It is not difficult to learn to play basketball. That's more, it can be really fun! Bball Basics for Kids is a step-by-step handbook featuring "Hoops" a playful, basketball-loving friend who shows kids of all ages the most important skills of the game. Coach Bobby Kaplan knows basketball. He applies his experience of having coached more than a thousand games to teach kids the basics of a sport that combines individual skills with the skills of teammates. For those who are just beginning to learn the game, Coach Kaplan shares practical tips on the fundamentals: Dribbling and passing; Shooting and rebounding; Playing defense; Improving footwork on the court Included is a history of the game, inspirational stories, warm up exercises, a glossary of basketball terms, and a sixty-minute self-improvement practice plan to help young players refine their skills. Bball Basics for Kids not only teaches the basics of a great game played by millions around the world, but also educates young players about the enduring values of cooperation, respect, trust, sacrifice, and perseverance. Bball Basics offers the unique opportunity for any basketball program to customize the handbook with their own personal photos

Bball basics for Kids

Basketball HandbookBy Bobby Kaplan

iUniverse, Inc.

Copyright © 2012 Coach Bobby Kaplan
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4620-4373-6

Contents

CHAPTER 1 GETTING STARTED IN Bball: Let's go!.........................1CHAPTER 2 BALL HANDLING: The ball and you are one.....................17CHAPTER 3 SHOOTING: Expect to make the shot...........................33CHAPTER 4 FOOTWORK BASICS: Dance on the court.........................49CHAPTER 5 REBOUNDING: Sweep the boards................................57CHAPTER 6 DEFENSE: Shut them down.....................................63CHAPTER 7 OVERTIME: Go to the next level..............................73CHAPTER 8 TIME OUT: Some extra "goodies"..............................87CHAPTER 9 INSPIRATIONAL STORIES.......................................97A FINAL WORD HUDDLE UP................................................109GLOSSARY OF BASKETBALL TERMS..........................................111CUSTOMIZING Bball basics..............................................117ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.......................................................119INDEX WHERE TO FIND WHAT IN Bball basics..............................123

Chapter One

Getting Started in Bball Let's go!

Basketball is a fast-moving game played by over five hundred million people all over the world. Basketball combines your individual skills—how well you play—with the skills of your teammates. All members of the team must work together for one common goal. On offense, when your team has the ball, means doing everything together to help score baskets. On defense, when the other team has the ball, means doing everything together to stop the opposing team from scoring.

Basketball may seem like a hard game to learn, but like most games, the more you play, the easier it is to understand what's going on.

I'm sure you have watched games on TV and seen coaches quickly draw squiggly lines showing where players should go and what players should do. You may ask yourself, "How does anyone understand what the coach is telling his players? This seems so hard to understand." You will see ... It is not!

Actually, basketball is a simple game. If you try hard and practice the right way, your basketball skills will improve. How much they will improve depends on you and the effort you put into getting better.

Playing sports should be fun. If you are interested in becoming a basketball player just for the fun of it or to join a team, Bball basics will give you the solid beginner-level skills needed to play this sport.

You will not become a good basketball player overnight. Take your time learning, but learn it the right way. Improvement will come if you want it to happen.

One way to help you reach your goal of becoming a basketball player is to get a friend to work along with you. Together you can read this book, understand what it is trying to teach you, practice what it says to do, and coach each other to improve your individual skills.

One word about equipment: In the beginning, don't use a ball too big for your hands or practice shooting on a basket too high for you. Get a smaller basketball, lower the rim, and practice the right way. As you get older and stronger, you can work your way up to a regular-sized ball and a rim ten feet off the ground.

The Basics of the Game

The goal or aim of the game is to score more points than your opponent, the player or team you are playing against. Scoring happens when you put the ball through the basket. Baskets count for different points depending on where you shoot from. Some baskets count for three points (those taken from behind the three-point line), some for two (shots made in front of the three-point line), and some for one point (baskets made from the free-throw line).

Players move up the court by passing the ball to a teammate or dribbling (bouncing) the ball up the court. While five players make up a team in a real game, you can play the game of basketball with fewer players, even one against one. You can certainly practice most skills by yourself.

How This Great Game Started

The game of basketball was invented by a gym teacher named Dr. James A. Naismith back in the winter of 1891 in Springfield, Massachusetts. He invented the game so that kids at his school could run around indoors playing a game during the cold, snowy winter months.

Dr. Naismith tried different ideas before he attached a peach basket to the gym wall ten feet off the ground. Students were divided into two teams. The team that put the ball (which at that time was a soccer ball) into the basket more often won the game.

At first, after each basket scored, a ladder had to be brought out to take the ball out of the basket. This slowed down the game until Dr. Naismith came up with the idea of drilling a hole in the bottom of the peach basket so that a rod or stick could be used to push the ball out of the basket. Eventually, the bottom of the peach basket was cut out so that the ball could drop easily through after a basket was scored.

Over the next few years the game of basketball grew in popularity, and everybody started to play. Dr. Naismith soon realized that you can't just run around and do what you want—rules on how to play the game had to be created.

He developed thirteen basic rules for all to follow, and many of these regulations are still followed in today's game. In fact, Dr. Naismith's original regulations regarding the height of the basket, ten feet off the ground, and the diameter of the basket or rim, eighteen inches wide, are still used today.

Rims and nets were soon substituted for the peach basket, and the basic rules of the game were accepted and widely used. The first backboard, which was made of wood, was introduced in 1904, not to help shoot the ball but to stop fans from interfering with the shot! Many gyms had a running track as the balcony, and fans watching the game would swat at the ball to stop it from going in! No one is sure how the painted rectangle got on the backboard, but it became known as the shooter's square, helping shooters get the correct angle to "bank," or shoot the ball off the backboard.

It was not until 1901 that players could bounce (dribble) the ball, but only one bounce was allowed. Dribbling did not exist until that point! The original soccer balls that were used were too heavy to bounce. In 1909, dribbling as we know it today was introduced—you can now bounce the ball as many times as you want. Dribbling became an offensive skill.

Since the ball was still heavy and had laces on the outside, it took crazy bounces, making dribbling difficult. As the sport grew and grew in popularity, more and more rules were made to improve the game. Improvements were also made with the basketball itself. In the 1950s the ball was fixed to resemble the ball we use today, and dribbling became an offensive weapon.

Girls' basketball had a somewhat different beginning or evolution from the boys' game. At first, boys were not permitted in the gym to watch a girls' game because boys and girls did not mix socially during the early years of the sport in the 1900's. The girls' game of basketball was a lot different from the boys'. The girls' court was divided into zones (areas), and the players could not move out of their zone. Strange! Eventually, two rovers were permitted; only those players were allowed to move around the whole court. It was not until 1971 that...