Every basketball coach wants their players to take charges, but let’s face it, on just about every attempt to draw the charge it’s a 50-50 chance that the call goes either way. With the speed of today’s game, it’s getting harder and harder for officials to determine (in a split second) what is and what isn’t a charge. Ultimately, it comes down to what a ref thinks she sees and even then many times the reasons given for the call don’t sound anything like what’s in the rule book.
When I saw Mano Watsa and Sefu Bernard teach this skill during one of their PGC Basketball camps, I knew I had to capture it for Dynamic Defense. Their teaching progression and drills were simply excellent! You’ll find two of their teaching points on this excerpt from Level 1 of Dynamic Defense.
Why is Taking the Charge in Level 1? A Level 1 defender in the Dynamic Defensive System must be able to do everything possible to keep the ball from being dribbled into the middle one-third of the floor. On the half-court, that comes down to this – don’t let the ball into the lane!
Well, sometimes it takes a collision to keep the ball out of the lane. Sometimes you have to “close this door” with your body and a Level 1 Dynamic Defender will do it every time. Remember, though, in that split second before making a decision, officials are looking for cues. Give them the right ones and the calls will tend to fall in your favor. I don’t want the percentages to be 50-50; I want the percentages to tilt heavily in the favor of my defenders. That’s why I asked Mano and Sefu to teach this skill – it’s that important.
