How can I become a better basketball player? Of course, the first answer is that you need to start practicing every single day. Work on your rebounds, passing, three pointers and slam dunks. The next task is to learn from the experts by reading the article, full of great advice, found below.
Make your passes quick and precise. This takes practice, but you can improve your passing skills over time. Find someone else who wants to improve their passing and run drills with them. Running up and down the court passing and dribbling will eventually become second nature and help you with your game.
When shooting, always arc the shot, never throw straight. You have a much better chance of making your baskets when there is an arc on your shots. If you do not know how much arc to put into your shooting, find one that works best for you during practice and try to consistently produce the same arc during games.
Practice using different types of defenses. Your opponent may change their game up to keep you on your toes. If your practice hasn’t included this type of scenario, you might lose control rapidly.
When you play basketball, be sure that you remain properly hydrated. Drink plenty of water before, during, and after playing. Becoming dehydrated can negatively affect your game and your health. It is possible to lose up to 2% of your body weight through dehydration. That can also cause between a 10% and 20% decrease in your athletic performance.
Learn the positions on a basketball court. Each position has different roles to fill on both offense and defense. There are guards, point guards, forwards, power forwards, and centers. If you want to really enjoy basketball, learn the needs of all of the positions, not just the one you are most interested in.
Where loose fitting shorts and a sports shirt that lets you move. Basketball is a very physical sport. There’s a lot of running, a lot of physical contact, and a ton of jumping. You want to wear clothes that let you move as well as possible. If you don’t, you’ll find your time on the court to be pretty miserable.
To play solid defense, if you are guarding the person with the ball, keep your eyes on the basketball. If you look at his eyes instead, he will fake a pass one way, just by looking in that direction, and then dribble around you the other way. The ball can’t lie about where it’s going.
As you attempt to keep up your skills in the off-season, make sure you have fun with your fitness routine. Mix things up and include workouts that focus on endurance, strength and basic basketball skills. When the new season rolls around, you will feel sharp and be ready to go!
Keep your opponents guessing as to where you will be going next. Dart right, lean left, move back and forward too. The more movement you have on the court, they less likely they are to be able to guess what your plans are, allowing you to trick them and make the shot.
To be a great basketball player, you have to make the ball part of your body. It may seem silly but roll it in your hands, dribble in the driveway, go for walks with it and take it with you wherever you go. The more time that ball spends attached to your body, the harder it will be for defenders to take it from you on the court.
To make sure that you protect your ankles while you play basketball, wear shoes that are a little bit higher around them and lace them up. If you play in lower shoes, it is very easy to turn your ankle. Higher shoes keep you out on the court playing longer.
You need to constantly disrupt your opponents in order to be a great defensive player. Force them into an uncomfortable zone. Make assertive moves, keeping your opponent unsure of your next move. Don’t let them dictate the game. You should never let an opponent control what you do on the court. You need to adopt an aggressive style and react quickly so you can interrupt the patterns set by your opponents.
Perform drills where you attempt to get the ball up full-court in 5 dribbles or less. This might not seem possible, but if you can do it your speed and length will strengthen. It will allow you to execute easy layups.
Try not to pass the ball further than about 18 feet. If you go longer, you will find that it is easier for the ball to be intercepted by the other team. Shorter passes will always be more successful, so try to stand close to whomever you are passing to.
Many basketball players want to gain weight to play more physically. This is especially true for taller players who play near the basket. To gain weight, lift weights and eat a balanced diet, including a lot of fruits and vegetables. Of course you should know not to use steroids to gain muscle mass.
When playing defense, practice slapping the ball up instead of down. If you slap the dribble down, the offensive player will have a better chance of regaining control of the ball. If you slap up at the dribble instead, it is much harder for the player to regain control of the ball.
Practice dribbling while switching the momentum of your body from side to side. Dribbling during game play requires you to adopt a variety of dribbling skills. You may see an open court but there are opponents ready to swarm you. Learning to dribble effectively will help you in many different situations. This will help you in bad situations.
With this advice, you can’t go wrong! No matter what skill level you have at the moment, you are only bound for improvement if you make use of these tips. It doesn’t matter whether you play for fun or competitively, learning all you can will turn you into a better player.
