TIP! Correct dribbling is key. Don’t use your palm to dribble.

You can find people enamored with the sport of basketball all around the world. You can go play it in your driveway if you wish to, or it’s something you can do for a living if you begin early. Read this article to gain some information about how to improve your skills.

TIP! You have to know how to bounce pass properly. It is best when the ball hits the receiving player near the waist.

When dribbling, your head must be up, and you need to look forward. If you have to look at the ball while dribbling, that means you need to practice more. Take the basketball to all the places that you go. Dribble the ball as you go about your day doing errands like walking the dog. If you look at the ball, you’re unable to see what’s going on down the court before you.

TIP! Work on being able to receive a pass. Try to catch all of the passes that are thrown to you.

When using the ball a lot, you must relearn a crossover. Crossover dribble is switching hands while you’re dribbling. You need to perform crossovers very quickly to get good results. Crossovers can help you get out of a tight spot.

TIP! Keep your skills sharp in the off-season by playing different challenging games. Though basketball is surely a team sport, there may be times when you have nobody to play against.

It is important that you practice layups. Layups sometimes wind up being 4 out of every 5 shots in basketball. When you practice, be sure to run at the goal with full speed, jumping and shooting in a smooth series of motions. Like everything, practicing at game speed will only improve your skill and have you ready to play at the fastest pace.

TIP! If you have a high school level basketball player for a kid, be sure their core muscles are properly trained. Show them how to exercise their hips, lower back and abs.

Would you like to pull one over on your opponents? Make use of the back pass. To accomplish this, grab the ball with the dominant hand. Next, pull the ball behind your back. Then do a wrist flick in the same direction that you want the ball to end up. This helps trick your opponents.

Core Muscles

TIP! Practice dribbling with both hands, dribble on both sides of your body and learn to dribble in front of you while taking large strides. Utilizing both hands to dribble the basketball and switching effortlessly is key to advantage over an opponent.

If you have a child who has expressed interest in becoming a basketball player in high school, make sure he trains his core muscles. The core is the following areas: abdominal muscles, lower back muscles and hip muscles. Your performance is going to be sub-par if you don’t have strengthened core muscles. A well developed core lets a player generate force with their legs to be applied to faster running and jumping higher.

TIP! To play good defense, you have to upset and disrupt your opponent. Don’t let them get comfortable.

To keep passes under control, make use of hand signals. One of basketball’s most frustrating elements is the concept of sending a quick pass onto a teammate who has just moved in a different direction. You can avoid this by using hand signals if a player is able to take a pass. If the signal is absent, do not pass to that player.

TIP! You can prevent other players from stealing the ball from you by dribbling hard. If you dribble hard, the ball will go back to your hand quickly and the offense will not be able to snatch it easily.

Talk to your teammates and find out what they like about your game. Do you do something particularly well? They may say that you are a great team defender or are always playing with excellent speed. You can learn a lot about your skills by knowing how others see you on the court.

TIP! Do drills where you try and get the basketball up a full-court in five dribbles or less. You will need to learn how to push the basketball in front of you while making long strides.

If you wish to do free throw shots reliably, always do the exact same thing before making each shot. Perhaps you will dribble twice, follow up by bending your knees, pulling your earlobe or performing some other ritualistic action for good luck. Keep it simple and consistent, and the routine will become a part of your muscle memory.

TIP! If you want a 2-3 zone to be turned into a machine that traps, your two defenders that are guarding should wait until your point guard is around ten feet past mid court. They can then trap the point guard.

Launch your layup jumps from the foot that is opposite the hand you shoot with. Thus, if you tend to shoot with the right hand, make sure to jump off with the left. This will keep your body properly balanced with forward momentum.

TIP! When dribbling you want to keep your knees bent. If your knees are not bent, the basketball will be more difficult to control.

You must disrupt and upset the play of your opponent if you want to be successful as a defensive player. Don’t let them get comfortable. Be assertive and focused within the rules, aggressively keeping your player off balance. Don’t let your opponent decide their own plays. If you let them, you’ll be at their mercy. To avoid this, stay aggressive and try to interrupt their thought patterns and rhythm.

TIP! To help practice three-point shooting you should practice shooting at the NBA distance. The line in every other league is closer.

You can improve your ability to handle the ball by working out your forearms and hands. Strong hands make it easier for you to keep control of the basketball. Don’t think you can just go somewhere on the court, catch a ball and then make a successful shot. Good dribbling skills will help you always stay in movement.

TIP! Practice dribbling while switching the momentum of your body from side to side. During a game, you’ll be dribbling in all kinds of situations.

Once you are in your defensive stance, remember to hold your ground. Keep your feet moving to each side or push your opposing foot off so you can keep yourself in position. Don’t allow your feet to cross, and this will make you a hard defender to beat.

TIP! Keep the action beneath your knees, if you can. This will make your opponent struggle to steal the ball from you.

It is important that you remain in control of the ball despite which way your body is going. Basketball games are fast and you will encounter different scenarios while dribbling. You’ll have people guarding you on all sides. Remember to dribble while leaning in various directions. It will help you when you need it most.

TIP! Use whatever hand you aren’t dribbling with as a shield between the ball and your opponent. Don’t push your opponent because that is a foul; however, you can use your arm as separator between your opponent and the ball.

A missed shot from the corner of the basketball court will usually go to the opposite side. Attempt to catch the resulting rebound by watching the angle from which it was shot.

TIP! Dribble with a rhythm, that is until you need to outsmart your opponents. Changing your pace quickly can take the other player by surprise and give you an advantage.

Build your team in and out of the basketball court. Basketball is one of those games that goes to another level when a team gels completely. If you think you know each of your teammates really well and trust them, then your game improve, and theirs too.

TIP! The position you are in before and after your rebound will determine whether you get to keep the ball or not. When you jump, use both legs to give yourself a boost.

Now you know how to better your game. All you need to do is work hard and use what you have learned. Begin playing and before you know it, you will be playing every day. You will learn more playing against highly-skilled players.