Coaching Youth Basketball - Chapter 25

Chapter 25 - Follow the Bouncing Ball

For those of you who are old enough, remember the old cartoons that would give you the words to some ole folks song, and tell you to "Follow the bouncing ball?" Was that the beginning of karyoke? (I hope I spelled that right.)

Anyway, this is all about playing your position and not playing herd ball. What is herd ball? If you have to ask this question, it's obvious you have never been to a first grade soccer game. With 1st graders, no one plays their position, everyone runs after the ball. What you have is a bunch of the cutest tykes in the world running around with shorts on that almost come down to their ankles. Wherever the ball is, there you will find about 10 little uns kicking the wee-wads out of each other trying to get to the ball. It sometimes takes 2 minutes to get the ball to move as little as 10 feet because of the herd of kids.

So how does this apply to basketball? In the beginning your players may try to follow the follow the ball, rather than play their position. This is not a good thing. Here are some examples of following the ball on defense and offense.

DEFENSE

Let's say that you are playing a m-2-m defense. you will find that there are at least 1 or more of your players who won't guard their man because they are too busy following the player with the ball. This always leaves someone unguarded on the other team. Someone will inevitably pass the ball to the open player. The funny thing is that this player may not have scored a point all year long, but I promise you they will score against you this time, Murphy's Law.

Let's say you are playing a zone defense. You will have players leave their area and begin to follow the ball. Again, this leaves a wide open area unguarded. This is a bbbaaadddd thing!!!!

Here's the hard part, let's say your player follows the ball, leaving their man or area unguarded. Let's also assume that they actually steal the ball from the other team, takes it the length of the court and makes a lay-up. Everyone is up and cheering. Your initial response is to tell that player "Great job!" WRONG!!! By doing this you are telling them it's ok not to play their position. This will cost you more points then you will ever gain.

I had a player like this in 4th grade. She was my best natural athlete on the team. She could home in on the ball and steal it at least 1/2 the time. This worked in 4th and 5th grade. In 6th grade the other teams were now smart enough that they just passed the ball to her unguarded player and score at will. It took a while for what was happening to sink in, but once she realized what was happening, she dedicated herself to playing proper defense and became a great defensive player.

The hard part about this is that these players can have some success stealing the ball at the younger ages. This reinforces the idea that this is a cool thing to do. The sad part is, my player who made the transition from following the ball to playing great defense, is the exception. Most players can't change their habit of following that stupid bouncing ball, and so by 9th grade they aren't good enough to make a team.

OFFENSE

Now let's see how following the ball affects you on offense. The key to any offense is to be able to get a player open to take a good shot. This doesn't happen in herd ball. In your first year of coaching you will have some kids who stay within 5 feet of your player who has the ball. No one gets open this way, no one. Here are some examples of what happens this way.

When my daughter, Crash, was in 5th grade she was 5'4" and 125 pounds. She was one big, strong kid. I had taught my team to only make bounce passes. Well, when she had the ball, there would always be 2 of our players playing herd ball. They would be so close to her that when she bounce passed the ball to them, it would bounce off of their feet, shins, or knees. I have always preached never to make a weak pass, so she would pass it so hard that she would knock her teammates over. If they they weren't knocked over, they would still fall down rubbing their shin or knee, where Crash had creamed them.

Let me explain how powerful an urge it is to follow the ball. Crash is slightly anal retentive, so she never quit making strong hard passes. Here comes that powerful urge to follow the ball. Even after Crash had creamed a teammate 3 times in the same game, even after I had told this kid to quit following the ball, Crash still got the opportunity to cream the kid a 4th and 5th time. "No pain, No gain" sure didn't apply here, now did it? These same kids would walk off the court after every game with bruised shins and knees, they just couldn't resist the urge to follow the ball.

Another example of how following the ball is a bad thing is what it allows the other team to do. If you have 3 offensive players in a 5 foot circle, then it only takes one of their defensive players to cover 3 of your offensive players effectively. Your other 2 players won't be able to get open because now the other team has 4 defensive players covering your 2 players who aren't playing herd ball. So the net result is your offense is at a standstill.

Something I have forgotten to tell you is the 5 second rule. If your player has the ball and stands in one spot without dribbling for 5 seconds, and the other team has a defensive player within 3 feet of your player, then you will hear the ref's whistle. If they don't move within 5 seconds, the other team gets the ball. When you play herd ball, you will hear this whistle a lot. Whistles are not good things.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Yes, there are other chapters coming, but you might learn something from these acknowledgements. ... I would like to take a few moments to thank a few folks who are making this possible. I will start with Norm at Chalk Talk. Chalk Talk is quite possibly the best basketball discussion board on the net. I started posting my book on Chalk Talk and Norm owns Chalk Talk. Thanks for all of your space and help. If you have questions that you want a lot of different viewpoints on from experienced coaches, then go to Chalk Talk at www.worldofsports.com and then look for the current month of Chalk Talk, it's well worth your time. Norm, thank-you for everything, especially for putting up with a crusty ole fart like me.

Next I would like to thank Steve Jordan, aka Alaska Coach. He allowed me to continue posting this book on his site. Alaska has also been one of my main inspirations, without him I don't know if this book would have ever happened. His website has everything from AA-ZZZ. His site is one of 2 that I call my Basketball Encarta. To get there go to www.alaskalife.net/sjordan Let 100% of the site come up, then go to coach's notebook. You will be like a kid at Disneyworld.

I can't forget about Coach Larry Dean Jackson. LD let me post on his site, again, without which this book would never have happened. If you ever want to find offensive or defensive plays, this guy has more plays on his site than Jimmy Carter had peanuts. This site is the other part of my Basketball Encarta.

Norm, Alaska, and LD, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. If we can keep one future youth coach from becoming a tyrannical, screaming egotistical idiot who ruins the game for the kids, then we have achieved a lot. If thanks aren't enough, then I guess I will have to buy you a brewski if you ever come to St. Louis.

Next to last, but not least, there are the regulars on Chalk Talk who have influenced me and my coaching style, or lack of. Coaches Bonifield, Country Coach, Coach Sbay, Coach Mackinney, Phil G., Coach Keith, (even if you are tired of the book,) Coach K,( even when you diss me, we both still learn,) and all of the others I haven't named, thank you for helping to bring out the parts of me that I like.

And finally I would like to thank my wife, Jennifer, for all of her patience. I know my sitting at a stupid keyboard frustrates you, so thank you. You are still my best friend in the whole world. And the adventure continues...

And Crash, for teaching me how to be a father and a coach. Here is a lesson for all of you coaches who have kids that play for you. In 4th grade I never screamed at my kids, except Crash. Every time she screwed up, which was a lot, I jumped all over her with both feet. Finally, she sat me down and explained that I needed to treat her like every other kid on the team. I shouldn't put any more pressure on her than I did anyone else on the team, because that wasn't fair to her. She was right! The moment I quit riding her, she became a better player. More importantly, I became a better coach and a better father.

If you can find that you can use even one idea from this book, then e-mail Alaska, Ld, and Norm. Let them know that they have done something good. I have not made one penny from this, and neither have they. Every once in a while people need a pat on the back. In fact, if you see any of these guys on the street, give them a hug. (God, I've watched too many movies. The hug part came from Holy Man with Eddie Murphy.)

Stay tuned to this website, more chapters to come.......