I'm a new coach and want to try to coach the girls the best I know how. My first question is about full court pressing. These are girls that are in the 3rd and 4th grade. Some teams have teams that have 8 4th grade girls on them and some teams have 7 3rd grade girls and 2 4th grade. That's basically how all the teams are split. It's probably half and half. So our 3rd graders are coming into this division that presses and that they are more strict on walking, double dribbles, and fouls. The situation in the court is complete chaos because the younger girls don't know what's going on most of the time. My question is .. At what age group do you think you should start the full court press?
2nd question is tying up the ball. As soon as one girl catches a pass or is trying to bring the ball down the floor another girl just reached in and try's to grab it out of their hand. This causes frustration and then it gets into a pulling match. There has to be fouls in there somewhere but the refs just call jump ball everytime. I just think the way these things are going we aren't teaching these girls basketball skills. Some of these teams are beating other teams by over 20 points and it's just very frustrating especially when they are always preaching to coaches and parents to take it easy on the girls they are there to have fun. Well it's not fun to get beat by over 20 points each game.

Well from what I've read here, 6th or 7th grade for the press.

My daughter plays in a 4th/5th grade league. They can only press the final 2 minutes of the game.

No way should they be allowed to press at the 3rd/4th grade level.

Bring it up with the league. Print out some rules from other leagues for backup.

I've been looking at other leagues and what they do. I'm going to bring it up with the league. I just think it just confuses the girls. The boys at this age don't press so I just don't understand why the girls can. Frustrating.

I think they are a little too young for full court presses. I feel that they don't know what they are doing and I think they don't have the skills to even break the press.

It's really tough to give a hard and fast answer. It really depends on the situation.

But without question... 3rd and 4th grade is too young for press.

For full court man to man press, I don't mind that if the team getting pressed is experienced and skilled. However I don't think they should trap because that creates bad habits for the pressing team and young kids just aren't physically strong enough to pass out of double teams, etc.

I think full court man to man pressure is good for our young kids because it helps them improve dribbling skills. But that's only if they are skilled and experienced. We actually practice this for agility and ball handling reasons.

When it comes to a full court "zone" press with traps, I'd say 7th grade is about the soonest I'd want to see that. We have a strong 5th grade girls team and frankly I think it's a waste of time for us to prepare and learn how to deal with a zone press at this point. There are so many basics they still need to work on. Plus some of them aren't strong enough to throw the long passes necessary to break a good zone press. And we would never press ourselves in a zone. I'm sure it would be very effective from a winning standpoint but ineffective from a long term player development standpoint. We are all man to man defense that can extend if needed.... basic principles stay the same.

When it comes to dealing with the players grabbing the ball, teach your players to rip, chin, and the dribble or pivot. These are fundamental skills they need to learn anyway.

BTW, almost all the tournaments we play in do not allow full court pressure until that last couple minutes of the game. For most tournaments they start allowing the press and zone defenses in 6th grade.

Then when you say the boys aren't allowed to press at that age, makes even less sense they allow it in the girls game.

And therein lies the problem of almost every youth rec league. I know the situation you are describing very well. Some leagues create a Lord of the Flies environment when it comes to the rules, then keep score on how everyone is doing and ask "are we having fun yet?". The kids that are more athletic and aggressive have fun, others not so much. It's already been said, but allowing a full court press in a 3rd/4th grade developmental basketball league is ridiculous.

In defense of rec youth leagues, they can't afford high paid staffers. Hopefully, they're able to attract folks who enjoy working with youth and have a vision beyond the scoreboard for what youth sports can do in a young person's life.

There's never a perfect time to begin allowing more aggression in basketball like steals or tie-ups. Our leagues allowed that in 4th grade. It's not going to look pretty either as kids aren't in control yet. We solved the chaotic grabbing and stealing by asking the refs to remind the players before the game and at half-time about going for the ball. What that looks like, what was allowed and what wasn't. It seemed to help.

I've always been in the camp of leagues being up front about their philosophy and rules. If a league is more competitive and allows presses, steals, etc. parents signing up should do so with eyes wide open.

You might try grabbing the league director and voicing your concerns about the presses. Jeff's suggestion (regarding tie-ups) was a good one as the girls will need to develop those skills. You could also ask the league director if the refs can talk before the game about steals and going for the ball. That it needs to be clean and you can't bump or grab arms.

Old thread, but I felt like bumping it.

Full court pressure, either swarming or zone pressure is ridiculous until the kids can throw the over the top pass effectively. There is no way to keep a full court press honest unless the threat of throwing the ball over it exists. It is like football. It is easy to stack the box and bring the house when the qb can only throw the ball 10 yards. Ridiculous. One of the worst things we do in youth basketball. Pick up at half court, play man to man, and let's get it on. I don't care what level it is, in 4th or 5th grade, all you are doing is rewarding bad habits by encouraging this kind of foolishness.

Rant off.

Coach: This debate has been waging on and on for as long as I can remember. When Coach Sars was around God rest his soul, the both of us would rage on and on about the age appropriate time to allow presses. I had to go back and read your post again to realize that you are only coaching third and fourth grades. Any league that allows presses at this age needs to be informed. I have heard all the arguments, we need to teach it so they get used to i...pressing in the last two minutes but only if you are behind an on and on and on. You want to know why kids begin playing basketball then quit so early or at a young age, this is one of the reasons. You have a third grader who is just learning the game but she cannot get a chance to develop her skills because the other team is constantly harassing her with pressure. Do you know how frustrating this would be for an 8 or 9 year old. Presses should never be allowed ever ..at this age group period. And I know my friend Ken is applauding me right now for this statement. Good luck Merry Christmas Coach Mac.