Do you love basketball so much that you want to be as great as Shaquille O’Neil? Do you want to play better? This article will give you some helpful tips to improve your game.

Practice shooting free throws. There are usually a lot of distractions when you are shooting free throws so you need to concentrate. Practice a lot with the following method. Start by holding your ball before your face. Keep looking at the goal while visualizing the basketball going through the hoop. When you shoot, keep the visualized trajectory in mind.

TIP! You should often work on your layups. Eighty percent of the shots taken in a game are layups.

Balance is essential to shooting. While the all-time greats have shown time and time again how they can shoot while off-kilter, this is not the ideal way to score. They are going with the flow when this occurs. When you shoot, you should always be properly balanced, which will help you make more baskets more consistently.

Put the emphasis on your strengths can help you to be a better basketball player. While you may have a particular skill that isn’t going to make you stand out as the star player, honing it can help you become an integral part of your team’s success. Know your strengths and keep practicing to get even better.

A great way to bolster your basketball ability is to observe those who are considered to be the best in the sport. Try to go to games, watch televised games, or check out videos of the pros playing. Every truly great player has unique skills that you can learn from.

TIP! Learn good passing by drilling often without dribbling. It is tough to play when not dribbling, but your accuracy is sure to inprove.

Don’t pump a lot of iron if you wish to become a jump shooter. While muscle strength is good to have in any basketball position, it is possible to have too much for perimeter play. Some professional shooting guards made their arms so big that it started decreasing their field goal percentage.

Would you like to pull one over on your opponents? How about the behind the back pass? To properly perform this pass you will need to have the ball in your dominant hand. Next get the ball pulled up behind the back. The last step is to flick your wrist in the direction you want the ball to land. This helps trick your opponents.

Core Muscles

TIP! Need to dupe the opposition? The back pass is perfect for this. Use the dominant hand whenever trying a behind the back pass.

Children who aspire to become great basketball players in high school must engage in physical fitness activities that focus on the core muscles. Focus on hips, lower back and abs. Your performance is going to be sub-par if you don’t have strengthened core muscles. A strong and solid core allows force that is generated via the legs to be used for helpful movements during the game like higher jumps and faster running.

For more consistency in making those free throws, stick with the same sequence of motions before you take each shot. This might mean that you dribble the ball twice, bend your knees, touch your forehead, or any other movement. Just remember it has to be fast and consistent. The reason is, this routine will put your body on alert that the next thing coming is a free throw. This will help insure your success.

If the opposing team is guarding you to much, you can try a pass between your legs. You can train for this maneuver by stepping forward or backwards as you bounce the ball real hard in-between your legs. When you get this move down, you will have an advantage.

TIP! If you have a child that is strength training for basketball, their core muscles should be properly developed. These core muscles for basketball include your lower back, hips and abs.

In order to be successful with layups, the foot that is opposite from shooting hand is the one you should take off from. Thus, if you use your right hand for shooting, you need to push off using your left foot. This will allow you to be more balanced while moving closer to the basket while keeping your body between the defender and you.

A consistent routine will help you to achieve great free throws. A routine that is constantly in flux will only open up more opportunities for failure. In order to make your free throw perfect, you’ll need to practice the shot many times and get into a routine. If you don’t do the routine right, then the shot won’t make it.

To get a rebound of a free throw that one of your teammates is taking, you need to be sly with your feet. Use your feet to slip around the opposing player below you, then get into position for a rebound off the rim. You’ll be able to grab the rebound without fouling your opponent.

TIP! Make use of hand signals so that wild passes can be avoided. Often in basketball, a player makes a pass at the exact same time the receiving player heads to another part of the court.

You need good vision if you are going to play basketball. Not to just be able to see the scoreboard, but to actually make a shot and catch a pass. Try making your peripheral vision the best it can be. When you can see the big picture, you can react to anything.

Now that you have read the information here, you can now jump in. You’re going to have to be consistent with your practice, and you must have confidence in your abilities. Keep these tips in mind and show off your newly acquired skills.