Basketball is one of the most popular sports around. From watching the NBA to playing, it's so much fun to participate in. If you would like to play and play well, it pays to practice hard in order to be the best you can be. Read these ideas to help move your game up a notch. A sport played well is more fun than one you struggle with.
Try practice rebound drills that will help you learn to rebound outside your area in basketball. Great rebounders will try to get the ball no matter its location. Poor rebounders will remain still and watch the ball since they think they can't reach it. To learn rebounding out of your area, run some drills that causes the ball to go far away from you. One way is to throw it off the back board and go after it.
Knowing how to perform a crossover is a must when you handle the basketball frequently. This technique passes the ball back and forth from the right hand to the left hand. The action needs to be performed quickly in order to be successful. If you do it right, a crossover dribble will assist you in changing directions and getting down the court in an efficient manner.
Perfect your layup technique. Eighty percent of the shots taken in a game are layups. When practicing this technique, run toward the goal and shoot. Like everything, practicing at game speed will only improve your skill and have you ready to play at the fastest pace.
Make it your goal to dribble well with both of your hands. You'll obviously start with your strongest hand when learning, but if you want to play basketball well, you'll need to learn how to switch it up. This way you can keep your body between the ball and your opponent, no matter what the angle.
Practice catching passes as often as you can. Make sure you get used to catching less than perfect passes smoothly. During a hectic game, every throw is not going to be perfect. Help your teammates by learning what you need to haul in those imperfect passes.
Basketball
When learning the game of basketball, it's easy to get caught up in offensive play. But you should also give plenty of attention to defense. Defense is essential to winning these games. Offense may be splashier, but lacking a solid defense, any team is sure to lose.
Knowing how to handle the basketball is an important step in becoming a good player. Work hard to perfect your dribble with your weaker hand. The ability to dribble the ball well with both hands will keep opponents guessing. When you are able to take off dribbling to the right or the left, opponents will have a hard time predicting where you will go.
To make your weaker hand stronger, play non-competitive basketball games with only your weak hand. The more you practice with it, especially in a real game, the better your skills will become. This is a great way to become more ambidextrous than you are without risking a loss in a competitive game.
To help improve your basketball playing skills you will need to learn how to jump higher. One way that you can get better at this is by doing calf raises. Improving the strength of your legs, especially your calves will help you get more lift. Not only do you need to jump higher, you also need to be quicker, too.
Be sure to practice shooting from a variety of spots on the court. The first thing to do is work on balance and grip. Off-balance shooting can happen, but it's not as accurate. You can use the valve to find your perfect grip. Put the middle of your shooting hand over the basketball's valve.
As you now know, there exist many methods to which you can up your game. Some are quite simple, for example you can learn new techniques and practice them assiduously. Practice makes perfect, and basketball is no exception. It helps to be near a basketball net as often as possible. You can perform drills by yourself of with your team, or you can mentor younger players. Any way you approach it, these activities will benefit your game.