Where to focus? Head or body?

My nephew have his first basketball game of the year this weekend (1st graders). I remember last year I struggled trying to focus when the kids was running towards me, if I'm under the basket. How can I nail the focus, should I focus on the head or body? I'm in manual mode, AI Servo, using one focus point, back button focusing, shooting mostly vertical. Should I use the center focus point or move the focus point to the top of the screen to be close to the head? Should I be in continuous shot mode and taking a bunch of shots while the kids is running towards me? I don't have a habit of shooting like that.
My camera is the t3i and using the 85 1.8 and 50 1.4.

Everything I've heard/read is to focus on the body because it's a bigger target and there's contrast between the uniform and the player numbers which helps the camera focus on.

I will let someone more experienced answer your remaining questions.

This is a good question that I have wondered also. Often times in those little gyms the lighting isn't the best and I personally have to shoot at 1.8 or 2.0 with my 85mm lens to even get a decent shot. That makes the DoF very small and focusing on the uniform/chest area could result in an out of focus face if only slightly. I am interested in a more experienced shooter's opinion also.

It depends. If there is contrast in the uniform, I'm aiming for the chest. If no contrast, then I'm aiming for the head or where the uniform meets the neck. My experience is I get more in focus shots when aiming for the chest, even when shooting at f/2.8, mostly because it is a bigger target. This is based on probably 30k frames shot for basketball.

With regards to motor driving the photos, NO, especially while dribbling as you'll end up with a lot of ball on the ground shots and none of those are worth saving. Keeping the ball near/on the hands is ideal.

I usually have the focus point at center (1D Mk IV) or just below center (1D X) to ensure when they go up with the ball I get the extension and the ball in the frame. I'll shift the focus point up when they're at the free throw line or I'm getting someone standing around to be sure I'm focused on the head.

pat.kane wrote in post #17403157
It depends. If there is contrast in the uniform, I'm aiming for the chest. If no contrast, then I'm aiming for the head or where the uniform meets the neck. My experience is I get more in focus shots when aiming for the chest, even when shooting at f/2.8, mostly because it is a bigger target. This is based on probably 30k frames shot for basketball.

With regards to motor driving the photos, NO, especially while dribbling as you'll end up with a lot of ball on the ground shots and none of those are worth saving. Keeping the ball near/on the hands is ideal.

I usually have the focus point at center (1D Mk IV) or just below center (1D X) to ensure when they go up with the ball I get the extension and the ball in the frame. I'll shift the focus point up when they're at the free throw line or I'm getting someone standing around to be sure I'm focused on the head.

I usually shoot for the chest, also I use single point expanded to 8 and put the focus point up a little bit for portrait orientation shots but at the center for landscape orientation shots.

I normally like the ball close to the hand when dribbling or driving to the basketball but I sort of like the ball on the floor in the photo below.

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/qFyK​uX

OneDeep wrote in post #17402422
My nephew have his first basketball game of the year this weekend (1st graders). I remember last year I struggled trying to focus when the kids was running towards me, if I'm under the basket. How can I nail the focus, should I focus on the head or body? I'm in manual mode, AI Servo, using one focus point, back button focusing, shooting mostly vertical. Should I use the center focus point or move the focus point to the top of the screen to be close to the head? Should I be in continuous shot mode and taking a bunch of shots while the kids is running towards me? I don't have a habit of shooting like that.
My camera is the t3i and using the 85 1.8 and 50 1.4.

Sports photography is similar to wildlife photography in that we shoot moving targets. Everything I've read (for wildlife photography) is that it's critical to get the eye in focus. That's where the life is. Similarly, all the expression of humans is in the face. If the face isn't in focus, I would think the image if off.

My camera set-up for wildlife is just like your's for sports except that I don't use back buttom auto-focus and I definately shoot in burst mode.

Larry Johnson wrote in post #17403414
... and I definately shoot in burst mode.

I should clarify my statement in my earlier post. I also shoot in burst mode, but only for peak action. When they're dribbling down the floor it is pretty easy to time the photo to put the ball near the hand and I only fire off one or two shots. I get my share of flat balls as well though.

I also fire strobes in some of the poorly lit gyms, which has helped me work on my timing.

McNeese72, you obviously know what you're doing.

pat.kane wrote in post #17403471
I should clarify my statement in my earlier post. I also shoot in burst mode, but only for peak action. When they're dribbling down the floor it is pretty easy to time the photo to put the ball near the hand and I only fire off one or two shots. I get my share of flat balls as well though.

I also fire strobes in some of the poorly lit gyms, which has helped me work on my timing.

McNeese72, you obviously know what you're doing.

Nah, I'm still learning. It is a constant learning experience.

I need to clarify some, too. Even though I might have my camera set on continuous high mode, I'm more of a timing shooter firing off just one or two shots at a time. Now, if I see break away layup or a dunk coming, then I might lean on the shutter release. I got a good sequence of a hanging in the air, under the basket, reverse layup like that the last game. Edit: The reverse layup sequence is in my gallery here.

Doc

Yes. Definitely don't hold the trigger down, you'll just fill the buffer and have to wait for it to clear before you can shoot again. Ask me how I know. Shoot a few bursts at a time when the moment is right.

OneDeep wrote in post #17402422
My nephew have his first basketball game of the year this weekend (1st graders). I remember last year I struggled trying to focus when the kids was running towards me, if I'm under the basket. How can I nail the focus, should I focus on the head or body? I'm in manual mode, AI Servo, using one focus point, back button focusing, shooting mostly vertical. Should I use the center focus point or move the focus point to the top of the screen to be close to the head? Should I be in continuous shot mode and taking a bunch of shots while the kids is running towards me? I don't have a habit of shooting like that.
My camera is the t3i and using the 85 1.8 and 50 1.4.

I agree nailing the focus on fast moving children coming towards you can be tricky. Last summer I took photo's of my boys coming towards me fast on a zip wire in a forest and also on another day on a water slide, (even more difficult trying to avoid the water splashes).

I would say you are already doing the right things, .... AI Servo, BB Focusing, using one focus point etc....Additionally I would say use a fast shutter speed to freeze the action. The faster your nephew moves towards you, the higher the required shutter speed. However, with fast shutter speeds, images can appear dark. Use a flash if the kids are close enough to illuminate.

Reduce the depth of field in order to capture a rapidly moving object in sharp focus. The aperture, when stopped down, decreases the distance between the focus of foreground objects and those in the distance. As a result, it increases your odds of capturing a sharply focused fast moving object.

I tend to jet fire off as many shots as I can, I usually get the few magical ones I'm looking for out of many.

I can handle the half court images because it's really slow and funny with kids but just struggled getting the focus on a fast break. Lucky I have over 10 more years to watch him play and hopefully my images and gear will improve. I'm going to try what everyone suggested. Focus on the jersey If it have contrast and use burst but don't hold it too long. I had a few images last year with the ball on the ground so I will try to catch it in the hands.

PCousins wrote in post #17403691
..

Reduce the depth of field in order to capture a rapidly moving object in sharp focus. The aperture, when stopped down, decreases the distance between the focus of foreground objects and those in the distance. As a result, it increases your odds of capturing a sharply focused fast moving object.

Could you explain this in more detail. Something about these statements aren't making sense to me. When you say "reduce DOF", do you mean to say, make the DOF shallow. If that is the goal, then you would open up the aperture, stopping down (i.e. reducing the aperture opening) increases depth of field.

How does a shallow DOF increase your odds of obtaining focus on a fast moving subject. This is interesting. I've not heard it before.

With action under the basket (while standing to right or left of basket), you really need fast auto-focus. The 85/1.8 is the best I know about for fast AF. I usually don't have time to "choose" where to focus - I just turn the camera and click .. on burst mode, Tv, 1/640, ISO 3200-6400, center focus.

In the stands, it doesn't make any difference because the DOF is large enough to encompass both head and chest.

I don't mind deleting a bunch of burst mode pics - as long as I got "THE" one. Since I shoot jpeg, I never fill up my buffer.

Two points to add. Many school gyms have lights that are horrible to shoot in. Of course it is barely enough but secondly its temperature changes from shot to shot or even during a shot at speeds necessary for shooting sports. For this reason shoot a reference card for white balance and take four or five shots of it.

Take many shots at the game as one person said above. Many are going to be discarded just due to the lighting if you are looking for perfect shots. But, then of course, don't worry about the shots being perfect. The memory counts more than the satisfaction of your shots looking like a pro took them.

Second point, grips are great for sports. You don't need to buy a new Canon grip, but usually you can find a good one for under $100.00 USD.

Using 1D Mk IV, 70-200/2.8, 24-70/2.8, manual mode, AI Servo, one focus point, center point. On all sports that we've shot (basketball, volleyball, hockey, soccer, lacrosse, baseball, motocross, dance, etc.) we focus on the body unless it's with the 24-70 & a close subject, say, <10 feet.

Using a DOF calculator with the 70-200, for a 1.3 crop, 40' subject distance, 135mm zoom, f/2.8, DOF is 3.41'. More than enough to keep the eyes acceptably sharp if focussed nearly anywhere on a vertical body. 20' subject distance, 70mm, f/2.8, 3.19' DOF. Again, no issues.

On the 24-70, 10' subject distance, 50mm, f/2.8, 1.55' DOF. Still not bad. If the crop gets tighter than that or the subject gets closer (not often will you get closer than 10', except in hockey), we will occasionally move a focus point.

We use a 300/2.8 for some soccer & baseball. 100' subject distance, 300mm, 4.23' DOF. No issues.