Many people are in love the the game of basketball. You can play with friends or even as a job. Read this article to learn more about the sport of basketball.

Make sure that you’re dribbling the ball correctly. Use the fingertips, not the palm, for the best dribbling. This way you’ll have a lot more control over the ball. Also, dribble off to the side instead of in front. The ball should bounce no higher than your waist. You should always look upwards instead of at the ground.

TIP! Practice shooting free throws. That’s a shot that appears simple but is actually difficult in reality.

Balance is vital to good shooting. Even though a professional can hit all sorts of crazy off-balance shots, it is not the ideal method of shooting that you want to learn. They improvise to do that. If you are able to improve your sense of balance, then you will find that your percentage of successful shots improves.

Keep your weight lifting to a minimum as a jump shooter. While muscle mass is good for any basketball position, perimeter play requires less than other positions. Some professional shooting guards made their arms so big that it started decreasing their field goal percentage.

When playing basketball, it is important to always keep your eye on the ball. You develop a good feel for the game around you, making it much easier to quickly react to your opponent. You will want to keep extra attention on areas that could improve your position as well.

TIP! If you want to improve your game, play up your strengths. Your strengths might not make you a star player, but you’ll be contributing a lot to your team.

Keeping your fingers spread wide is important for holding onto the ball. This way, you won’t lose the ball when holding it. Do not allow your palm to come in contact with the ball either. Fingers should be the only point of contact as you pass or shoot the ball at its target.

Speed is a key attribute in the game of basketball. If you want the advantage, you need to be quicker than your opponents. Steady drilling will help speed up your play. Just don’t play any faster than you’re able to. If you push too hard, your performance may be haphazard, and the game may get out of control.

Have someone record the games you play so that you can watch it to check out your form. Do you see how you could’ve handled a situation differently? Be honest in your assessment but not overly critical. You can learn a lot by watching your plays instead of just trying to remember what you did.

TIP! You should often work on your layups. A huge percentage of successful shots are layups.

Being a good defensive player means disrupting the game of your opponent. Don’t let them get comfortable. Always move aggressively as they try to maneuver around you. Keep them from deciding what moves to make. Otherwise, the opponents will win all the shots and dominate you. Rather, you move first so that you interfere with their rhythm.

Build up your forearms to become a better ball handler. Do some wrist curls as much as possible and your dribbling should get better. Don’t stay stopped; always move around the court. Strength and flexibility in your hands will allow you to move the ball more gracefully and swiftly.

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. Then they should run to the point guard and trap him. Your forwards should sprint to cover the other players on the outside. The point guard throws a pass that can be easily stolen by your forwards.

TIP! Practice using different types of defenses. Learn how to play a man-to-man defense and a zone defense to get the best understanding of how the game works.

You should now know what you need to do to get the most out of basketball. It’s not too tough, it just takes the right kind of knowledge and some work. So get out there and use the tips that will help up your game. All you need to do is hit the court and have some fun!