If you love basketball, you need to continually learn from the experts and pros so you can get better at it. Whether you want to be a great player or coach, appreciating the complexities of the game is what it takes to master it. Read the article below to learn as much as you can.
Improving your flexibility will greatly help you during a game. If you’re flexible, you’ll be able to move around defenders better. Flexibility will help you to move better when you’re being blocked. You’ll be able to do more moves than others which will result in you getting the change to score or pass freely without being blocked.
Make sure that you practice teamwork when you are on the court, or people may have a hard time dealing with you. You may want to impress others on the court, and this may give you the idea that you should shoot the ball yourself, but it would be best to pass the ball to someone who is open.
Practice passing drills as a team. Basketball is a team sport first and foremost. You’ve got five people on the court with the same common goal. Teams that are great at passing can really break up a defense making it much easier to get into good scoring positions. You’ll definitely win much more than you lose when you work as a team.
Practice your layup shot as frequently as possible. Layups comprise approximately 80 percent of all shots. Run full tilt to the basket, then smoothly jump and shoot. This method will teach you to improve your jumps and shots throughout the game.
To improve your basketball dribbling skills, set cones out on the court and practice dribbling in and out of the cones. Go from one end of the court to the other at different speeds to enhance your ball control. After you have been up and down the court several times, practice stopping and shooting from various positions.
Watching the pros can help you pick up on certain skills for improving your game. Attend as many professional games as you can, watch the pros on TV, or watch video of professionals. Each player has their strengths and you can learn a lot from each one.
Do sprints in your practice drills. Basketball is a very active sport for the entire game. And there are times in it when you need to pull up your last bit of energy for an extremely fast sprint to the opposite side of the court. Your body needs to be used to sprinting, even when worn out. You only accomplish this through practice.
Footwork is what gets you ready for a shot. Getting a great position under the goal is the most important. Once you have a location, it is important that your feet are firmly planted there. Expert footwork is the key to these skills.
A good basketball player is really quick on his feet. Always stay ahead of the opposition. In order to play fast, you must practice drills. However, don’t try and push past your limits. Playing beyond your own capabilities sends the game spinning past your ability to control it, and turnovers are bound to occur.
Keep your opponents guessing as to where you will be going next. Dart right, lean left, move back and forward too. The more movement you have on the court, they less likely they are to be able to guess what your plans are, allowing you to trick them and make the shot.
Always know what spots on the court players are good at scoring from. You want to know this about yourself so you can make high percentage shots. You want to know this about teammates so you can pass the ball to them when they are in a killspot and open. When possible, know this about opponents in order to defend them better.
When you’re playing basketball, make sure that you dribble with your head up. If you feel that you have to look down every time you dribble, then you need more practice. Try to practice dribbling all over the place when you can without looking to get better at it. Watching good point guards can help since they always look forward and around when they dribble.
If you want to dribble the basketball better, you need to practice dribbling with your weaker hand. Being ambidextrous on the court makes it more difficult for defenders to figure out what you will do next. You can actually force yourself to utilize your weak hand by tying your other hand behind you. Your weak hand will soon develop better dribbling skills.
With all of this knowledge in your mind, you may feel overwhelmed. Tackle each point one by one and start incorporating it into your basketball strategy. It won’t take long for you to notice a difference in your game, leaving you appreciative that you found this article and learned so much from it.