making an attempt to catch, intercept or bat the ball, even though no contact was made is forward pass interference." . Would you stay in the man to man only to get beat by one kid or play a 2-3 to get the game out of his hands? There is not tryout any kid in the school can play so we have a mix bag of talent (these are also co-ed teams). COPYRIGHT 2023 - GcBcBasketball.Com - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Make that a triangle and twolol. And we do not use it unless we need a serious adjustment to counter something we are having trouble with. Arm's length while inside 3 point line? I know numerous new coaches that volunteer, put in the effort to learn M2M by studying DVDs or books, and have a lot of success. This is where the problem begins now they have torque there bodies in such a way to jump twist for the ball to go in the net. The Suns look to improve on that in Game 2 as the offense was stagnant at times in Game 1. This M2M defense stuff is so unrealistic at the rec level. The offender is penalized with a technical foul resulting in a free throw for the opposing team.
