You want to learn more about the game of basketball. You play because you adore the sport. When it comes to basketball, as with most things in life, you can always learn more. This article helps you learn a few things. Read on to learn more about what you can do to become a better player and a more useful part of your team.
Make sure you are dribbling the right way. When you dribble a basketball you have to use the fingertips instead of the hand’s palm. This allows you to control the ball better. Dribble to your body’s side instead of doing it out front, and bounce the ball at your waist’s level. Don’t look down, always look up.
Practice your free throw shot. This looks easy, but it is actually very hard to do. You should practice as often as possible with this technique. Start by holding your basketball right in the front of your own face. Maintain focus on the basket and try to visualize your basketball falling through the hoop. Then, shoot the ball using the trajectory you pictured.
If you typically handle the ball a lot, it pays to learn the crossover. Being able to dribble the ball with both hands and crossover between the two will make you a better player. This must be done quickly to be successful. Once you have learned how to do a crossover, you can travel down the court quickly.
Practice playing a man-to-man defense and zone defense. Always try to anticipate when your opponent is going to switch up their game to catch you off guard. If your practice did not include this, you can quickly lose control of the game.
As you exercise to improve your game, it is important to work on your footwork and strength. Your body will retain balance and move quicker when you have strong core muscles. Exercise your abdominal muscles as well as those of the hips, buttocks and back. Just like boxers, you can improve your footwork and speed by jumping rope.
Have your games taped so you can play them back later and observe your court presence. Are you able to see what you’ve missed or things that you could improve on? It is important that your assessment is an honest one, but isn’t overly critical. It is prudent that you look at yourself as others do and not as how you would like to be.
Give your layouts the most by launching from the foot that opposes the hand you are shooting with. Thus, if you use your right hand for shooting, you need to push off using your left foot. That way, the body stays balanced while it moves toward the hoop.
The trick to grabbing a rebound on a teammate’s missed free-throw is to plan your footwork in advance. As you see the defender moving in, quickly slip around to grab the ball. This technique will help you rebound the ball without getting a foul called on you.
It is important that you can clearly see everything that is occurring during a game. This is so that you’re able to catch passes, get shots in, and look at the scoreboard. You want to make sure that you see what is going on to the sides of you. Watching the whole court allows you to foresee future attacks from the opponent.
One of the best ways to always be in proper defensive position is to never break out of the defensive stance. Stay in the right position by pushing off of your opposite foot. If you never allow your feet to cross one another you will invariably be a very hard player to get passed.
You can use your guards and point guard to trap an opponent with a 2-3 zone defense. They should then trap the point guard. With the forwards blocking outside, you have a good shot at intercepting a bad pass. The point guard will toss a pass that can easily be stolen by your forwards.
When dribbling, bend your knees. The farther the ball has to bounce, the less control you will have of it. Bending your knees slightly will enable you to control the ball more efficiently.
Now that you’ve come to the end of this article, you are ready to get out there and play. It’s great learning new things and watching how they can work for you. Keep all of this in mind and improve your natural talents. This engaging sport is great for people of any age.
