Never underestimate the opponent

[rhuel]

My daughter and some of her team were having an outdoor practice a couple weeks ago. Another group was on the same court (3 full courts combined side-by-side) with their coach practicing before a game. He asked if our girls would play offense and his would defend. Our girls are all 7th grade and the other group were all 5th graders. Our girls forgot how they used to play when they were in 5th grade (like piranhas) and kinda laughed off the challenge, until the "game" started.

Those 5th graders were scrappy!!

Below is a pic of my daughter getting a taste of why one should never underestimate an opponent.

http://photos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs277.snc1/10419_1262193357052_1296246715_30767378_1145796_n. jpg

[lespaulowner]

lesson learned I suppose? what lens were you using for this?

[rhuel]

I was using a 35-80mm @ f/5.6 ISO 100 1/500

Not the best picture technically, I suppose, but caught the action I wanted.

And Yes. She and the other girls learned a lesson that day.

[ChasWG]

Your daughter needs to elevate when shooting that one. Getting closer to the basket is always a good thing. I'm sure you showed your daughter this image to teach her something. I do the same with my son and football. Both video and stills.

[rhuel]

I agree 100%

That was the underestimating part. They didn't figure the kids that were 8" shorter would be able to stuff them, so they slacked off. It was quite the learning experience for them (and entertainment for me). My daughter got cocky and got stuffed. She's used to playing on the Middle School's 8th grade team where she has to play at 100% all the time...so when she was up against the "little" kid, she relaxed and paid for it.

She and her teammates took away a good lesson that day.

[JeffreyG]

Now she knows why hitting a fadaway jumper is so useful. If you need to plant to shoot even a shrimpy 5th grader can get in your face.