Are you a fan of basketball but you’re not very educated about it? You’re not the first person that has felt this way! People want to be as good as the pros, but don’t know how. Check out the advice below for some pointers that are used by the best players in the world.

It’s easy to focus on offense when learning to play, but your practice time would be better spent on defense. Defense is what wins basketball games. While everyone focuses on shots made, a good defense can kill the chances of even an amazing shot taker.

Free Throw

Learn how to hit a free throw shot. The execution of a free throw is not as simple as it may appear. Use good technique when shooting foul shots. Start by holding your basketball right in the front of your own face. Then, look at the ball and visualize it going in the basket. Next, take your shot seeing the ball move in the trajectory you envisaged for it.

Make layups a part of your daily practice regimen. During any game, layups make up about 75 percent of the game. When you practice, you need to be able to run toward the basket at full speed, then shoot while jumping in the air. Like everything, practicing at game speed will only improve your skill and have you ready to play at the fastest pace.

Receiving Player

Perfect your bounce pass. Executed properly, a bounce pass will connect with the receiving player at the waist. It’s smart to get the ball to bounce about 75% to the receiving player. Of course, there are also other factors involved.

Free throws are as much mental as they are physical. You must be mentally strong to be a consistent free throw shooter. Relax yourself and concentrate on your shot.

TIP! The way to properly dribble is to keep your head up while looking ahead of you. If you have to look at the ball while dribbling, that means you need to practice more.

Make better passes through the use of coordinated hand signals. Players can get easily frustrated if they make a pass to players that aren’t available to catch the ball. A simple hand gesture can let your teammate know you’re ready for the pass. If the signal is not used, then the pass should not be made to that player.

When an injury occurs while you are playing ball, don’t keep playing with pain. Basketball is hard to play well even when you are healthy, so don’t push it. Trying to play through the pain could just cause more damage. See a doctor if the injury is serious enough.

The best free throws come as a result of routine. It could be that you dribble several times, bend at the knees, brush your hair out of your eyes or do something else. When you have a steady and consistent routine, your muscles will remember what to do to shoot those free throw shots.

TIP! You should practice your crossovers a lot. This is when you switch hands while dribbling.

Be slick with your feet so you can get a rebound from a teammate. Use your feet to slip around the opposing player below you, then get into position for a rebound off the rim. By doing this, you can increase your chance to get the rebound despite starting in a disadvantageous position.

To conclude, while you might like watching basketball, prior to reading this article you probably didn’t really understand it. Hopefully, you’ll be ready to jump in and start playing now! So, go on and get a game started so you can use this helpful advice!