Running Backwards

[bainsey]

Originally Posted by JugglingReferee

It's funny how running backwards is not frowned upon in football, but in basketball it is.

Hell, running backwards is encouraged in soccer! In fact, it's part of our physical test.

But, there are reasons why it's encouraged in one and not the other. In soccer, if you're 10-20 yards from the sideline, and the ball is coming toward you, you want your eyes on the field while your feet are moving in the necessary direction. In basketball, the space is 15 times smaller to cover, so backtracking just isn't necessary.

More than a few years ago, I volunteered for a Y girls' basketball game, so just to experiment, I thought I'd try backtracking, just to see what the big deal was all about. (I wasn't getting paid, so why not?) The experiment failed; it was one of my worst performances on the court.