Basketball isn’t very complex, but it is a lot of fun. All players have skill that they use to assist their team in winning. If you’re looking for ways to improve your skills, this article can help in that pursuit.
Play basketball against yourself even during the off-season. Sometimes during off season, or when practicing, you can’t play as a team or find even a single opponent. It’s okay! You can still do a lot on your own. Work on your pivot moves or practice your free throws. This will help improve the hard parts of your game.
Core Muscles
Children who aspire to become great basketball players in high school must engage in physical fitness activities that focus on the core muscles. That means their hips, lower back and abs. Your performance is going to be sub-par if you don’t have strengthened core muscles. A strong, sturdy core allows force from the legs to fuel movements like running and jumping.
Hand signals can help stop you from turning the ball over. Passing is tough, especially if you and your teammate are not in sync with one another. These common miscommunications can be avoided by utilizing hand signals, which tells the passing player the other player is ready for a pass. If they don’t signal, don’t pass to them.
Never turn away from the ball so that you can always be prepared for what’s coming. This will give you court awareness and keep you from being surprised by quick passes or turnover potentials. Always be on the lookout for open areas where you can seize easy scoring opportunities.
If your shooting is in a slump, take a look at your shoulders. Shoulders are the key to a consistently successful shot. Shoulders should be towards the hoop. Then, make sure that your shooting side is lined up directly to the rim.
Stay conscious of your foot motion and placement. Stepping your toe in a baseline with a ball in your grip will mean that you’re out of bounds. If you take too many steps and don’t dribble, then you are walking. Also, when you’re moving your feet when a screen is being set, you can take a charge or pick to try and get a foul.
Free Throw
Create and stick to a routine each time you prepare to shoot a free throw. This might mean that you dribble the ball twice, bend your knees, touch your forehead, or any other movement. Just remember it has to be fast and consistent. The reason is, this routine will put your body on alert that the next thing coming is a free throw. This will help insure your success.
To get a rebound of a free throw that one of your teammates is taking, you need to be sly with your feet. The person defending the position down-court from you will be coming at you, so you need to find any way you can to slide around him that gets you to the ball. This allows you to secure the rebound without finding yourself penalized.
Keep low when you play defense. This will help you be quicker on the jump and react to the man in front of you easier. Always stay in the proper stance on defense. If you break form in an attempt to shot block, return to the proper form as soon as you can.
To trap someone in a 2-3 zone, get your guards to wait for the point guard to get about 10 feet past midcourt. Then they need to get to the guard on point to trap him. Your forwards can sprint to block the player on both sides. The point guard will toss a pass that can easily be stolen by your forwards.
The first step when dribbling is to bend at your knees instead of standing straight-legged. If you don’t bend your knees, you are more susceptible to having the ball stolen by the other team. Some minor bending of the knees makes a big difference in your ability to control the ball.
Everyone that’s trying to play basketball is going to need to learn some skills so they can play better. After reading the advice here, you should know what needs to be done to improve your game. Read this article as many times as you need to in order to absorb its advice.