Do you love basketball so much that you want to be as great as Shaquille O’Neil? It takes years to be world-class players like they are, but you can improve your skills with hard work and dedication. Keep reading for tips that can help you to do that.
When you are practicing your shooting, make sure that you practice shots that you may be required to make during a game. You should try to shoot the ball while moving around, standing still, and right after you receive a pass. You can have someone toss you a ball while you’re running in order to practice taking a shot after the ball has been passed to you.
Dribble the ball correctly. Don’t use your palm, use your fingers. This helps you to control the ball better. Keeping the ball to your side will help it from getting in the way. Always look up and never look down at the ground.
As you dribble, bring your body down just a little closer to the ground. This will make it easier to bounce the ball. If the ball has a shorter distance to travel between the ground and your hand, you are less likely to make a mistake that leads to a turnover.
Don’t force your jumps in basketball. Try to jump as naturally as possible. When jumping and shooting, practice releasing the ball at the top of the jump. Your fingers should simply slide off of the ball and carry it to the basket. Make sure you do not release while going up or down in the jump. Only release at the top.
If you play serious team basketball, jump rope for thirty minutes before practice sessions. You’ll get used to playing basketball already winded and tired. Doing this can make you very prepared to make shots in late game situations, as your conditioning is already a notch above anyone else just showing up to practice.
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.
When a teammate passes you the ball, make the most out of it. If you have an open shot, go ahead and shoot. If you do not have an open shot or think that you can get open, do the right thing and pass it along to another teammate. They may have the shot that you don’t.
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.
Concentrate on your shoulders if you have gotten into a shooting slump. When the shoulders are wrongly positioned, your shot is unlikely to succeed. Be sure that your shoulders square up in front of the hoop. You want your strong-side shoulder in perfect alignment with the rim.
To give yourself a big advantage in any game of basketball, study the moves of your opponents. Players often have certain moves that they repeat or a certain approach that they favor. If you can make a plan to disarm their favorite move or approach, you can often outplay them.
Develop a routine to use every time you shoot a free throw. This could mean two dribbles before taking your free throw, bending your knees, or some other thing you do to get into a rhythm before shooting. This consistency will get your body in tune to do the same thing every time, increasing your chance to make shot after shot.
If you want to become a better basketball player, exercise your forearms and your wrists whenever you possibly can. This will significantly help you with your ball handing and control. A strong dribbler always has strong forearms. Practice wrist curls in your exercise routine to improve forearm and wrist strength.
In order to become better at dribbling the ball you should learn how to practice using your weak hand. Being able to effortlessly dribble with both hands gives you the ability to run both sides on an opponent and keep them off guard. Immobilize your dominant hand by tying it behind your back, then practice using your other hand for everything. Soon enough you will develop those weak hand dribbling skills.
Box out every opportunity that you can. If you do not box out, you are going to find yourself sitting warmly on the bench after every break. When the rebound is there, take charge and get the coach’s attention with your awesome skill. Work this out in practice and apply it during the game.
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.
Now that you know what needs to be done, go practice and become the best player you can be. Practice consistently to build confidence. Show off your talents, and always implement good advice.