I assure you that you can get the best of both worlds. But the next year when they came back for their 8th grade year, they were leaps and bounds above the teams that bet them the previous year. Being agile means to maintain your speed and momentum while being able to quickly change direction. Some of the lower level coaches are really not approachabel when it comes to what they teach in their programs. I have had the same group of boys for the last four years, as 7th graders now. A great book for teaching basketball is "Basketball Coaches Bible. Until this year's playoffs, there have only been five 8th seeds that have beaten the 1st . It involves physically obstructing the view of the offensive player so they cannot see the ball or their teammates, making it difficult for them to score. I totally agree about the full court press. But one thing is certain: its going to have a major impact on the way basketball is played at all levels of the sport. But as coaches, we have to give our kids the best chance of winning (varstiy levely) and that might mean doing whatever it takes to give them that chance. An over aggressive defender will often have their hand in the passing lane. 2023 Point Guard College LLP. I agree with this --"instead they'd be a scout or recruiter. Quick comment on artificial rules. They guarded our point guard, Lily, which is our best player and only competent ballhandler. Face guarding is legal as long as the defender doesnt put their hand in the players face or obstruct their view with their body. I do have a question. EVERYONE was expected to play good D. But, IF I had a LIGHTS OUT shooter and his D was bad he would still play he would just cover their weakest player. On top of that, you have 2 or 3 defenders pressuring you. Sometimes I change to our man offense instead of our 2-3 offense because it has more movement. You must take each category and break them down to the smallest detail. Ideally leagues and tournaments apply age appropriate rules. But by using proper technique and positioning, you can make it very difficult for them to score while also freeing up your teammates on defense. I have coached middle school and high school varsity. The time goes quick! I feel they learn to work together as one unit. I also coach my 3rd grade daughters team. There is one, *maybe* two girls on this team that would consider playing in middle school and high school. - You might want to teach M2M next year. Basketball For Coaches | Basketball Drills, Plays, and Coaching Tips 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. How well would your M2M work if your team, from a size/athleticism/experience standpoint, was a random sample of your high school's population?4. Off-court training is as vital as on-court training. Keep Away 3.2. There may be a place for some adjusted rules, like maybe limited backcourt presses, but this bit with only man-to-man is a joke. We said that to say this, developing good basketball defense strategies is a lot harder these days than in the past, so it is unreasonable to expect a team or individual to prevent another from scoring consistently. PGC Basketball provides intense, no-nonsense basketball trainingfor players and coaches. Get your inside foot higher than your defenders top foot. Then, over the weekend well be back to MtoM for his rec game. I don't know too many people who care, yet remember how many games they won when they were a kid, but alot of those kids remember those last high school games. I have explained to my kids and parents that these junk defenses will be much easier to deal with as we get older and can shoot over a zone and make a skip pass or two. In basketball, face guarding is a defensive technique used to prevent the offensive player from getting open for a shot. I probably would have made that same statement 10 years ago. There are a couple of ways to look at this game. The funny thing is if you start with just fundamentals for the first 2-4-6-8-12 months until they have it down like brushing their teeth, then you can run any crazy or conservative O or D you want. It incourages lazy defense and lack of defensive awerness. I really appreaciate everyone's info. Basically, he posts against both defenses with a stack against the box & one. Try to work as much and as hard as you can in the gym. Give them a little more credit than that. 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. my team recently faced a box and 1 def the guy that they were guarding still had 33 points. Get them to talk!There is more to basketball than just passing, shooting, rebounding, dribbling, and defense. Move your feet so you're always between the ball and your man. 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. That doesn't make sense to me when there are dozens of fundamentals they are skipping over. If done correctly and you actually teach why and how it works these kids on my team are ahead of the game now. Face-guarding is an effective strategy for both offensive and defensive players in basketball. So much goes into creating great basketball players, from a physical standpoint, interest in learning, fundamentals, and mental understating of the game. My kids were a little upset and I think are starting to wonder why we don''t put in some zones. I understand laying back in that 2-3 is the easy thing to do, and prevents your opponents from getting lay-ups. If a varsity coach or a rec coach can't hold up to that type of pressue, then we shouldn't be coaching.Keep up the good worknot everyone can coach this game. Larry, the way that you're focusing on getting everybody involved is awesome!I've also used zone defense in a similar situation with middle school kids for similar reasons. The altered environment led to a Friday night stunner. I am coaching 5th grade girls and we run man defense. Copyright 2023 Leaf Group Ltd. / Leaf Group Media, All Rights Reserved. Lower level athletes will allow the defense to push them further and further out of their shooting lane. Weight should be on the ball of the feet, with palms up. I'd find a different rec league. I used to tell my kids, ACT LIKE YOU'VE BEEN THERE.Kudos to you for teaching the fundamentals of the game - stick with that, especially with the younger kids and don't worry about the Ws. 7th & 8th graders playing tough D is great, you must have done a great job teaching them ( I sill hope its m2m ) Hard to play a good zone if you don't have the basics of m2m down. But just to give you an idea, here are some documents that help you position the league and avoid the "parent pressure": http://www.positivecoach.org/uploadedFiles/Free_Tips_and_Tools/Coaches_Tools/ParentLetter.pdf http://www.positivecoach.org/ConPics/Con79/parent_pledge.pdfHope this helps. Defenders that are considered to be lockdown defenders can do one or more of the following things really well. I had the great pleasure of playing for some great coaches and programs in Indiana in both High School and College. 6. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. We did lose a game by one point to a team that ran a box and one. Your feet must move quickly and in the right way to position your body to stay in front of your defender. The details are the fundamentals. Stay calm, run your stuff and you will ruin all of their preparation time by exploiting what they are trying to do. When the games start teams just have trouble scoring and my kids confidence carries over to offense. Another is to reach out with your arms and hands and block their view that way. If we are to have a good program we need to build from the bottom up ( the foundation ) and that begins at the lowest level possible, teaching the fundamentals of the game and how to play, NOT just sets and winning as the end all. Time will tell how effective the new rule is in achieving its intended objectives. Coach G -You might try using your center to pick/screen for your players since his defender wont be there to help, that should allow you to get the other players open You are going to have to hit a few permiter shots maybe even 8-10 feet to force him to step out and defende.Set a good screen and open up to the ball and your center will be open as well as the person you are screening for. COPYRIGHT 2023 - GcBcBasketball.Com - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 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. This year we simply do not have a great ball handler and our best 2 are also our best inside guys and tallest players and with subbing rules it is hard to get them both on the floor together much.We have played 2 games this week vs. a 1-3-1 trap, and a 2-3 half court press basically, and our next game they will play box and one on us. I will surely let a few of the parents know about this site. It is legal in basketball as long as the defender does not make contact with the offensive player's head or body. As I got to the 7 and 8th gr with my boys I was able to coach and assist with some of the local Varsity Head Coaches. We play M2M. "Put your kids in gaps and move the ball - you can run any offense - 4 out might work better and when they make their cuts - have players get to the openings the gaps. 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. Lockdown defense is a term used in a lot of basketball circles, but what does it mean? there are many different kinds of screens that you will run into in basketball. Screening for the post or another wing player cant hurt. its worth a try. Face Guarding Drill! - YouTube We and our partners use cookies to Store and/or access information on a device. You still need the same concepts in zone that you teach in man! We wrote a thorough guide about the subject: http://www.breakthroughbasketball.com/pr/mandefense.html- Learning how to play man defense at this age is better for player development in the future. Best way to guard someone much taller? : r/Basketball - Reddit Not much time especially if your kids can already play man. The next way you can blow past your defender is to utilize change of pace. Winning is a funny thing - win all the time we long for a "real game not as much fun anymore. Why cut the kids that do want to play in high school short? Defense is one important way to keep your opponents from scoring and winning the game. Coach Tyler Whitcomb takes great pride in his team's defense. Essentially he played one kid the entire game and he was the only one allowed to take shots and he was the point guard so my son spent the entire season standing around playing hard on defense and rebounding but was never allowed to be in the offense. They know how to move their legs, establish legal guarding position, come up with steals and deflections and keep their opponents out of the lane. Do you expect miracle work to be done here? Kids won't develop any love for the game getting their brains beat in all the time. "I've never seen a 13 & 14 year old team that was so good at shooting, passing, dribbling, rebounding, half-court offense, & man to man defense that they should work on pressing and junk defenses. Today we want you to help you with improving your defensive game. 2. Once you are good one on one defenders, you must teach scenerios. The best we could do was to support what those coaches did even IF they only played zones. but we loved the kids that came in able to play m2m and understand the concepts.Jean - Fixing the problem is what should be happening but thats a lot easier said than done depending on the area you teach and coach in. Let them know they are probably going to see the box-1. Whatever you do in basketball is improved with practice. Four areas the Sixers must shore up to beat the Boston Celtics in their I told them that their education was the foundation for their lives. Aim your arm swipe for the airspace a few feet above where the ball hits the court, and time your steal attempt so that you begin reaching at the moment the ball leaves his hand for the floor. The remaining 720 kids are in the "rec" program. In basketball, face guarding is a defensive technique used to prevent the offensive player from receiving a pass. For the full video - go to: https://www.championshipproductions.com/cgi-bin/champ/p/Basketball/Suffocating-Pressure-Defense_BD-06007.html?mv_source=YouTube plus three free eBooks with over 270 pages of our favorite basketball drills and plays! This drill helps improve defensive basics like footwork and body positioning against a live opponent rather than just a stationary target. We get either 75 minutes or 150 minutes a week to practice. Before the season I sent a letter to my parents about what to expect, Fun and Fundamentals, and by the way equal playing time for all eight of my girls. Keith -You have taught them m2m for four years seems to me THAT is your best defense. We have played 10 games so far and have won every one of them. If you are faster, more agile, and stronger than your opponent, you will have a breeze playing defense. Doesn't take much effort to run it a few times in practice. ).By the way, my sons team did win yesterday. The gentlemen who run this site seem to agree so if you don't, why are you here? The release notes that placing a hand in the air while defending a player in the post is legal and good defense, deliberately blocking the vision of the offensive player- whether they are the scorer, screener, or spot-up shooter- is not. If you can get them to understand how to stay between the ball and the basket when playing defense on the ball, you're doing better than most high school coaches.I don't recommend basketball for 1st and 2nd graders because they are not developed enough physcially or mentally to play the game. If one person isn't pulling their weight the entire unit will fall apart. Those teams/players are some of the best in the country and I doubt that they would be able to do all those things IF they weren't well schooled in the fundamentals of the game and how to play good m2m D! We and our partners use data for Personalised ads and content, ad and content measurement, audience insights and product development. The rec league has all sorts of rules about no presses, no zones, can''t play defense outside the 3/4 line, extremely generous intterpretation of traveling etc. Whether on the perimeter or the blocks, you must be able to move your feet to match your opponents movements. You have trouble holding the ball (its quite heavy to a 8 & 9 year old), you have trouble dribbling the ball, you can barely pass, and you can barely shoot. Genius.. sure looks that way NOPE, kids made shots and played good D We can take credit for the D. :-)As far as caring for players..