How To Be Best in Basketball? [Ultimate Guide]
Playing basketball is no joke if you want to play it seriously. It needs to be perfect if you shoot, dribble, sprint with the ball, or pass the ball. And to cater to all those requirements, you need to follow certain instructions and take concrete steps for yourself.
It’s not like you are just running with a ball and there’s no opponent in the court and the only target you have is to put the ball in the basket. There are a lot of factors coming your way for success.
Therefore, follow along with the article to know more about how to be best in basketball.
How To Be Best in Basketball?
As we have told you that you have to work for it to get top-notch basketball performances. Therefore, here are some important steps that you should take to reach that height like the legend Coby Brian and all the others.
Wear the proper basketball shoes
We know that most people try to motivate dreamers by saying that you don’t need anything to start. But here let’s agree that you should at least wear proper basketball shoes and we’ll tell you why.
Actually, basketball is a game of a lot of rapid body movements that are mostly supported by your lower body. And the most amount of work is done by your feet, knees, ankles, and hips. So it is important that you give them the proper support that they need to help you sprint, jump, brake, and suddenly change direction.
There are three major types of basketball shoes; high-top, mid-top, and no-top. The problem with high-top shoes is that they feel heavy but support your ankles in the best way.
Similarly, the mid-top shoes have lesser ankle support but feel a lot lighter as compared to high-tops. This goes on so you have to decide according to what competition are you playing and what position is yours in the team.
Get yourself ready by warming up
Warming up before the game is as important as you are running away from a shooter in road rage. Warm-up makes your body ready for the action because it increases your heart rate and incorporates it during the game as well.
Also, injuries happen most of the time when the players don’t warm up because they have to stretch all their body muscles slowly. Therefore, if you warm up, the chances of you getting injured are discounted. After the warm-up, you’re ready for this fast-paced game ahead.
Workout to get in athletic shape
Basketball players must have a quicker response time as well as they must make sure that they outperform during the game. It requires them to work out according to the instructions we all know that running increases your heart rate.
This way you are done with your cardiovascular muscle strength and similarly, if you do yoga or other exercises, they will get you stamina. Not stamina, the flexibility of your body, and agile strength of your body are one of the most important factors of an athlete’s body shaping.
Practice
There’s a very famous saying that goes “practice makes a man perfect.” And believe me that this is true like a universal truth. Therefore, to perfect your skills in the game, you need to practice as much as possible.
But what happens with practicing in basketball, when you practice dribbling, passing, shooting, and defending, your chances of becoming prominent in the big games increase.
Although one should not run for prominence if they’re just passionate about playing success comes your way automatically. But as a general fact that if you know all the skills and you have mastered at least one skill, you can be the top player on your team.
Practice dribbling with your weak hand
Most people find it comfortable to dribble with their strong hands all the time. But this doesn’t work on the court because you don’t know which hand will get you through the opponents.
Therefore, always dribble with both your hands, and make sure to practice dribbling with the weak hand especially. It is because a weak hand is your weakness until you make it your strength. Also, never look down on the ball while dribbling; in fact, look up so that you can see what’s going on around you.
And the most important tip is to only dribble as fast as you can handle while keeping moving and getting ahold of the ball.
Shooting
Shooting is the most important part of your game because that decides whether you’re winning or not. So make sure to always practice shooting from different positions on the court and with different angles.
Also, practice with your friends and try to dodge them and basket the ball because it makes you even stronger in decision-making in such situations. Keep your eyes on the basket during the whole time of shooting and have confidence in yourself.
Jumping practice will help you a lot
Jumping is involved in your shooting, shot blocking, and to collect rebounds. But most of the time we sew players not practicing jumping however it is very important because most basketball players are usually very tall.
You can only do this if you’re good at jumping high. Practice straight vertical jumping to reach as high as possible to shoot the shots, block the shots, and collect the rebounds.
DO NOT DRIBBLE A LITTLE MORE THAN YOUR KNEES
Dribbling is often mistaken for bouncing the ball against the floor too hard. Although it involves the bouncing of the ball the bounce should not be more than a little over your knees.
Too hard dribbling can get the ball out of your control and you wouldn’t want that to happen obviously. Therefore, only keep it as low as possible with your knees a little bent and the back straight while looking straight up.
How can I improve my basketball fast? [8 Tips]
- Keep a hold of the ball
- Work on your weaknesses
- Practice at different speeds
- Get in shape and get fit
- Work on your lower body movements
- Practice dribbling to improve any flaws
- Watch other players and study them
Become a master of one skill and then increase the counting
It is never advisable to be a jack of all trades in life but in basketball, you can do wonders. Therefore, practice only one skill and master it gradually. After mastering that skill, you will be able to move on to the next skill or even try the current skill with better positions.
Success comes with hard work and hard work gives results and demands patience in return. So let’s say you have mastered shooting from close range, now move on to a little farther range. Keep going even from the opponent side court where the other basket is.
Eventually move on to dribbling, passing, and whatever the flow your coach tells you.
Study other players’ movements and discuss and practice with your coach
Studying other players is the personality trait of all great players in any game. You just need to watch how other players play; it doesn’t matter if they’re on your team or the opponent’s team. You just have to take what’s good for you and that includes any player on the court. After analyzing other players, talk to your coach about your analysis.
Here comes the coach’s part. The coaches must be open to suggestions and not rigid about their decisions and practicing tactics. They should let the players try different forms of practicing new tricks and tactics.
And never look down upon the players if they don’t succeed in those skills because it is your job to enable them to play however they want to.
Learning is the key to success in increasing your basketball IQ. You can only learn by watching closely how other players play during the game. Each great player has something to teach you so don’t be rude or arrogant and try to be open to others’ tactics as well.
Dribbling, shooting, passing, defending, rebounding, attacking, jumping, foot movements and teamwork are some very important skills needed for basketball. Other than that, you can also read all the basic to advance rules of the game to avoid any red tickets.
A good basketball player has to find their own way of defending their rim and playing against their opponent. Other than that, all the great players have been observed to be playing at different speeds according to the situation. They keep their chins up during dribbling and always try to find a way that they can use to make it an exit.
Passing is the most important yet hardest skill that you should learn for basketball. Actually, it is not so difficult to throw the ball at your teammates. In fact, the most important part is deciding when and how to throw the ball to get it there on target and on time.
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