TIP! Dribble properly. When dribbling the basketball, use your fingertips rather than the palm of your hand.

Have you ever seen yourself as LeBron James, Michael Jordan or some other professional player when playing basketball. Rather than merely dreaming of greatness, how about learning what it takes to really succeed? Keep reading to learn more.

TIP! The way to properly dribble is to keep your head up while looking ahead of you. By focusing your sight on the ball, you cannot be fully aware of your surroundings.

Always dribble with your head up and looking forward. If you have to keep your eye on the ball when you’re dribbling, practice can remedy that. Bring the basketball with you everywhere you go. If you are heading down to the market, dribble as you go. Remember, if you are directly staring at the ball, there’s no way for you to see what’s happening on the court.

TIP! It is important to keep your balance when you shoot. Everyone has seen professional basketball players make a shot from 20 feet away as they are falling.

You can improve your skills by paying attention to how the pros play. Watch some games on TV, view videos of professional games, and go to some games. Every player has skills that make them good, and you can work on the skills they use.

TIP! Want to trick the other team? Try doing a back pass! If you wish to try this pass, get the ball in your dominant hand. The next step is to draw the ball behind you.

Make sure to practice catching passes. Don’t just work on waist-level, perfect passes, though, work on receiving tougher passes as well. This will help you catch those bad passes during a game. By learning to catch errant passes, you will do your team a great favor.

TIP! Ask teammates what they admire about your playing skills? Is there something that you excel at? Perhaps you are great backup or fast on your feet. Find out what others perceive as your natural gifts and build upon those more completely.

Practice playing by yourself. Basketball is usually a team sport, but just because you can’t find others, doesn’t mean you have to just stop thinking about it. That’s OK! Solo games also help. Work on your pivot moves or practice your free throws. You can always do something.

TIP! One of the most vital attributes one needs to play basketball is quickness. Make an effort to do all things on the court more speedily than the opposing team.

Quick and solid footwork is what it takes to make the shot when your posting up. Being physical under the rim is crucial, but having good positioning on the court is even better. Once you’re in position, you also need to secure your spot. Strong footwork skills help to build both types of skills.

TIP! Be aware of your own actions and the position of your feet. If you step on the baseline, you will be out of bounds.

If you’re shooting isn’t what you’d like it to be, make sure that your shoulders are in the correct position. Whenever your shoulders aren’t in a good position, you simply will not shoot well, regardless of your skill level. Shoulders should be towards the hoop. If your right hand is your dominant hand, your right shoulder must be aligned with the rim. For left-handedness, the opposite is true.

TIP! Passing between the legs is something that helps when you have defense all over you. Practice dribbling the ball between your legs.

Get into a consistent routine to improve your free throw shots. If you aren’t consistent, you will find that your shooting is off. The easiest way to make sure you’re doing great at free throws is to do repetitions of the same routines time and again. If your routine is off, then you will miss the shot.

TIP! To make your layups count the most, take off from the foot opposite your shooting hand. This means that when you’re shooting from your right hand you have to use your left foot to take off.

In order to become better at dribbling the ball you should learn how to practice using your weak hand. When you are ambidextrous, you’ll be a better player. Don’t allow yourself to use your dominant hand when practicing. Before you know it, your weak hand will become strong.

TIP! A good way to develop ball handling skills is to make your forearms and hands stronger. Wrist curls can be great for honing ball handling skills.

Upset and disrupt your opponent’s play. All successful basketball players do this. Force them out of their comfort zone. Execute your moves with aggression. Do not allow them to decide which plays to make. If you let them, they’ll totally take the control from you. Try making the initial move and interrupt their rhythm.

TIP! To avoid turning the ball over to the other team, make sure that you’re dribbling hard. The ball bounces faster, giving the guard less time to steal.

To rebound off your fellow player’s free throws, use sly feet. Try to anticipate the move of the defender between yourself and the basket so that you can maneuver around him and to the hoop. You are able to rebound the ball without fouling someone.

TIP! Perform drills in which you move the ball up the court in just five dribbles. This might not seem possible, but if you can do it your speed and length will strengthen.

Prevent the opposing team from stealing the ball by dribbling hard. The harder you dribble, the faster the ball will return to the cup of you hand. When someone is right on top of you, pass the ball instead of dribbling.

TIP! To build up your skills with your weaker hand, use it for everything from opening jars to brushing your teeth. The more dextrous you become with it in your daily life, the better able you will be to control it.

Ensure that you have good court awareness. This will help you to secure the ball during the game. You want your peripheral vision to be as good as it can. If you’re looking around the whole court and not only at the ball, you’ll be able to look to the defense to see if pressure is coming and you can see who’s open.

TIP! Use the NBA three point line when practicing your shots. That is the furthest distance that you would ever have to shoot from to score a three.

Take a charge if you can. This play gets your team possession of the ball and a foul against your opponent. This is a great way to take control of the court and intimidate the other team.

TIP! The hand not used to dribble the ball should serve as a wall separating the ball from the opposing players. Never push your opponent away because that ends up in a foul, but lightly use your other hand to keep separation between the ball and your opponent.

You can make the 2-3 zone a lot more dangerous by having two defenders stay in this zone until a point guard is beyond the time line. They can then run toward the point guard to trap him. Your forwards can sprint to block the player on both sides. This can cause the point guard to pass the ball in a way that your teammates can easily steal.

TIP! Keep the lines of communication with other players open. In order to win games, you have to work together as a team.

Have you learned some helpful tips? It’s important to practice regularly and be confident with what you are doing. You can develop your skill far above what you have now if you push yourself and never give up.