5 Second Rule - What's with the Counting?

Those who have had their kids attend our programs know that we do things a little differently at Home Court. One thing that sometimes leads to confusion is the "5 Second Rule" we use during scrimmages.




As you can see from the video from the video whenever a new player gets possession of the ball, one of the referees (Home Court Coach) begins counting. You may have noticed that the coach never got to 5. If a player holds the ball for longer than 5 seconds then it results in a turnover for their team. This is a rule that is unique to Home Court and won't be something your child will experience in regular league play.

So why do we do it?
Well we only use it in our younger player programs and our reasons have everything to do with skill development. Limiting the time a player can have the ball encourages making decisions at a faster pace. Players are forced to keep their head up as they dribble and anticipate the movement of their teammates. It also encourages ball movement and player movement as the offense needs to move the ball quickly. It does make the game a little tougher at the younger ages, but as the players get into the habit of sharing the ball and making good decisions, we stop counting and eventually the kids start playing like this.

Let us know if you have any other questions regarding any of our programs.

Coach Pat

My First Coach - Fostering a Love of the Game

I've been thinking lately of my first basketball coach. I was in fifth grade and I lived in a small town in Oregon. Basketball had been my favorite sport since before I was in school so the opportunity to play on a team with uniforms in a real league with my buddies was almost too much for me to handle. Unfortunately none of our parents had the time to coach us and we were forced to forfeit our first two games. Luckily someone finally stepped in and agreed to be our coach.

Lolita Hankins didn’t have a son on the team (her son was a year older than us). I don’t know why she agreed to coach our team. I don’t know if she had coached before or if she had even played. All I know is that she instantly became a hero to the boys who would play for her that season.

I have forgotten many of the details from my first year of basketball. I have no idea how many games we won, I can’t remember the names of all of the kids who were on my team or what position I played.

It’s funny what I do remember though. I remember that once I decided our team needed a time out and called one without checking with Lolita first. I remember the confused look on Lolita’s face, but she only said that we probably did need a time out. I remember we didn’t call her coach, just Lolita. I remember that Lolita never once raised her voice but that she was pretty strict with us during practice. I remember that there was one game that Lolita had to miss and a couple of dads filled in for her. I also remember that that game wasn’t nearly as much fun.

Recently my parents told me that some of the other parents weren’t completely excited about having Lolita coach us at first. She must have done a pretty good job though because she ended up coaching us again the next year. Thanks to her generosity I got to have my first taste of organized basketball. Lolita helped cultivate a love for the game of basketball that has stuck with me to this day. I will be forever grateful to her for the time she invested in me and my friends.

p.s. Let us know what you think of this post?

Just Getting Started

We thought we'd venture into the world of blogging. Court Vision will be our take on what's happening on the court, stories of success, coaching tips and whatever you think would be helpful.

How can Court Vision help you as a player, parent or coach?

In the meantime, here's some video from last week's 3rd & 4th Grade Boys Full Court Press Session.