Want To Improve Your Basketball Game? Try These Tips!

Well here is your chance to learn about basketball. You love the game. Perhaps you can learn a few new ideas from the information provided here. Read on to learn how to become a better your game.

Crossing over is a vital skill to have for handling the basketball. In a crossover, you transfer the basketball from hand to hand. You need to perform crossovers very quickly to get good results. When done properly, crossover dribbling is a great way to quickly switch direction or move around the court in an efficient manner.

TIP! Practice your layup shot as frequently as possible. Layups sometimes wind up being 4 out of every 5 shots in basketball.

Make sure to practice your layups frequently. Layups sometimes wind up to 80 percent of the shots in basketball.When practicing it is important to run at full speed toward the goal, run toward the goal and shoot. This will teach you to improve your ability to jump and then shoot.

Make sure to practice catching of passes. You can do the rest of your team mates will be happier if you (and they) are more versatile.

You should practice pass catching regularly. When you practice, drill yourself to pay attention to errant throws and passes that are picture perfect. In the heat of the game, not every pass is going to hit the bulls-eye. By learning to catch errant passes, you will do your team a great favor.

TIP! You can learn how to pass well by drilling on it separately from dribbling. Playing basketball without dribbling is very challenging, but your entire team will quickly improve their passing skills.

Do not only practice by playing against the zone defense plays. While a great portion of a game will be concentrated in the zone, your opponent might flip the switch to man-to-man coverage just to change things up and surprise you. If you have not practiced enough on this scenario, you could end up losing your grip on the game quite quickly.

Would you like to fool your opponent? Try doing what is known as a back pass! Hold the ball using your writing hand. This should make it easy to trick the opposing team.

If you have a high school level basketball player for a kid, be sure their core muscles are properly trained. That means their hips, lower back and abs. These muscles form a bridge across the lower and upper parts of your body. When the core is weak, it is difficult to coordinate the movements of both halves. If your core is solid, you will have greater strength in your legs. This helps with fast running and high jumping.

Hand signals will help stop you from turning the ball over. Hand signals can help you if your teammate is ready.

Good footwork remains a shot when you are posting up. You must beat the good spot ahead of your opponent. Once you get into your position, you need to know how to defend it. Both of those skills rely on some solid footwork.

See if your teammates admire something in particular about your game play. Find out what they perceive as your best skill. It may be that you are quick on your feet or that you are always there to back them up. Find out what others think your natural abilities are, and be certain to keep developing those skills.

TIP! Whenever you work out, practice footwork and work on your core strength. Your balance will improve if you strengthen your core.

Never try to push through an injury on the court.Basketball is challenging physical and there’s always a risk of injury. Trying to play while injured will just make the injury worse.See a physician if the injury is serious.

Ask teammates what they admire about your skills on the court. Do you are really good? Perhaps you have good dribbling skills or fast on your feet.

One thing to consider if your shooting percentage drops is that your shoulders may be inconsistent when you are shooting. If you have bad shoulder position it doesn’t matter how great you are the shot isn’t going to go in. Your shoulders should be facing the hoop. Your dominant shoulder should also be lined up perfectly with the rim.

TIP! A good basketball drill to perform is to see if you can get the ball down the entire court in 5 or less dribbles. This initially seems undoable, but it helps build speed and stride.

Understanding your opponent is key in beating a tough defense. Review videotapes and keep up with scouting reports. Once you understand the opposition, you can dial in on the best way to defend. A knowledgeable defender is a strong one.

To increase the efficiency of your layups, take off from the foot opposite your shooting hand. This will keep your body properly balanced and going towards the basket.

Ensure that you have good court awareness. This isn’t just for reading the score, but for catching passes and making shots. Develop your peripheral vision on the court. Watching the whole court allows you to foresee future attacks from the opponent.

TIP! For your weaker hand, to build skills, use it off-court for as much as you can, from brushing teeth to opening jars. You’ll find it becomes more controllable.

Practice with your weak hand as much as possible. Tie your strong hand to the rear of your back and force yourself only use your weaker hand. You will improve dribbling with your non-dominant hand for dribbling.

Don’t let your feet to cross and it will have difficulty getting around you.

Always bend the knees while dribbling. You will have a hard time controlling the ball if you always stand straight and opponents will be able to steal the ball. Slightly bending your knees improves ball control significantly.

TIP! Use the non-dribbling hand to create a buffer between the ball and your opposition. This is much safer than just shoving an opponent, which is a serious foul and bad sportsmanship to boot.

Changing up your pace can help you keep the offense is paying attention.When running in the direction of the net, act like you’re going to straighten up. The guard will assume you are reducing speed and may try to straighten themselves. When they do, rush forward and power past them.

You will gain a lot of ball control with bent knees.

When you’re getting down after catching the rebound, you should come down with spread out legs so that they’re wider than your shoulders to get good balance. Keep the ball to your chest and hold it with two hands. Watch your elbows since hitting an opposing player is a foul.

TIP! When guarding a person that is stronger or taller, be sure you stay in between that person and the player with the ball. This will prevent them from getting an easy pass and stop them from shooting the ball right over your head.

This will make it harder for your opponents if they want to steal the ball. You will need to bend somewhat for this to happen, but you will be able to traverse the court rapidly while keeping opponents at bay.

Use the hand you’re not dribbling with to keep the opponent away from the ball. You don’t need to push any opponents since that’s a foul, but it can serve as an obstacle that helps keep your opponent from reaching in. Keep it slightly up and dribble with your opposite hand.

Being a good passer is key to being a good basketball player. Passing can work to confuse opponents. Your teammates will be happy when you prove you’re about the team. The time will come for you to share your individual abilities. Make sure everyone gets a chance to display their skills by passing the ball as much as you can.

TIP! A good thing to do on defense is to get your opponent near the sideline. Letting them keep working down to the middle gives them many options.

You should be have ways to alter the path of your opponent is planning on taking. It does not matter if you are on offense or defense, your ability to control the direction of your opponent is critical. This allows you to get to the spot that you need to get to without letting your path.

Armed with the tips presented here, you can take your game to a whole new level. It’s great learning new things and watching how they can work for you. Use the information above to help you develop your basketball skills. Have fun playing basketball!

It is important to practice your footwork. Learn how to pivot and how to play different positions. When you’re quick with your feet, you hold the key to remaining in the best position and spot. Your feet must do the job of keeping you well balanced while still allowing you to react very quickly.