basketball advice

[bama_girl]

any advice on convincing a 12 year old girl that basketball is not supposed to be a contact sport would be appreciated

[Spence]

Depends on where she plays. If she plays underneath basketball is a contact sport.

If she is getting lots of driving fouls, (assuming she is right handed) tape her right hand down and make her learn to play left handed. If she can drive with either hand it is harder to defend. defensive players always try to shut out your dominant side.

I am a southpaw and my dad made me learn to play all sports with my right hand as well as my left. It opens up more options.

[bama_girl]

she plays post. she has a black eye this week, a bruised tail bone last week, requiring her to sit on one of those do-nut cushion things and week before last she had a mild concusion
i don't know what driving is, she is right handed. she is 5'5" and is the prissyest girly girl you ever saw till she starts playing b'ball. then she is a crazed demon and usually fouls out towards the beginning of the 4th period at the latest. i want the coach to make her sit out for a few minutes after every foul but he just acts like i'm being a nervous ninny so should i tape her right arm down? i wish i knew more about the game itself. i wonder if they make one of those "for dummies" books about basketball.

[Spence]

Is she getting most of her fouls on offense or defense? Aslo what is her size in relation to the players she plays against. Post is generally played by taller players. If she is smaller or slower then some of the players she goes against she may be getting overwelmed underneath on defense.

Driving is going in the lane towards the basket.

[bama_girl]

she's getting the fouls on defense when the player she is gaurding has the ball. she is a half inch taller than i am and i've only seen a few that were taller than her in her age group. the coach says he doesn't want to sit her out because "she's our rebounder". that's when she is getting her injuries, down there jumping and jerkin the ball around at the other teams goal. she is right handed and dribbles with her right hand and her left arm is up. so that means she drives with her left arm right?

[Spence]

That is right. Although it would help her to learn how to dribble and shoot left handed, it probably isn't the problem.

She needs to learn how to get into good position. This isn't something that I can help you with on here because it involves coaching. It sounds to me as if her coach needs to work with her on her defensive positioning and knowing how to anticipate where the player she is guarding is going. A tip would be to watch their hips not their eyes. Once you commit your hips to a position it is very hard to change that direction. Then it is just a matter of getting an inside angle and shutting down the lane. If she is getting fouls while in the act of rebounding, then she needs to learn how to "box out" better. when the ball is in the air if she starts blocking her position, she can be a little more physical then she can be when it is coming off the rim. (referees aren't paying as close attention when the ball is in the air as they are when it is coming off the rim)

As for the injuries, being in better defensive position will help that, bit they are a fact of life in sports. I have bad knees, bad ankles, back problems and just general aches and pains related from sports. Nothing terribly serious, but I can feel them all. I still wouldn't trade the injuries because lessons learned in sports just can't be taught any where else.

She could ask her coach to work on her defense and maybe go to a basketball camp this summer, if she really loves to play. You can learn more in a week of camp sometimes then in a year of playing without being taught the fundamentals. That is what it is all about, if you do the little things right the rest will follow.

If she has a really good coach, but hasn't been playing long, then she may be thinking too much about what she is doing rather then just doing it. The only thing that cures that is practice. If you do it enough times you quit thinking about what you are doing and just do it. It is like when training to do a job. When you first start everything is awkward because you are thinking about what you are doing. Once you do it enough to get comfortable, you do it, do it right, and don't think about it.

Sorry I can't help very much. Teaching and practicing, it sounds to me, is what she needs. There isn't a magic word that fixes that.

[bama_girl]

thanks spence!
i'm going to get her to come in here and read that when she gets home and see what she says about it. i have basketball lingo/terminology issues so i don't know if i could translate it