boxing out

Question
I was boxing out a guy who put himself directly under the hoop, but I was facing him instead of having my back to him. I had an arm on his back trying to "box out" by keeping him under the basket. He jumped backwards into me to try to get out from under the basket, and I held my position by pushing back with my arm in order to keep him from displacing me.  He called me for pushing. Am I guilty of a foul, or am I entitled to push back with the necessary force to stay where I am?

Answer
Hi Jeremy -
Thanks for the question.
Boxing out is science, art, voodoo and magic all rolled into one.  Unfortunately ref's normally see retaliation to a foul instead of the initial foul.  They have lots to watch and it's hard to blame them for missing things that happen on the court.

You'll find that if your arm is even partially extended while 'defending' your position most refs see that as pushing.  You need to hold your position with your arms against your body.
Where you made your mistake was allowing the guy to stop under the basket.  In other words as he was positioning himself he was moving, he had momentum.  You could have used his momentum to just keep pushing him out of bounds or further away from the basket.

While rebounding at your level your most important job is to keep your man from obtaining a rebound, you might not get it either, but the further you can take your man from the basket the further from the play he gets.

Balance will assist your 'boxing out' efforts.  To improve your balance, and misdirection (both of which are extremely important in basketball), try Karate.  Karate will help you become a rebounding monster.  If you want a college scholarship, and your big enough, rebounding alone will get you into school, assuming your grades are OK.  Average double figures in rebounding and you can pick your college.

For more info on rebounding go to my website, www.BasketballShootingCoach#dot#com, and study the rebounding page.  While you're on the website download the Free Basketball Shooting Book "Basketball - It's All About The Shot"  for even more insight on rebounding.

Keep in touch and update me on your progress.

All The Best,
Coach Jones
BasketballShootingCoach.com