Gauging Distance???

[bbcoach7]

Originally Posted by Snaqwells

Frankly, I don't understand the concept but that's how I call it. Why does a player need to use his hands to know how far his opponent is when he's looking right at him?

I suspect it may be because coaches often teach defenders to be "arms length away." If the idea is to apply pressure on the ball, you have to be close enough to touch 'em.

Also... if you believe a player can't gain a small momentary advantage with a split second touch, you'd be incorrect. When I was a freshman in HS (32 yrs ago), my coach taught me a sneaky & effective tactic to use when getting beat off the dribble. At the point when the dribbler is closest to the defender (going by) and almost touching, you place your finger tips of your inside hand on the dribblers close hip bone, but just for a split second. The hand, wrist and forearm are stiff and unyielding. It's just a split second touch, but it can significantly disrupt the advantage the offensive player had gained.

Very often in this situation when getting beat off the dribble, we see the defenders hand momentarily on the dribblers hip, and then off again. Probably most of the time it's a benign, limp wristed touch. Honestly, the only way to tell the difference is if the "touch" on the hip causes a slight rotation from the force applied to the hip.