The right basketball size depends on your age and gender. For high school through professional level men’s basketball, choose a size 7 ball. Choose a size 6 ball for boys ages 12-14, or for girls and women ages 12 and up, including high school through professional level basketball. Get a size 5 (or standard youth size) for all children 9-11 years old, a size 4 for all children 5-8 years old, and a size 3 (or mini size) for children 4-8 years old. [3] X Research source Made of rubber materials and synthetic leather, basketballs are widely available at sporting goods stores. Find a ball that you can comfortably shoot without wobbling your wrist. At most gyms, youth centers, and other athletic places, you can borrow basketballs to practice. Regulation hoops are 10 feet (3. 0 m) high and 18 inches (45. 7 cm) in diameter, typically backed with a plexiglass board off which players may bounce shots. While full-court basketball is played with two hoops, one at each end of a 94 feet (29 m) long court, it’s only necessary to have one hoop to play a half-court pick-up game, or to shoot around with friends.
Extending in a half-circle, about 20 feet (6. 1 m) from the hoop on most courts, should be the “three-point line,” beyond which shots are worth an extra point. Inside that arc, all shots are worth two points. Foul shots are worth one point each and are taken from the free-throw line, which is 15 feet (4. 6 m) from the hoop. Players will be awarded between one and three free throws if they are fouled during a shooting attempt, or fouled after the other team has accumulated too many fouls. Fouls will be awarded when the other team hits your body when you take a shot. If you make your shot, you get the points and you get one free throw. If you miss, you get two free throws. [6] X Research source
When you start dribbling, you must dribble constantly as you move, until you pass, shoot, or stop dribbling to plant on your pivot foot. If you stop dribbling, you cannot re-start dribbling, which is a foul called a “double-dribble. " It’s also important to avoid “over/under” dribbles, or “carries”, in which you pick up the ball from underneath and turn it over to dribble it down. Learn to dribble properly in the following section. If you’re driving in to shoot, you can pick up the ball and take two steps without dribbling before you shoot or pass. More than two steps will result in a traveling violation and the ball will be given to the other team. If you’ve been dribbling and you stop, you cannot take two steps and have to pass or shoot.
As you’re learning, bounce the ball constantly with each hand, switching back and forth between your left and your right to get a feel for handling with both of your hands, staying crouched, and point your opposite hip toward the basket. If you’re trying to catch the ball, stand with your knees bent and your hands up to give the passer a good target. [9] X Expert Source Ryan TremblayBasketball Coach Expert Interview. 9 March 2021.
Just start bouncing the ball, standing still at first. Flex your wrist to bounce the ball and try to keep your elbow in to your hip and move your elbow as little as possible. Like many things, dribbling should be all in the wrist. Make sure the ball is inflated to the proper specs, or it’ll be difficult to bounce up properly. Follow the directions on the ball you’ve got and add a little air, if necessary. Keep your dribble low so you can control the ball more easily. [11] X Expert Source Ryan TremblayBasketball Coach Expert Interview. 9 March 2021.
Staying low will give you less opportunity to make a bad dribble and lose control of the ball. Aside from being more difficult to swipe, it’ll also be more difficult for you to screw up your dribble.
Set up some cones or chairs in the driveway and practice dribbling around them in figure-8s, going as quick as you can, but focusing on controlling the ball. Keep it low, keep your head up, and control the ball as you dribble quickly.
Practice doing drills with your dominant hand to learn the fundamentals, but spend a part of each dribbling session dribbling with your weak hand, too. Try the same drills, going around chairs, walking and dribbling, then eventually running. Great ball players are just as good from both sides. [14] X Research source
Make chest passes. Take the ball on either side, in both hands, as if you were trying to squeeze the air out of it. Bring it in to your chest, then flick both hands outward to pass the ball to a teammate standing a comfortable distance away, without letting the ball touch the ground. Both wrists should flick out, away from you, as if you were swimming the breast-stroke. Make bounce passes. Hold the ball in the same way, as if you were trying to squeeze it. About halfway between you and your teammate, bounce the ball into the ground and to the other player. Practice making the pass so it only bounces once and comes up comfortably to your teammate’s chest. Practice one-handed and two-handed bounce passes. For a throw-in (out of bounds pass) throw it either over your head or bounce pass. In most events, pass to a point guard behind the line.
When you’re getting ready to take a shot, stop dribbling and take the ball in both hands, and square up to the hoop. Practice your pick-up step, in which you take one last dribble and turn your hips in one fluid motion.
Your power will come with your shooting hand, but you can stabilize the ball and balance it using your other hand. Touch the ball gently with your other hand on the side of the ball. The whole power from the shot should be coming from your other hand, though. To practice your shot motion, lay on the ground with the ball and hold the ball straight up with your shooting hand. Practice rolling the ball straight up into the air a few inches with backspin, coming straight back down into your hand.
Don’t jump forward, toward the hoop, jump straight up. This is a common mistake with beginners. You want to jump straight up in the air and arc the ball towards its destination, not launch it forward. Free-throws are generally taken without jumping, and you don’t have to jump to shoot. However, it’s difficult to get the ball into the hoop using arm strength alone, so most shots taken will be “jump shots. "
Most beginners aim low, hitting the rim, and this exercise trains the eye to make the “sight picture” of the shot higher, aiming more ‘over’ the rim.
Start at the corner of the free-throw line on your dominant side. Dribble in toward the hoop from an angle, and pull up when you get near the second to last line on the side of the lane-marker. About there, take your steps and jump off the foot closest to the hoop (if you’re dribbling righty, jump off your left foot). Bounce the ball off the backboard, just at the top corner of the square on the back, and into the hoop. It helps some beginners to imagine a string tying your dominant hand to your dominant knee, to help remember which foot to jump from. As you drive in, let your shooting hand “pull” up the knee on that side, jumping off the other knee. When you’ve got the mechanics down, try lay-ups on the opposite side, using your other hand. It’ll feel awkward at first, but being able to drive the lane on both sides will make you a much better basketball player.
Practice shooting free throws. Good basketball players should be able to make free throws almost automatic. Take them over and over again until you can memorize the shooting motion and commit it to muscle memory. Don’t waste valuable practice time shooting half-court hail-marys or NBA-distance three-pointers. Get your fundamentals down and practice knocking back 10 in a row inside they key, before you work on making miracles.
Most teams will play “man-to-man” defense, which usually means that you’ll be matched to another player on the opposing team, who you’ll guard for the rest of the game. This is, in most cases, the player who also plays your position. In more advanced basketball, sometimes a “zone” defense is used, in which you’ll be given an area of the court to guard, and you’ll pick up any player who moves into it. Think of it like an imaginary bubble that you’re trying to protect.
Aim your lead hip toward the side-line, and your back hip toward the hoop that you’re defending. You want to make it as difficult as possible for the person you’re guarding to get between you and the hoop, so it’s more effective to “push” them by aligning your hips properly. With some practice, this will become second-nature.
Most coaches will train players by dribbling from side to side, and defenders switching their positioning depending on how the offense moves. You can practice this yourself, sliding around laterally in the driveway at home.
Instead, train yourself to stand up very straight when you see your opponent pull it down to shoot, and throw your arms straight up in the air 90 degrees. This will be just as disruptive as a jump, and you’ll still be locked down ready to play defense, if need be.
Hitting, pushing, or slapping at the arms of opposing players will be a foul every time. Keep your eyes focused on the ball. If you touch the ball, it can’t be a foul. Reaching out and grabbing an opponent will earn you a foul. If you’ve gotten beat off the ball, you can’t cheat by reaching out for the jersey and grabbing it.
Centers are the big players who guard the hoop. The center is usually the tallest and most physical player on the court, whose job revolves around grabbing rebounds, posting up near the hoop for easy tip-in shots, and guarding the hoop on defense. Famous centers include Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Shaquille O’Neal, and Yao Ming. [22] X Research source Forwards are the second-biggest players on the court, physical enough to play defense and go down low, but dexterous enough to shoot from the outside. Good forwards make excellent cuts and are powerful physical presences in the arc. Famous forwards include Charles Barkley, Bill Russell, Tim Duncan, and LeBron James. [23] X Research source Guards are the architects of the offense. The guards are the players that carry the ball down court, set up plays, and shoot from the outside. The guards typically score the most points and are valued for quickness, accurate passing, and sniper-like shooting. Great Guards include Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and Magic Johnson. [24] X Research source
It’s a common misconception that basketball needs to be played by virtuosic ballers who all dunk non-stop and hog the ball. Good players pass, selfish players dribble around constantly and lose the ball. Practice your passes.
If you play down low, as a forward or a center, practice “boxing out” the other players with your backside, muscling them away from the prime real-estate. Get low and stay wide, keep your arms out, and keep your eyes on the ball to give yourself the best chance of grabbing the board.
Horse can be played with any number of players. The first player takes a shot from anywhere on the court. If the shot is made, the next player must make the shot from the same place. If the shot is missed, that player receives the first letter in the word “pig” or “horse” (the only difference is the number of letters. Each shot results in another letter. The game continues until the losing player has spelled out the entire word. [25] X Research source
After scoring a basket, the player may shoot free-throws (worth one point each) until one is missed. If you score once and then shoot 20 straight free-throws, you win the game. If you miss a shot and another player tips it in, rebounding and shooting in one fluid motion. Your point-total goes back to zero (if you have less than 15 points) and back down to 15, if you’ve got between 20 and 15. If the 15th free throw is missed, the player goes back down to zero.
