You can find people enamored with the sport of basketball all around the world. You can play a quick pickup game at the park any time. Also, you can have a career in basketball if you get an early start. The following information will help you learn more about basketball.

Balance is important when shooting. You have seen some crazy shots made by professionals, but these shots aren’t going to be based on fundamentals. They improvise to do that. You need to be balanced properly if you’re going to be making shots, so that over time you’ll be able to always hit the basket.

TIP! Learn proper dribbling. You want to dribble with the tips of your fingers, not your whole hand.

You can improve your skills by paying attention to how the pros play. Try to go to games, watch televised games, or check out videos of the pros playing. Watch great players to learn the specific skills that make them exceptional.

Practice catching passes often. While you are practicing, you should be sure to drill yourself on catching errant throws, as well as catching those perfect passes. Some passes may be too high, too low or off target, so you should practice receiving passes often. Help your teammates by learning what you need to haul in those imperfect passes.

Lifting weights too much can actually take away from your jump shot. You do need muscle conditioning and strength, but you can have too much when it comes to shooting field goals. If your arms are too big, your field goal percentage will go down.

TIP! Get educated on the way to properly pass the ball on a bounce. Bounce passes need to be at waist level when received.

Would you like to learn how to fool your opponent? Try the back pass. To do a back pass, begin by grasping the basketball using your dominant hand. Then you will want to pull the ball into position behind your back. Then do a wrist flick in the same direction that you want the ball to end up. This will confuse the opposition.

Free Throws

Perform skills, practice your ball handling and shoot free throws when you are practicing alone. Many times you are unable to find people to play with. That should not matter. In solo games, you can accomplish quite a bit. Work on your pivot moves or practice your free throws. There’s always some work to do.

TIP! Basketball players of all ages benefit from exercises that strengthen their core. This will involve their lower back, hips, and abs.

Find out what your teammates like most about how you play? Can they tell you what you’re really good at? Maybe you are quick like lightening or maybe you are a strong defender. It’s great to get an idea of how your teammates think of your skills, this way you know what areas of the game to focus on.

If you want to make the most of your layup, push up from the foot that is opposite the hand you will shoot from. This will allow you to shoot with your comfortable hand. Your body will be better balanced and moving in the direction of the basket. Your body will also be kept between the defender and yourself.

You need to practice dribbling with your weak hand in order to be a more effective player. If both hands are useful for dribbling, your opponents will not stand much of a chance. Hold the dominant hand behind the back and make certain you use just the weak hand. Your dribbling skills will improve with your weaker hand.

TIP! Unseen passes can be avoided when proper hand signals are used by teammates. You can become easily frustrated when a teammate does a poor job of anticipating your next passing move.

Use small weights and resistance training to build the muscles in both forearms and hands. Curling your wrists also help you improve your own dribbling. Do not remain in one place. It’s not likely that you will be able to successfully catch and shoot without moving. Things rarely happen unless you are actually moving the basketball.

Dribble the ball hard to keep it from being stolen. This causes the ball to return to your hand more quickly, so the offense has less time to try to get it away from you. When closely guarding another player, cease dribbling and pass it to another play on your team that’s open.

Try some drills that require you to move the basketball from one end of the court to the other in no more than five dribbles. This may seem quite difficult at first, but once you’ve gotten the hang of it, you’ll have great speed and stride length. This will help you accomplish great layups on those fast breaks.

TIP! If posting up is what you’re doing, you have to have good footwork to get open for a shot. While physical positioning is important, it is even more essential to move quicker than an opponent.

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. At this point, your guards must rush the point guard thus trapping him. Concurrently, have forwards go to the wings. This will cause the point guard to throw a pass that will allow your forwards to steal.

Now you should know how to be a better basketball player. All you need is the proper knowledge and some good old-fashioned hard work. As you become more confident during game play, you will perform better. Have fun and play basketball.