PHYSICAL ED. • DANCE GYMNASTICS with Leotards Durene Cotton Jersey, Helanca® Nylon, Cotton Elastic Leo-tards, about $3.00 him extended upward in leaps and jumps, forward and backward in runs and lunges, downward with stamps and falls, sidewards with twists and turns. Man has the invaluable power for motion-the desire for flight. He moves into the diagonals which intersect his spatial sphere away from his former position of stability. He loses his balance and becomes mobile-a turning, wheeling, spinning figure around changing axis. His body weight falls into a direction of the diagonal and is caught again and held by the space. The natural inclination for man is one of space-attacking. a There is no prescription of exercises. There is no question of separation of technique and composition. In learning to experience movement in its fullest range and quality throughout the entire body, the student is creating as he experiments. He is not following a visual image of space pattern set by the teacher, he is taking only the "stuff" of dance and is making it a part of himself, a usable part of his movement vocabulary. Movement and the Educator How can dance movement help a male dancer in his role as educator? Very few of the men who have participated in college and university dance groups are going to teach modern dance. How can movement training further Their analytical appreciation for Proof that general movement training aids in the learning of a specific skill is lacking, but a well-co-ordinated, free-moving individual is surely one who can acquire many specific skills with relative ease. Can we not give men physical educators something they will use throughout their teaching and coaching days-an appreciation, an awareness, an ability to teach well-rounded, well-balanced, spatially aware, qualitative body movement for the individuals on whom their influence will be so meaningful? ★ Coaches Column Editor, PAUL GOVERNALI, Men's Athletics Division of AAHPER Dept. of Physical Education, San Diego State College, San Diego, California THE INCIDENTAL BASKET by GEORGE ZIEGENFUSS Professor of Physical Education and Head Basketball Coach, San Diego State College AMONG THE annual oddities of basketball is the story of a winning basket in a New Jersey high school game. A desperation floor-length shot was made by a player whose team was one point down with only five seconds to play. As the shot was taken by the player, his teammate turned under the basket for a possible rebound. Falling short, the basketball hit the rebounder's head, caromed off the board and into the basket for the winning points. This incidental basket had never been coached, planned, or practiced. The story illustrates that many occasions for scoring baskets occur outside the offensive patterns coached. The relative merits of the set, deliberate, or patterned systems of offense and free lance offense are a subject of much controversy among basketball coaches. Often the definite set system of offense tends to produce mechanical players less able to take advantage of the incidental basket opportunity. In their intense desire to have players learn a particular system of offense, many coaches overlook periodic practice for the incidental basket. Incidental Basket Survey A survey was conducted by a graduate student at San Diego State College during the 1956-57 season to determine the percentage of baskets produced as a result of offensive patterns (including the one-on-one individual maneuvers), and to find the percentage of incidental baskets which were scored per game.1 This included tip-ins, quick followups, stolen balls, intercepted and deflected passes, and the loose ball. Some coaches contend that, in many instances, the stolen ball or intercepted pass is a planned part of the defense but that resulting offensive scoring opportunities may or may not be preconceived. Although the survey is not conclusive, the following figures may prove signifi 1Comparison of Pattern Baskets to Incidental Baskets гл Basketball Games. Paul Beck, Physical Education Dept., San Diego State College, 1957. cant. In the high school, service, and college basketball games studied, 80 per cent of field goals scored were the result of pattern baskets while 20 per cent resulted from incidental baskets. Other points of interest may be gleaned from the following: 1. Did the team with the highest incidental basket percentage win the game? Yes, 72%; no, 28%. 2. In those games which were won, did the winning team score more pattern baskets although its pattern percentage was not as high as the losing team's pattern percentage? Yes, in two-thirds of the games. 3. Did the team with the highest pattern percentage win the game? Yes, 50%; no, 50%. 4. Did those teams with the ten highest pattern percentages win the game? Yes, 20%; no, 80%. 5. Did those teams with the ten highest incidental percentages win the game! Yes, 50%; no, 50%. Importance of Incidental Basket To soothe the feelings of pattern drilling coaches, however, the study also indicated that teams with the high incidental basket percentages which won also scored the most pattern baskets in three-fourths of these wins. The winning teams' lower pattern percentages were ascribed to the higher number of incidental baskets scored. A general conclusion drawn by the author of the study indicates the importance of the incidental basket. A winning basketball team needs both pattern and incidental scoring. Incidental baskets should not be slighted because in many instances they do make the difference between winning and losing. Practicing for Incidental Baskets The Long Pass. Though the long pass is not basic to a team's offense, every player should have periodic practice throwing it. Long throws should be practiced to both stationary and moving targets. Not only should the proper individual throwing technique be taught (catcher's throw or side-arm swing), but attention should also be directed to footwork. Even catching the long pass under control and scoring the easy-lay-up should not be taken for granted. The Loose Ball. Players have a tendency to reach for the loose ball rather than bend at the knees to get a hand under: the ball. The reaching player loses balance and control when starting his dribble toward the free basket. Periodie practice is necessary to master the skill of retrieving a loose ball under control. Speed Dribble and Lay-up Shot. A national collegiate basketball championship probably was lost several years ago when an All-American player failed to score on this play during the last few minutes of the game. The speed dribble and lay-up shot should be practiced frequently. To dribble a ball and lay it softly against the backboard while running at top speed is a difficult skill. If players consistently miss these opportunities to score, the coach should be blamed because his players probably have not practiced this technique. Stolen Ball, Intercepted Pass. In these situations the fault often lies with improper floor position after quick recov ery of the ball is made by the defense. Most coaches have their teams practice two-on-one and three-on-two plays, but frequently they practice stereotyped drills in which offensive and defensive players are pre-arranged at definite spots. These drills should be practiced with players in all conceivable positions and situations. Young players especially must have actual experience in these fast break opportunities. It is not enough merely to expose players to theories about "running lanes," "spreading out," and other basic rules concerning offensive numerical advantages. Tip-ins and Follow-ups. Most coaches devote practice time to this phase of the game, probably emphasizing defensive rather than offensive positions. Here again, frequent practice in drill situations can improve a player's tipping accuracy and board position. The tipping ring and the one-against-one and two-against-two backboard drills have merit in improving this phase of scoring incidental baskets. One-Fifth of All Baskets Though very few coaches devote onefifth of their offensive practice time to scoring the incidental basket, the fact remains that a recent survey indicated that one-fifth of all baskets scored were in this category. Some coaches mistakenly overlook practicing for incidental baskets because of the time required to learn timing and passing for the pattern basket. It must be remembered that the incidental basket does not make the coach incidental. After all, a basket may be scored through some system not his own. NEA Fitness Meetings Each year the AAHPER co-operates with other units of the National Education Association on various meetings and projects. This year the following meetings relating to the Fitness of American Youth have been scheduled. National Association of Secondary School Principals, February 15-19, Indianapolis; Elementary School Principals, March 23-26, Philadelphia; Department of Rural Education, October 11-16, Denver; American Association of School Administrators, February 2225, St. Louis, March 8-11, San Francisco, and March 29-April 1, Cleveland. Members of the AAHPER are encouraged to attend. Specific dates and time of meetings in our areas of education can be determined by writing directly to the association concerned. Academy Recommendations Requested The American Academy of Physical Education requests recommendations for its citations to individuals, organizations, or programs for the excellence of original contributions which have major significance for the improvement or development of some phase of physical education and/or related areas. Sufficient supporting evidence must accompany the recommendation to enable the Academy's citation committee to make a preliminary evaluation of the significance of the contribution. Recommendations should be addressed to the Citation Committee chairman: Laurence E. Morehouse, Dept. of Physical Education, University of California, Los Angeles 24. RESEARCH PAPERS All interested persons are invited to submit research projects which may be read before the Research Section at the 60th National AAHPER Convention in Kansas City, March 30-April 3, 1958. Research on any aspect of health, physical education, or recreation will be considered. Projects should be submitted in finished form or at least in sufficient detail to permit the evaluating committee to determine the nature of the problem, its purpose, methodology, and treatment of data employed, and the results. Deadline date for papers to be received is January 1, 1958. Send all papers to the Chairman-elect of the Research Section, Warren R. Johnson, College of Physical Education, Recreation and Health, University of Maryland, College Park. Friends of the late Dr. William L. Hughes may wish to obtain a memorial brochure containing his photograph, brief biographical material, and an address given in his memory by Millard Gladfelter, vice-president and provost of Temple University. Write Sara Muehlback, Health, Physical Education, and Recreation Department, Temple University, Phila. ask for the Teacher's Stamp-the NEA Centennial commemorative stamp. If your Post Office is out of the Teacher's Stamp, ask the Postmaster to order them. Old Journals Wanted The Association requests that anyone wishing to dispose of complete sets of the JOURNAL send his name and address to the AAHPER JOURNAL, 1201-16th St., N.W., Wash. 6, D. C., for reference. Several libraries have recently asked to buy complete sets (bound or unbound) of the JOURNAL, but no sets are on hand or known to be available. All correspondence regarding transfer of the volumes would be between the persons interested. The Association would merely refer inquiries to persons sending in name and address. DGWS-NAPECW National Conference Have you sent in your application to attend the Conference on Social Changes and Implications for Physical Education and the Sports Aspects of Recreation for Girls and Women to be held June 22-28 at the Association Camp, Estes Park, Colorado? Conference plans have been proceeding rapidly under the leadership of the Conference Director, Ruth Abernathy, University of California at Los Angeles, and the Conference Manager, Dorothy Mohr, University of Maryland, College Park. Since there are accommodations for only 250 women, get your application in early. Write to the AAHPER National Conference, 1201-16th St., N.W.. Wash. 6, D. C., for application forms. See October, page 64, for other details. (Concluded on page 74) Also, not pictured: Arizona: Mary Pilgrim; Colorado: William Creswell; Connecticut: Gabrielle Blockley; District of Columbia: Wendall Parris; Pennsylvanis Elizabeth Zimmerli. Complete list of Membership Directors, with addresses, appears on page 42, October JOURNAL. Teamwork (from page 8) by all the players before the game: to what opponent or to which area the serve will be hit; who will block along the net; which back line player will move forward to assist in the block, and which area he will move into; who will move back of the block, and who will cover deep; how to block the particular opposing spiker at the net; and how the recovered spike will be played back across the net. When on offense, the lineup to receive the serve should be planned-who will receive the first pass and where he will set the ball for the spike; which spiker will hit the ball; how and where he will hit it; and who covers behind the spiker. CONFIDENCE ESSENTIAL Each of the above-mentioned moves and the manner by which they are performed may vary depending on the level of play and the skill of the teams. Each of these moves require careful planning and much practice in order to perfect the co-ordination of all the players. Offensive and defensive patterns may vary, but if a squad is lacking in teamwork it will not win against equal competition. It is important for every player to have confidence in his teammate, and he should show this confidence by praising him on his good plays. Players should never criticize or chide each other for a misplay or for making an error. This is the job of the coach, and he should be alert to point out mistakes and outstanding plays at an opportune time. Many times a coach will openly criticize a sensitive player in front of the squad, which results in embarrassment and loss of confidence on the players' part. During regular practice, drills and play should be well organized to to eliminate "horse play" and lack of interest. Every member of the team must have confidence in the coach and the particular system of play which the coach advocates. When players have confidence in themselves, their teammates, their coach, and their system of play and are proud of the school they represent, invariably you will find a squad with good teamwork. ★ |