Basketball has really exploded in popularity all over the world in the last twenty years and perhaps you are someone who is fascinated by this game. If you are looking for great tips to help you better understand basketball then you’re in the right place. The article below has great tips that are simple to understand.
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 handling the ball, make sure you spread out your fingers. This makes it less likely that the ball will slip away from you. Also, keep your palm from making contact with the ball. Only your fingers should be involved in the process of getting the ball to where you want it to go.
When dribbling, make sure to keep your head straight up. If you find that you keep looking down at the ball, you haven’t practiced dribbling enough. You need to gain the advantage of being able to see the court while dribbling. Then you can surprise your opponent with smart passes and quick drives to areas where they are not.
When you are playing in a game, try your best to forget your misses. Nothing good can come from you dwelling on the last shot you missed or the last 20 you missed. Each shot is a new opportunity to score. Stay clam and keep trying even if you miss a few. Dwelling on the miss will lead to you overreacting and missing even more.
It is important that you protect the ball if you have it. Dribble to the side to ensure that no one can steal it from you. If no one is nearby, you can dribble in front, but be sure to take it to the side if someone approaches you or you go for the net.
Always be aware of the locations of your feet and what they’re doing. Stepping your toe in a baseline with a ball in your grip will mean that you’re out of bounds. If you take too many steps and don’t dribble, then you are walking. Avoid lifting your feet when you are screening or in position for a charge or the foul will be called on you instead of your opponent.
Master the stop and shoot. Basketball is so much about movement that sometimes the most effective manner to get clear of an opponent is to surprise them with no movement at all. Master dribbling up court fast and when you hit a mark you’re comfortable with, stop short, pull up and shoot. Your opponent will find it tough to stop their forward movement, so you’ll have a clear look at the basket.
Practice looking in a different direction when you pass. This will confuse your opponents. When it’s done properly, it will cause the opponents to go to the wrong area so that you can pass to someone that has a good look at a basket before shooting. If this is pulled off, then it usually has good results.
Stick with full court basketball during practice. It might be fun to play some half court ball games, but you aren’t teaching your team how to deal with the full court. Plus, the rules of a half court game may be quite different than a full court game. It’s best to practice what you’ll be doing during game time.
Remain low when playing defense. This helps your reaction time against your opponent. Stay in a defensive stance. If you need to block someone’s shot, quickly get back into your stance.
To play man-to-man defense, it is important to know where your man, the ball, and the basket all are. This keeps your man from sneaking behind you for a back-door pass, and it also allows you to steal over and help when the ball is across the court from your man.
To set an effective screen, make sure that your feet are slightly wider apart than your shoulders and your arms are crossed on your chest. The wider feet give you balance, and the crossed arms take away the temptation to reach out and bump the player as he goes by — which is a foul.
When you are taking a free throw, be sure that your strong foot is out in front slightly. When your knees begin to straighten, let the ball go. Your heels should peel up off the floor as the ball leaves your hands. Use your stronger hand to follow through with the shot.
Be careful when attempting to get a rebound off a very long shot. A lot of power goes into launching the ball in the air that far away, and this often leads to very powerful rebounds once the ball hits its mark. They traditionally go wild and can hurt you if you are in the way.
Don’t wrap your arms around a player on the court. This will only lead to a foul and, as fouls pile up, a free throw shot for the player you were hugging. While touching is okay, stopping a player by holding onto them is not, so be careful with your arms.
Understanding the game of basketball is quite simple when you have someone teach you the basics. After reading the article above you should now have a solid understanding of the fundamentals, which hopefully can make it easier for you to follow the game. Keep this article close by the next time you’re watching basketball to help you get more enjoyment out of the game.
