Basketball has always been a loved sport, and so while the game is a competition, it is also fun. If you wish to learn how to play your best basketball, you should practice often. Be sure to attend carefully to this article to gain valuable knowledge.
If you want to be a jump shooter, avoid pumping iron excessively. Muscle is good, but you can have too much. There have been instances where great shooters bulk up so much that it adversely affects their shooting percentage.
Free Throws
Perform skills, practice your ball handling and shoot free throws when you are practicing alone. Basketball is a multiple player sport, but other people won’t always be around. That is okay. You can accomplish a lot by practicing alone. Work on your pivot moves or practice your free throws. Many things can be practiced.
Hand signals can help you to stay away from making bad passes. One thing that can frustrate you when playing basketball is to try and pass while a player is trying to run to the basket. Using signals helps communicate passes with your team. If you don’t see a signal, you shouldn’t pass the ball.
The key to ball control is to spread your fingers out. This gives you better control of the ball. Avoid putting your palm on the ball, too. Only your fingers should touch it during a pass or when dribbling.
When exercising, concentrate on building up core strength and improving your footwork. With a stronger core, you’ll be able to balance better. Exercise your abdominal muscles as well as those of the hips, buttocks and back. Similar to boxers, jump rope to help increase speed and better your footwork.
To gain greater dribbling skill, always practice with the weaker hand as well as the more dominant one. Being ambidextrous on the court makes it more difficult for defenders to figure out what you will do next. You can actually force yourself to utilize your weak hand by tying your other hand behind you. Your dribbling skills will improve with your weaker hand.
You need to work on your forearms and your hands to handle the ball more efficiently. Wrist curls are especially effective at making you better able to handle a basketball like you could dribble sleepwalking. Do not make the mistake of thinking you can stay stationary, catch all the ball, and shoot them from that same location. The best way to get into the flow of the game is to be in motion.
Keep your knees loose when you dribble the ball. Standing straight makes it hard to control the ball. Bending your knees slightly will enable you to control the ball more efficiently.
Practice shooting hundreds of shots during each training, and you quickly improve shooting skills. If you wish to get even better at this, try dribbling and then stopping to make a quick shot. Avoid looking at your target until you are in the air. This will help improve your accuracy during a game.
Stop Dribbling
Only stop dribbling if you want to shoot or pass. When you stop dribbling, then you limit your options. Your only option, besides shooting or passing, is to use your back foot to pivot. If you cannot shoot or pass the ball, you are in danger of getting the ball taken away from you.
If it is possible, keep all action below the knee. This prevents your opponents from stealing the ball. You need to bend a bit more for this to succeed, but you will be able to traverse the court rapidly while keeping opponents at bay.
If a shooter is located at a corner, their missed attempt is likely to waft to the opposite side. Anticipate where the ball lands and grab the rebound.
As you come down from catching a rebound, land with your legs spread wider than the span of your shoulders to increase your balance. Keep the ball to your chest and hold it with two hands. Take care with elbows, since it is a foul if you strike someone on the opposing team.
Force your opponent to use his weaker hand. If they’re right handed, step into them using your left foot; this will force them to switch sides. Keep your head parallel to their chest, and you will stay low and primed to snatch the ball.
When you’ve got the ball, you must know when to take a shot, and then when you should pass it to another player who’s got a better shot. It’s best to be a winning team, than someone that lost the game.
Follow the path of the ball once it has left the hands of your teammate or the opposing player. You cannot win a basketball game without rebounds. If won’t matter that you’re a great defender who causes the opponent to miss a shot if you can’t get back the ball.
With the right tips used when playing, the game will become more fun and simpler. Search out more resources like videos, blogs and sports columns to get all the information you can find to improve your play. Obtain all that advice you can to better your game.