Retro – Mini Basketball – 1970

Dear Basketball Friends,

in this article we take a 51-year journey into the past, in the teaching of basketball at young ages. At the same time, you have the possibility to see through a video of my channel, a model of exercises for young ages.

Through the book of Evangelos Papakyriakos with the title: “THE MODERN BASKETBALL” we derive knowledge about the basics of mini basketball.

A) CATCHING THE BALL

The player often has difficulty catching the ball. This also happens to somewhat advanced players. Fundamental rules regarding catching the ball have been established and are as follows:

Keep an eye on the ball and keep in mind that it is a moving object.
Hands should be relaxed. We should not try to pinch the ball with the idea of wrapping our fingers around it.
The hands should be placed along the extension of the larynx and offered at the appropriate time.
We have to be especially careful with long and striking passes.
When we catch the ball, hold it with the fingers and the thumb. Let’s not lay our hands on it.
To calculate to catch the ball in such a way that very few movements are required (eg not to jump high, when not necessary).
A high ball is caught with the palms up, while a low ball is caught with the fingers and palms down.
To try to move towards the ball when we are going to receive a pass.
To signal to our teammates when and where we are going to throw the ball.
After catching the ball we must stabilize it in our hands.
When we can, catch the ball in front of our chest with our elbows out.
When we can catch the ball with one hand, we must bring the other in front to support it, while at the same time offering our body to protect it.
Knowing where the ball is played during the game.
Avoid crooked and sophisticated passes.
To study the different tactics that our teammates use when they throw (pass) the ball.
To try to catch the ball so that we can make a quick move, especially when we want to break the opponent’s zone.
To always use our body and our foot to protect the path of the ball.
Not to move away from the passer, but as long as we can get closer to him.

Author’s note: For the correct learning and accurate way of catching the ball, shooting, dribbling and in general to obtain greater flexibility and fluency in the movements of the fingers, with which the basics of basketball are mainly performed, it is recommended to tie on the inner side of the young player’s palm a baton 8 – 10 cm long and 2 cm in diameter. In this way the players will inevitably use their fingers more and get used to the correct way of learning the basics.

______________________________________________________________________

# Evangelos P. Papakyriakou was a physical education teacher, international coach, F.I.B.A. referee. He was one of the 21 founding members of S.E.P.K. in 1971, when the first Greek Coaches decided to form the Association of Greek Basketball Coaches.

# S.E.P.K. initially it was based in the indoor basketball gym in Karaiskakis and after a decade it acquired rented offices in Lycabettus. Later he settled in beautiful private properties on Syngrou Avenue.

# Its 21 founding members were the following historical names:

1. Phaedon Matthaiou,

2. Michael Pantazopoulos,

3. Konstantinos Mourouzis,

4. Dimitrios Sendukas,

5. Evangelos Sevdinoglou,

6. George Vasilakopoulos,

7. Evangelos Nikitopoulos,

8. Georgios Zanos,

9. Evangelos Papakyriakou,

10. Aristotle Petalidis,

11. Heraklis Klagas,

12. Byron Alexiadis,

13. Alexandros Spanoudakis,

14. Panagiotis Christoforou,

15. Kimon Agathos,

16. Efthymios Philippou,

17. Aristides Roubanis,

18. Nikolaos Terkesidis,

19. Panagiotis Panoutsos,

20. Athanasios Papadimitriou,

21. Orestis Angelidis

Yours sincerely,

Ioannis Tsoumbris