With so many fans around the world showing their love for the game, it is clear that basketball is one of the most popular sports. Understanding the nuances of the game helps you to appreciate it in its splendor. The following article will assist readers with exactly that.

The way to properly dribble is to keep your head up while looking ahead of you. If you must look at the ball while dribbling, you haven’t practiced enough. 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. Get used to looking up as you go so that you can focus your attention on the court and not on your hands and the ball.

TIP! Concentrate on your strong points if you want to improve your game. If you can rely on your strengths, you will become a better player.

To be a great basketball player you need to work on your balance. You’ve seen the pros fall out of bounds when trying to shoot 30 feet from the basket; this is a bad move. This kind of improvisation is the result of years of practice and loads of ability. Having a good foundation under you while shooting will always yield better results over time as you keep on practicing and honing your skills.

Practice your passes and catches frequently. When practicing, try catching great passes as well as really bad passes. During the course of a game, you can expect there to be many errant passes. Learn how to catch any sort of throw.

Improve your passing abilities by challenging yourself to perform drills without actually dribbling. This is very hard to accomplish, but it forces you and your fellow players to work on accurate passing skills. The accuracy of passes will greatly improve over time and the drill will become a lot easier.

TIP! Practice your layup shot often. 80% of all shots in a game are usually layups.

Keep your skills sharp in the off-season by playing different challenging games. Even if you can’t get a bunch of people together to play, you can still practice on your own. For concentration purposes, it can be good to practice on your own. There is much that can be accomplished when playing on your own. Practice pivoting or you can practice doing free throws. There is no shortage of things you can do.

Basketball is so fast-paced, it can be difficult to take your eyes off the action for even a second. Without understanding all these nuances, the game seems confusing. This article should have given you all you need to know.