Most basketball coaches love their stats because they usually give a good picture of their team’s performance.
Some coaches focus on their shooting percentage. Others in a turn-based struggle.
But no matter what column a coach might look at first, it’s guaranteed that eventually they’ll look at the number of turnovers their team has committed.
Because while most stats can be skewed ever so slightly depending on the opponent, the turnovers are a pretty clear indication of how the team played.
This article will discuss what turnovers are in basketball, why teams try to limit them every game, and what you can work on with your players to avoid them as much as possible.
What is a turnover in basketball?
A turnover is when an offense loses possession of the basketball before attempting a shot.
How are turnovers generated?
There are basically two different ways a player can make a turnover.
1. Violation
A foul occurs when an offensive player violates the rule and the referee stops the game to give the basketball to the other team.
Common violations include: travel, double dribblecarrying out, beyond the borders, 3 second foul, 5 second foul10 second foul rear breachshot clock violation, illegal screen, or charging.
2. Player errors
Another form of turnovers is when players simply make a mistake and the ball is passed to the other team.
These mistakes usually occur either while dribbling or passing the basketball.
Players can dribble poorly and get a steal, throw an errant pass that the other team makes, or any other slip or fall that results in the defense receiving the ball.
What is the turnover penalty?
A turnover penalty is the loss of possession of the basketball and a foul by the other team.
How the defense takes possession depends on what turnover it is.
1. Dead ball turnover
Dead ball turnovers occur after a foul.
This means that the defense must retrieve the ball from the sideline or baseline where the foul occurred and throw it in to begin their possession.
2. Live ball turnover
A live ball turnover occurs after a dribbling or passing error by a player.
During these turnovers, the defense immediately takes possession of the basketball and immediately goes on offense and tries to score.
Teach players to avoid turns
All basketball coaches can agree on one thing that they hate when their teams turn the ball over.
So here are some things you can work on with your team to help them avoid costly turnovers:
1. Focus on dribbling
No matter what age you train, you can never spend too much time dribbling exercises.
Focus on developing the weak hand so defenders can’t just sit on the player’s dominant hand.
The ability to drive in any direction will automatically reduce dribble turns.
Also make sure you are dribbling against a defender and not just doing stationary dribbling drills.
Yes, it’s important for players to master basic dribbling skills from the start, working on their own without moving, but for those skills to translate into a game, they need to be done against a real defender to expose their weaknesses.
1-on-1 exercises are a great way to work effectively on a player’s ball handling.
2. Direct transition exercises
As with dribbling, it is important that your players improve their passing skills as much as possible against a lively defence.
Yes, you can start with a basic affiliate transfer to submit different types of passes.
But when they do, be sure to use them passing exercises which include actual defenders.
Not only will your players begin to learn what works and what doesn’t when it comes to passing, but they will learn first hand the importance of fake passing, which is difficult to understand without a defense.
3. Overloaded drills
A fantastic way to work on taking care of the ball is to have your offense try to score against a defense that has more players than the offense.
This forces the offense to work on moving to get open, make crisp and accurate passes to teammates and use their dribble to avoid any challenges or improve passing angles.
The added defender means there will always be defensive pressure on the ball and there should be no uncontested passes for the offense to finish.
Creating a practice situation that is more challenging than any game situation your players will face should help them be more confident during the game, as well as help them stay composed when the team plays tough pressure defense.
Conclusion
There really is nothing worse for an attacking team than a turnover.
Whether it’s due to a foul or player error, not allowing your team to score because of a turnover is a sure recipe for disaster.
While you’ll never be able to eliminate them completely, there are things you can do to help your team commit fewer turnovers.
Building your squad into as skilled a team as possible through live dribbling and transition drills will help them take care of the ball and keep those turnover numbers down.
