The NCAA News - News and Features

February 10, 1997

The bouncing baby ball turns 12

Opinions vary about impact on women's basketball

BY LAURIE BOLLIG
Staff Writer

Faster game. Better ball-handling. Fewer turnovers. Dunking.

Well, maybe that dunking thing didn't quite pan out. But, arguably, the other three results sought with adoption of a smaller ball 12 years ago in women's basketball have come to pass.

As chair of the United States Girls' and Women's Basketball Rules Committee, Illinois State University head coach Jill Hutchison was on the front line during the controversy surrounding the decision to switch to a ball that was one inch smaller in circumference and 2 1/2 ounces lighter than a regulation-size basketball.

"It was very controversial," Hutchison said. "It was kind of like, 'Are you going to stay with the real game or lower your standards for women?'

"In the mid-1980s, there was a lot of pressure to increase the visibility of women's basketball. People thought initially it (the smaller ball) might make dunking possible and that would kind of get it going. The other big thing was ball-handling. Because of the size of the female hand, they would be able to handle the ball better. It would reduce turnovers and speed up the game."

Surrounded with lofty expectations, the baby ball -- as it was labeled -- entered the women's college game in 1984-85.

Certainly, collegiate women's basketball has soared in popularity as a spectator sport since the early 1980s. But how much of that increase in popularity can be traced to the adoption of a smaller ball?

"I think it has facilitated the growth of the game. I don't think it's the huge difference," Hutchison said. "I think we've grown in terms of coaching and skills, so I don't think the ball is the only reason. I think it has improved ball-handling, but it hasn't improved shooting."

Marcy Weston, secretary-rules editor of the NCAA Women's Basketball Rules Committee, was a member of the rules committee that voted to adopt the smaller ball.

Weston says that although using the smaller ball may not appear to have had as great an impact on the growth of the sport as was originally touted, the real benefits of the change can be seen at a lower level of play.

"We always look at our upper levels of play. Those kids could probably handle anything," Weston said. "With the less-skilled team, the small ball gives them a greater sense of accomplishment. I would think in your youth leagues and with people who have not achieved a high degree of skill yet, they would find more success. I bet you would notice a difference there."

The National Federation of State High School Associations made the transition to a smaller ball in 1985-86. The Women's National Basketball Association will use the baby ball when it begins competition in June.

Although there is a movement afoot to adopt a smaller ball for women's play internationally, FIBA, basketball's international governing body, still uses the regulation ball. And the newly formed American Basketball League uses the regulation ball.

Attractive to ball handlers

Teresa Edwards, a former Olympian and current member of the ABL's Atlanta Glory, was in the middle of her collegiate career at the University of Georgia when women began using a smaller ball.

Although Edwards prefers to play with a regulation-size basketball, she said the small ball is attractive to good ball handlers.

"You can do things easier with the small ball," Edwards said. "Just the sheer ball-handling skills. A good passer has a field day. I have a field day. Of course, the college kids tend to shoot better further out with it. It's really light. You don't have that luxury with a big ball. You have to be fundamentally sound with the big ball."

ABL players themselves voted to use the regulation-size ball.

"The reason we wanted to use the big ball was that we didn't want our league to differentiate the men from the women any more than we had to," Edwards said. "We wanted to make sure the goals stayed the same, the ball stayed the same, the game stayed the same. The most important thing when it comes to the use of the ball is that when you go from this court to the international court, everyone uses the big ball. We wanted to keep that consistent."

Changes coaching strategies

Tara VanDerveer was Edwards' coach on the 1996 gold-medal U.S. Olympic team. In preparation for the Olympics, VanDerveer's national squad toured the United States, playing NCAA squads during the collegiate season. The small ball was used during this competition. It changed VanDerveer's coaching strategies.

"We didn't practice any shooting with the small ball," she said. "We knew we weren't going to use it, so we focused on defense -- more things that involved strategy."

VanDerveer, who also is head women's coach at Stanford University, still is not sure why the switch was made to a smaller ball for college competition.

"I'm not a fan of the small ball," VanDerveer said. "I grew up playing with the regular ball. I don't know why we changed. I kind of didn't think it was broken."

While some opponents saw the rule as a concession by women that they couldn't play the "real" game of basketball without some modifications, Weston maintains those arguments don't make sense.

"In volleyball, the women's net is shorter than the men's," Weston said. "In track, the hurdle height is less. Women's golf tees are closer and so on. There are adjustments at every level. It's the only sport that wasn't different until we adopted the ball."