Basketball is very popular. Whether you’re watching it on TV, playing it with friends, or just playing it on your own in the driveway, basketball isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Of course, most people who play wish to learn to do their best at the game so they can win. Use these basketball tips to enhance your understanding and love for this incredible sport.

You can easily focus on offense when learning to play basketball, however, you must really focus how playing defense. Basketball games are won because of good defense. The offense gets lots of attention, but if the defense is lacking no basketball team will ever win a game.

TIP! Make sure that you’re dribbling the ball correctly. You want to dribble with the tips of your fingers, not your whole hand.

Practice your free throw shot. There are usually a lot of distractions when you are shooting free throws so you need to concentrate. Practice this technique regularly. Begin by holding the ball directly in front of your face. Visualize the ball sailing into the hoop. Then, use the trajectory you just visualized and shoot the ball.

When using the ball a lot, you must relearn a crossover. Moving the ball from hand to hand is a crossover. It has to be done fast to be effective. When done properly, crossover dribbling is a great way to quickly switch direction or move around the court in an efficient manner.

Better your basketball skills by watching the pros play. Watch some games on TV, view videos of professional games, and go to some games. When you find a player who has the skills that you want, then watch them and emulate.

Practice Catching

Practice catching passes as often as you can. You should practice catching errant passes, along with perfectly executed ones. During a real game, many of the passes that come your way will be off-target and tougher to handle. You and your team mates will be happier if you (and they) are more versatile.

A good tip about passing is try doing it without dribbling the ball. It is hard to play with no dribbling, but it will help your team make great passes. Don’t get upset if it seems hard, this will improve your team’s passes over time.

TIP! Having a good foundation is key when shooting the ball. Everyone has seen professional basketball players make a shot from 20 feet away as they are falling.

Would you like to pull one over on your opponents? How about the behind the back pass? To do this pass, hold on to the ball with your dominant hand. Pull it behind you. Then, quickly snap your wrist toward the location where you want the ball to end up. This should make it easy to trick the other team.

After reading the above article you should be familiar with how to get better at basketball. Many techniques can be mastered easily through repetition. Practice is key to mastering anything, so make sure you have easy access to a basketball hoop and play as often as you can. You can build better basketball skills no matter who you practice with.