Racistbadger, I'm not the OP, but agree with some of their point. There are good handles, and then there are 12-year-olds whose whole hand goes under the ball. Not talking about palming it from on top, but literally holding their hand under the ball before continuing the dribble.
I disagree with the OP regarding "way less advantageous" violations that get called. The example given re: dragging the pivot foot significantly reduces the impetus for the offensive player to come to a proper stop, which would enable more aggressive drives, much as a carry enables a more effective hesitation dribble. On a post move, even small pivot foot movements can make a big difference to the pace, angles, and distance and make defensive coverage much harder.
Officiating at junior levels is hard. They are working with 1 less ref than elite juniors and seniors, and have vastly less experience. And they're officiating players who realistically commit a higher number of violations, so if they blew the whistle every time it happened, games would take forever. Junior refs don't really have the ability to guess at the extent of the advantage gained by a particular violation, most are doing well if they can identify it and make a call in real time. A player who carries the ball consistently will get found out eventually. In fact, many will struggle to progress because State-level coaches will look at their skill-set and decide it won't translate to higher levels. So ultimately, who cares?
