Sports are America’s greatest pastime. From the players to the coaches, parents and spectators, it seems a majority of people are involved in sport somehow. Basketball is one of those sports that garners a lot of attention. But in order to help your team gain the wins and get the attention they deserve, you have to bring skills to the court and score points. So here are some ways to get those skills and bring your team to a winning season.
When you are practicing your shooting, make sure that you practice shots that you may be required to make during a game. You should try to shoot the ball while moving around, standing still, and right after you receive a pass. You can have someone toss you a ball while you’re running in order to practice taking a shot after the ball has been passed to you.
When you dribble a basketball, you are supposed to use your fingertips. Many people think you are supposed to use your palm, but this is incorrect. Using the tips of your fingers when you are dribbling the ball will result in you being able to dribble more in a shorter amount of time.
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.
Always protect the ball when you are in possession of it. Keep your dribble off to the side of your body to make it more difficult for another player to steal the ball. While you generally want to avoid dribbling in front of you, you can do so if there are no other players in your immediate vicinity.
Practice dribbling the ball on a number of different surfaces. As you get used to how the ball reacts, you will be able to adjust your game accordingly. How you handle the ball can make or break the game. Turnovers lead to points that your team may not be able to recover from, so your skills in this area need to be solid.
Really practice the types of shots that you’d get in a typical game experience. Yes, it’s fun to play HORSE and try crazy shots, but that’s not prepping you for actual game play. You want to get the types of shots you usually see down cold. Practice them over and over.
As you can see, learning a skill can be easy bit practicing and perfecting it may take time. But that is fine because as long as you are enjoying what you do, you will only get better at it. Practicing as often as you can may mean that you spend time alone doing it with no one to cheer you. But keep in mind that every bit of practice will lead you to the moment when your skills will be called into play and you can make that move on the court that every player dreams of.
