Basketball is fun to play for anyone and everyone. People of all genders, ages and backgrounds love the game of basketball. Do you want to stun all your friends with your new skills? What new skills do you mean? Keep reading here if you wish to figure out what you can do.
Make sure you are looking forward and looking up as you’re dribbling. If you start staring at the ball while you dribble, you know you need to practice more. Make the basketball an extension of your body, taking it wherever you are. If you walk to the store, dribble the ball. If you look your ball, you can’t see the court.
Bounce Pass
Learn how a bounce pass is thrown. If done correctly, a well-executed bounce pass will reach the player in a way that allows them to move immediately with the ball. Aim for a firm bounce pass that hits the ground around 3/4 of the distance between you and the intended player. Practicing your bounce pass is important so that you can use it skillfully during games.
Watch the pro’s play if you want to improve your game. Watch pro games on TV, or attend games in person. You will see that each great player has certain skills that make him great and you can practice what you see him doing.
Core Muscles
If you have a high school level basketball player for a kid, be sure their core muscles are properly trained. The core muscles are the hips, lower back muscles and the abdominal muscles. The core is what holds the body in balance and allows the limbs to work well. A solid and strong core lets force that comes from the legs get used for beneficial movements when playing, like faster running and higher jumping.
Have your team mates critique your playing skills. Is there something that you excel at? It could be your speed, or it could be your back-up abilities. Improve the skills where you tend to be a bit weaker while maintaining your stronger skills.
Spreading the fingers is something you have to do to handle the ball right. The ball will not get away if you always keep your fingers spread when handling the ball. Additionally, the palm of your hand should not come into contact with the ball. Only your fingers should touch it during a pass or when dribbling.
When you’re working out, concentrate on core strength building and your footwork. Your body is going to be more balanced and be able to move faster when you have strong core muscles. Your muscles in your buttocks, hips, abdomen, and back should be worked. Jump rope can be used to speed up your feet.
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. Now you can achieve a proper rebound and not commit a foul.
You want to keep your vision completely clear at all times. While it will allow you to catch passes and read the score, there is more to it than that. Develop your peripheral vision on the court. Tunnel vision makes it difficult to play effectively, so try to view the entire court and all players.
Improve your shooting skills by taking hundreds of different shots from all angles and distances. Try to practice a hard dribble followed by a quick shot. When you are off the ground, keep your eye on the basket, but not earlier. This will help improve your accuracy during a game.
Keep dribbling until you’re ready to either pass or shoot. When you stop, your options are limited. If you don’t shoot or pass, you will have just stand there pivoting. This makes you open up to people that want to double team you and that means you are also more likely to get the ball stolen.
Keep all motion below the knees if possible. The other team’s players will have a difficult time stealing the basketball from you. This will help you move the ball down the court easier.
Use the non-dribbling hand to create a buffer between the ball and your opposition. 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 should try to keep your barrier arm up slightly when you are dribbling.
You can now hit the court confident that you will be playing to the best of your abilities. You might even have some tricks up your sleeves that your friends don’t know about. Just keep the game fun. No matter what, being a winner is always fun.