While working at the YMCA, Naismith was given the task to invent an indoor game that could be played during gym class. The game had two main requirements, if you will. It had to be fair for everyone who was playing, and it could not involve any rough play. This is when the childhood games of “duck on a rock” came into play to aid him in creating a new game.
The first action Naismith took to create his game was to analyze the games of the time (lacrosse, rugby, football, soccer, hockey, and baseball) in order to make sure his game didn’t have any rough play. He realized that a larger ball would move slower and so he decided to use a soccer ball for his game. The next observation he made was that rough play came because goals were guarded heavily, so he decided to make the goal high so it couldn’t be guarded. He took the “throwing-into-a-target” concept from “duck on a rock” and decided that the soccer ball would be thrown into a peach basket hanging ten feet in the air; basketball.
Naismith then created 13 accompanying rules to ensure that no rough play would occur, and everyone would have a fair shot at having possession of the ball. They included statements like, “No shouldering, holding, pushing, tripping, or striking in any way the person of an opponent shall be allowed…” and “A goal shall be made when the ball is thrown or batted from the grounds into the basket and stays there, providing those defending the goal do not touch or disturb the goal…” The next part of the rule is now known as the “Goaltending Violation” in the NBA. Naismith’s original rule dictates that, “If the ball rests on the edges, and the opponent moves the basket, it shall count as a goal.”
The first action Naismith took to create his game was to analyze the games of the time (lacrosse, rugby, football, soccer, hockey, and baseball) in order to make sure his game didn’t have any rough play. He realized that a larger ball would move slower and so he decided to use a soccer ball for his game. The next observation he made was that rough play came because goals were guarded heavily, so he decided to make the goal high so it couldn’t be guarded. He took the “throwing-into-a-target” concept from “duck on a rock” and decided that the soccer ball would be thrown into a peach basket hanging ten feet in the air; basketball.
Naismith then created 13 accompanying rules to ensure that no rough play would occur, and everyone would have a fair shot at having possession of the ball. They included statements like, “No shouldering, holding, pushing, tripping, or striking in any way the person of an opponent shall be allowed…” and “A goal shall be made when the ball is thrown or batted from the grounds into the basket and stays there, providing those defending the goal do not touch or disturb the goal…” The next part of the rule is now known as the “Goaltending Violation” in the NBA. Naismith’s original rule dictates that, “If the ball rests on the edges, and the opponent moves the basket, it shall count as a goal.”