In defence, communication helps when players call for the rebound or shout out who they are covering, helping their teammates to find the spots where they will be most effective and avoiding overlap.  Before you can play defence, you need to understand it. There are many types of defensive strategies: zone, man-to-man, full-court press, traps, and other styles and variations. It is advised that you should study professional and college games to get a sense for where players are on the court in a specific defensive scheme. A defensive player must be aware of where his or her body is, not just in respect of the key, but compared to where teammates and opponents are; you don’t want to run into another player and foil your defence because your footwork is not up to scratch.
When you are passing, again you must keep eye contact.  Make sure you make two handed passes and always pass to the outside shoulder.  Step to receive the ball. Be alert. Fire quick passes that people can handle. If someone cuts, and you throw a pass to them, make sure you’re leading them to where they’re running with the pass, so they don’t have to slow down to catch it. After you pass, keep moving, so you’re of some use in the play. If it makes sense, cut hard to the basket after you pass, in the hope that your team mate can throw a quick return pass that results in a layup because your defender relaxed for a second after you got rid of the ball.  When your team mates have possession of the ball, make passing lanes, so they can hit you with a pass.Create targets by using your hands. If you cut, have a hand up so the passer can hit it
For a jump shot, keep your elbows in, and release the ball up, not out.  Keep your eyes on the spot over the front of the rim.
Increase your vertical jump ability. You can do this with Plyometric exercises and done correctly you should see great improvements. When you  jump, as you hit the ground your muscles relax very briefly before you leap into another jump. This explosive movement helps to build your muscular power and power output. Make sure you are careful when doing these exercises as they are very straining and exhausting.
Here are some tips from basketball players themselves that they have been happy to share. [Read more...]

The fundamental skills required to be a successful basketball player are dribbling, body control, ball control, shooting and good offensive and defensive techniques.  Some top tips for shooting are to stand with your feet shoulder width apart, with your weaker foot slightlty forward.  Use your strong hand to position the ball, pushing upwards and forward with your hand and forearm to release the ball with a push from your wrist.  The best way to improve on your shooting skills is to keep doing shooting drills, and once you get stronger at this you can develop further manoeuvres such as lay ups.  There are basically three main stages of taking a shot; proper form, follow through and release.  The player should catch the ball, square their shoulders to the basket, tuck in elbow and then follow through on the release. Following through is one of the most important aspects to shooting a basketball correctly because the follow through puts backspin on the ball which gives you the “shooters touch”.  When the ball leaves the players hand the arm and hand should be in a form which is shaped like a fish hook. On the release the ball should leave the hand in a “flipping” motion not a “push” motion
To control the ball well keep your weight on the balls of your feet.  Doing this will make it much easier to manoeuvre and make an advance against the other team.   Dribbling takes lots of practice to improve and the basic tip for control whilst dribbling is to use the tips of your fingers and not the palm of your hand. [Read more...]