Loose Ball Technique

The diving-for-loose-balls mentality or ethos is widely acknowledged to be ideal basketball technique.

I have an entirely different series of thoughts on this subject.  It was re-inforced when I read Larry Bird's autobiography recently.  Diving for loose balls was very much in line with Bird's general style of play.  And, as a result, he was plagued with injuries for much of his career.

Thus, reason number one, or shall we say, at least counter-argument number one for why not diving for loose balls may be advisable, is, your career may last longer while also the time you spend on the sidelines recovering from injury may also be reduced.

But a second reason is this: if you commit to aggressively pursuing a loose ball, you may in fact not gain control of that ball, in which case you will be out of position to play defense.  You may look like an aggressive "court warrior" by going hard for that ball, but only a more refined estimation will take note if, because you have done so, the other team gets an easy basket. 

Frankly, I sometimes refrain from going for a loose ball, a rebound, or a steal simply because, at that particular moment, I feel it may behoove me to conserve that energy and wait for a more opportune occasion. 

This can look very improper and ineffectual in the prevailing wisdom.  I sometimes have players berating me - "what's the matter, that ball was right there, are you lazy, are you sleeping?"  I often find that there is an advantage in maintaining a kind of calm playing style rather than being "slap-happy".  That kind of aggression is contagious, it often results in fouls, and it can take the fun out of the game.