The game of basketball can be defined by its structure, the rules that govern play and the value of the performance factors established for the sport. As the structure, rules, and quality of play have evolved, so have the primary statistical performance factor that quantify the quality of play that defines the game. Unfortunately, one of these defining performance categories has been left-out of the official `box score` or record. That category is Taking-A-Charge (TC). The purpose of this study was determine the importance and value of TC`s. A secondary purpose was to establish a foundation for Taking-Charges to be viewed as an important performance category that should be mandated in the official record of the game. Method The total population (n=342) of men`s Division I college basketball coaches were surveyed to determine: 1) if they recorded TC`s, 2) if they planned practice-time to teach TC`s, 3) how much they emphasized TC`s as part of their team defense, and 4) how strongly they felt to include TC`s as a primary statistical category. Results Of the 342 coaches that were surveyed, 103 returned completed surveys representing 30% of the population. One or more coaches` returned surveys from each of the 29 conferences throughout the U.S. Question 1, do you record TC`s as a statistic, .757 percent indicated they did. Question 2, do you plan practice-time to teach TC`s, .772 percent indicated they did. Question 3, how much emphasis do you put on TC`s, the results of a Likert scale indicated: 1=.009%, 2=.047%, 3=.104%, 4=.208%,and 5=.481%. Question 4, do you feel TC`s should be kept as a primary statistical category, Likert scale results indicated; 1=.099%, 2=.079%, 3=.168%, 4=.208%, and 5=.446%. Discussion Division I coaches in the U.S. are professional coaches. The importance of TC`s is illustrated from the results of Q1 and Q2 that indicate 75.7% keep TC`s as a statistic, 77.2% planned practice-time to teach the skill or tactic. The results of Q3 indicate 84% of coaches` emphasized or strongly emphasized TC`s as part of their team defense. When asked if TC`s should be establish as a required primary statistic, 65.4% agreed or strongly agreed and 16.8% were undecided. Taking-A-Charges as indicated from the results of the survey of coaches is an important performance factor that has an established value for the game; it creates a change-in-possession leading to a scoring opportunity, and as well, takes a scoring opportunity away from the opponent. Taking-a-charge also adds to team foul totals leading to the Bonus-Free-Throw situation sooner, and results in a Personal Foul that may lead to a player`s disqualification and/or reduced playing time to protect against disqualification. It is apparent form the results of the survey that coaches view Taking-A-Charges as a valued performance factor for the game and support its inclusion to the official statistical record of basketball
© Copyright 2009 14th annual Congress of the European College of Sport Science, Oslo/Norway, June 24-27, 2009, Book of Abstracts. Veröffentlicht von The Norwegian School of Sport Sciences. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.