Good positioning makes you quicker. We also have an equal playing time rule. While guarding a player that does not have the ball, the defender must consider the players movement before establishing a legal guarding position. I get sick of hearing people say the higher skilled players at youth level will make up the majority of the varsity team when they get that age. Good question. Are they flicking their wrist? Stay Low, and Keep Your Distance! "Are the few extra wins now worth it when you could get more wins in the future by focusing on the fundamentals? Others have suggested that it will simply make it harder for defenders to do their jobs effectively. If your opponents are able to play to their strengths, it makes your job as a defender a lot harder. Are they keeping their eyes up? Use Crease Use Crease When being face guarded by a defender, a great place to bring and beat them is behind the goal. 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. I have 12 kids on team we play a 32 min game with 4 quarters. Get the dribbler out of the top of the key, as this is the hardest area to defend when in man-to-man. Discipline. I run zone, but still teach solid fundamental footwork and team defense. These are all details that kids should know by the time they are in high school. Flex cuts, ucla screens, shuffle cut, backscreens, down picks, cross screens, elevator screens, staggered, double. Let the kids understanding of the game and skill level over time along with the competition dictate what other defense you might want to try. The restricted zone is a Basketball is pretty simple the team with the most points at the end of play wins. Subs are mandatory and evey kid plays at least 8 minutes a game. That said, what is the restricted zone in basketball? The NBA does not specifically outlaw face guarding, in theory, though if any contact is made while a defender is waving or placing the hand in front of the face of an opponent, whether they are the dribbler or not, this violates legal guarding position and a personal foul is called. Simply subscribe to our monthly newsletter and receive: 72 Basketball Drills & Coaching Tips - 136 page eBook, 21 Basketball Tips & Tricks for Players - 20 page eBook, 32 Winning Basketball Plays - 96 page eBook, Over 200,000 players, coaches and parents subscribed. Manage Settings If you have a hard time staying with the dribbler, give yourself a little more cushion by backing off a bit more. When the games start teams just have trouble scoring and my kids confidence carries over to offense. Today we want you to help you with improving your defensive game. I started to get kids together in summer and work on all the basic fundamentals. If the defense switches, can they slip it? Lets take a look at what we consider to be a legal guarding position, how it is performed, and how it affects the basketball game. Now there is no one right answer but I have found that when we do competitive one on one drills or two on one drills it helps. Hi Kris,You stated that your other players could not handle pressure. Baskets made close to the rim are considered to be a high percentage shot. Kids really start to understand at this age and coaches will take advantage of your M2M defense.Just remember most of these kids will never play High School Basketball but the memories will last a lifetime. Their primary goal is not to win. Also, if a rec program is playing a bunch of zone defense and junk that is non sense. (happens all the timesome teams don't like to play against M2M as much as they don't like playing it)?5. I will only help her out until her coach starts working with her. Teach the kids about teamwork, sportsmanship,work ethic and give them a chance to succeed. I understand your argument about AAU teams and School Teams. I am reading this today because a 4th grade team has played a box and 1 against my 4th graders in a tournament and we need to play them again.I hope to stay within our normal zone offense with maybe adding a screen or 2.My comment is to agree with those questioning the mentality of running a box and 1 in 4th grade. Just do your best to power him out of the post. For all of those that are preaching about young kids need to learn the core fundamentals of man to man defenseyou need to realize that a lot of zone defense principles reflect man to man defense! It is only 5/6 grade and if we double their point guard, none of their other players are very good. Even if you set a no double-teaming rule, it can still be overwhelming for them by having 1 defender pressuring them. One type of defense is man-to-man defense, where each player guards a specific player on the other team. 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. And from what I see, if you hiding underdeveloped players in a zone or junk defense, you're doing the same thing on offense (just my experience) so they get nothing out of playing. David,Keep it fun! In most every situation, the team running the junk is the weaker team. Defense on a particular player typically occurs within a small area on the court, so being agile will give you an advantage. It takes a lot of time to break bad habits like this. I have been coaching youth sports for 15 years from 1st grade to High School Football and basketball Boys and Girls and the notion that it is wrong to teach zones,presses and other defenses as well as man to man is garbage.I have 6th grade girls now and if you play man-2-3 zone 1-3-1 zone full court trap whatever they know how to break them both by alignment and how.Because we know how to run multiple defenses we also understand how to beat them. Offense in todays game of basketball is very versatile. 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. To learn more about PGC Basketball, including additional basketball training tips and videos, visit our YouTube Channel or find us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Given the maturity level of most of the kids and the amount of the time spent practicing, these are sound rules, work well and have contrinuted to providing a great experience for all the kids. Location: Winter Garden, FL (Orlando suburb) Great ideas, Rob and Ken. Mine was this a GREAT point guard a GREAT rebounder and hopefully a couple of really good shooters. 6. I'm a little bit worried that they are creating all-star teams in 1st and 2nd grade and traveling across the state to play other teams. I would have made a lot less mistakes, like playing zones with young players.As I see it, substituting is your biggest problem sit down and make a script of how and when you will sub to keep your players as fresh as you can.Think about this. with a minute or less to go in a quarter, you can sub someone and they will get at least a 2 minute break before the next quarter starts if you wait another minute, that's a 3 minute break enough to recover with I would think.There are many teams that never went more than 8 deep unless they were in foul trouble. Of course not. Lunge forward to slap the ball away if a taller opponent faces you and dribbles. Improve individually and as a team every week4. I have had the same group of boys for the last four years, as 7th graders now. Ones that help their kids off the team practice courts. Saying that it takes half a season to teach m2m for a junior varsity or varsity coach is great. If teams are allowed to use it then they will. These multiple effort situations can occur when the basketball is being juggled on a rebound and you have to jump 3 - 4 times to secure the basketball or when a player gets beat playing full-court on-ball defense and instead of giving up they turn and sprint back into the play and attempt to get a back tip steal to one of their teammates. I agree with this --"instead they'd be a scout or recruiter. I'm afraid that using zones and junk defenses will get you a couple of extra wins now, but they will teach bad habits because kids can get away from good man principles (For example: swarming the ball, not watching their man, going for tons of steals) and be successful at the youth level. 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. Ted,As I said in my posting, I also coach my son's 9-10 team, as well as coach varsity ball. Get the ball to one side of the court. Often rule changes are made to accommodate the offense. In basketball, face guarding is a defensive technique used to prevent the offensive player from receiving a pass. Miami went on to become the sixth No. Thanks for the information. Jeff has pretty much nailed this. so I will just add a few things. You can play zones and win forever since young kids cant shoot very well, at least the majority cant.Do your kids a favor and go back to teaching m2m defense and all the other fundamentals of the game. What is Guarding in Basketball? 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. It is a township team. DJ - That is true that a good zone has man to man defense qualities and that is exactly one of the reasons its SO important to start by teaching man to man defense first. Thanks guys. Johnny - I couldn't agree with you more. Wow! 3-POINT PLAY Get a quick dose of wisdom to enhance your game and life. Usually, the distance to take into account is not less than 1 step. Most of the details are overlooked. Problem: we fall apart against a zone defensethere is no one to screen so they get confused. This is ball denial. I want to do this in our next game against an opponent that beat us, but should I? I've seen it first hand. I coach 7th grade boys and we recently loss to a team that runs a 3-2 defense with the 3 defenders on mid-court waiting for my ball handlers. Jeff,12 - 13 years oldHere are my goals (straight from my letter to the parents):1. Bend knees to get a low center of gravity. There is a logical progression of teaching basketball fundamentals. Footwork is the base of defense. If you are a new coach do not buy into this nonsense! And that goes even up to HS. The idea behind guarding someone in basketball is to deny them access to their desired destination while staying on your side of the court. If you cannot stop your opponents from scoring, no matter how good you are at playing offense, you will find it extremely difficult to win games. Just last week, one of the "bottom" players scored 4 points on her birthday (to see her after that game made my season). They can change tempo & cause your better players lots of trouble! Harden's finishing at the rim. They became the first team to take a 2-0 series lead over the Warriors in the Stephen . De'Aaron Fox scored 24 points and made a backbreaking 3-pointer that led the playoff newcomer Sacramento Kings to a second straight victory over the defending champion Golden State Warriors, 114-106. The details are the fundamentals. Watch out for that in our next newsletter. You still need the same concepts in zone that you teach in man! Keith -You have taught them m2m for four years seems to me THAT is your best defense. I plan on staying with these kids as long as I can (up to 8th grade). Get videos like these delivered to your inbox each week! Solves the issue of kids not learning man-to-man. The big problem we face as coaches that there is lack of gym time during the basketball season and at that point you are forced to work on putting your team in some kind of structure. They must ensure that before they take up a legal guarding position, the offensive player has sufficient time to see them and alter their speed or direction. Read More Can You Play Basketball After Bunion Surgery?Continue, Read More Best In-Ground Basketball Hoops Under $500 & $1000!Continue, Read More Best Portable Basketball Hoop Under $200!Continue, Read More Can You Put a Portable Basketball Hoop in the Ground?Continue, Read More How To Transport A Basketball Hoop?Continue, Read More How Can You Put A Basketball Hoop On House?Continue, Your email address will not be published. If you do not practice and execute proper defense while in games, violations will be called against you. The strong side bottom defender in the box goes out to defend the ball, and the man who should rotate to the strong side block is being screened, and because there are only 4 defenders in the zone, there is less help, which should give you a lay-up. Fundamentals? Another type of defense is zone defense, where players guard an area rather than a specific player. In terms of defense we experimented with all different types our first season, before settling on M2M half court as our primary defense. Yet the players still learned the fundamentals. What is needed is more year round travel programs that spend more time on fundamentals of the game, not rec leagues that ignore them. 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. After they have established a legal guarding position, a defender can move laterally or backward towards the opposing player. When playing basketball, face guarding is a technique used to prevent the person with the ball from seeing the court. I had intended not to spend any practice time based on my teams needs on offensive set plays. As a rookie girls 8th grade basketball coach, I find this discussion very interesting. 2023 Point Guard College LLP. Defense is all about discipline. Years ago, Jerry Liggett from Quincy, Illinois had every school in his town running his system from 2nd grade up.. think his job was a lot easier? These are tournament teams. Ahead of that . To prevent your opponent from getting the ball, you need to stay close enough to your opponent when they are a pass away to render them out as a passing option or to intercept any passes that are intended for them. Get the defesnse on the move and keep them on the move. The offender is penalized with a technical foul resulting in a free throw for the opposing team. Stay calm, run your stuff and you will ruin all of their preparation time by exploiting what they are trying to do. Try to work as much and as hard as you can in the gym. Did you teach the dribbler how to set his defender up and run him into the screen? Problem with spreading the floor is, my girls are maybe strong enough to throw a 10 - 12 foot pass and most of the time its one second too late. Many of the coaches are volunteer parents and even the experienced ones do not coach as their profession. Any advice on face guarding? How Do You Beat Face-Guarding In Basketball? In basketball, face guarding is a defensive technique used to prevent the offensive player from getting open for a shot. 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. The center or middle man drops to the ball side block and the weak side forward flashes into the high post. Help D is allowed on a driving opponent. I have coached youth league basketball for the past five years, and have always taught my players first how to play man to man defense first. Speed is an essential aspect of defense. If nothing is said there will be confusion. Opponents will usually counteract this by using a two-guard front in order to split the defender out front. It allows players to keep defenders away from the ball, creating space for an offensive player to make a shot or pass, and it also can be used to prevent a defender from stealing the ball. So I would echo making M2M half court your primary and first defense to learn and go from there, but not get tied to any generalization that you can''t play this defense until X age. So, to all you lower level youth coaches, plan your practices wisely! I believe if you teach solid fundamentals that kid can run any coaches Off or def scheme does not matter. The truth is, lockdown defense is based on perception and may vary based on who you ask. Also I am not going to lie I want them to win. Respect the other team and the refereesI am not going to lie, winning does make my job easier. ATLANTA -- The Hawks shocked the NBA world in Game 5 after rallying from a 12-point deficit in the fourth quarter to force a Game 6 against the Celtics in Atlanta on Thursday night. It hit me like a ton of bricks, that what I just taught these kids was all they were really going to get before they play HS ball. Best way to beat a box/diamond and 1 is to move the ball and screen the zone. there are many different kinds of screens that you will run into in basketball. Every time you miss and the other team scores, thats a 4 point turnaround that happens 5 times = 20 points and the game is over.Talent wins games, coaches can put their kids in a position to win bottome line, the play hard D and make some shots. I teach only M2M until the 5th grade then I play what works. Hardest Position in Basketball: A Comprehensive Guide. Do I have to remind you that Arkansas for many years used "40 minutes of Hell" successfully . If the face guarder gets out of position or loses focus for just one moment, then the offense has a chance to make easy scoring opportunities. Rec coaches are trying to make the best of what time and resources they have. The vast majority of high school coaches also run zones including the regional qualifying high school varsity coach that works as an asst for our youth teams. Am I stupid when the miss? After the regular season is over we will have all-stars. Try not to hurt him, but just see if you can distract him or make him uncomfortable. Almost every team we play plays junk defense. One team had a pretty good center who could score from outside the paint so we had to adjust my center wasn't the greatest defender, thats why I did that, not because he was a shot blocker.Give that a try in practice and let us know how that works for you. Guarding is the act of legally placing the body in the path of an offensive opponent. Since I always told my students about building a house and that it takes a good foundation for it to last, but with a poor foundation the building will crumble. Players inside work together to find open spots.Hope this helps. The Kings blew the Warriors out 118-99 in Game 6, dragging this heavyweight first-round series to a deciding Game 7 on Sunday afternoon back . This is a little trick some of the best NBA players use and especially smaller guards use to score over taller defenders. That is a very legitimate issue with playing M2M D. I can't tell you what to do but here are some things for you to consider as you decide if you should teach M2M defense or not.- Teaching a good man defense is not easy. Fix the problem! these kids we play against aren't learning offensive fundamentals either.The other fundamentally horrible thing these girls are learning in these defenses is reaching. If you find a team with that much discipline-should be one of those games that comes down to who has the smarter basketball players.Personally, I love those games. Thanks! 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/. CHANGE OF PACE. Face guarding occurs when a defensive player blocks or disrupts the vision of the offensive player, whether that player has possession of the ball or not. Not much time especially if your kids can already play man. They dont have enough experiences to react that quickly.Having the 3-point line rule, allows player to get under control, see where the defense is, see where the offense is, and make a decision.Now, for the elite 2% of players, this rule is probably not needed, but I dont believe in elite or competitive leagues at this age. basketball as long as the defender does not make contact with the offensive players. To become a lockdown defender, you must do your scouting so that you can know your opponents strengths and weaknesses. or do you want us to focus on winning games now and hinder their development in the future? Face guarding is a defensive technique used in basketball to prevent the offensive player from getting a clear view of the basket. We and our partners use cookies to Store and/or access information on a device. Face guarding without contact is a penalty at the high school level only. Offensive players should seek opportunities to create separation from their defenders by using head fakes, jab steps, and change-of-pace dribbling. Use your time wisely, make sure that you cover the things that they are going to need to play the game while teaching good fundamentals. Continue with Recommended Cookies. I've personally done it and here's a fun story that a subscriber shared with us where he started 0-12 in 6th grade, but finished the 8th grade season as 15-3 and conference champs. Because of the time spent teaching the of fundamentals of basketball (which they lacked greatly) while they were still in the learning phase of the game, they finished their 8th grade year 11-1 and went on the win district. Since they didnt run a press offense in practice, they got destroyed and never got the chance to do much in games. 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. "This is a great website. If you adjust your parent letter and philosophy regarding the program, you can avoid those negative parent issues. If I was good did he only love me when I played well?Coaches we have such a huge opportunity for a short period of time to help these boys and girls set a solid foundation for life and basketball is a means to an end for us to help in the process. But they sure are 3rd grade all stars. Turn on any college basketball game and you will see teams switching from man to zone and pressing. 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. I just started coaching this year and I am working with an instructional league of 4th and 5th graders. In addition, we only have so much practice time to install a solid man-man. As time went on we moved on to more competitive leagues with many different rules some I agreed with some I did not. THAT is attention to detail. Shadow Drills 3.3. I agree with all of you. Keep your hands active, but don't let your elbows go out from the body. All players must know who they have and what their responsibilities are. They'll allow you to: a. The time goes quick! 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. The rules they use for kids are absurd. Try your best to learn about these players tendencies and prepare for them so that you are not blindsided when you go into a game. What opportunities can we take advantage of to "make them pay" for gaurding one player this way?Couple of thoughts: "Jeff" will set more effective picks (defender not wanting to switch), and picks may be more effective if set for "Jeff", backdoor pick for lob, when "Jeff" is "out", keep him as far out as possible leaving a driving lane, move "Jeff" 7 feet behind the arc on the wing (still in range) and run a 4 on 4 offense, have him fake stuff because the defender can't see the rest of the floor (fake a pick call, when they look cut to the basket, fake jump for a pass), cut off other defensive players - using them as semi-picks.What have you used and found effective?Harold. The altered environment led to a Friday night stunner. Set your wings O2 and O3 wide at the three-point line extended, 3-point arc areas. Any player who arrives first without inadvertently making contact with an opponent is entitled to a spot on the playing court. One potential downside of face-guarding is that it puts much strain on the defending teams players. If one of my teams is facing an opponent that only plays man I would game plan and prepare my players well enough to destroy your team.
how to beat face guarding in basketball