Youth Basketball Rules: Defensive Fouls

Video Transcript

"Hi, this is Sean Hobson. When understanding the game of basketball, you have to make sure and understand the rules that go along with the game. That's going to keep you in the game longer and it's going to keep your team on the winning edge, when you're not committing problems that are going to affect your team down the stretch. So, what we want to talk about now is one of the most commonly occurring situations that happen in a basketball game, and that is a foul. Now, if this man has the ball, then he has the rights to certain positions and this man as a defender cannot violate his space as an offensive player. So, a couple of different defensive fouls, one is called a "reach in." If this guys playing, (get down in a good defensive stance) if he's playing defense, he cannot reach in through the player and slap at the ball. If he gets into his zone or into his area, that is considered a reach in and that's going to be a foul. Also, if this guy were to maybe drop the ball and pick it up, and he would come down and reach in, that's also a foul. Any type of slapping down motion is going to be called a foul. So, if you're standing with the ball and he comes down and slaps, most of the time, even if he gets to the ball, he's going to have to come through his hand to get to the ball. So, any slapping motion is usually going to be called a foul. And the other most obvious defensive foul is, when he's shooting a shot, this guy's not allowed to touch any part of his body. So, (go ahead and defend) if he comes through and he brings down and tries to block the shot and he hits his arm, or if he gets his body into the player, that's all going to be called a foul. So, the main thing to remember is, you've got to keep your hands off the player, you can't check them, you can't put your hands on them and you can't reach in on the play or you're going to be called for a defensive foul."