TIP! Work on improving your strengths to become an even better player. You might not become a big basketball star based on your strengths, but you will be an asset to your team.

When you want to fix the engine in your car, you do your research first. The same goes for working on your basketball skills. This article has many great expert basketball tips in it.

TIP! Frequently train yourself on your pass catching moves. You want to practice catching perfect passes and bad passes.

Get good at making free throws. This seemingly simple shot can be difficult to execute under game conditions. The following technique should be practiced often. To start off, hold the ball in front of you. Eye the basket and imagine the ball swishing down into it. Then, use the trajectory you just visualized and shoot the ball.

TIP! Keep your weight lifting to a minimum as a jump shooter. Being weighed down by too much bulky muscle can have a negative impact on your jump shot.

Look forward when dribbling. If you must look at the ball while dribbling, you haven’t practiced enough. Take the basketball to all the places that you go. Dribble on your way to school. Maintaining unbroken visual contact with the ball makes it difficult to be aware of your surroundings.

TIP! Do you want to fool the other team? Trick them using a back pass. Use your dominant hand to palm the basketball.

It is important to keep your balance when you shoot. We have all seen the professional basketball player falling out of bounds and making a basket from 30 feet away, but this is not proper technique. This is simply an improvised move. Good balance while shooting will lead to landing more baskets.

Bounce Pass

TIP! Basketball players need to build strong core muscles. This will involve their lower back, hips, and abs.

It is important to know the right way to throw a bounce pass. A useful bounce pass will hit the receiving player at waist level. One good rule of thumb is to bounce the ball around three quarters of the way to the other player. Although, there will be other circumstances that are involved too.

TIP! Hand signals can help stop you from turning the ball over. Often in basketball, a player makes a pass at the exact same time the receiving player heads to another part of the court.

If you want to be a jump shooter, avoid pumping iron excessively. Muscle strength is great for any position in basketball, you can have too much when it comes to perimeter play. You might see a decrease in your goal percentages if your biceps become too large.

TIP! Quality footwork will help you get better shots. You must be certain to get the good spot ahead of your opponent.

To make sure there are no errant passes, use hand signals. It can be frustrating to attempt to pass the ball to a team mate as that person is heading toward the basket. These common miscommunications can be avoided by utilizing hand signals, which tells the passing player the other player is ready for a pass. Without a signal, the ball controller shouldn’t make a pass.

TIP! Play a good defense by knowing your opponent. Study video tape on your opponent and read over any scouting reports.

A good way to see yourself playing is to have someone record your games. Can you see chances that you missed or ways that you could have done better? When looking at the tape, don’t be too critical, but be honest. Analyze your skills honestly so you can become the player you want to be.

TIP! It’s important to know where you have your feet and also what they’re doing. Just touching the baseline is going to get you called out of bounds.

If the opposing team is breathing down your neck, it’s a good idea to pass the ball between your legs. Practice dribbling the ball between your legs. Once you get the move down, you can use it to gain a tactical advantage.

TIP! To get better at shooting free throws, make sure to keep a consistent pre-shot routine. This might mean that you dribble the ball twice, bend your knees, touch your forehead, or any other movement.

Give your layouts the most by launching from the foot that opposes the hand you are shooting with. So, your left foot should be the one you take off from if you use your right hand to shoot. This keeps your body balanced and moving toward the basket and keeps your body between yourself and your defender.

TIP! You must have a consistent practice routine if you want to learn to shoot free throws well. When you stay consistent, you get better success.

Prevent the opposing team from stealing the ball by dribbling hard. A good hard dribble brings the ball back to you much faster, leaving less time for the opponent to steal it from you. If someone is guarding you closely, stop dribbling and pass to someone else who is open on your team.

TIP! Ensure that you have good court awareness. This is not just to make reading the scoreboard easier, but also to facilitate the making of shots and catching of passes.

Make sure that you can see clearly. This is not just to make reading the scoreboard easier, but also to facilitate the making of shots and catching of passes. You need to have the best peripheral vision possible. You need to know the location of other players on the court in order to make good passes and avoid turnovers.

TIP! If a shot is taken from the corner and missed, the ball typically ends up across the court from the player. If that happens, you need to anticipate when it will land so you can catch it on the rebound.

Accept a charge when you can. Taking a charge allows you a chance to earn a defensive stop, take the ball for your team, and sets up one more foul against the opponent. Perfecting this play can really give you an advantage on the court.

TIP! You need to control your nerves when shooting the ball. Keep focused on the goal.

Keep low when you play defense. You will become faster and react faster. Remain in a correct defensive pose always. If you need to leave your feet in order to prevent your opponent from shooting the ball, quickly get back into that good defensive position.

TIP! Focus on the ball whenever it leaves any players hands. Rebounding will help you win the game.

Being able to fix your own car provides you with great pride unrivaled by other situations. This is true for basketball as well as many other things in life. This can help you to impress your teammates, and help you to win games.