Recommended Age-appropriate Guidelines for 3rd & 4th Grade Divisions
Approved for use by GDYBL Rec League Board, 12/4/05
Updated 2006
1)General Rules
a)No pressing, and defense withdraws to inside 3 point arc for 3rd grade, and can graduate to half-court line for 4th grade, as appropriate.
b)Man-to-man defense only – no zone defense
c)Equal playing time
d)Gradually introduce the following violations and rules that are difficult to grasp or whose enforcement is counter-productive to overall player development and self-confidence. Let those violations slide early in the season, and provide instruction without eliminating the flow of the game, but do not call them as penalties. Gradually introduce enforcement them during course of season.
i)Double dribble
ii)Traveling
iii)Carrying
iv)10 seconds (to get over half court)
v)Over-and-back
vi)5 seconds holding the ball
vii)5 seconds to inbound the ball
viii)3 seconds in offensive key
e)Enforce the rest of the rules and violations, as follows, from the beginning of the season, but treat them as opportunities to teach the rules, starting with more explicit explanation at the beginning of the season, and then tapering off to just reminders toward the end of the season as needed.
i)Out of bounds
ii)Slapping, holding, pushing, pushing off, hitting, reaching in/around
iii)Jumping into, or over another for rebound
iv)Defensive blocking and offensive charging
v)Moving screens/picks
vi)Technical fouls (arguing, disrespect, unsportsmanlike behavior)
vii)Timeouts only called when on offense or on a dead ball
viii)Must inbound the ball on made basket, made foul shot, or ball out of bounds.
2)Teaching should focus mainly on technique of the fundamental skills, from the ground up:
a)Shooting
b)Dribbling
c)Catching, especially triple-threat
d)Passing
e)Defense – stance, position off-ball, position on-ball, fouling vs. not fouling
f)Rebounding
3)Format
a)General
i)Use a small ball – women’s 28.5” at the largest.
ii)Use of 8’ high baskets is recommended, conditional only upon availability.
iii)No shouting instructions from the sidelines by parents or coaches– information is outdated by the time it’s processed, and instills in the players a sense of having disappointed the coach or parent when the all-but-certain negative outcome, or decision to not follow the advice, results.
b)Practices
i)Start w/ parents meeting at first practice, introducing the parents to the concept of putting the kids needs first, having fun, respect, gym rules etc., and ‘no shouting instructions from the sidelines’ (with reasons why). Finish w/ a parents/kids pick-up game after the brief meeting.
ii)Integrate the concept of supervised playground mode – let the kids exercise their creative process in selecting scrimmage teams, rules of the day, etc. This fosters on-court decision-making and creativity, and their love for the game.
iii)Keep verbal instruction to a minimum, 10 seconds per activity (skill, drill, scrimmage)
iv)10 minutes max for any one activity.
v)Maximize hands-on activity (use all available hoops simultaneously, and/or everyone with a ball as appropriate)
vi)Stick to the mechanics of simple technical skills.
vii)Minimize spatial strategy (i.e. plays – see guideline under ‘Games’) – 3rd graders have a hard time understanding this
viii)Keep scrimmages small-sided (3-on-3, or use all three hoops with 2-on-1s, etc.), to maximize hands-on game experience
ix)Weave or alternate activities with brief scrimmages.
x)Frequently encourage all the players – let them know how good they’re doing in just trying, regardless of the results.
xi)Hand out little prizes or candy to all on team accomplishments.
c)Games
i)Scoreboards can be used provided players and coaches stay focused on the act of doing and trying, and not on the results. If some players become tentative due to the pressure of the game situation, as introduced by the presence of the clock and score, teams should revert to using only scorebooks.
ii)Refereeing is done to provide instruction, in accordance with the gradual introduction of the rules and violations as outlined above. High-school student referees are also appropriate, provided they’re familiarized with these guidelines, and are prepared to use the opportunity for teaching.
iii)Games can be full court, lengthwise. If desired, small-sided games in width-wise courts can be used for the first few weeks to ease the kids into real games. These could be 3-on-3 or 4-on-4 with subs standing on offensive sidelines acting as free outlet receivers and then passers. Both cross-wise courts could be used simultaneously with the two teams divided into two small squads each, with each squad on each team playing each squad of the other team (i.e. A1 vs. B1 and A2 vs. B2, then A1 vs. B2 and A2 vs. B1) for maximum playing time.
iv)For game length, we’ll try 12 minute, stopped time halves, and see if the games fit in the one-hour slots. Games should finish up within forty minutes from the beginning of the time slot, to leave a little room for overtime, and so that the next teams can take the court and warm up and start on time. When noticed that a game is running long, convert to running time using the amount needed to finish on time, five minutes before the scheduled start of the next game. During the season we may need to adjust the length of the stopped-time halves.
v)Get games started with only very elementary things to do/think about.
vi)Players should be encouraged to try, and to make mistakes – doing is how they learn, and they’ll only be inclined to ‘do’ if they welcome the opportunity to make mistakes.
vii)Use of plays should be either avoided, or minimized to only one or two of the simplest of formations, for the main purpose of giving the players a place to go to start the possession.
viii)Rotate the responsibility to bring the ball up the court among all players each game.
ix)Try to rotate all players through all positions.
x)No formal playoffs; just an end of the season jamboree. Format could be each team playing each other team in two simultaneous side-court games, with the overall win/loss record meaningless, and where all are ‘winners’. A brief party/celebration could follow immediately.
4)Ideas for metrics for measuring division/league success – (not yet implemented)
a)Retention rate from year-to-year of lower third of players per team (coach), per division, per year, in relation to the overall (all players) for the team/division/league.