Basketball begins as a new adventure for most. You learned the basics: dribbling, passing and shooting. Sooner or later, you need to seek out new ideas. The information below will teach you to be a better ball player.
Make sure to dribble properly. You want to dribble with the tips of your fingers, not your whole hand. This allows you to control the ball better. Keeping the ball to your side will help it from getting in the way. Keep your eyes up, not on the ground.
If you hold the ball a lot, you have to learn crossovers. Crossovers involve moving the ball from hand to hand. The move must be done quickly if it is going to work. By having the ability to move either way quickly, you will become a better all-around player.
If you want to improve your game, concentrate on your strengths. Your talents might not make you a star, but when you make the most of your strengths, you might better contribute to your team. Know what you are good at, then practice it until you’re absolutely perfect at it!
Free throws are mental as well as physical. You’re able to train your whole body to do full free throw motions, but if you’re not mentally prepared, you will fail. Take a deep breath, relax and imagine you are at practice to help yourself make the shot.
It is important to practice catching the ball from others as much as passing. When you practice, drill yourself to pay attention to errant throws and passes that are picture perfect. During a game, not all of your passes will hit the mark. Help your team by learning to catch those bad passes, as well as those perfect passes.
Don’t dribble during your drills. It’s hard to play without dribbling, however, it can help you and your team create more accurate passes. This may be hard and frustrating at first, but as you get the hang of it your entire team will begin to excel at passing.
Don’t pump a lot of iron if you wish to become a jump shooter. Muscle flexibility is more important than muscle mass. Some professionals develop their muscles so much that they are actually having a hard time with shooting.
If you have a kid that wants to play basketball in high school, ensure they’re training core muscles in the right way. This will involve their lower back, hips, and abs. The core links together all of the extremities and if it isn’t strong, they will be dealing with a limited athletic ability. A well developed core lets a player generate force with their legs to be applied to faster running and jumping higher.
Use hand signals to avoid errant passes. One of the more frustrating aspects of basketball is making a pass to a teammate at the same time they head to the basket. Avoid this with hand signals that let you know if the player is open to receiving the pass. No signal, no pass.
If you want to correctly handle the ball, you need to know where to place your fingers. This will help prevent the ball from getting away from you while dribbling. Don’t let your palms touch it. When shooting or passing the ball, only your fingers should contact the ball.
Now that you have all these great new moves, you can improve your game dramatically. Put some goals into play and practice all that you can. Use the tips here when you are creating your strategy and you will see big improvements in your game.