The wonders of basketball have long been known to many, but there are many people who still harbor curiosity about how to play better. Study of basketball fundamentals and skills techniques can be a great place to begin. Continue perusing this article for some truly fantastic advice on improving your game.
You can easily focus on offense when learning to play basketball, however, you must really focus how playing defense. Defense is what stands between you and a win. Offense receives all the glory, but it is nothing without the best defense.
Practice makes perfect. This is especially true in basketball. Learning how to shoot a basket, how to dribble and how to pass a ball is important to playing good basketball. Spending as little as 30 minutes practicing a day can really help develop your game and make you a better player.
Really practice the types of shots that you’d get in a typical game experience. Yes, it’s fun to play HORSE and try crazy shots, but that’s not prepping you for actual game play. You want to get the types of shots you usually see down cold. Practice them over and over.
When you rebound in basketball, make sure you make contact before your opponent.
You’ll be in control of what occurs if you are the first to make contact when boxing out. Hit them first before they get a chance to make contact with you so that you can get leverage. Be sure to anticipate and be sure you’re always first. This will provide you with an edge.
To be successful with free throws, you need to be sure you’re taking the best approach. When at the foul line, have your feet about a shoulder’s width apart. Now, use both hands to dribble the ball. Bend your knees and and picture the ball going into the basketball as you take your shot.
When learning to dribble, you need to learn to dribble with both hands. This is important because you may have to switch hands when dribbling during a game. Also, learn to dribble behind your back and between an opponent’s legs. This may seem silly, but you may actually use this technique.
When dealing with high school basketball players, make sure that they get enough sleep every night. The workouts involved for basketball players are pretty strenuous. That is why it is very important that they get enough rest so that their bodies can recover. They should try to sleep about seven hours each night.
If you play organized basketball, keep track of your average fouls per minutes played. If you are not a starter who sees a lot of minutes, you want to know this just in case. You might get called on to put in a lot of minutes one game, or play repeated overtimes. The last thing you want to do is foul out because you aren’t used to playing so long.
Always know where the other players are, both on your team and the opposition. You need to know who is close enough to steal the ball from you, who you can pass to and who might be able to rebound if you miss. Staying on top of the game means knowing the lay of the land.
Keep a basketball in your hands or arms as much as you can. This pertains to off the court. Dribble whenever and wherever you can. Just carry a basketball around with you, playing with it gently when safe. You want to be as familiar with a basketball as any part of your own body.
Hold the basketball during TV time at home. Any contact you have with the ball will only improve your skills. You are essentially teaching your hands how to work with the ball. How to hold it, move with it, and even toss it. The more time you get with the basketball, the more comfortable you will be.
To better your vertical jumping in basketball, try doing some deep knee bend jump exercises. Begin by standing straight. Quickly crouch down as low as possible with your bottom nearly touching the ground, then jump upwards as high as possible. The minute you land, crouch immediately and jump back up again. Try doing this about 15 times, and when you’re able to, try increasing it to 20, 30, and so on. Don’t do these exercises more than four or fives times every week.
Can you see well? You will need it for more than checking the scoreboard or passing and shooting. Peripheral vision must be razor-honed. Being aware of the entire court will help you to better anticipate who will move where.
Always attempt to remain low when you are playing defense. This allows you to jump or react quicker. Remain in a good defensive stance always. When you have to break out of stance to block a shot, get back into form as quickly as possible.
Lateral quickness is a very important part of becoming a good basketball player. You have to be able to move to your left and right quickly on both offense and defense. You can practice and improve your lateral quickness by moving left to right and back as quickly as possible with training exercises.
Lots of people already love basketball, but the sport certainly has room for new aficionados to enter the scene. The best method of sharpening your interest in basketball is to learn as much as possible about playing better and about honing winning strategies. Hopefully the resource above has sparked an even greater desire to further the game that so many people love.
