Basketball basics are simple to learn. You can pick up the basics in a few short minutes. That said, to learn even advanced techniques, read on.

Dribble the ball correctly. Use fingertips to dribble. Dribbling this way improves your ball control dramatically. Dribble on the sides of your body instead of directly before you, and bounce it waist level. Always look upwards, never at the ground.

Practice Dribbling

Always keep your head up when dribbling instead of focusing on the ball. If you have to look at the ball while dribbling, that means you need to practice more. You can practice dribbling almost anywhere. You can practice dribbling when you have to walk to the store. If you’re trying to look at the ball then you’re not concentrating on what’s going on down the court.

You must have good balance to shoot well. You have seen how pros shoot a basket from thirty feet away and fall out of bounds, which is not the right technique. They are going with the flow when this occurs. If you are able to improve your sense of balance, then you will find that your percentage of successful shots improves.

TIP! Practice the skill of pass catching. You want to practice catching perfect passes and bad passes.

Would you like to fool the opposing team? Back passes can give your team the opportunity to score while the other team is still wondering what happened. To properly perform this pass you will need to have the ball in your dominant hand. Now hold the ball behind you. Lastly, flick the wrist in the direction you want the ball to go. This will trick your opponents.

Practice playing by yourself. Basketball is a multiple player sport, but other people won’t always be around. That is not a problem. Playing on your own can give you the chance to work on isolated areas of your game. Practice pivoting or doing free throws. There are always things that can be done.

When posting up, solid footwork is essential to getting yourself into position to shoot. Securing a good location is critical when playing basketball. After grabbing the position, you need to hold the area. Both of those skills rely on solid footwork.

TIP! Passing quickly without dribbling is a great way to practice. Playing the game without the use of dribbling is a challenge, but it can help you and your team learn to make more precise passes.

See if your teammates admire something in particular about your game play. Do they feel you are really good at something? Perhaps you are great backup or fast on your feet. Learn what other’s see as your natural skills and make sure to keep and develop those skills more fully.

During your workouts, concentrate on improving your footwork as well as your core strength. Your balance will improve if you strengthen your core. Your muscles in your buttocks, hips, abdomen, and back should be worked. Similar to boxers, jump rope to help increase speed and better your footwork.

Get someone to analyze how you play on tape. Are you able to see missed opportunities or ways in which you could have improved? It is important that your assessment is an honest one, but isn’t overly critical. It can help you to see how you really are instead of what you imagine you are.

Free Throw Shooting

A solid routine is necessary for improvement in free throw shooting. Inconsistency will ruin your shots. Free throw shooting is best improved by lengthy sessions of repetitive practice. If you break your routine, you’ll start missing shots.

To improve ball handling, consider focusing workouts on your forearms and hands. Strong hands make it easier for you to keep control of the basketball. Good playing is not only instinctive, it takes hard work and discipline. You have to get the ball around, too.

TIP! To keep passes under control, make use of hand signals. It can be frustrating making a pass when a player moves away towards the basket.

Maybe you are now able to learn to play basketball after reading this. Or, perhaps you have been on the court since a young age. Either way, this information improves your playing skills. Try this advice out whenever you can play.